Southern Africa Escapades 3 to 5 Star (9 Days) – Module Four SAE9DA

You will be met by your guide at Cape Town International Airport and transferred to your hotel in Franschhoek. Set in the heart of the Cape Winelands and in the culinary capital of the Cape, Le Franschhoek Hotel & Spa lies beneath the towering Franschhoek Mountains. The picturesque vineyards are within easy distance, making this hotel the perfect base from which to taste the legendary Cape Wine Route. Rest of the day at leisure to enjoy your hotel and the amenities or possibly wander into town for dinner.
Overnight: Le Franschhoek Hotel & Spa or similar

Have a hearty breakfast and drink plenty of water throughout the day because today you explore the Cape Winelands, its superb mountain ranges intersected by Cape Dutch Homesteads, and their vineyards and wines. You start exploring Franschhoek’s 40+ wine farms from the hop-on hop-off Wine Tram - the Green Line timetable is in the link under Activities And Services. Your guide will transfer you to the terminal by 9:30am when the tram departs for Rickety Bridge Wine Estate, arriving 9:45am - you skip Grande Provence since you spend the evening there. Select activities at Rickety Bridge as you wish (for your account). Please note that activities in red require pre-booking. The next wine estate is Franschhoek Cellar - you pick up the tram from the Rickety Bridge platform at 11:45am, arriving at Franschhoek Cellar at 11:54am. You will have just under an hour to explore until the guide whisks you away to your 1:00pm picnic luncheon on the lush lawns of the Rhone Rose Garden at Boschendal Wine Estate – a wine farm that has title deeds dated 1685. Your picnic lunch basket is filled with delicious wholesome food; only naturally grown produce from the estate and locally made artisan goods are used. You then transfer to Stellenbosch - the heart of South Africa’s wine industry and boasting great beauty, culture and history. A local historical expert will help you explore oak lined Dorp Street which is famous for its heritage buildings, museums and coffee shops. The old Lutheran Church, also an art gallery, provides a fitting backdrop to this historical lane. You will return to your hotel to freshen up before your food and wine pairing at Grand Provence – an exquisite and award-winning wine estate.  
Overnight: Le Franschhoek Hotel & Spa or similar

This morning begins with a two-hour journey towards Cape Overberg, a rugged mountain range home to picturesque vistas and rolling wheat and canola fields, arriving in Cape Agulhas. You visit the historic lighthouse, an icon denoting the tip of Africa and the second oldest lighthouse in South Africa. The museum also contains a wonderful historical source of the ancient fish traps used hundreds of years ago by the Khoisan people. See your hiking trail options in the link under Activities And Services. They range from 2 to 5 hours and there are maps available at the Agulhas Lighthouse tourist office. Depending on the duration of the trail you choose, lunch could be at Bredasdorp Square. The Shipwreck Museum is a 30 min drive from the lighthouse and is home to striking visual displays, a fascinating collection of shipwreck artifacts, and a treasure trove of figureheads and lifeboats, porcelain, cannons, anchors, old bottles and coins from various European Countries. Cape Town is two and a half hours away via Sir Lowry’s Pass which allows easy passage across the daunting natural barrier of the Hottentot’s Holland Mountain range and the chance to enjoy some spectacular views. Late check in is arranged. You may choose to dine at your hotel or perhaps venture out to a Bantry Bay restaurant.
Overnight:  The President Hotel, Bantry Bay or similar

The Victoria and Alfred Waterfront (V&A), a working harbour, is where you board a ferry to Robben Island. The island has a rich 500-year-old history and the ferry ride is wonderfully scenic, but the island is best known for the prison that housed former President Nelson Mandela for 18 years of his 27-year incarceration as a political prisoner fighting for a new South Africa and democracy. You will get the opportunity to look out the same cell window that Nelson Mandela looked out for those 18 years. From 1961, Robben Island was used by the then-South African government as a prison for political prisoners. The island is roughly 2 square miles in size and about 4 miles off the west coast of Cape Town. Many of the guides are former political prisoners, so in addition to the official history, you might also be treated to a few personal anecdotes. It is now a South African Heritage Site and an UNESCO World Heritage Site. On return to the V&A, you are transferred to the most iconic landmark of South Africa, Table Mountain, the only flat-topped mountain in the world and one of the NEW7WONDERS of Nature. Starting with spectacular 360-degree rotating views from the cable car, you then enjoy lunch while marveling at the abundant views from the summit. After lunch, explore the awesome display of very unique “fynbos” vegetation with a variety of over 2,200 species. The most common mammal found on the mountain, the “dassie” (pronounced “dussy”) or rock hyrax, is about 50cm long and similar to a marmot but surprisingly more closely related to the elephant and manatee. At the base of the mountain, you board the Hop on-Hop off, double-decker, open-roof, round-trip bus tour. The route provides a wide range of interests - historical sites, museums, a Jewish Synagogue (rated as one of the best in the World), ancient castles, curio shops, food markets, craft markets, beaches, and cultural plazas where you can enjoy performers and mingle with locals. This experience will prove invaluable to you when choosing things to do on your unscheduled tour day. The bus returns you to the base of Table Mountain and your guide will return you to your hotel or, if you wish, the V&A to explore.
Overnight:  The President Hotel, Bantry Bay or similar

Hermanus, your destination this morning, is recognized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) as one of the 12 best whale-watching destinations in the world. It is home to the World’s only trade-marked Whale Crier of whom it is said that he is “the most photographed South African, after Mandela”. He uses a horn fashioned out of kelp to let people know where the whales have been spotted. Lunch is at award-winning Bientang’s Cave Restaurant with the official address of: “In a cave below Marine Drive, 100m from Old Harbor, Hermanus, 7200, South Africa”! It really is set in a cave with a series of rock terraces that stop just above the ocean and a well-known prime position from which to view the whales in the bay. Then off for a walk in the Harold Porter National Botanical Gardens situated in the centre of the coastal fynbos. Just 10 mins away is Stony Penguin Colony in Betty’s Bay. Reservations are made for dinner at The Tides, also in Betty’s Bay after which you will be transferred back to your hotel.
Overnight:  The President Hotel, Bantry Bay or similar

This full-day tour of the Cape Peninsula begins with a drive of never-ending breathtaking scenery along the Atlantic Seaboard which stretches from the V&A Waterfront to Hout Bay. Your 40 min cruise charter from Hout Bay Harbor to Duiker Island Seal Colony affords you the opportunity to view thousands of wild Cape Fur Seals who are protected here and you pass the Maori Bay Wreck during the cruise. Next along the route is Chapman’s Peak where the guide will stop for you to take photographs. Boulders Beach is just past Simon’s Town and home to the protected Boulders Penguin Colony of African Penguins, also known as the Jackass Penguin because of the braying sound they make. Now sit back and relax while taking in the countryside en-route to Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point, nature reserves within the Table Mountain National Park of almost 8,000 hectares of rich and varied flora and fauna, buck, baboons, and the Cape Mountain Zebra. Lunch is enjoyed overlooking the oceans and after you walk to the summit of Cape Point or take the Cape Point Funicular Railway to see the old lighthouse and enjoy the panoramic views. Rest of the day at leisure on return to the hotel.
Overnight:  The President Hotel, Bantry Bay or similar

After breakfast, a unique part of the tour will unfold. While the other days in your tour have highlighted the beauty of the Mother City and its surrounds, today will focus on the beauty of its people. Living with the consequences of apartheid policies, the people you’ll meet have created singular communities in the townships you will explore. The five townships on the itinerary are District Six, Langa, Khayelitsha, Bonteheuwal and Gugulethu. Each one has a history and flavour unique unto itself. District Six, a vibrant community of different races and beliefs created by former slaves in 1833, saw the destruction of homes and the forcible removal of 60 000 residents in the 1970s to the barren outlying areas of the Cape Flats. Langa, the oldest black township in South Africa welcomes you to visit a school creche to meet the children and discover their challenges and victories despite their circumstances. A local family in Khayelitsha will be your hosts for lunch. The Bonteheuwel township is a former so-called coloured township with deep roots in the Cape-gang culture. In Gugulethu you will visit the Gugulethu Seven Memorial and the Amy Biehl Memorial. Afterwards, you will roam the legendary Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, the first botanical garden to be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and 2015’s International Garden of the Year. Few gardens match the sheer grandeur of the 528 hectares set against the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, 36 hectares of which are cultivated gardens. You are then returned to the hotel to freshen up for dinner which is complete with a djembe drum performance and a 14-dish tasting menu. Each dish is based on African culinary traditions and storytelling.
Overnight:  The President Hotel, Bantry Bay or similar

The day is free for you to delve into your very own area of interest. If desired, a personally tailored and costed itinerary can be provided or perhaps just a driver/guide for the day or nothing at all if you just want to laze on the beach.
Overnight:  The President Hotel, Bantry Bay or similar

Depending on your schedule, enjoy a healthy and filling breakfast, either in Cape Town, or at the Cape Town International Airport before flying home or onward to another adventure on your vacation.