Cape Town is one of the world's most beautiful cities. Perched between the ocean and the mountain, with a national park as its heart, there is nowhere like Cape Town. Cape Town, the "Mother City", is the oldest city in South Africa and has a cultural heritage spanning more than 300 years. The unique topography of the region makes it easy to orientate oneself as long as you remember that with Table Mountain behind you and Robben Island before you, you are facing north, looking across Table Bay and up the west coast of Africa.
Set just over an hour from Cape Town, within the inspiring landscapes of the Cape Winelands, Franschhoek is a heritage town and a world-renowned food and wine destination. Travellers could choose to focus their visit on any one aspect alone - nature, cuisine or culture - and find plenty to keep them busy. The estates here attract wine experts from around the globe with their Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cap Classique sparkling wine (among others). Five-star restaurants alongside the cellars are surrounded by the same jaw-dropping valley scenes that have brought artists and writers to the area for centuries. A superb literary festival takes place around May every year, and, combined with the town’s Cape Dutch manor houses, fascinating museums, and charming boutiques, makes Franschhoek a wonderful place to visit in winter. Summer provides endless hiking, cycling and other outdoor opportunities among the lush farmlands and mountains.
Adjacent to the Kruger National Park, the Sabi Sand Nature Reserve is a private premier viewing destination. It was the first-ever private nature reserve established in South Africa. The landscape features 65 000 hectares of savannah-covered land interspersed with watering holes, dry river beds, Lowveld woodlands, and the perennial Sabi and Sand rivers. This spectacular reserve offers exceptional game viewing opportunities with frequent sightings of the renowned Big Five as well as cheetah, zebra, giraffe, and a variety of antelope. Visitors can enjoy excellent wildlife viewing, dining under the stars, guided bush walks and enjoying a stay in some of South Africa’s most luxurious safari lodges.
Stretching over more than two million hectares, the famous Kruger National Park is one of the world’s largest game reserves and a truly remarkable destination. Owing to its exceptional size, visitors are able to experience fantastic diversity – from changing scenery and ecosystems to an impressive array of animals, plant life and birdlife. The park is home to over 130 mammals and over 500 bird species. Visitors can look forward to learning about the area’s prehistoric past, enjoying a host of accommodation options, and viewing abundant wildlife including the famed Big Five. The diversity and sheer density of wildlife make Kruger National Park an unforgettable and once-in-a-lifetime experience.
One of the original natural wonders of the world, the Victoria Falls is a World Heritage Site and an extremely popular tourism attraction. Known locally as ‘The Smoke that Thunders’ this spectacle is accessible from both Zambia and Zimbabwe and it is an ideal place to combine a game viewing and water sports. There is excellent fishing, a terrifying bungee jump and arguably the best commercial white water rafting in the world.
