Safari – KwaZulu-Natal – Photographers Paradise

On arrival at Cape Town International Airport, proceed through immigration and baggage claim to the arrivals hall.
Your driver will be waiting (with a signboard) for your transfer to your Sea Point hotel,

After check-in formalities, the rest of the afternoon is at your leisure.

Dinner is included this evening as a set menu at the Skye Rooftop Bar at the Hyde Hotel (beverages for your own account)

After breakfast – morning at your leisure

08h30 – collection for a private morning Half Day City and Table Mountain Tour

Our drive to the city centre takes us past famous landmarks such as the Castle of Good Hope, built in 1666 by the Dutch East India Company and City Hall, a baroque building and the Grand Parade. As we follow the city’s main thoroughfare, Adderley Street, we will see St. George’s Cathedral, the Anglican Diocese of Nobel Peace Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

We will pass the Company Gardens and the Malay Quarter [also known as the Bo-Kaap], which means “Above Cape ” because of its location up against the slopes of Table Mountain.  In the early 18th century, thousands of slaves from Java, Ceylon and other Far Eastern regions were brought to Cape Town.  After slavery was abolished, their descendants, known as the Cape Malays, settled here.

Continue to join a sparkling tour and witness the art of diamond cutting and the careful craftsmanship of jewellery manufacturing by skilled experts. Discover the history of the Diamond and Gold Trade in South Africa.

You will be offered the option of continuing to Table Mountain, where you can ascend to the top [weather permitting] by the revolving cable car.  Here, you’ll see wildflowers and the famous silver tree and marvel at a birds-eye view of the city and its beaches.  On a clear day, it is even possible to see Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on one side and Cape Point on the other.

Includes Malay Quarter, Table Mountain, drive past the Parliament Buildings, City Hall, Slave Lodge & Company Gardens, visit a Diamond Cutter
Visit to the Castle of Good Hope (time permitting)
(excludes the cost of the Cable Car ticket – currently R490.00 (am) per person return
Please note: It’s recommended that you pre-buy your Table Mountain cable car tickets online prior to the commencement of the tour in order to avoid potential queues at the cable car station on the day of the tour.
https://www.tablemountain.net/plan-your-visit/buy-tickets

Return to the hotel around 13h00
Afternoon at your leisure

In the early evening, you will be collected (18h00) for an African Dinner and Drumming Experience

Join a fun-filled evening of interactive entertainment and delectable food at Gold Restaurant. Sample a set Cape Malay / African style menu, which is served at the table in sharing and individual portions. The evening starts off with an interactive djembe drumming session followed by a traditional soothing hand-washing ceremony.  A professional djembe drum instructor will teach you how to play the basic rhythms of the djembe drum.  Live entertainment during dinner includes a Mali puppet show, which involves storytelling with singers, dancers, puppets and musicians. The final performance is by the waiters and kitchen staff, who will entertain you with some local songs and dances.

This evening is around 5 hours, with your benign transferred back to your hotel around 23h00

Includes Return transfers from Cape Town city centre hotels, Interactive djembe drumming session, and set menu dinner
Excludes All beverages and tips

08h30 – collection for a private Full Day Cape Peninsula Tour 

Bring your camera; we’re headed for Cape Point at the southwestern tip of the Cape Peninsula and the most spectacular views in the world.  The drive there is just as inspiring, passing steep mountains, secluded coves, sweeping beaches, villages, and fishing communities.

Our tour begins with a scenic drive along the Atlantic coast, passing through the cosmopolitan suburb of Sea Point and Camps Bay with its glorious views of the Twelve Apostles, part of the Table Mountain range.  We’ll continue to the fishing village of Hout Bay, one of Cape Town’s best-kept secrets.

Here there is an option to take a short boat trip to Duiker Island (for your own account and time permitting – currently R140.00 per person) to view the Cape Fur Seals, which inhabit the island.

From here, we travel to the Cape Point Nature Reserve, comprising over 17,300 acres of indigenous fauna and flora.

Here we can see a variety of wildlife, including baboons, Reebok, Cape Mountain zebra, bontebok and the elusive eland.  The reserve is also one of the world’s largest breeding grounds for tortoises.  Bird-watchers, too, will find many fine species to observe.

The majestic coastline offers drama worthy of being called “Nature’s Greatest Show.”  We’ll be able to see the union of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans (as per legend) and may even feel the brisk wind that is dubbed the “Cape Doctor” for its presumed curative powers.

Following the coastline along False Bay, we’ll return to Cape Town by way of Simon’s Town, where we will visit the Penguin colony at Boulders Beach (for your own account – currently R190.00 per person) and Fish Hoek fishing village. We return to Cape Town, passing the University of Cape Town, Rhodes Memorial, and the Groote Schuur Hospital.

Return to hotel around 17h00

Includes Chapmans Peak Drive (if open), entrance to Cape Point Nature Reserve, Cape of Good Hope, Penguin Colony at Boulders Beach (entrance fee for own account)
Excludes lunch, Seal Island boat cruise, Penguin Colony at Boulders Beach (entrance fee for own account)

08h30 – collection for a private Full Day Winelands Tour 

While South Africa’s fertile valleys are world-famous for their crisp white and classic French-style red wines, the area is also a treasury of rustic beauty and sprawling estates shaded by giant oak trees.  Our drive today will include the country’s principal wine routes of Paarl, Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, with a stop en route for lunch (included – beverages for your own account).
Our day starts with a visit to Paarl, where the beauty of the Valley will strike you, the pristine blue sky, the rolling vineyards, and the Pearl of Paarl set high above the valley. Paarl made headlines when President Mandela was released from the Groot Drakenstein prison (ex Victor Verster), on the outskirts of the town, to freedom and the start of the new South Africa.  We enjoy a wine-tasting and cellar tour at one of the local estates.

From Paarl, we’ll continue northwest to the beautiful village of Franschhoek, near the Drakenstein Mountains, founded in 1688 by French immigrants fleeing the Huguenot religious persecution in Europe.  A memorial in the town commemorates the arrival of these early settlers who helped develop the wines sought after by Napoleon, Bismarck and royalty such as Edward VII, the Prince of Wales.
Here, we will stop for lunch (beverages for your own account) and another wine tasting at a vineyard.

We’ll then head to Stellenbosch, the second oldest town in South Africa and the historic heart of the country’s wine region.  In 1679, Dutch East India Company governor Simon van der Stel recognised the fertility of this long valley on the banks of the Eerste River as perfect for vineyards.  The rest is history, which has been carefully cultivated in this town.  A gracious blend of 18th-century Cape Dutch, Georgian and Victorian buildings is evident on Dorp Street, where massive oaks still shade original water furrows. Enjoy a final wine tasting before returning to Cape Town.

Return to hotel around 17h00 – dinner and evening at your leisure

Includes travelling through historic wine-making towns of Paarl, Franschhoek and Stellenbosch, 3 wine tastings, and 1 cellar tour, set menu lunch (beverages for own account)

All too soon, your Cape Town Holiday has come to an end, and after breakfast and check-out formalities (10h00), you will be transferred to Cape Town Airport for your onward flight home (flight details to be advised)

Should you have a late afternoon or evening flight out, the hotel may store your luggage while you have use of public facilities. Late checkout can only be accommodated at additional costs