14 Days South Africa Exploration with Garden Route and Safaris - small group

On arrival in Cape Town at Cape Town International Airport, you’ll be met by your representative and transferred to your hotel. South Africa’s Mother City is consistently voted one of the world’s best cities to visit. The remainder of the day is at leisure and unescorted to enjoy the vibrant culture, scenic beauty, and award-winning cuisine.

Enjoy a full day at leisure. Perhaps join a sightseeing tour including Table Mountain, the Cape Peninsula and Constantia Winelands (optional and for own account) or join an authentic, local experience on a day out at Babylonstoren Wine Farm in the picturesque Cape Winelands (optional and for own account). Alternatively relax on one of Cape Town’s many pristine beaches. Although a small city, Cape Town is packed with sightseeing attractions, excellent bars, cafes, and restaurants as well as colourful craft markets.

Table Mountain, Cape Peninsula & Constantia Winelands Experience

Meet your local guide, who will show you where to snap the best photos of Cape Town’s most iconic sights. First stop is Table Mountain, named one of the ‘New 7 Wonders of Nature’, for a cable car ride to the top of the mountain (excluding cost of cable way ticket & weather permitting). Travel via the scenic Chapman’s Peak drive (if open) to Cape Point Nature Reserve, for a picture of the famous Cape Point lighthouse dating back to 1859. Visit Boulders Beach (entrance fee for own account), home to a colony of African Penguins and then to Muizenberg Beach, one of the most popular Cape Town beaches, dotted with colourful beach huts along the sand and locally known as ‘surfers paradise’. Head to Groot Constantia Wine Estate, for a wine tasting (with souvenir crystal glass included) and wander through the vineyards. US$163pp

• Babylonstoren Wine Farm Experience – US$135per person

Join us for an authentic, local experience on a day out in the picturesque Cape Winelands. Visit Fairview, a local cheesery that specializes in the production of handmade, full flavoured cheeses paired with a wine tasting, followed by a visit to Babylonstoren Wine Farm with its botanically diverse fruit and vegetable garden, incredible scenery, and warm hospitality for a second wine tasting.

You will be met by your local tour guide and depart on a long drive today. Travel along Sir Lowry’s Pass, with its magnificent views, to Grabouw and Elgin, a lush landscape surrounded by majestic mountains. Stop en route at a farmstall packed with locally produced products from the area. Our journey continues to Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa, where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. The area has largely been untouched and unexplored with its rugged coastline being the graveyard for many a ship. The historic Cape Agulhas Lighthouse is considered the icon that signifies the tip of Africa. After this thrilling experience, we continue via historic Swellendam and the Tradouw Pass to Barrydale and the famous Route 62. Continue to Oudtshoorn, known as the ‘ostrich feather capital’ and centre of the world’s Ostrich farming industry. Enjoy dinner at an Ostrich Farm, dining on local specialities such as Ostrich Steak. Overnight in Oudtshoorn. [Included Meals: Dinner] 

Distance travelled today: 550 kms

After a leisurely breakfast take a tour of the spectacular limestone caverns of the Cango Caves, one of the world’s great natural wonders, sculpted by nature through the ages. Join a fun filled interactive guided tractor tour at a working Ostrich Farm, followed by a wine tasting, sampling top quality wines of the region. 90km travel

After breakfast, travel over the Outeniqua Pass to George, the sixth oldest town in South Africa, with many historical landmarks like the King Edward VII Library building; said to be the best example of Edwardian architecture in the town. Visit the Outeniqua Transport Museum in George. This museum offers a unique experience of the Garden Route’s railway history, showcasing a vast collection of vintage vehicles, locomotives and other transport related artifacts. The tour continues via Wilderness, an attractive holiday resort, to Knysna, known as the oyster box of South Africa, nestling on the banks of a beautiful lagoon in the heart of the Garden Route. Enjoy a delicious lunch en route of traditional cuisine and local treats. The remainder of the day is at leisure until you join an afternoon sunset cruise on the Knysna Lagoon. Overnight in Knysna. [Included Meals: Breakfast & Lunch] 

Distance travelled today: 170 kms

Today you’ll have the opportunity to further explore the natural beauty of the Garden Route. Visit Monkeyland Primate Sanctuary, where you will be able to see a variety of primates, roaming free in the forest. This award-winning sanctuary is well known for its efforts to rehabilitate and free previously caged primates. A portion of the trip price of this TRAVEL WITH A PURPOSE Activity, goes towards ensuring that these already endangered species can survive and reproduce for a future reintroduction into the wild. The tour continues to the famous Eastern Head, where you will enjoy spectacular views of the Knysna Heads (weather permitting). Afterwards you’ll travel to Brenton on Sea, a breath-taking holiday location and a nature lover’s paradise with its unspoilt beaches and peaceful surroundings. The remainder of the afternoon will be at leisure. Travel 110km.

Travel to Plettenberg Bay, considered the jewel of the Garden Route. En route, stop at Mungo, a family owned and managed textile mill, producing fine quality textiles, using antique looms alongside modern weaving technology. Afterwards travel to the Birds of Eden sanctuary, the biggest single free flight aviary in the world. The sanctuary was developed to create a safe environment in which to release a large collection of free-flight African birds. A portion of the trip price of this TRAVEL WITH A PURPOSE Activity goes towards protecting genetically pure species of various Taxa in a semi-wild state and to hold the seeds of these Taxa for future reintroduction into the wild. Our journey continues to Bloukrans Bridge, currently offering the highest commercially operated Bungy Jump in the world. Visit the Tsitsikamma National Park and Storms River Mouth (weather permitting). The Tsitsikamma National Park incorporates 80 km of rocky coastline with spectacular sea and landscapes, a remote mountainous region with secluded valleys covered in mountain Fynbos and temperate high forests with deep river gorges leading down to the sea. Overnight in the Tsitsikamma area. [Included Meals: Breakfast] 

Distance travelled today: 100 kms

Head eastwards along the Tsitsikamma Forest to Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), affectionately known as the “friendly city”. Travel to Chief Dawid Stuurman Airport for an onward flight to Johannesburg, where you’ll be met and transferred to your hotel. The remainder of the day is yours to relax (unescorted).

Spend a full day exploring Soweto and surrounds, where some of the watershed events in the struggle against apartheid occurred. The tour starts with a drive past the FNB Stadium, also known as Soccer City and the venue for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final. It was the site of Nelson Mandela’s first speech in Johannesburg after his release from prison in 1990. The drive continues through Diepkloof, home to Soweto’s richest and then to Kliptown, where the Freedom Charter was officially adopted in 1955. Drive past the Regina Mundi Church that played a pivotal role in the township’s history of resistance against apartheid. Then onto Vilakazi Street, the most famous street in Soweto, where two Nobel Prize winners once lived, Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. The afternoon will conclude with visits to the Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum that commemorate the role of the country’s students in the struggle against apartheid and the prestigious Apartheid Museum, that covers the full history of the Apartheid era in South Africa. Travel 100km

Enjoy a full day at leisure and unescorted. Perhaps join a tour to Maropeng, the Cradle of Mankind (optional and for own account) or enjoy some shopping at Nelson Mandela Square, home to a variety of shops and boutiques catering for all tastes and budgets.

• MORNING MAROPENG, CRADLE OF HUMANKIND TOUR – US$237 per person

Experience the birthplace of human life at the Cradle of Humankind, visit the Maropeng Museum and explore the Sterkfontein Caves (if open), discovery site of Mrs Ples, the first complete Australopithecus skull. 

• AFTERNOON PRETORIA TOUR – US$233per person

Explore the highlights of Pretoria, including Paul Kruger House, Church Square, the Voortrekker Monument, Union Buildings and City Hall. 

Depart Johannesburg after breakfast, on a long drive today, heading to the Mpumalanga Province. After freshening up at your hotel enter the world-famous Kruger National Park and spend the afternoon game viewing in your closed touring vehicle. The Park offers some of the best game viewing and wildlife opportunities in the world – and the visitor will soon appreciate the challenges of managing this unique reserve. After an action-packed afternoon in the Kruger Park, enjoy authentic cuisine from the region at your hotel. [Included Meals: Dinner] 

Distance travelled today: 430 kms

The day begins with early morning coffee or tea, followed by a thrilling open vehicle game drive (with English speaking game ranger) through the Kruger National Park with pre-packed breakfast. Your guide will endeavour to spoil you with sightings of the “Big Five”, general game and prolific bird life. There is an option (for own account and subject to availability) to learn more about the Kruger Park Anti-Poaching Dog Unit. This specialist unit trains dogs to track poachers in the field, detect firearms, ammunition and wildlife products that enter and exit through the Kruger National Park gates. A portion of the trip price of this TRAVEL WITH A PURPOSE Activity goes towards ensuring that these dogs receive the best possible care in support of the vital work they do. Return to the hotel for lunch (own account) and a short siesta. In the afternoon we will journey once again through the magnificent expanses of the Kruger National Park, unrivalled in its diversity of flora and fauna. Enjoy an afternoon of game viewing in your closed touring vehicle pursuing the Big Five and other rare and endangered species. Optional (own account) open vehicle game drives are available. Return to your hotel for overnight. [Included Meals: Breakfast] 

Distance travelled today: 250 kms

Enjoy breakfast before setting out to explore the magnificent Panorama Route, one of the most scenic routes in the region, offering glorious views, spectacular landscapes, and exquisite waterfalls. Visit majestic sights including God’s Window, the Three Rondawels and Blyderiver Canyon – the third largest canyon of its kind in the world, Bourke’s Luck Potholes, and the charming village of Graskop, one of the first gold mining camps in the country. Optional (own account) open vehicle game drives are available, should you prefer not to join the Panorama Route tour. Return to your hotel for overnight.

If you wish to do another Full day open vehicle game safari in Kruger National Park instead of the Panaroma Route Tour please add US$220

[IncludedMeals: Breakfast] 

Distance travelled today: 260 kms

Enjoy breakfast before starting the return journey to Johannesburg. Arrive in Johannesburg, at OR Tambo International Airport, at approximately 14h30, where the tour ends on arrival. Travel 400km

It is possible to add a journey to Victoria Falls.