Experience

On arrival in Johannesburg, fly straight to the  Sabi Sands Game Reserve, home of simply the best big-cat viewing in the country. Spend 3 nights here at Lion Sands Game Reserve, including 1 in its incredible ‘tree house’ for a night under the stars listening to the sounds of the wild all around you. Your stay will include a private walking safari with an expert guide & tracker; dinner with a local conservationist and manager of the Kruger National Park to learn of the multitude of challenges it presents; a night drive; and a sunrise walk to the top of a ‘kopje’ where breakfast will be waiting as the sun appears over the Kruger and Mozambique beyond.

Then fly to Cape Town for 5 nights in this diverse and happening city – choose from a luxury waterfront hotel, a boutique option or stylish serviced apartment.  Take a private guided hike up to the top of Table Mountain (approx. 4 hrs), then after admiring the views and replenishing, descend by cable car and head to stunning  Camps Bay for a seafood feast. 

Enjoy a private meeting with Nelson Mandela’s former private secretary & high ranking officials from ANC’s past to learn of the freedom struggle;  View Robben Island with a former inmate hearing first-hand tales of incarceration there;  take a walking tour of the historic Bo-Kaap district with a resident, and lunch like a local; explore the Southern suburbs & coastal districts, viewing penguins up close and sampling the freshest seafood lunch; and dive for crayfish in Hout Bay, then learn how to ‘Braai’ like a South African.

Next, escape the city for 2 nights in some of the most stunning natural scenery anywhere – the Cape Winelands.  Franschhoek and Stellenbosch are a foodie’s paradise, with some of the best restaurants in all of Africa, serving seasonal and local cuisine, paired with a local vintage of course. Enjoy private tours of some of the region’s most exclusive cellars, bottle your own vintage for sending home, and hike with a picnic in the surrounding Heidelberg hills.

A 1.5 hour drive from the Winelands takes you to the pretty coastal town of  Hermanus for your final 2 nights. Here, if the season is right, a local whale expert and marine biologist will take you on a private boat to view some of these magnificent creatures up close and tell you of their life in these waters, before a stunning cliff walk to Grotto beach where a bbq picnic awaits.  You may only have scratched the surface of the Rainbow Nation, but its colours will leave an indelible mark.