South Africa’s Best/Weirdest #Selfie Spots

A huge pineapple? A brew with a view? A house shaped like a shoe? Your Insta feed is about to take a left turn.

Your car is packed and prepped, and your vehicle and travel insurance are sorted. You're ready for your epic road trip. Add these eye-catching local landmarks to your road trip checklist and get the photos to prove you were there.

The Big Pineapple, Bathurst

Who lives in a pineapple in an Eastern Cape dorpie? You do! At least if you visit the museum at Summerhill Farm just outside Bathurst on the R67. At a monumental 16,7m high, it's the largest artificial pineapple in the world – and it's just one Krabby Patty away from taking your road trip full SpongeBob.

The Shoe, Ohrigstad

Ohrig-where? North of Mbombela, you'll find Lydenburg. North of that, you'll find Ohrigstad, and north of that (on the R36), you'll find this essential addition to your Instagram feed: an art gallery, curio shop, man-made cave and guesthouse shaped like an enormous... you guessed it.

Big Red Postbox, Calvinia

Who said the Northern Cape isn't much to write home about? Calvinia's ginormous 6,17m Hoop Street landmark is a functioning postbox, with every (normal-sized) letter posted here getting a special Namaqualand-flower stamp.

The Post Office Tree, Mossel Bay

What's better than The Shoe and the Big Red Postbox? Why, this boot-shaped letter box in Mossel Bay, which dates back to the 1500s when passing European sailors would pop their letters home into an old boot under a Milkwood Tree. This local oddity is another functioning post box, again with its own special stamp.

Bathing Boxes, Muizenberg

Down at Cape Town's famous Surfers Corner, you'll find a row of beach huts (which used to be changing rooms for shy Victorian-era swimmers). Follow the catwalk next to the southbound trainline and you'll find another set at the St James tidal pool. They're a staple of pretty much every "Wilkommen in Kapstadt" tourist advertisement you've ever seen, and they're waiting for you to work your smartphone-filter magic.

The Highest Pub in Africa, Sani Pass

You'll want to call shotgun (or at least not be Designated Driver) for this one. At the top of the rugged Sani Pass, on the border of KZN and Lesotho, on a wooden deck perched – we're not kidding – nearly 3km above sea level (2,874m to be exact), you'll find Sani Mountain Lodge, and the official Highest Pub in Africa. Take a selfie, then have a drink.

Soweto Towers

South Africa's Twin Towers aren't necessarily weird, but they're enormous and colourful and perfectly designed to make your photos pop. Just make sure your cellphone insurance is paid up; you'll probably be bungee jumping, rap jumping, base jumping, abseiling or pendulum swinging while you take that selfie.

Ronnie's Sex Shop, Route 62

Look, we try to keep things PG13 on this blog, but sometimes the material we have to work with has us reaching for the Parental Control filters. Ronnie's Sex Shop is famously... not one of those. Many years ago, in a desperate attempt to attract more business to his remote farm stall (it's literally in the middle of nowhere, 20km east of Barrydale), Ronald Price and his mates added a single word to "Ronnie's Shop". That little white building is now waiting to be added to your sexy Instagram feed.

Sudwala Dinosaur Park, Mbombela

Take a tropical garden near Mpumalanga's Sudwala Caves, add some life-sized dinosaur models (repurposed from – and again, not a word of this is a lie – the 1976 Rand Easter Show), throw in some very much alive birds and monkeys, and this is the result. It ain't Jurassic Park. It ain't even your local play park. But it is the source of some fabulously cheesy selfies.

Whatever the Heck Is Going on at the Owl House, Nieu-Bethesda?

Nieu-Bethesda is a nowhere village in the Eastern Cape's Sneeuberge, about 50km outside Graaff-Reinet. Yet every South African with a passing interest in bonkers art knows all about Nieu-Bethesda and its Owl House. Filled with concrete and ground-glass sculptures created by Helen Martins and Koos Malgas, it is the perfect crazy/beautiful destination for anybody who has a camera phone and a day to spare.

Been there, posed with your friends in front of that? If not, use our super-easy platform to compare travel insurance and car insurance quotes, and find your next adventure today.

This article is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal or medical advice.