While traveling through South Africa, veteran traveler Lynn Langway had no desire to bounce up and down Victoria Falls at the end of a bungee cord, or dangle like a snack for sharks inside an Indian Ocean cage.

Nor is she a “coach potato,” content to see the wonders of the world through a tour bus window.

Fortunately, soft adventures abound in South Africa, which travelers can happily experience between the two extremes.

In part three of her road trip through South Africa, Lynn Langway explores the coastal gem of Langebaan. With its rugged landscape and ample outdoor activities, the Western Cape is a longtime favorite local getaway, often overlooked by foreign visitors.  

Read on to learn about her Great Cape Escape adventures.

The intrepid traveler who visits Langebaan on South Africa’s rugged Western Coast soon absorbs some crucial local lessons:

In part one of the Great Cape Escapes, Lynn Langway shared tips on driving through South Africa’s countryside, and her whale of an experience in the seaport of Hermanus.

Read on for her adventures in the charming culinary destination of Franschhoek.

Lunching on the veranda of a stellar restaurant called La Petite Ferme, you’d swear by the mountains brooding over the vineyards and the lavender perfuming the air that you’d been transported to Provence.

But there’s springbok (a type of gazelle) on the menu, and Afrikaans spoken here.

You won’t need to hunt as hard as Captain Ahab to find whales in and around the South African seaport of Hermanus; in fact, you won’t even have to leave dry land.

This picturesque town, located about 69 miles southeast of Cape Town, is the center of South Africa’s well-named Whale Coast, which draws hundreds of the magnificent mammals each year between July and November.

The Southern Right Whales migrate from Antarctica to the sheltered waters of Walker Bay to mate, give birth, and raise their calves in deep waters that run near the shore, making Hermanus one of the world’s best places to see the leviathans without getting wet.

Cape Town, South Africa, with its stellar scenery and stirring history, has been getting increased attention as South Africa gets ready to host soccer’s World Cup in the summer of 2010.

But for those who prefer to travel further off the beaten path, the Western Cape countryside offers so much more than just its legislative capital city.

Lynn Langway investigates the great Cape escapes of South Africa.

The lawless town of Haradheere, Somalia, used to be a small fishing village, but now it’s in the pirate business—and business is booming.

Despite heightened attempts to keep the pirates at bay, they still have been able to successfully plunder the shipping lanes around the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean.

So how have the pirates been able skirt the law? They’ve actually had some help from “investors.”

Think you’re a savvy traveler? Then you’re probably wise to backdoor shenanigans like crooked money changers, unscrupulous cabbies and “good Samaritans.”

But in India and South Africa, a new breed of swindlers are fleecing both shrewd and naïve tourists alike. Keep reading to find out how you can avoid getting hustled …

In the wake of the tragic crash of Yemenia Airlines Flight 626 near the Comoros Islands, it has been revealed that French safety inspectors had serious doubts about the Airbus A310 craft and had banned it from entering the country in 2007.

Though the airline had not been placed on the European Union’s safety-related blacklist of air carriers forbidden to enter the EU, the French had banned that particular Yemenia plane from entering France.