2015 South Africa Trip

If you haven't had an opportunity to read our previous post, I'd recommend reading it before moving on to this one. You can read it here. Okay sorry about that. Now onward to our South Africa trip!

When the Ironman points system changes were announced this year, it became clear that Amber could no longer be competitive if she only raced in the US. With the elimination of Ironman Florida and Lake Placid as point scorers, there would just not be enough races available to her. Plus, I think that she wanted to race against the highest level athletes out there.

So after deliberation and cost analysis, she decided upon South Africa and invited me along. Besides wanting to support her at a foreign race, this might have been my only opportunity to go to Africa so I jumped at the opportunity. I must say it was a good decision.

The country is amazing! The animals, scenery and people were truly awe inspiring, beautiful and friendly, respectively.

I would definitely recommend signing up for this race if you are into triathlons and if not, just do it as a trip. Below is a sample 2 week itinerary very similar to what we did(We did it in reverse starting in Port Elizabeth and ending in Cape Town but I think this option is probably better). The reason I feel it imperative to give you a sample itinerary is because of the interactions with other triathletes who reported they did not nothing besides train and stay in their hotel rooms! Seriously. That is no way to live and definitely no way to see an amazing country. So here is one option for a better experience:

Day 1: The Flight

Do not opt for the more expensive flight with short lay-overs! Instead choose the inexpensive flight with a 12 hour lay-over in London. Not only will this give you time to stretch out before the 11 hour flight to Cape Town but it will also allow you time to get into the city and explore. Amber had never been to London before and after clearing customs and taking the Tube right to Parliament, we were able to see pretty much all of the sights. It was a great first day of our trip.

Day 2: Arrive in Cape Town

Cape Town is a good sized city and deserves several days if you have the time. If not, minimally make your way up Table Mountain and pray that the weather is clear to afford some spectacular views. The drive up Chapman's Peak is pretty amazing as well! Just make sure to bring some Rand as they don't accept foreign credit cards.

View from Chapman's peak drive

Day 3(or 4 or 5): Start Driving the Garden Route

The garden route is arguably one of the most beautiful drives in the world. Take your time on it. Meander through wine country and stop in Hermanus where you can see whales from the shore and there are a plethora of great eateries.

View from the Sandbaai Country Estates in Hermanus

Day 4: Drive to Mosselbaai

After you have had your fill of wine and seafood, continue driving and end up in Mosselbaai: home to one of the biggest number of great white sharks in the world.  Reserve a shark tank dive trip with White Shark South Africa and take a short boat ride out to Seal Island where you will be lowered into the water amongst swarming sharks nearly the size of the boat. The sharks are so huge that you barely notice that there are also hammerheads circling you too.

Now if you're doing the Ironman, you may want to skip this part because there is nothing separating the waters here and a few hours east where you will be swimming 2 1/2 miles.

Day 5: Drive to Harkerville

Harkerville is the next days destination just to make you drive slowly on this part of the garden route. Take some time in Wilderness and again in Knysna as they are both really cool towns.

Day 6: Tsitsikamma National Park

The waterfall

The Otter Trail

While we did not go on the highest bungee jump in the world or the zip lines, this is the place to do it. What we did instead though was to hike the Otter Trail which is a wonderful trail along the ocean, with beautiful views and an immense cave.  ending at a waterfall. If you have four more days, you can hike the entire 50 kilometers of it as there are huts along the way. Or you can, as Amber and I did, get lost and find yourself on a barely visible trail with a troop of baboons trailing you. Maybe stick to the Otter Trail?

View from the cave

Day 7: Arrive in Port Elizabeth

If you are as lucky as we were, you will be met at the rental car place by your amazing home stay family and bike mechanic. The latter will take your bike and assemble it while the former takes you into their home and makes you feel welcomed.

Donkin Pyramid

Now after all the traveling you may feel like you need a rest day, but don't do it! Instead make your way to Port Elizabeth's city and go to Fort Fredrick and the Donkin Pyramid. There you can pick up a Nelson Mandela Bay Pass which will come in very useful as it allows you to get discounted or free entry into many of the local attractions.

Fort Fredrick overlooking the city

Downtown PE

If after that you are exhausted, head back to your homestay, where there is sure to be a well cooked meal prepared for you followed up by Koecksisters or another wonderful dessert and coffee. If you're still feeling lively, head to the Cape Reclife Lighthouse.

Cape Reclife Lighthouse

 Day 8: Addo Elephant Park

This HUGE nature preserve has it all! Elephants, lions, buffalo, antelope, wharthogs, black rhinos. Pretty much anything that lived in this area. You can hire a guide, or just go it alone which is what we opted for since it gave us the flexibility to stay at a place as long or short as we wanted. Give yourself a full day here. If you picked up the passes, you can get in here for free.

Day 9: Don't Forget You Have a Race

Training? Yes this is important if you are planning on actually racing the Ironman. Hopefully you can sneak in some morning workouts that don't interfere with your experience but also make your training part of your experience. For example, while Amber swam in the Bay, I did stand up paddle boarding. Now in all fairness it was more like kneeling paddle boarding as I struggled to stay upright. I couldn't believe that athletes would be swimming in water that choppy. Plus, I don't think I've ever been so afraid of falling in the water knowing water lies beneath.

Day 10: Kragga Kamma
If you were unlucky and didn't see any lions or if you want to see giraffes and rhino up REALLY close, then head to Kragga Kamma and Seaview nature reserves. You can definitely do both of them in one day and are well worth it as you will see pretty much everything including some rare predator and maybe more importantly: meerkats. haha those little guys are very cute.

Kragga Kamma also has this half mile monkey walk which is pretty cool and where you can see vervet monkeys. More cool if you didn't realize that locals consider them an annoyance and that they can be seen all around the University campus.

Day 11: Pro Meeting and Interviews

If you happen to be a pro, this day may be spent doing logistical stuff and sitting on a pro panel. If not, enjoy a lazy day luxuriating in the sun.

Day 12: Penguin Island Tour

Yes there are dolphins in South Africa. And that by itself is pretty cool. However what really made this boat trip amazing was the pod of 200+ dolphins that swam all around us and then a surprise visit by a Bryde's whale, partially captured by me on video but with Amber's hand blocking part of it :) Go with Raggy Charters whose captain all is a Master's student doing research on whales and whose wife has a doctorate on penguins and they were the ones responsible for increasing the fishing restrictions around the island to help preserve the penguins. Definitely worth the trip!

If you still have time after, you may want to drive the race course and check out the amazingly huge sand dunes as well as the beautiful view of the ocean.

And maybe a nice sun set?

Day 13: Race Day!

Amber will write more about the actual race, but here are some pictures of her during the race, starting with a video of the swim start. Amber fell apart a little bit on the run but otherwise had a strong showing-especially when you consider this was the first time she had ridden outside since Kona!

While she was racing, I got to learn a little about cricket. Actually just enough to realize it is another ball sport I'm not very good at.

Day 14: Fly Home

On your flight home out of Port Elizabeth, the layover in London will be just long enough to take the Tube into Hyde Park where you can walk to Trafalgar square and enjoy a nice cup of coffee. A great way to stretch out the legs a bit after the race.

So that's it. A packed 2 week trip South Africa. Better option? Make it a two month trip and hit up Comrades Marathon in May. That way you will be able to see more of the Eastern Cape.



Up Next: St. Louis Marathon April 11th(Danny) and Ironman Texas May 16th(Amber)