Adventure South Africa - Malaria-Free 18 Days Upmarket Family Safari

Award-winning wine is paired with innovative food at Spier’s Tasting Room which is located on the banks of the Spier dam, with stunning views of the Helderberg Mountains. Wine is available for sale at cellar door prices. The Tasting Room’s retail space offers wine-related products, locally-made homeware, gifts and books.

Tastings include:

· Spier Tasting: choose wines from the Spier Signature range, Spier Seaward, Spier Creative Block and 21 Gables

· Chocolate and wine tastings

· Winemaker Selection: Taste from our 21 Gables and Creative Block ranges plus the organic red blend, Spier First Stone.

· The Children's Grape Juice Tasting is the ideal way to keep the youngsters busy with a tasting of two different grape juices and an educational activity sheet highlighting the role insects play in our vineyards.

· Food platters to pair with the tastings are also available for sale

Spier Wine Tasting is open from 10:00 – 16:30 daily, with Sales from 09:00 -17:00. Contact us on +27 (021) 809 1143/7 or visit https://shop.spier.co.za/ to order wines online.

The Spier Elemental Garden is just a stone’s throw from Spier Farm Café and Vadas Smokehouse & Bakery – both much loved by families. It was conceptualised by landscape architect Ed Brooks and local landscape architect Danielle Croly, using mostly indigenous plants.
The garden is divided into quadrants representing the four elements: water, air, fire and earth. Intersecting all four is a spiralling waterway that symbolises the Fibonacci Sequence – a set of numbers where each number is the sum of the two preceding ones. Many patterns in nature follow this rule — such as the spiral shape of a seashell, the arrangement of leaves on a branch, or the petals of some flowers (such as daisies and sunflowers).
Features of the garden include a slide landscaped into earth mounds, a tunnel to crawl through, a Charl Conradie wind sculpture and a swing bridge. The water in the Water quadrant has been treated and is safe to splash about in – perfect for hot summer days.

The Elemental Garden is open daily until sunset; entry is complimentary.

Visit the Spier vineyards on the Segway PT (Personal Transporter), a two-wheeled, self-balancing electric vehicle. The tour combines a beautiful glide through the farm with interesting insights about Spier’s ethical approach to farming and the environment.

Close to the Tasting Room, the Spier Craft Market showcases craftwork at eight custom-designed units – each manned by a cluster of artists. Wire and beadwork, 3D paintings, mosaics, items from recycled materials, jewellery, textiles, ceramics and woodcarving are all represented. Whether you want something simple like a key ring or fridge magnet, or a collectable art piece, there will be something to win your heart. Many of the artists work on site several days a week and would be happy to answer your questions and share the production process with you.

Spier has two audio tours you can listen to on your smartphone using the VoiceMap app (available on Google Play and the App Store):

· The Gables tour takes you around Spier’s historic farmyard, the Werf, offering a fictionalised account of the world of a Stellenbosch wine farm around 200 years ago. It was researched and written by acclaimed playwright, Brett Bailey. The narrator is Sannie de Goede, a slave woman on the Spier Estate in 1836, on the eve of her freedom.
· The hour-long Walk the Spier Farm tour will introduce you to the farm’s many facets: from art and wines to hospitality and heritage. You’ll also discover our efforts to forge a sustainable future, through biodynamic farming, the rehabilitation of fragile indigenous ecosystems and our eco-friendly wastewater plant and water-wise winery.

Discover the farm for free, using one of the Qhubeka Buffalo Bicycles located at the Spier Hotel entrance. These are sturdy and strong machines, designed for rough African terrain (and prove more than a match for our farm roads). Designed by Chicago-based World Bicycle Relief and assembled in South Africa, these bikes were named by the BBC as one of the 10 most beautiful bikes in the world.

Eminent landscape architect Patrick Watson and horticulturalist Wilton Sikhosana helped establish this beautiful walk. Situated on the South bank of the Eerste River, this walk offers an opportunity to explore the large variety indigenous plants growing on the farm.

Art is as much part of Spier as good food and fine wine. Spier believes that the visual arts are a powerful tool for transformation – sparking new insights and inspiring us to engage with our world in new and imaginative ways. Spier supports and stimulates the arts community in South Africa through projects that honour our African arts heritage and enriches its future.

Sculptures and artworks from the Spier Art Collection – one of the largest contemporary art collections in the country – can be found throughout the farm. Works are rotated every year to give exposure to as many artists as possible, and to keep the spaces fresh for staff and visitors. The art chosen for display aims to show the richness and diversity of the SA experience and artistic talent.

Healing and balance are the essence of the Spier experience, with a world-class winelands spa and wellness centre alongside our Cape Herbal Bath House, set in their wild Cape fynbos garden. The hotel spa is a natural sanctuary in the quiet heart of Spier hotel, where they use healing botanicals from the Cape Floral Kingdom - wild-harvested on the farm - as well as Vine Therapy herbal products, made by Spier exclusively for Spier. The wellness block has several treatment rooms, a mani-pedi lounge, sauna and steam room, a movement studio and gym

The Buzz Club is the in-house guest-exclusive kids club at Spier, holding a gentle space for 3- to 8-year-olds to experience the rhythms of farm life. Guides and carers lead seasonally relevant open-ended play and structured activities like collage-making, flower threading, bug spotting, leaf pressing and making art with found materials - so kids can get happily and safely immersed in nature.The Elemental Play Garden and open lawns on the Werf are also breezy, child-friendly places for playing the day away.

Here at Buffelsdrift Game Lodge, we offer Bush Safaris not only to our residents but to the public as well.

“We call it Bush Safaris, as our guides are trained to not only educate our guests on our wide variety of animals, but also about our bird and plant species..”
– Andries van Schalkwyk | Managing Director

During our bush safaris ( game drives ), you can expect to experience true Karoo vegetation from our open game viewing vehicles. Our wide range of animals includes Hippo, Giraffe, Eland, Zebra, Buffalo, Springbok, and much more. The duration of our bush safaris is ± 2 hours. About midway through the safari, there is a refreshment break at one of our scenic lookout points. These offer 360° panoramic views of the area as well as the Swartberg Mountains.

Duration: 2 Hours

None of our elephants have been taken from the wild for captivity. The three elephants were orphaned when the adults were poached. Our elephants come from circumstances that if we did not intervene they would not be alive today. We did not choose this life for them but we rather chose to give them the best possible life within our means with the best possible love and care. All our elephant excursions have a most informative educational approach.

We are fortunate that they ended up here at Buffelsdrift Game Lodge as they are true gentle giants and have great personalities. Elephants are very affectionate and caring animals.

An early booking for an Elephant Experience is essential as our elephants are very popular. Clients should arrive 15 minutes prior to activity. Activity will automatically be cancelled if clients arrive 15 minutes after booked time and will have to wait for the next time slot. You are welcome to ask our elephant guides as many questions as you like.

Feeding: (Every hour from 08h00 to 16h00)
With this experience you get the opportunity to be educated on these magnificent animals while having the chance to feed then as well.

Duration: 30 - 45 min

Observation: (08h00 - 09h00 and 15h00 - 16h00)
Take in the natural beauty and go for an early morning or a late afternoon walk with them around the 5ha waterhold

Duration: 1 hour

At Buffelsdrift Game Lodge we offer night drives not only to our residents but to the public as well. A night drive is a safari that happens at night with the help of powerful spotlights to see the different animals. The two-hour night drive offers guest an opportunity to spot the elusive “Shy five” of Buffelsdrift Game Lodge – caracal, genet, porcupine, aardvark and aardwolf. The open game drive safari vehicle offers to witness other wildlife species such as hippo’s grazing, Giraffes, Buffalo, Cape Mountain Zebra, Sable, Eland and much more. About midway through the night drive, there is a refreshment break where you can enjoy the renowned Klein Karoo night skies. The advantage of a night drive is that it provides access to nocturnal species that are rarely seen during the day and there is a greater probability of seeing them hunt at night.

Duration: 2 Hours

The Spa @ Buffelsdrift has 4 permanent therapists onsite that are professionally trained to provide the feeling one gets of being in nature with a relaxing and revitalizing treatment. Choose your preferred massage, treatment or facial and be amazed by the view over the lake, sounds of wildlife and relaxing soft music in the background.

Some of our treatments include:
- African Hand and Foot Treatments
- Back, Neck and Shoulder
- Rolling Sands Full Body Massage
- Desert Glow Exfoliation
- Manicures and Pedicures

Buffelsdrift Game Lodge invites you to witness the incredible wild habituated Meerkats emerging out of their burrows at dawn, just in time to soak up the sun before they head about their daily activities.

The Meerkat Safaris at Buffelsdrift Game Lodge will bring you up close to these amazing animals. A trained ranger will meet our guests in the Lookout Lounge, where they will enjoy a warm cup of coffee and rusks, before heading to the Safari vehicle to go to the Meerkat burrows. On the way to the burrows guests are usually lucky to spot some of the 22 species of animals on the reserve.
The guests remain on the vehicle while waiting for the Meerkats to emerge at the break of dawn. The ranger will educate the guests on all the interesting facts and behavior throughout the experience.

Guests will be transported in a game vehicle to the 5ha lion enclosure where they will see our lions (Shumba, Tonga and Safia) close-up from the elevated view point. A trained game ranger will feed the lions while guests view them. It is advisable to have a camera at hand. Furthermore, the game ranger will fully inform the guests regarding important aspects of lions in general.

General Guidelines:
– These are wild Lions and will not be touched or handled by humans, including the rangers.
– Maximum of 20 guests per Lion experience. Book in advance to avoid disappointment.
– Duration of the Lion viewing experience may vary depending on their behaviour (± 1-2 hours)

In April 2020, we introduced our South African cheetahs to our guests. After two years of being on the Reserve and being a part of our family, our cheetahs are now adapted and have relaxed in their new environment. We are aiming to create a platform to educate tourists about this predator in its natural environment.

Activity information:
Duration of Activity: 3 – 4 Hours
Activity Pricing: R1245.00 pp
Meeting Point: Look-out Lounge @ 08:00

Strap your boots and come experience an adventure that will allow you to use all your senses to connect deeper with the Little Karoo and its history. A 5km trail swirls past dramatic scenes of the famous red rock formations of the little Karoo.

Activity information:
Trail Difficulty: Casual +- 5km walk
Duration: +- 4 Hours (depends on the group’s pace)
Departure Times: 06:00 (summer) | 08:00 (winter)

Guests meet at the main lodge, from where you depart in one of our game viewers towards the starting point of the trail.

Included in some of the packages, guests are transported by our guides to other activities in the vicinity e.g. Cango Caves, Cango Ostrich Farm, Cango Wildlife Ranch and Wine Tasting.

* Only included in specific packages

Each day brings something different, as your explore the endless fascination of Africa's wildlife in an open Land Cruiser. Enjoy refreshments on morning and afternoon game drives.

Rejuventating spa treatments can be enjoyed in the privacy of your suite overlooking the bush

Tuningi is one of the few lodges in a Big 5 reserve specializing in families with children aged 6 years and up.

Children are kept busy with activities such as treasure hunts for natural items collected from the bush. Bush Bumbles are also offered for kids who do not go on game drive. baby sitting services are also available at cost.

Relax at the rim-flow pool overlooking the waterhole where you can indulge in the sights and sounds from a just a few feet away.

Share your exciting stories after the game drives in the lounge or main deck

Get up close and personal in our new underground hide. Keen photographic enthusiasts will love the new addition at Tuningi.