It's snowing!

It's a rare pleasure in South Africa to wake up, pull back the curtains, and see a world of white. Here are some of our readers' favourite snowy places, in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, and KZN.

- TOAST COETZER

WESTERN CAPE

The Cape Fold Mountains get snow almost every year, with Matroosberg near Ceres usually being first. Further away from Cape Town, the Cederberg and Swartberg are great places to see snow with fewer people around.

CERES

Nandi Williams from Hout Bay writes: In August 2021, we heard that Ceres had received a fresh blanket during the night. Completely ill-prepared (next time we'll wear more layers), we set off in our Land Rover. I think the whole of Cape Town had heard the news too, and the journey ended up taking five hours, more than double what we'd expected.

My husband Grant was grumbling - he loves adventure but hates traffic. Had it not been for the mini snowmen that decorated almost every homeward-bound car, we might have turned around. Our son Max was so looking forward to having a snowball fight...

People had parked all along the road from Ceres to Matroosberg. Adults and children alike were rolling down snow-covered hills, building elaborate snow creatures, and chasing each other with snowballs.

Max loved it! We left well after sunset because we didn't have the heart to tear him away. He played until he was tired, and only then, after building one last snowman on the bonnet of Lula our Landy, did we say goodbye to the snow.

Follow Nandi and her family's travels on Instagram: @lulainafrica

FRANSCHHOEK

Tiaan van Zyl from Cape Town writes: I regularly hike in Mont Rochelle Nature Reserve near Franschhoek. The mountains are often snow-capped in winter. It's only an hour's hike up to Uitkyk (1 093 m), the first viewpoint, which is usually high enough if there's been a decent dusting.