Arrival at Cape Town’s International Airport. You will be met and transferred to your hotel, centrally located in Cape Town.
Ground Transportation, accommodation, sightseeing and entrance fees and game drives as per itinerary. Meals as indicated, Bed and Breakfast in Cape Town, all meals and activities at Safari Lodge.
Flights, visas, all items of a personal nature, gratuities, drinks, Table Mountain Cable Car tickets.
Situated below Table Mountain, Devil’s Peak and Lion’s Head, Cape Town offers a rich cultural and industrial heritage, grand splendour and an assurance of activity and excitement at the V&A Waterfront. Including all the `must-sees` of any Cape Town day tour, this option is a geographical and cultural extravaganza, showing you Cape Town, from its historical beginnings to the dazzling modern shopping malls of the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. The tour commences with a tour of Table Mountain (weather permitting; cable car fee not included). In the city itself, we visit the Company Gardens, the S.A. Museum, the Castle of Good Hope and the vibrant and arty flea market, Greenmarket Square. We take a trip through the picturesque Bo-Kaap. Spend the afternoon at leisure.
This is an awe-inspiring tour to the towering headland known as Cape Point. Magnificent beaches, breathtaking views, historic and picturesque coastal villages are to be seen along the way. The Cape Peninsula is one of the world’s most scenic areas and stretches from the City centre to Cape Point. We travel along the Atlantic Seaboard via Sea Point, Clifton and Camps Bay, stopping at a Llandudno look-out point before continuing to Hout Bay, a quaint village and fishing harbour with magnificent mountain views and beach. Optional: Seal Island boat trip (seasonal, weather permitting) (not included in cost).
On through Chapman’s Peak, one of the world’s most breathtaking coastal drives, and we stop for amazing views of the ocean below. Continue to Cape Point and the Good Hope Nature Reserve, which has magnificent fynbos vegetation, birdlife, endemic antelope species and zebra, historic lighthouse and shipwrecks. Cape Point is perceived to be the meeting point of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. After lunch at a nearby restaurant (not included in cost), we go on to historic Simon’s Town, a village with charming Victorian architecture, a naval base and a large penguin colony at the beautiful Boulders Beach.
Boulders Penguin Colony (included in cost) is home to a growing colony of the vulnerable African Penguin. Wooden walkways allow visitors to view the penguins in their natural habitat and there is also a new information centre. We then make our way to visit the well-known Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. The Garden is one of eight National Botanical Gardens covering five of South Africa’s six different biomes. When Kirstenbosch, the most famous of the gardens, was founded in 1913 to preserve the country's unique flora, it was the first botanical garden in the world with this ethos. The garden is world-renowned for the beauty and diversity of the Cape Flora it displays and for the magnificence of its setting against the eastern slopes of Table Mountain.
This delightful drive winds its way to the heart of the Cape Winelands, through superb mountain ranges, vineyards and Cape Dutch homesteads. Head off to the wine country and to the heart of South Africa's wine industry, Stellenbosch, boasting great beauty and culture that is steeped in South African history. Walk down the canal-lined avenues, in the shade of giant oak trees and beautifully preserved historic buildings. With the sheer vastness of wine estates on offer, we are truly spoilt for choice when we enjoy our first wine tasting of the day at the Waterford Estate or similar. Travel over the Helshoogte Pass to the town of Franschhoek, historically dating back to the 17th century when the French Huguenots arrived . This charming town, in a most picturesque valley, retains a French Huguenot style. We enjoy a wine tasting before stopping for lunch (cost of lunch not included in cost). Onward to Paarl, one of the Cape’s first farming districts. The town is set at the foot of the cluster of remarkable granite domes from which it takes its name. Our last stop for the day is at a wine estate on the Paarl wine route. We return to the bustle of city life after an enthralling day in the countryside, arriving back at the hotels at approximately 17:30.
A day at leisure in Cape Town, to explore on your own.
Full day Township and Robben Island tour: “No easy road to freedom” was a central theme in most of the Mass Democratic Movement’s campaigns, from the early days through to the late 1980s. Any understanding of present day conditions in South Africa is greatly enhanced by looking at past injustice, the legacy of the struggle and the promise of reconstruction and development initiatives under way at present. Freedom has not come easy. This tour offers a wealth of insight into South African history. It includes a brief educational introduction to Cape Town, one of the world’s most varied and popular cities. We visit the Bo-Kaap area and see this picturesque “Malay Quarter”, a living cultural museum and home to the oldest mosque in the Southern Hemisphere. Continue to “District Six” and visit the living museum which attempts to represent and recapture District Six in various ways – as a fine-spun tapestry of communal life torn apart but not forgotten. We drive to one of the Townships on the outskirts of the city. Apartheid policies disrupted all non-white population groups, distorted both rural and urban development and ensured hopeless overcrowding. Few houses were built. Sprawling satellite camps of seemingly endless shanties – makeshift structures of various materials – provide little more than a roof and some shelter. As we shall see, squatter settlements are seeking their own solutions as an economic necessity. Against all odds, township life prevails, in all its nuances. In the afternoon we head for Robben Island: Formerly a political prison and leper colony before that, this historic landmark was recently established as a museum and national monument. Experience the conditions of incarceration – view Nelson Mandela’s maximum-security prison cell (Cell 5) and see the lime quarries. In the one, hard labour was served, in the other prisoners discussed strategy, freedom and the future. Later, many would develop eye problems as a result of the sun’s reflection off the lime surfaces. This well-preserved landmark is a monument to the triumph of freedom, dignity and determination over humiliation and oppression. On Robben Island, visitors’ movements are restricted by regulation to the bus and the group’s guide. Tours of the island are conducted in large buses. On return to the V & A Waterfront you will be escorted back to your hotel. (Note: Robben Island visit is weather permitting and subject to availability).
Transfer to Cape Town’s International Airport, for your flight to Hoedspruit Airport (cost of flight ticket not included in tour cost, this flight will be quoted separately if requested).
You will be met on arrival and transferred to your safari lodge. Check in at your cosy and comfortable lodge, provided you arrive in time you can enjoy a quick lunch before setting off on your first game-drive. This is a private “Big 5” reserve - a vast area where the animals roam freely. Not knowing what we will see adds to the excitement of a true South African safari. Return to your lodge for dinner.
Two days to enjoy some of the best safari experiences South Africa has to offer. Early morning and late afternoon game drives, in open 4x4 vehicles accompanied by experienced wildlife rangers, will open your eyes and ears to the magic of the African bush. The afternoon drive often continues after dark, and by using powerful spotlights we may be able to see some of the shy, nocturnal species as well. Each game drive is different, and in addition to the mammals, you can learn much about birds, reptiles, insects, flowers and trees. Learning more about the symbiotic relationship in nature, the geology and topography of the area are other interesting elements of your safari experience.
Your last morning game drive. Transfer to Hoedspruit Airport.
