Taste of South Africa

On arrival, you will be met and transferred to your hotel where you will stay for four nights. Enjoy the rest of your day at leisure.

Set in the buzzing heart of Cape Town, Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel has long welcomed guests of all ages to its iconic pink buildings and dreamy gardens. Captivating visitors since 1899, Cape Town’s iconic resort hotel is a tranquil hideaway just moments from the city’s buzzing heart. Boasting some of the best restaurants and bars in Cape Town, a stay at Mount Nelson is foodie heaven.

Cape Town is a vibrant and cosmopolitan city situated at the southwestern tip of South Africa. It is a city of striking contrasts, with a stunning natural setting nestled between the mountains and the sea. The city boasts a rich history, diverse culture, and vibrant nightlife. In Cape Town, you can find a rich and diverse culinary landscape that caters to different palates, ranging from traditional South African dishes to luxurious fine dining experiences. This city's restaurant scene is known for its global influences, making it an ideal destination for adventurous foodies.

This morning you will discover Cape Town on foot on a private walking tour.

You will be picked up from your hotel and driven to the starting point. Tours are tailored to suit your interests as we walk through the historic parts of Cape Town to discuss the complex history of this remarkable city.

Along the route, you will pass Church Square, the Groote Kerk, and original Slave Lodge, and then walk into the former Dutch East India’s Company’s Garden, today a green oasis in the middle of town. Here we focus on the parliamentary buildings, the National Library, direct you to the SA Museum, National Art Gallery, and Jewish Museum before retracing our steps to St. George’s Cathedral, the “Peoples’ Cathedral”.

If we have time, we wander through Greenmarket square up into the Bo-Kaap famed for its quaint colourful houses. We only enter museums on request as most of the tour is discussions with your guide about the past and present of Cape Town. On conclusion of your tour, you will be dropped back at your hotel. The tour duration is approximately 3 hours.

This afternoon you will enjoy a Robben Island tour. Make your own way to the Nelson Mandela Gateway at the V & A Waterfront in time for your ferry to Robben Island.

You will disembark at Murray’s Bay Harbour situated on the east coast of the Island and take a short walk to buses that will transport you to all the historical sites around the Island. On the way to the buses, you will pass buildings and a high wall built by prisoners during the 1960s. The buildings were used for family and lawyer visits to prisoners.
You will meet your Tour Guide when you have boarded the busses. The prison tour will be conducted by a Robben Island Tour Guide. This is part of our integrated tour model. They are fully conversant and knowledgeable about the Island’s multi-layered 500-year-old history. The tour route includes the graveyard of people who died from leprosy, the Lime Quarry, Robert Sobukwe’s house, the Bluestone quarry, the army and navy bunkers and the Maximum Security Prison where thousands of South Africa’s freedom fighters were incarcerated for years. The tour culminates with a viewing of Nelson Mandela’s cell.

Please note, tours depart at 9.00am, 11.00am, 1.00pm and 3.00pm. The ferries depart from the Nelson Mandela Gateway at the V & A Waterfront. The tour takes 3.5 hours including the ferry trip to and from the Island (Depending on the boat used as they have different travel times). Please note ferries are weather dependent.

Today enjoy a full-day Cape Sidecar Adventure tour.

You will be met at your hotel and then head out of the city via the Atlantic Seaboard dressed for the occasion in retro riding gear on a vintage World War II sidecar. Drive through the coastal suburbs of Clifton, Camps Bay and Hout Bay with a possible stop at Maidens Cove. You will continue over Chapmans Peak Drive through Noordhoek, Oceanview, Scarborough and onto the Cape of Good Hope. Stop at the Cape Point Nature Reserve where you can visit the lighthouse via the famous funicular (cost excluded).

Afterward re-board your sidecar and head towards the Boulders penguin colony (cost excluded). Spend some time viewing the penguins before heading out along the coast via Simons Town, Fish Hoek and Kalk Bay. After lunch (cost is excluded) drive over the scenic Boyes Drive above Mauizenburg and onto the Constantia Winelands District. Enjoy a wine tasting (cost excluded) before heading back to the city.

Please note: The sidecar can accommodate one person as a passenger on the bike behind the driver and one person as a passenger in the sidecar.

Today enjoy a full-day flexible Cape Town Private tour.

This tour is tailored just for you – you will be guided to popular or off-the-beaten-track eateries, tasting spots, or one of the many adventure activities in and around Cape Town. For the less frenetic enjoy a scenic drive; lounge on the world’s most beautiful beaches or wander through the local vineyards.

Recommended places of interest (subject to individual operating hours)
o Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art
o Woodstock Gin Company, Old Biscuit Mill and African Home Creative Arts
o Visit the picturesque town of Darling
o West Coast National Park

Today you will head to the Winelands for the following two nights. You have a driver and guide to explore today.

On route to Paarl, we stop at a few wine Estates in the area. Start with a Cellar tour and tasting at Babylonstoren, Cellar tour starts at 10:00 – duration of 2 hours.

Journey to our underground wine tunnel to savour Babylonstoren’s finest wines. Our cellar tour starts in the vineyards above ground, where vines from various styles are cultivated. From there, we venture into the working cellar with its array of wine-producing vessels, from amphorae clay pots to open cement fermenters and concrete eggs. The tour concludes with a master tasting of our finest wines, paired with farm-grown and handmade delicacies.

Babylonstoren was voted the best Innovative Wine Tourism Experience in the country in 2022 by the Best of Wine Tourism Awards.

From here head to Glen Carlou for a tasting. You will have time to enjoy lunch here (own account). Afterwards you will be transferred to your hotel and enjoy your afternoon at leisure.

Today enjoy more of the premier wine-producing regions of Paarl, Franschhoek, and Stellenbosch with your guide. Enjoy a wine-blending experience at Rickety Bridge.

Nestled amidst the stunning vista of the Dassenberg Mountain and the Franschhoek River lies a vineyard that seamlessly merges into the picturesque landscape. This is where Rickety Bridge, a winery with a rich history, can be found. The estate has been in existence since 1797, originally part of the La Provence farm given to French Huguenot farmers. The property was eventually divided and the current portion was granted to Paulina De Villiers in 1797, who was one of the earliest female landowners in South Africa.

This interactive wine blending session is aimed at both wine novices and enthusiasts alike. The Rickety Bridge team will provide everything you need and coach you in the process of making your own bottle of wine, along with a personalized wine label.

In addition to the wines, guests can expect breathtaking scenery. Each region is characterized by rugged mountain ranges and picturesque valleys with vineyards dotted along the route. Enjoy a cellar tour, and wine tastings at three top wine estates before embarking on a tour through the historic town of Stellenbosch where much of the original Cape Dutch architecture has been preserved. You will have time for Lunch (not included). Tour duration approx. 8hrs

Today you will be transferred to Cape Town airport in time for your flight.

Fly from Cape Town to Tswalu

On arrival, you will be met and your journey into the magical world of Tswalu Kalahari begins.

Tswalu offers a true wilderness experience on the southernmost edge of the Kalahari, and privileged access to the largest privately protected area in South Africa. From the landmark Korannaberg mountains to the southern Kalahari’s typical arid savannah and iconic ochre dunes rippling away to the horizon, days on safari are unscripted and unhurried.

With guaranteed access to a private safari vehicle, our guests have the freedom and flexibility to explore the remote reaches of the reserve in their own time and at their own pace. Besides game drives, safari activities include habituated meerkat encounters, nature walks, tracking, horse riding, stargazing, star-bed experiences (additional account), and meeting visiting scientific researchers and resident artists.

Your stay includes a private game viewing vehicle with a dedicated guide and tracker and a choice of the following activities: Night drives, Nature walks including traditional plant use interpretation, Habituated meerkats experience, Horse riding, Bird watching, Some of the oldest bushman rock engravings in Africa, A visit to our community clinic and pre-school, A visit and/or introduction to The Tswalu Foundation research projects, Involvement in wildlife project work on property (when available).

Other inclusions are All meals including a variety of dining experiences from boma dinners to bush picnics, a Dinner at Klein JAN restaurant, All beverages and a full selection from our award-winning wine-list, In-suite tea and coffee-making facilities, In-suite private bar and gourmet pantry, Wi-fi, Laundry and valet services.

Enjoy your included activities.

Your own private safari - with your own dedicated guide and vehicle, you can experience Tswalu exactly the way you want to. There are no fixed schedules or time limits at special sightings – during your stay, the dunes and grasslands are yours to explore the way you want to, and each wildlife encounter can unfold at its own pace.

Just like the sands of the Kalahari, we understand that your priorities can shift during your time at Tswalu. That’s why we’ll never try and shoehorn your experience into a fixed schedule.

Tswalu is unquestionably one of the best places in southern Africa to see cheetah in the wild – the vast open spaces and antelope herds of the Kalahari readily lend themselves to high-speed pursuits. Visiting Tswalu also gives you front-row seats for sightings of species that prove elusive elsewhere, from aardvark and pangolin to Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra.
Tswalu’s ecotourism ventures have a notably low ecological impact while also contributing significantly to the sustainability of the reserve and its achievement of its conservation and community upliftment goals. By remaining honest to our guiding principles, we can deliver a safari experience of startling authenticity.

Bush walks - Much of Tswalu’s beauty can be found in the smaller details: the ripples left by the wind on the crest a sand dune, a yellow flower opening to face the sun, or the tracks of a porcupine digging for roots. Walking at Tswalu gives you the opportunity to see these and other signs of the abundance of the southern Kalahari, as well as following the tracks of larger species.

Horseback riding - Another exciting game viewing option at Tswalu is a horseback ride. Horseback safaris allow guests to explore the dunes and savannahs on our well-schooled and well-mannered horses, which are suitable for all ages and all levels of experience.

There is no better way to get close to nature and the wildlife. On a horse safari in at Tswalu, you become part of the landscape and many of the animals react differently to your presence. No-one who experiences this kind of closeness with wildlife ever forgets it.

Our equestrian guides are well trained in the Kalahari ecology, and will lead you on a true safari where you can ride alongside antelope, buffalo, zebra and giraffe, or watch them from a distance without detection. Children are welcome on horseback safaris. Both trail and English saddles are available and every piece of necessary equipment is provided, in every imaginable size.

Habituated meerkats - Join a group of habituated meerkats as they emerge from their burrows and warm themselves in the rising sun or meet up with them as they return home at the end of the day and groom and play at dusk.

Their gregarious nature and amusing antics (think early morning sunbathing and playing chicken with scorpions) have made meerkats extremely popular as subjects of wildlife documentaries. Our two habituated colonies have accepted the presence of humans without letting it disrupt the important business of grooming and foraging.

Meerkats are just one of the smaller predators which abound at Tswalu: aardwolf, African wild cat, and caracal are also frequently seen.

San petroglyphs - Join your guide in trying to puzzle out the hidden meanings in millennia-old rock engravings of animals, birds, and abstract shapes. Today, no one knows whether they were created as memories, prayers or maps, but their beauty and mystery endure.

Dining - Every moment of every meal at Tswalu reflects the culinary heritage of South Africa and is carefully designed to be as inclusive as possible. Sustainability is key: we forage for Kalahari ingredients and work with local suppliers who share our low-impact ethos.

We believe that luxury is found in contextual, relevant flavors rather than wasteful over-abundance. Our food offering helps tell the story of Tswalu – it’s inspired by and captures the essence of the Kalahari.

Enjoy breakfast and a last-morning activity before your flight to either Johannesburg or Cape Town.