Overview

Itinerary

1. Day 1 Cape Town International Airport → Cape Town

   Day of arrival - Cape Town

   The time of your arrival will determine the program for the day. If time allows, you could consider a half day tour of the City of Cape Town and Table Mountain (own account).

   The City of Cape Town, in the shade of the majestic Table Mountain and on the Southern side of Table Bay, is rated one of the ten most popular tourist destinations in the world. Table Mountain was recently voted one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

   You overnight at the Inn on the Square, situated in the centre of Cape Town on the popular Greenmarket Square. The position of the hotel brings you within easy reach of a variety of restaurants, night life and historic places in the city.

   Please note: The transfer from the airport to your hotel is not included and should be arranged separately. Africa Deluxe Tours will gladly assist you with this.

   Should you arrive a day or two earlier than the departure date of the tour, Africa Deluxe Tours can arrange a separate program before you join this scheduled tour.

   Meals : breakfast

2. Day 2

   Full day at leisure - Cape Town

   Different options are available for this day (own account). You could choose a tour of the city to include Table Mountain, or you could buy a ticket on the “topless” hop-on-hop-off bus that will take you to different popular tourist sites. This bus allows you to “hop off” at any of the sites and then join the bus again for a next destination. The bus tour includes a stop at Table Mountain.

   Alternatively, you could opt for the full day Peninsula tour (own account). This tour will take you down the Western Seaboard of the Cape Peninsula though Camps Bay, Llandudno and on to Hout Bay. From there you travel over the very scenic Chapman’s Peak Drive through Noordhoek and Kommetjie to end at Cape Point, the Southernmost point of the Peninsula. On the return trip you pay visits to the Boulders Penguins and Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, before you return to your hotel. Dinner will be enjoyed at your hotel (own account).

   Meals : breakfast

3. Day 3 Cape Town → Stellenbosch

   Cape Town to Stellenbosch via Cape Winelands (± 100Km)

   After breakfast, you take leave of Cape Town and travel north into the Cape Winelands. Your first destination will be the town of Paarl, situated at the foot of Paarl Mountain. This is the second largest granite outcrop in the world. The mountain is named after huge round boulders at the top that shimmers like pearls (Dutch “paarl”) after rain. You stop at the Afrikaans Language Monument. The monument commemorates the role the community of Paarl played to get Afrikaans recognised as an official language of South Africa.

   From Paarl you travel through vineyard country to historic Stellenbosch, the main town of the Winelands. It is the second oldest town in South Africa and boasts a large number of historic Cape Dutch buildings alongside Oak lined streets. You do a walking tour of Stellenbosch before you check in at your hotel. Dinner can be enjoyed at your hotel or at one of the many unique cafes and restaurants (for own account).

   Meals : breakfast

4. Day 4 Stellenbosch → Oudtshoorn

   Stellenbosch to Oudtshoorn via Route 62 (± 410 Km)

   After breakfast you depart for Oudtshoorn in the Klein Karoo (“Little Karoo”). The route takes you through the Huguenot tunnel and then on to the scenic route 62. The first part of the route passes through the picturesque Breede Rivier Valley (“Wide River”), which is a wine, fruit and olive producing region. At Robertson you make a stop at the Klipdrift Brandy distillery for an enjoyable tasting experience. Your journey takes you to the Kochmanskloof (a kloof is a narrow gorge through the mountains) to enter the semi-arid Klein Karoo. You drive along ever changing landscapes through valleys and among majestic mountains. Along the route you will make a lunch stop (own account). Your route continues through the Huisrivier Pass (House River Pass) and on to Oudtshoorn, the ostrich capital of the world. Check in at your hotel and relax in the country style surroundings of the hotel. Dinner at the hotel (own account).

   Meals : breakfast

5. Day 5 Oudtshoorn → Keurboomstrand

   Oudtshoorn to Plettenberg Bay via the Cango Caves (± 160 Km)

   You enjoy breakfast and then travel along the Cango valley into the Swartberg Mountain range to visit the Cango Caves. Enjoy the one hour standard tour of the caves. You will marvel at the huge halls and narrow passageways and the drip stone stalagmites and stalactites that were formed over millions of years. You travel back through the valley to make a stop at an ostrich farm for a tour of the farm and information on these wonderful birds, the largest specie in the world. Lunch is at the ostrich farm restaurant (own account).

   You travel from Oudtshoorn to The Garden Route. The route takes you over the Outeniqua Mountains and through the towns of George and Wilderness to Knysna. You visit a number of viewpoints for wonderful photo opportunities. From Knysna you travel to the nearby Plettenberg Bay and Keurboomstrand, where your hotel and holiday resort is situated. Dinner in the restaurant of the resort (own account).

   Meals : breakfast

6. Day 6

   Day at leisure (Keurboomstrand)

   Today you have the option of enjoying a day of leisure at the resort and on the beach, or you could join an optional tour to the Featherbed Nature Reserve, and then pay a visit to the Elephant Park in Knysna (own account).

   The optional tour will travel to the nearby town of Knysna where you board a ferry to take you to the Featherbed Nature Reserve, situated on the Western Heads of the Knysna lagoon. On arrival, you board a trailer, pulled by a Unimog tractor that will take you to the top of the Heads for breathtaking views over the Indian Ocean and the Knysna lagoon. You have the option to return along a scenic pathway of about 2 km that leads through a Milkwood tree forest. On arrival at the Featherbed quay you enjoy a buffet lunch (included) at their open air restaurant. After returning to Knysna by ferry, pay a visit to the Elephant Park for a close encounter with these wonderful prehistoric creatures of Africa. Dinner is at the hotel (own account).

   Meals : Breakfast

7. Day 7 Keurboomstrand → Port Alfred

   Plettenberg Bay to Port Alfred via Eastern Garden Route (± 380 Km)

   Today you travel to Port Alfred on the Sunshine Coast of the Eastern Cape. The route takes you through the Tsitsikamma Forest where you turn off for Storm’s River Mouth to enjoy the scenery of this rugged coastal reserve. Take a walk to the suspension bridge to view the waves spectacularly crashing onto the rocks. You continue your trip to the heart of the region where British Settlers arrived in 1820. Your destination, Port Alfred, is situated on the Sunshine Coast on the banks of the Kowie River. Dinner to be enjoyed at your riverside hotel (own account).

   Meals : breakfast

8. Day 8 Port Alfred → Coffee Bay

   Port Alfred to Coffee Bay (± 420 Km)

   After an early breakfast you board a riverboat for a scenic cruise up the Kowie River (weather permitting). You depart for Coffee Bay on the Wild Coast. “Wild’ indicates pristine and undeveloped. The route takes you along the coast to East London where you turn inland and head for the former Transkei region, the traditional Xhosa country. We pass Qunu, which is a collection of small traditional villages where former Pres. Nelson Mandela was born and grew up. You travel through green hilly country dotted with round huts where Pres. Mandela herded sheep and cattle as a young boy.

   Your route turns off from the main road and you head to the Wild Coast and the small hamlet of Coffee Bay. The town derives it's name from a ship wrecked there and spilling its freight of coffee beans into the Bay. Check into the Ocean View Hotel.

   Meals : dinner & breakfast

9. Day 9

   Full day at leisure

   After five days on the road, this is your opportunity to rest and relax in beautiful surroundings. You can spend the day relaxing on the beach and visiting the remarkable Hole-in-the-Wall, or you can choose one of the more adventurous activities that are available, e.g. fishing, snorkeling, abseiling, quad biking and rock climbing (own account).

   Enjoy lunch (own account) at the hotel or one of the nearby venues and use the opportunity to mix with the local Pondo people. Dinner at your hotel.

   Meals : dinner & breakfast

10. Day 10 Coffee Bay → Umhlanga Rocks

    Coffee Bay to Umhlanga (± 503 Km)

    After a last breakfast in the remote surroundings of Coffee Bay you depart for Umhlanga Rocks close to Durban in the Kwazulu-Natal province. The route takes you back to the N2 where you turn north to travel through traditional Xhosa country to Kokstad where you will lunch (own account).

    From Kokstad you turn east towards the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal. At the coast you turn north to travel along the warm Indian Ocean passing a variety of holiday towns until you reach Durban, the holiday capital of South Africa. Enjoy a short orientation tour of Durban then on to the scenic Umhlanga Rocks. Book in at your hotel and enjoy dinner (own account).

    Meals : breakfast

11. Day 11 Umhlanga Rocks → Hluhluwe

    Umhlanga to Hluhluwe via St Lucia (± 340 Km)

    After an early breakfast you depart to travel up the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal to St Lucia. St. Lucia is in the Isimangaliso Wetland Park. This Park is a World Heritage Site and the largest estuarine system in Africa. The St Lucia estuary is home to a great number of hippos, crocodiles and a multitude of bird species. Enjoy some leisure time, alternatively you can enjoy an optional boat cruise on the estuary (own account). After lunch (own account) you drive to your overnight accommodation at Bonamanzi Game Park.

    After check in you depart for an open vehicle game drive in the nearby Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve. This Game Reserve is the oldest in Africa and famous for saving the endangered white rhino. It is home to the ‘big five’ (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo & rhino). The highly endangered wild dog is also found here.

    You return to your overnight accommodation for dinner and drinks (own account).

    Meals : breakfast

12. Day 12 Hluhluwe → Hazyview

    Hluhluwe to Hazyview via Swaziland (± 470 Km)

    After breakfast you depart northwards to enter the small kingdom of Swaziland, an absolute monarchy and one of the smallest countries in Africa. You enter Swaziland at the Lavumisa Border post and continue north. You travel through the Hlane Royal National Park, part of the Lebombo Conservancy. A lunch stop will be made at the Nisela Safari Lodge (own account). You exit the Kingdom at the Mangana Border post to enter the South African Province of Mpumalanga (Mpumalanga means “place where the sun rises”).

    In Mpumalanga you turn west with the famous Kruger National Park to your right, then you turn north to Hazyview. Your resort hotel is on the fringes of this small town. Dinner will be enjoyed at the hotel.

    Meals : dinner & breakfast

13. Day 13

    Full day in the Kruger National Park

    Enjoy an early breakfast before departing for the famous Kruger National Park for a full day safari in a closed vehicle. You search for the ‘big five’ (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino) and other game and birds. This huge park covers 19,485 square km and runs 360 km from north to south. The Park is home to a staggering variety of fauna and flora including 147 mammal species en 507 bird species.

    A lunch stop at a restaurant in one of the camps gives you the opportunity to relax in the special atmosphere of the African bush (lunch for own account).

    After lunch you do another game drive before returning to your hotel at Hazyview late afternoon. Relax and enjoy dinner at the hotel.

    Meals : dinner & breakfast

14. Day 14 Hazyview → Ohrigstad

    Hazyview to Ohrigstad via the Panorama Route (± 190 Km)

    Today, the emphasis will be on enjoying breathtaking scenery. After breakfast you travel up the escarpment to Graskop, and then travel further to enjoy the Panorama Route.

    The Panorama Route runs along the edge of the escarpment marking the divide between the Highveld and the Lowveld. You stop at Wonder View for a 180 degree view over the Lowveld with a sheer drop of approximately 700 m. Your next stop will be at the Bourke’s Luck potholes where the remarkable ‘potholes’ were formed in the rocky bed of the Breede River where it enters the Blyde River Canyon.

    The Three Rondavels viewpoint gives wonderful views down the Blyde River Canyon, the largest green canyon in the world. From here you travel to Ohrigstad and your overnight stay is at the outskirts of Ohrigstad at the Hanna Game Lodge. Dinner at the Lodge (own account).

    Meals : breakfast

15. Day 15 Ohrigstad → Rosebank (Johannesburg)

    Ohrigstad to Johannesburg via Dullstroom (± 365 Km)

    After breakfast, depart for Johannesburg. The route takes you over Lydenburg to Dullstroom. Dullstroom is renowned as a mecca for trout fishing and very popular with locals as a weekend breakaway.

    You continue to Belfast, one of the most high-lying towns in South Africa. Belfast is known for the peculiarity that tulips are exported to Holland from here. At Belfast you join the N4 Highway that connects Maputo, in Mozambique, with Johannesburg. The Johannesburg metropolitan area, which includes Pretoria and the Witwatersrand, is the largest metropolitan area in South Africa. Johannesburg was founded with the discovery of gold in 1886. It is the only large city in the world that is not situated next to an ocean, a river or a lake.

    Check in at your hotel in Rosebank.

    Meals : breakfast

16. Day 16 Rosebank (Johannesburg) → O.R. Tambo International Airport (ORTIA)

    Day of departure

    The departure time of your flight back home will determine your program for the day. Should time allow you could consider one of a number of optional morning tours (own account). We can assist you with advice and arrangements.

    Should you have a day or two extra before departure, we could also assist you with advice and arrangements of your accommodation, itinerary and excursions.

    We trust that you leave South Africa with precious memories and the decision to return.

    Meals : breakfast

Notes