If you could live anywhere in South Africa, where would you choose and why? Coastal lifestyle, bushveld, city life, small-town living?
Hermanus, no question. I’ve lived in the Western Cape my whole life and if money’s not the issue then you want Hermanus or somewhere along the Overberg coast. Whale season, mountains behind you, decent shops, and close enough to Cape Town when you need the city. I’ve got mates in Paternoster too and that’s beautiful but it’s tiny, you’d go properly mad after a year unless you really are that kind of person.
People always say Knysna and I understand why, it’s gorgeous, but the 2017 fires left marks on that town that people don’t talk about enough. Still on my list though.
What I absolutely won’t do is move to Joburg. The Cape gets grey and miserable in winter sometimes, sure, but at least the sun comes back and the air smells right. And my solar and batteries have been sorted for three years now so load shedding stopped being my problem while the highveld boys were still lighting candles. Small mercies.
Langebaan, no question. The lagoon, the kite surfers, that West Coast air. People always carry on about Cape Town but give me a quieter stretch of water and I’m a happy man. Plus the crayfish up that way is something else.
1 Like
Has to be the Lowveld for me. Hoedspruit or White River, open skies, the smell of the bushveld after rain, kudu in the garden. Cape Town is beautiful but there’s something about that part of Limpopo and Mpumalanga that just feels like home.
The Western Cape bias in this thread is real, and I completely understand it. Growing up in Soweto and spending my whole career in Joburg, I’ve done enough weekend escapes to know that Franschhoek would be my answer, every single time. It’s not just the wine estates, it’s the scale of the place, that main road with the mountains closing in on both sides, and a food scene that genuinely rivals anything you’ll find in the country.
That said, the Lowveld reply speaks to something I feel too. There’s a version of me that would choose White River or Hazyview, close enough to the Kruger to make that your ordinary weekend. It comes down to whether you want beauty that feeds your senses or beauty that quiets your mind, and depending on the week, honestly, I could go either way.
1 Like