SOUTH AFRICA

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If you’re looking for a way to get away from the madding crowds in Cape Town, try these 8 alternative ways to see the city through a different lens.

By Lucy Corne

Cape Town is one of those places that everyone should visit in their lifetime. It has everything: natural beauty, a vibrant cocktail of cultures, belt-expanding food and wonderfully welcoming people. Many attractions have reputations that precede them — I’d heard of the Cape of Good Hope and Robben Island before I had any idea what or where they were — but what if you want to step off the beaten track? The main attractions are undeniably outstanding, but when the swarms of tourists get too much, you might want to seek out a quieter way to enjoy the “Mother City.” Here are eight alternatives to the tour bus favorites.

1) Follow the crowds: Take the cable car up Table Mountain

An original take: Hike to the top of Lion’s Head

Table Mountain tops most people’s list of things to do in Cape Town, but there are more options than just jumping on the revolving cableway to reach the mountain’s flat top. You could join the energetic travelers who hike to the 1,086-meter summit or, for a less congested hike, opt to scale nearby Lion’s Head. It’s a challenging hike that takes in narrow paths, steep drops and occasionally has you grasping on to chains to haul yourself up the rocks. Still it’s all worth it for the stunning views — in my opinion far superior to the vistas from the top of Table Mountain. Of course, since Lion’s Head is just a couple of kilometers away from the mountain, the panoramas are similar: ocean views and the city laid out beneath you. But seen from Lion’s Head you get an added bonus, Table Mountain is part of the view as well. If clambering to the top is not thrilling enough for you, book a paragliding tour and take the more adventurous route back to sea level.

2) Follow the crowds: Sip wine in picture-perfect Constantia

An original take: Down beer at the SAB Brewery in Newlands

South Africa is often associated with wine, but you don’t have to spend long in the country to realize that you’re in a nation of beer lovers. The Ohlsson’s Brewery in Newlands might lack the aesthetic value of the Constantia winelands just south of the city, but the informative tour through a fully functioning brewery makes up for the lack of prettiness. And of course, once the hour-long tour ends, the fun really begins as you’re left in the on-site pub to taste SAB’s many different brews. (more…)

On safari in the Botswana bush in search of the elusive lion.

By Danielle Max

Modern hunters may shoot with cameras and not guns, but the adrenalin rush when the “prey” comes into view remains, as I discovered when I went in search of the elusive lion in Botswana. While elephants thrive in great numbers, I learned that spotting the big cats takes perseverance, endurance and, more than anything else, a whole lot of luck.

After nearly an hour of driving along rutted paths and seeing little more than a few birds and some wandering antelope — all of which I had nevertheless diligently ticked off in my safari guide: “Northern Botswana, Eastern Caprivi and Zambezi River” — Michael, my guide, finally saw what we’d been looking for. “Look, fresh lion tracks,” he said, leaning out of the side of our truck and pointing to the sandy road below. “Looks like they passed by here very recently.”

This was the final drive of my trip and it was exactly what I had come to Botswana to see. I rushed to the opposite side of the vehicle to study the footprints in the sand. While I, a mere novice, could barely make out the faded prints, an expert like Michael could read them as clearly as if following signs on a highway. After much patient gesticulating and pointing, we began to drive slowly forward and I followed the tracks as they made their way down the road. (more…)

Many travelers skip Tangier on their way to the rest of Morocco due to the city’s sordid history and dodgy reputation. But, as I discovered, sometimes all it takes is just a little help from a friend from the inside to discover the wonders of the city.

By Jeffery Smith

“Why don’t we go to Marrakech tomorrow?” somebody casually suggested during a lull in the conversation. It was late into the night, and I had just spent the last several hours sipping wine and sherry with a group of Britons at a ranch located in the verdant hills between Vejer de la Frontera and Barbate in southern Spain. A few minutes later it was decided: Oliver — a friend of mine — and I would hop on a ferry on the southern coast, make our way to the train station in Tangier and take the overnight to Marrakech. We were wary of spending too much time in Tangier because we both had parents with dubious experiences there in the 70’s. But if all went to plan, we’d only have to spend a few hours in the fabled city. As it turns out, a few hours in Tangier wasn’t nearly enough time.

Most travelers familiar with the region would suggest going to Algeciras to catch the ferry to Tangier, but instead we opted for a 45-minute bus trip bound for the wind-swept town of Tarifa, a city we had been to a few weeks prior. Tarifa is the windsurfing capital of the world and ten minutes on the small peninsula reveals why: the levante, or dry, hot wind, is unrelenting. Ten days in Tarifa — for those of you who are not inclined to windsurf — and you will quickly understand why the area has such a high suicide rate. From here we took the Tarifa-Tangier ferry. Run by a monopoly called FRS, the voyage is a short 35-minute jaunt across the Strait of Gibraltar. (more…)