South Africa: Cape Town to Safari

Light changes everything, and the light in South Africa feels brighter than anywhere else, especially during autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, when the landscapes are crisper and more defined, bringing a rare intensity to every experience and every photograph created. Our trip is timed to take full advantage of this beautiful fall light in one of the most extraordinary locations for a photographic eye.

South Africa combines lovely landscapes and seascapes, a rich history of cultural significance, vibrant street life, colorful architecture, and the most awe-inspiring wildlife imaginable. A country of dramatic contrasts, few combinations capture this diversity better than cosmopolitan Cape Town and the immense Hluhluwe–iMfolozi game reserve. Cape Town offers natural beauty, world-class vineyards, and palate-expanding cuisine served straight from the cultural melting pot of Malay and Indian influences, while Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park offers a classic African safari experience with Big Five game viewing in a remarkable wilderness setting. Combining two such unique travel experiences into a single trip is a rarity and a photographer’s dream destination. 

The oldest city in South Africa, Cape Town is visually rich and historically layered. Atlantic mist and ever-changing weather rolling off the ocean, Table Mountain rising abruptly above the city, vividly painted Cape Dutch and Georgian houses on cobblestoned streets lining the Bo-Kaap neighborhood, along with the dramatic Cape Point peninsula, where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Indian Ocean, all make Cape Town a worthy starting point for our voyage of discovery.  

An excursion to explore the vineyards and wine culture of the nearby valley towns of Franschhoek and Stellenbosch heightens our time in the Cape Town area before departing for Arniston, a working community where fishing has been a way of life for generations. Framed by sand dunes and rocks, the whitewashed, thatched roofs of traditional fishermen’s cottages of old-world Arniston provide a visually alluring backdrop to a traditional fishing culture where fishermen return daily with their catch and unload boats by the shore. 

After two days in Arniston, we travel across the country for a four-day safari experience. Our lodge inside Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park, Africa’s oldest game reserve and a key stronghold for white rhino conservation, offers early morning and late-light access to photograph the immense diversity of fauna and flora, including the “Big Five” game animals: Elephant, Lion, Rhinoceros, Buffalo, and Leopard. The 370 square mile reserve is home to 86 other animal species, including crocodile, hippopotamus, cheetah, giraffe, zebra, impala, baboon, waterbuck, tortoise, and monkey, to name just a few. Guided by park rangers in open-air 4×4 jeeps, the daily photo sessions offer a once-in-a-lifetime experience to a storied place at a time when animal conservation is crucial for protecting the African continent’s immense biodiversity. 

As this 11-day journey unfolds day by day, Jennifer leads you photographically to new heights and understandings of the medium through hands-on lessons, individual image review sessions, and daily briefings on how to approach the day’s photographic opportunities. Portraiture, landscapes, street photography, reportage, abstract design, architectural details, nature studies, and wildlife photography are part of our creative journey. First and foremost, this is a photographic adventure to explore and discover South Africa with world-traveler Jennifer Spelman and local guides in order to better understand and appreciate this unique country.

View complete itinerary (subject to change).