Arrived with low expectations, left completely converted

South Africa wasn't high on my travel list. A friend pushed me to go and I'm genuinely grateful. The first full day in Cape Town reset everything — the scale of Table Mountain and the quality of the malva pudding were immediate signals that I'd misjudged the place completely.

extraordinary biodiversity became my personal highlight of the whole trip. Spent 8 days and could easily have stayed twice as long. Now I tell everyone who'll listen that South Africa is underrated — add it to your list.