Discover the crown jewels of South Africa – not diamonds or rubies, but a vibrant and glittering collection of cultural heritage and natural wonder. The golden sands and sapphire waters of the Cape of Good Hope are the setting for rare and beautiful animals, while the gardens of Kirstenbosch dazzle with an emerald expanse blooming floral color and variety. Fine wine, towering mountains, and preserved architecture provide a flavor of refinement, balanced by the raw glamour of the predators and prey at Kruger National Park. Polish your trip off to a fine gleam with the optional post-extension to the sparkling turquoise waters of Victoria Falls.
Degree of Difficulty –
Your journey begins as you board your overnight flight to Cape Town, arriving the next day. Your hotel is situated on Cape Town’s Platinum mile and overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. WINCHESTER MANSIONS.
Meals Aloft
Discover a cornucopia of culture, natural beauty and history around every bend on your drive to the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve highlighted by quaint seaside towns, rugged shorelines and majestic rock formations. At Cape Point, see rare proteas, the endangered sago-belly frog, Cape grysbok, Cape mountain zebra, and Cape fox. After lunch, get up close to comical African penguins at Boulders Beach, and end your day at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, a living display of South African flora, including a wild almond hedge planted in 1660 by Dutch settler Jan van Riebeeck. WINCHESTER MANSIONS.
(Breakfast, Lunch)
Ascend Table Mountain in a cable car and share the magnificent views with scampering hyraxes. A World Heritage Site, Table Mountain is alive with birds and adorned with 1,470 plant species. Afterward, venture off on a scenic expedition to the wine lands region situated below the spectacular Boland Mountains and discover the internationally acclaimed vineyards of Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschhoek on the Western Cape. Visit the past at the estate of Boschendal with its brilliantly preserved Cape Dutch architecture and period furniture. All the wine estates you’ll visit in the region offer tastings and cellar tours and you’ll enjoy lunch in one of them. Return to Cape Town in the late afternoon where your evening is at leisure. WINCHESTER MANSIONS.
(Breakfast, Lunch)
Discover a cornucopia of culture, natural beauty and history around every bend on your drive to the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve highlighted by quaint seaside towns, rugged shorelines and majestic rock formations. At Cape Point, see rare proteas, the endangered sago-belly frog, Cape grysbok, Cape mountain zebra, and Cape fox. After lunch, get up close to comical African penguins at Boulders Beach, and end your day at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, a living display of South African flora, including a wild almond hedge planted in 1660 by Dutch settler Jan van Riebeeck. WINCHESTER MANSIONS.
(Breakfast, Lunch)
Enjoy a day at leisure in Cape Town to explore on your own. Or avail yourself to a cultural day (at additional cost) with a visit to one of the most significant and moving sights in South Africa, Robben Island, where former President Nelson Mandela spent 17 years imprisoned for his beliefs. After lunch, visit the Townships, a tour that offers an insight and interaction with different cultures, communities and individuals. Witness the living accommodations created at the height of the apartheid era, and end your tour with a visit to Khayelitsha (“new home”). Duties permitting, you will meet founder Vivian Zilo, and spend time with her gaining a personal insight into her work in the community and learning more about the area in which they live. Vivian established the Iliso Care Society in June 2005 when she solicited the help of four other women to begin providing services to her community. WINCHESTER MANSIONS.
(Breakfast, Lunch-if taking optional tour)
Bid farewell to Cape Town as you fly to Skukuza, where you transfer to your luxury camp located within Kruger National Park. Crisscrossed by five rivers, Kruger serves as refuge for 300 different types of trees, 49 species of fish, 34 types of amphibian, 116 different reptilian species, 505 species of birds and 147 species of mammals. Your guide will interpret the ecosystems and animal behavior, and help you to identify the strands in the web of life. Your lovely lodge is set on the banks of the Nwatswitswonto River. Experience the colonial delights of four o’clock tea, succulent evening meals, cigars and brandy. All suites are beautifully appointed with luxuriant furniture and imported linen. Spacious decks offer stunning salas and private plunge pools with views over the river bed and onto the plains beyond. IMBALI SAFARI LODGE.
(Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Daily)
A last chance to discover the wildlife of South Africa before your flight to Johannesburg where you connect with your return flights home, arriving the USA next day.
(Breakfast, Meals Aloft)
Prices vary by season and package. Please inquire by phone at (800) 627-1244 or email info@classicescapes.com for more information and a pricing estimate.
No matter when South Africa is visited, it is a stunning country and one is sure to delight in its offerings. South Africa is affected by the waters surrounding the country on three sides, and thus there’s variation in the weather pattern depending on what part of the country visited. In Cape Town, the winter months (June-August) are mild and changeable; this is also the time when most of the rainfall occurs in the Cape. Summer months (January-March) around Cape Town are generally dry. On the high veld, in the center of South Africa around Johannesburg, there are sharp differences of temperature between day and night and it can be quite cold during the winter months. During the summer months at Kruger (December-March,) there can be sporadic rainfall in the form of quick thunder showers, but wildlife viewing is superb no matter when visited. April through August represent the winter months in Southern Africa which in turn means very little rain in most of the country, except for the Cape. South Africa is incredible to visit, particularly the Cape, during the Spring, when the wildflowers are in bloom – generally midAugust through September. Marine enthusiasts should consider visiting between June and November when the Southern Right Whales congregate in the waters.
