Tailor-made, cruelty-free, self-drive adventure itineraries.
South Africa has so much to offer. Someone once said to me that South Africa has it all except glaciers and volcanoes: we are blessed with world-class cities, winelands, coastlines, beaches, desert, forest, mountains and wildlife. With 24 years of inbound tourism under my belt, I have seen my fair share of people catching the “African Fever”, hooked on Africa for life, and South Africa in particular stands out because of this diversity, keeping South Africa interesting no matter how often you visit.
But what if you’re vegan? Is South Africa a safe destination for vegan adventure travel?
The vegan movement is growing every year, and worldwide the hospitality industry is catching up quickly to the fact that attracting vegan or flexitarian travellers is the smart thing to do. In South Africa this is no different, and our Rainbow Nation has become a whole lot more vegan-friendly over the last 10 years. We are at a point now where vegans can have the same experiences as traditional travellers.
Veganism has become mainstream enough for most safari lodges and camps to cater for vegans, and there are a few exceptional camps who take their cruelty-free offerings beyond just vegan cuisine (eg vegan wines, amenities etc). Excitingly, a fully plant-based camp is opening its doors in Kruger in November, so I’m keeping my eye on this development.
There are stunning vegan nature lodges, where you can immerse yourself in Nature, and let the healing begin.
South Africa also has several vegan animal sanctuaries, much in need of your visit, and if possible, kind donations. They are the true heroes on the ground taking care of the animals we all so passionately want to protect.
And even if there aren’t actual fully vegan hotels or guesthouses (yet) in the big cities, some are vegetarian and therefore very vegan-friendly.
So yes, having been passionately vegan since 2018, I believe wholeheartedly that South Africa is ready for life-loving vegans who prefer to bumble around independently, and who love great food and wine. For this reason I have put together the first of its kind vegan self-drive itinerary for 2025! The itinerary is an example of what is possible. Depending on your budget, everything can be tailor-made. For now I have opted to stay within the Western Cape to allow for easy, peasy driving and a personal touch as I am based in Knysna (Garden Route).
You can read all the details of the trip on my website, but just to give you a bit of an idea, the itinerary includes:
- Three nights in Cape Town
- Two privately guided tours with Matt from Vegan Tours Cape Town to the Winelands and to Cape Point and Boulder’s Beach (where the African Penguins are)
- Two nights in Greyton so that you can visit the iconic Greyton Farm Animal Sanctuary
- Two nights high up in the mountains of Montagu
- Two nights at another beautiful Vegan Sanctuary in the Karoo (semi-desert)
- Three nights at a Vegan Nature Lodge (Vegan Hospitality Certified) on the Garden Route
- Three nights on safari in a vegan-friendly Big Five reserve
- A FREE copy of my “Vegan Foods & Fine Dining in South Africa” PDF
- Rental of a sturdy 2×4 SUV with full cover, a GPS and unlimited mileage – note, the roads in the Western Cape are very good and signposting is excellent
For more details, have a look here.
For personalised vegan adventure travel in South Africa that suits your budget, please contact me– this is what I do best!
