Category: Travel

I first visited South Africa when I was 16 years old. It was a family vacation full of safari drives, bungee jumping, and some of the strangest meats I’ve ever eaten. I was instantly smitten with the place. The day I left, I turned to my sister and said, “I’m going to come back here someday.” Two years later, I came back! This time as a solo traveler volunteering in a rural community for a month. To say I’m biased would be an understatement. I have always been and always will be a massive fan of South Africa. But I believe South Africa has earned the pedestal I put it on; it’s an incredible country that won me over from the first day I set foot on its stunning landscape. As a two-time South Africa traveler who cannot wait to go again, I present you with my list of the top five reasons you should absolutely visit South Africa ASAP.

Why You Should Visit South Africa

1. The sky will take your breath away

Outside of Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa is pretty rural. Meaning there aren’t a bunch of streetlights and skyscrapers polluting the sky. With such a lack of light pollution, you can count on some amazing skies throughout your trip. If you plan to visit South Africa, be sure to make time to catch a sunrise, a sunset, and a starry night sky. All three are bound to take your breath away. During my second trip to South Africa, sunset drinks in the bush became a bit of a ritual; and it was by-and-far the most idyllic way to end a day.

2. Get up close and personal with African wildlife

Whether you visit South Africa explicitly for a safari trip or are planning a bigger trip to South Africa, make sure a game drive is on your agenda. I highly recommend shelling out for the professional tours. Driving through Kruger National Park is great and all, but if you want to guarantee a wildlife sighting, book a tour guide who knows what they are looking for and where to find it. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the wildlife of South Africa without the bars of a zoo enclosure between you. So, have your camera ready and don’t be embarrassed if you audibly gasp; we all do the first time.

3. See the world as Mother Nature intended it

One of my favorite things about South Africa is the lack of development. As soon as you get out of the cities, you are in gorgeous natural habitats that look the same way they did hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago. When you visit South Africa, you aren’t just giving yourself an opportunity to see an incredible country, you are taking the time to see untouched, unspoiled land. From the Lion King-style trees in the bush to the epic rock formations in the Rocklands, every inch of South Africa’s countryside is bound to blow you away.

4. Meet travelers with a real sense of adventure

I often joke that while I am a solo traveler, I rarely travel solo. Everywhere I go I meet fellow travelers and I often end up traveling with them for a good chunk of my trip. One of the things I loved about my time in South Africa was the type of travelers I met. Namely, adventure travelers. Not everyone is willing to drop everything and hop on a plane to South Africa. You can bet those who do are the kind of people who are looking for an adventure. From the hostels of Cape Town to the museums of Johannesburg, you are bound to meet some interesting characters when you visit South Africa.

 5. Get out of your comfort zone for a chance to really grow

South Africa is not the easiest place to travel to. Flights are generally more expensive than a trip to Europe would be. You likely don’t know a ton about South Africa and are almost definitely going to experience culture shock when you get there. The food, currency, and culture are all going to feel unfamiliar. South Africa is, to put it simply, outside most of our comfort zones. But that’s exactly what makes it so valuable to visit South Africa.

Record-breaking rock climber, Alex Honnold, once said, “My comfort zone is like a little bubble around me, and I’ve pushed it in different directions and made it bigger and bigger until these objectives that seemed totally crazy eventually fall within the realm of the possible.” When you visit South Africa, your comfort zone expands. And before you know it, you’ll have a whole new definition of possible.

Ready to experience South Africa for yourself? Join True Nature Travels for an epic rock-climbing adventure in the Rocklands! It’s going to be an amazing week of climbing and exploring South Africa with world-famous climber, Paul Robinson. Visit https://truenaturetravels.com/retreats/climbing-southafrica-paul/ to learn more.

About the Author

Sarah Dittmore is always seeking a new adventure. When she’s not barefoot hiking in the mountains of Peru, kayaking around an island off the coast of Italy, or camping in a rainforest in Costa Rica, Sarah writes about her adventures on her travel blog, Autobiography of an Adventurer. Join her as she travels the world and documents the wild and wonderful things she discovers along the way at www.autobiographyofanadventurer.com.

True Nature Travels was born out of a belief that group travel can be transformative. But that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate the power of the solo traveler as well! True Nature Founder and Director, Joshua Canter, just got back from an incredible week in Iceland where he experienced this power for himself. In his letter to travelers and wanna-be travelers far and wide, Joshua shares his journey and invites you to revel in the beauty, peace, and power of being a solo traveler.

An Open Letter to Solo Travelers (and those who want to be solo travelers)

Dear Fellow Travelers,

I just returned back from a week in Iceland. I traveled alone, explored the country, and found some incredible places for people like you to join us in the coming years. As always, I learned a lot. I witnessed beauty in the diversity of the planet and took home some wonderful memories and lessons. I wanted to share an excerpt, as part of this blog, from the journal I kept during this trip.

20 years ago I traveled out of the country on my first solo journey to Asia.

I remember feeling pathways in my brain expanding as I saw new cultures and different ways of living. That trip helped me realize that the world is immensely larger than I had ever dreamed.

20 years later, I find myself alone once again, at a totally different stage of my life, driving down a foreign road in Iceland. Even though I have set-forth overseas and across borders many times before, the power of travel still expands and touches me as deeply as ever.

Yesterday, as I drove, the landscape opened into a vast vista of lava-filled fields. Amidst still arctic lakes and snow-peaked volcanoes in the distance, I felt my chest begin to expand as I breathed deeply. I felt the call to open the windows and simply scream.

I was alone.

So I did.

From the scream came a welting of tears in my eyes. I was free again.

Even though I was thousands of miles from my family, my house, my country, I was “home” once again. On that open road in Iceland, I was no longer a father, a husband, a business owner, an American….I was simply a soul. Alone, but connected deeply to the ever-present oneness.

This is the power of travel.

At True Nature Travels, our focus is primarily on international group travel. We understand the power of traveling together; how it builds relationships, fosters community, and cultivates life-long relationships when experiencing the world together.

But there is a different sort of power in the experience of the solo traveler.

Traveling alone takes courage. It takes confidence in yourself and a trust in the nature of the journey which can be unpredictable.

While we travel we are open, we are in an expansive space, and most of all, we are usually joyful.

Our everyday lives can often create an illusional box full of attachments and constraints. We come up with a multitude of reasons that make it impossible for us to leave; impossible to travel. We think we can’t spread our wings.

There is a shocking statistic that only 3% of Americans have passports (can you believe that!?!).  As a father, caring for a family, or an employee with the need to work, or a friend with those in need, we often feel resistance to travel. We think we cannot leave our lives and go have an adventure. Home feels safe, comfortable, and stable. But often this container of our home-life can become constricting, blinding, and suffocating.

Today I fly back over the great Atlantic Ocean and prepare to integrate back home. On my journey homeward, I offer you these words:

If you feel the call to travel, in any form, listen to that voice.

The world is more accessible than ever and you have the power, and the will, to set forth.

Encouraging others to travel and see the world is the passion behind True Nature Travels. We exist to support our community in experiencing transformational journeys through travel.

If you have any questions on how to make travel a reality in your life or need some encouragement to take that leap, please feel free to reach out. You can reach me here. 

Now, go spread your wings and fly my fellow Solo Traveler!

I hope to meet you on the path sometime soon.

Your Friend,

Joshua

Founder and Director of True Nature Travels