Introduction - From Camp’s Bay to Copacabana
I’m sorry y’all. 2025 has been an overwhelming year so far, and I’ve just gotten around to review our Christmas and New Year trip. This was a mega trip, as we visited to two countries that had been on my wish list for the longest time. They both happen to be major economies in the Southern Hemisphere, and the only thing separating them is the Atlantic Ocean. Did you guess it? We went to South Africa and Brazil!
The impetus of the trip was that I originally wanted to spend Christmas in the Cape Winelands. My partner and I both enjoy wine, so we wanted to check out more wine regions. When researching options to get home, I discovered an alternative to the conventional European routing. We ended up flying to Brazil on our way back to Miami. Those of you who are familiar with geography (so no Americans😉) would know that this is actually the routing that covers less distance. It didn’t hurt that I found a one-way business class ticket on South African Airways (SAA) for $1,200. I hadn’t flown with SAA until then, so I was stoked to check it out.
The trip planning centered around finding the best place to stay at in Franschhoek, which has many great options. I decided on the Mont Rochelle, a Virgin Limited Edition property. To be completely real with y’all, I didn’t know what Virgin Limited Edition was, but I did know about Necker Islands. I also wanted to go somewhere on the Garden Route, so I found this cute little boutique hotel in Plettenburg Bay. Given the flight schedule, we had a short overnight in Johannesburg. We stayed at the InterContinental at the airport. For hotels in Brazil, we stayed at the Rosewood in São Paulo, mainly because we booked it for the Grand Prix but had to reschedule, but the reservation was non-refundable. In Rio, while we’re big fans of the Fasano brand, we ended up choosing the Copacabana. We were on a Belmond kick since our trip to Peru, so we had to check out the Copacabana. I figured if it was good enough for Lady Gaga, it’d be good enough for me. And it was!
The flights we took were totally uninspiring. We flew Q-Suite to Cape Town, and American flagship business from Rio to Miami, so I won’t be reviewing either of those again. Within Brazil, we flew with GOL, a partner of American Airlines.
Our final itinerary was as follows:
Review - Mont Rochelle Hotel and VIneyard
Review - The Plettenburg, an SLH Hotel
Review - InterContinental Johannesburg O.R.Tambo Airport
Review - South African Airways Business Class A330-300 Johannesburg to São Paulo Guarulhos
Review - Rosewood São Paulo
Review - GOL Airlines Conforto B737-800 São Paulo Congonhas to Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont
Review - Copacabana Palace, A Belmond Hotel, Rio de Janeiro
Even though I’d been wanting to visit both countries since forever, I was expecting to like Brazil more than I would South Africa. I mean, for my whole life I’ve loved Brazilian men, ahem, Brazilian architecture and interior design🤪. I grew up taking samba (among other Latin dance genres) lessons every Sunday, and I wept the day Leny Andrade passed away. Ok maybe that was a tad dramatic but you get the point. In the end, I left with the opposite impression. Don’t get me wrong. I still love Brazilian men, damn it, I meant Brazilian architecture, but I actually prefer South Africa for tourism purpose?
That’s the beauty of travel - you think you know something, then you’re proven completely wrong.