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Snow In South Africa

Just writing the title "Snow in South Africa" seems so bizarre to me! When I think of South Africa, snow is the last thing that comes to mind! 


I've lived in Cape Town for about 5 years but always traveled to other countries during the winter months (June-August) so I haven't ever gotten the chance to experience the snowy months! 


Due to the COVID-19 lockdown which prohibits international travel, I haven't been able to leave the country. The silver lining to this is that I can now say I have experienced a proper cold, rainy and SNOWY winter in SA!


After sharing our adventure day on social media and getting so many questions from people curious about the details, I have decided to gather all the information and put it here in one spot for you to refer back to! 



➤ HOW TO GET THERE

We entered "Matroosberg Reserve" on our Google Maps app and it led us right to the reserve! It is about a 2 hour drive from town - we left from Green Point and it took us 2 hours and 10 minutes including a stop to get snacks! 


** There are some other closer locations that had snow {such as Franschhoek} so if you do some searching on Instagram, you may be able to find a snowy spot closer to you! 


➤ HOW TO AVOID ROADBLOCKS {during COVID-19 lockdown only}

I don't have an exact science for this. We just figured if we left super early the roadblocks wouldn't be up - and they weren't! At least not on the way there! 

When we left the reserve, we heard word of there being road blocks where police were giving out R1000 fines for those who do not live in Ceres (based on your car license plate). We were recommended a longer route that would add 45 minutes to our route home but avoid the road block. It worked!


HERE IS THE ROUTE WE TOOK INSTEAD:

Instead of taking a left toward Ceres we took a right toward De Dooms (we put De Dooms into the GPS), that meant getting onto the R46 towards Worcester which led us to the N1 back to Cape Town.


➤ WHAT IS NEEDED

We took the 4x4 trail which leads you 2240m above sea level. So for this you will need a 4x4 - this is a requirement for this route for your safety. They do recommend 4x4ing experience (although the website says the difficulty level is average) but Gal (my husband) didn't really have any and we managed just fine! Just be prepared for muddy inclines, climbing rocks, and deep potholes! If you drive with confidence you will be totally fine! 


On their website they have listed out some examples of cars that would not make it up the 4x4 trail:

Q3, Q5, Q7, X3, X5, Subaru Forrester, Freelanders, Land Rover Evoque, Dusters, X-trail, VW Tiquan


Note: If you don't have a 4x4 that's totally fine as they also have trails for other vehicles. That said, I am not sure what those trails lead to or the snow situation since we didn't take them, but I'm sure it's also beautiful! You can find more information here.


A couple things I would recommend bringing {although maybe a bit obvious}-

• Warm clothes

• Sunblock (surprisingly, you can get burnt from the reflection off the snow)

• Lunch/snacks (especially if you go early in the morning since you cannot come down the mountain until 1:00pm)

• Change of socks (a drive back with wet, cold socks isn't the best haha)

• Camera/drone (I think drones are allowed? We didn't see any signs saying they weren't but maybe we should have checked before launching...)


➤ PRICING

They do have an entry fee

R250 per car

R65 per adult

R45 per child

R25 per dog



➤  WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT

• Gates open at 7:00 am.

• You can only drive up from 7:00-11:00 am (last car up at 11 am). And then you can only come down from 1:00 pm onwards (they do this because the trail is a one way trail so they make sure everyone can go up, and then come down).

• You will need to deflate your tires before going up the mountain, which they instruct you on how much to deflate. The reserve has air machines available for free to inflate and deflate your tires.

• They do have marshalls to assist and instruct you up the mountain, which was cool of them to provide and helpful.


I hope this was helpful for you! If you end up going, feel free to tag me in your content! I would love to see it! 


This was such an awesome trip, and I really hope everyone has a chance to experience it - even if it means after the lockdown restrictions! <3




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Instagram:

http://www.instagram.com/mariahmcalpin

Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/c/mariahmcalpin

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ABOUT ME

Thanks for taking time to read my blog post! I hope you find value in it! If you're new to seeing my content, Hi my name is Mariah! I love sharing my take on fashion, travel, beauty, lifestyle, relationships, bridal and more!

I have been writing + creating photo/video content since I was about 12 years old (2007) - never in my wildest dreams thinking I could be doing this as a full time job as an adult.

I moved to South Africa shortly after meeting my husband and we got married 5 years later (2020)! We often travel back and forth between Florida, USA and Cape Town, South Africa - both of them home to us.

I have two puppies, Chai + Bentley. And I hope to be telling you about children some day soon (baby coming Jan 2025!)

Until then, I will keep sharing my current passions, tips + tricks, thoughts + tools for life! The adventure continues....!

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