/ South Africa / KwaZulu-Natal /
CLASSIC SOUTH AFRICA SAFARI
Day 01 - 02: Johannesburg
Upon your arrival at O.R. Tambo International Airport, you will be met by a CC Africa representative, who will then chauffeur you to the Forum Homini Boutique Hotel. Our Representative will hand over your travel documents, go through them with you and assist with any questions you might have with regards to your tour. En route to your hotel, you will enjoy an enlightening tour of the Cradle of Mankind.
Enjoy two nights at the Forum Homini Boutique Hotel. Accommodation is in a forum suite and is on a bed and breakfast basis.
Situated North-West of Johannesburg is the Cradle of Mankind; a World Heritage site which has been excavated by the University of the Witwatersrand. A specialist guide takes the public into the Sterkfontein Caves and fossils can also be viewed at the Robert Broom Museum, which is located on the site. You start at the scientific exhibition, which consists of four large show cases, includes life like models of hominids, a sabre tooth cat, a reconstruction of a mined cave vs. a pristine cave, cave formations and geologies, early life forms, fossils in general (mammals and homo), specific finds such as Mrs. Ples, Taung Child and Little Foot, details of fossilization, paleo botany and landscapes.
The Forum Homini five star boutique hotel is an experience of inestimable value. It is located in a private game reserve, The Cradle of Humankind, one of the world's most famous heritage sites. The hotel is an architectural masterpiece set in a solemn and poetic landscape. Sweeping views of the valley abound from luxury suites with roofs covered in thatch. This unique design has a slightly subterranean feel with long grassveld creeping up the walls. This allows for an almost cave–like experience. Light and shadow play on the sheer expanses of glass, ensuring natural light and warmth. As you walk through this incredible site, you are presented with images layered and overlaid, even distorted by time; a subtle handprint, an ancient totem, sculptures with references to evolution.
Day 02 – Half Day Soweto Tour
Today you will set off on a half day Soweto tour. This guided tour will take you into the heart of this sprawling township, which produced three Nobel Peace Prize winners, and will allow you to get acquainted with South Africa's struggle in politics. Places of interest include the Mandela Family Museum, Hector Pieterson Memorial (commemorating the 1976 student uprising), the Regina Mundi Church and a shebeen (optional).
Day 03 - 04: The Battlefields
After breakfast you will be collected from the Forum Homini Boutique Hotel and you will be chauffeured back to O. R. Tambo International Airport, in time for your flight to Durban Airport (flight not included). At Durban Airport, you will be met by a CC Africa representative, who will then chauffer you to the Fugitives Drift Lodge, situated in the Natal Battlefields.
Enjoy two nights at Fugitives Drift Lodge. Accommodation is in a standard room and your stay is on is on a full board basis, including three meals per day.
This luxurious country lodge is situated along the Buffalo River in the Natal Battlefields. Enjoy superb meals in the splendid atmosphere of a veritable museum of Zulu war memorabilia. Attentive, well-informed staff is on hand to ensure that you will leave with a thorough understanding of this region, its people and their history. Spacious ensuite cottages have private verandas affording beautiful views over the plains, flanking the Buffalo River Gorge. These comfortable rooms are all ensuite (with a bath, w.c. and hand basin) and feature a small sitting area with two comfortable chairs and coffee table, dresser or desk with chair, mirror, hot water bottle, extra duvets, mohair blankets and hairdryer. Enjoy sundowners around a fire, under a canopy of paperbarks, with the Isandlwana battlefield on the skyline.
Day 04 – Battlefields Tour
Today you will embark on a Battlefields tour. During your early morning drive to Isandlwana, you will listen to a tape narrated by David Rattray, explaining the background to the Anglo-Zulu War., before making a stop en route for a comfort break and to view the museum at Isandlwana. The lecture on the battlefield begins when tea, coffee and refreshments are served and will take place half way up the hill. Another tape will be played, this time describing the story of the survivors and events after the battle of Isandlwana, on your way back to the Lodge for a delicious lunch. You will then continue with the tour at 15h00, where you will have time to look through the museum at Rorke’s Drift, before the lecture begins at 16h00. The lecture concludes around 18h00 and guests are then given the opportunity to look around the memorials and graveyard before returning to the Lodge.
Day 05 - 07: Kwandwe Private Game Reserve
Today you will be chauffeured back to Durban Airport, for your flight to Port Elizabeth Airport (flight not included). From Port Elizabeth Airport, you will depart on non-scheduled charter flight to Kwandwe Private Game Reserve.
Enjoy three nights in Kwandwe Private Game Reserve, at Great Fish River Lodge. Accommodation is in a suite. Your stay is on a fully inclusive basis including three meals daily, soft drinks, house wines, local branded spirits and beers, teas and coffees, two game drives daily in private open 4x4 safari vehicles, refreshments on game drives, one hour nature walks (subject to availability) accompanied by experienced and armed trackers, laundry and emergency medical evacuation insurance.
Kwandwe Private Game Reserve lies in the heart of South Africa’s malaria-free Eastern Cape near Grahamstown, and is a natural conclusion to a journey along the world-famous Garden Route. A victory for far-sighted conservation, 20 000 hectares (49 000 acres) of farmland in the Great Fish River region were restored and restocked with African wildlife. Today, thousands of animals including lion, black and white rhino, buffalo and elephant roam this diverse and fascinating reserve. Kwandwe Great Fish River Lodge is set along the aloe-studded banks of the Great Fish River and consists of nine suites with private plunge pools and spacious thatched game viewing decks. The Great Fish River Lodge is stylishly furnished in Frontier Settler style, integrating local African culture with colonial settler history. Elegant thatched stone and glass suites feature floor-to-ceiling doors which fold back to reveal uninterrupted wilderness vistas. Guest areas have a large fireplace with massive stone chimney, and a soaring thatched roof with imposing chandeliers. Sophisticated, glass-fronted sitting and dining areas boast expansive viewing decks with breathtaking river views. Delicious Pan-African cuisine is served on the private decks, in the candlelit dining room, or enjoyed in the boma (outdoor dining area).
Day 06 – Frontiers Tour
Today you embark on a Frontiers tour led by Kwandwe’s resident historian and raconteur, Alan Weyer. This safari is a unique adventure, exploring the Eastern Cape’s rich historical and cultural past. The combination of twice-daily game drives in a private 4x4 safari vehicle with exciting visits to ancient San (Bushman) rock art sites and neighboring forts and military towns, such as Fort Beaufort and Grahamstown, offers you the ultimate historic Big Five safari. (Subject to availability to of Specialist Guide)
Day 08 - 10: Cape Town
After your early morning game drive you will be chauffeured to Port Elizabeth Airport, for your flight to Cape Town International Airport (flight not included). Once at Cape Town, you will be met by a CC Africa representative, who will then chauffeur you to the Vineyard Hotel.
Spend three nights at the Vineyard Hotel & Spa. Accommodation is in a courtyard room and your stay is on is on a bed and breakfast basis.
Staying at the Vineyard Hotel combines the unique experience of Cape history, landscape, design and hospitality with all the expected comforts of an outstanding modern hotel. Known for its spectacular quiet setting, attentive hospitality, two restaurants, fine wines and excellent health and leisure facilities. Features of the rooms include en-suite bathroom and separate shower, dressing gowns, trouser presses, complimentary tea/coffee-making facilities mini-bars in most rooms, safes, satellite TV, direct dialing, international computer connections, international electrical sockets, 24-hour room service and excellent security. The Au Jardin restaurant serves gastronomic French cuisine in an unsurpassed setting overlooking the Vineyard Hotel gardens and Table Mountain. The Courtyard Restaurant is a Glass-roofed ‘bistro-style restaurant with tranquil green surrounds. The ambience is enhanced by string music and the tinkling sound of water tumbling down the waterfall. Other features of this hotel include: heated swimming pool with pool bar, free use of modern gymnasium, facilities for disabled persons and shuttle service to V&A Waterfront.
Day 09 – Full day Walk to Freedom Tour
Today you will depart on a Walk to Freedom tour. This tour traces South Africa’s dramatic transition from oppressive apartheid to one of the model democracies of the world. You will also examine the many challenges facing this fledgling democracy. The tour begins in The City where you will visit the Bo Kaap and District Six museums, both of which provide vivid insights into the lives of those who were most affected by the callous laws of apartheid. From here you will travel to the low-income townships where it is possible to obtain a perspective of the harsh realities of South African poverty, unemployment and lack of formal housing as well as a glimpse of the past and the improvements that herald a brighter future for the South African people. From here we transfer to The Waterfront for a ferry crossing to the infamous Robben Island where Nelson Mandela and many other political prisoners were incarcerated.
Day 10 – Full day Bushman Paintings Tours
After a delectable breakfast, you will embark on a Bushman paintings tour. Drive into the pristine mountainous areas around the town of Clanwilliam, visiting some unique rock art sites as you walk the San rock art trail.
Day 11: Depart
This morning after breakfast and once you have checked out of your hotel, you will be collected and chauffeured to Cape Town International Airport, for your connecting flight back home or your onward journey.
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