Travel component I
Western Cape - Garden Route - Port Elizabeth
Legend Meals: (B) Breakfast, (L) Lunch, (D) Dinner
Travel assistant = your German speaking tour guide and driver, who assist you through your whole journey
Day 1: Flight from Europe/Cape Town
Morning arrival at Cape Town International Airport and welcome by your tour guide and travel assistant. You will be transferred to your hotel in Cape Town. After your check-in you have time for yourself and your travel assistant will show you nice places for lunch at the Waterfront or show you around in the city in the afternoon.
Day 2: Cape Town
Your travel assistant will pick you up at your hotel and you start your day with a drive up to the bottom of the famous Table Mountain.
Depending on the daily weather, you will either go up the Table Mountain with the cable car, which will over you a great view over the city and the harbour of Cape Town. You will also take a walk on top of the Table Mountain and explore the different vegetation with plants, which can’t be found somewhere else in the world. Or, if the weather conditions doesn’t allow a cable car ride you will walk along one of the hiking trails in the area and explore the gorgeous plants in the Table Mountain National Reserve. Afterwards you will drive to Signal Hill, also a very good picture-taking spot and viewing point over the city.
After lunch you will take a boat trip to the historical Robben Island, the prison island of the famous fighters against the Apartheid system like
Nelson Mandela. The boat trip will take about 20 minutes and you will have a guided tour on the island and the prison itself. The whole island tour will take about 3 hours and when you come back to Cape Town you will enjoy a nice evening dinner at the well-known Waterfront.
Meals included: (B)
Day 3: Cape Town
After your breakfast you will drive with your travel assistance to the Cape Point with its Cape of the Good Hope. The drive will take about 1 hours driving time and you will enter the Cape of the Good Hope Nature Reserve at the end of the Cape Peninsula. Driving through the Nature Reserve
will give you the opportunity to spot some South African wildlife like Zebras and ostriches. You will walk or take the cable car up to the lighthouse (it’s about 30 minutes walking time) where you have the perfect view over the rough cliffs of the Cape Point and where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean. The Cape Point is famous for its graveyard of famous ships which sink here during the centuries. If you are lucky with the wind and waves you will be able to spot the famous “Flying Dutchman”, which also sink years ago in this area.
On your way back you will drive toward the charming small village of Simons Town to visit the Boulders Colony, the Penguins of South Africa! Walk over the wooden runways and meet these fascinating animals. A special and unforgettable experience. After your meet and greet with the penguins you drive back to Cape Town over Chapman’s Peak – a drive which counts to the most spectacular marine drives in the world.
Meals included: (B)
Day 4: Cape Town
Today you will drive to the wineyards of the Western Cape. In this area you will taste local wines, which count to the best wines of the world. Your drive will take you to Franschhoek, a must-see village on every trip to the Western Cape, where you can enjoy a short walk through this historical and romantic village. Afterwards you will visit the most famous and best wine estates in the area, where you can taste there wines and listen to the stories behind them. You will enjoy your wineyards lunch in the beautiful surrounding and viewing the never ending grape-vines. In the afternoon you will stop at the small town of Stellenbosch, also famous for its excellent wines and, as well, the second oldest town in South Africa. Take your time in Stellenbosch to explore the various small shops and cafes.
Meals included: (B)
Day 6: Cape Town/Hermanus (this day is subject to change, depends on the season if you are able to spot the whales (only July to November)
After breakfast you are driving to Hermanus, a lovely town on the southern coast of the Western Cape. Every year from July to November this place is the perfect viewing spot for the whales, which came there yearly go give birth. An experience you should not miss. Hermanus is also a perfect place to visit one of the various fish restaurants to taste local fish and indigenous ingredients and herbs. Driving time from Cape Town to Hermanus is about 2.5 hours (one way). You will have one overnight stay in Hermanus to watch the whales - an impressive holiday experience.
Meals included: (B)
Day 7: Hermanus/Plettenberg Bay & Knysa
Today you will have a longer drive but you will enjoy it! You follow with your guard the Garden Route, which is one of the most beautiful roads to drive in the world. After breakfast you start your way to Plettenberg Bay. The small village of 'Plett' is one of the most common destinations for beach holiday and welcomes their guests with long white sand beaches. Driving time from Hermanus to Plettenberg Bay is about 5 hours. You will enjoy the great drive with a lot of stops to take great pictures. In the afternoon you will arrive in Plettenberg Bay and check in to your lodge, close to the famous Tsitsikamma National Park. You will have two overnight stay in Plettenberg Bay.
Meals included: (B), (D)
Day 8: Plettenberg Bay & Knysa
Today you will visit the Tsitsikamma National Park with its forests and canyons. You have the possibility for a hiking trail on the Tsitsikamma trail or Otter trail, which ends at teh close Nature Valley. You will also see the impressive Yellowwood trees and the 'Big Tree', which is over 40 metres high and over 800 years old. A highlight is also the crossing of the rope bridge over the Storms River. You will have a tasting hiking picnic on your way before you return to your lodge in the evening.
Meals included: (B), (L), (D)
Day 9: Plettenberg Bay & Knysa
After breakfast you travel on to Knysa, which its gorgeous lagoon and the biggest ouster breeding place in South Africa. The driving time from Plettenberg Bay to Knysa will only be about 1 hour and you will have enough time enjoy this charming small village. Knysa offers a lot of nice and small restaurants with excellent sea food. In Knysa you will visit the harbour, the virgin forests of Knysa and - if you love steam trains, don't miss a tour with the legendary Outeniqua Choo-Choo train. Knysa is also a high recommended place to spend time at the beach and enjoy the sea for swimming and other water sport activities.
Meals included: (B), (D)
Day 11: Plettenberg Bay & Knysa
Today you will drive to Monkeyland - a natural reserve only about 30 minutes driving time away and home of numerous african monkey breeds. You will walk through the reserve and listen to the stories behind the different monkey breeds of South Africa. In the afternoon you will visit the picture taking lagoon of Knysa and walk along the beaches before you return to your lodge to enjoy a drink and watching the sundowner.
Meals included: (B), (D)
Day 12: Plettenberg Bay & Knysa/Port Elizabeth
After breakfast you will drive further to Port Elizabeth and check in to a lodge at the Shamwari Private Game Reserve, which is about 45 minutes driving time away from the airport. The driving time from Knysa to Port Elizabeth is about 3 hours. After your check-in you have time for yourself and a small lunch at the lodge. In the afternoon you will go for a game drive through the Shamwari Private Game Reserve and with a little bit of luck you will be able to spot Africa's Big 5!
The Shamwari Private Game Reserve covers over 20’000ha and is one of the most famous private game reserves in South Africa. The reserve won a lot of prices for its animal protection programs and also won the price for the best nature conservation programs worldwide.
Meals included: (B), (L), (D)
Day 13: Port Elizabeth
Today you start your day with a bush walk together with your ranger. You will walk through the South African bush and experience the peace and silence surrounding you. On a bush walk you have the unique experience to see the smallest animals and listen to their interesting stories behind. You will enjoy your lunch outside in the bush, prepared as a nice and charming ‘bush-picnic’. When you are refreshed you start your walk back home to your lodge where you have enough time in the afternoon for a drink at the terrace and overlooking the waterhole.
Meals included: (B), (L), (D)
Day 14: Port Elizabeth/Flight back to Europe
Today is your day of departure or you combine this travel component with another one to get some more South African experience. After your breakfast your ranger will take you out for another game drive and show you the wild animals of South Africa. After your return at the lodge you will have a last gorgeous lunch at the terrace. You can refresh yourself and pack the last things in your suitcase before you will drive to the Port Elizabeth airport for your return flight
Meals included: (B), (L)
Our add-on's for this travel component:
- Go shopping on the market with your chef at the lodge and cook with him your dinner. Your chef will explain you the ingredients and teach you how to cook new and fancy meals
- Go out to the wineyards with your wine maker and taste the grapes and listen and watch how the South African wine is produced. You visit with him the wine cellar and he will explain to you the secrets of the wine. At the end of the day you will get your own bottle of wine with your label on it
- Surf it - the beaches around Cape Town are known as one of the most difficult beaches to surf. If you know how to surf you can book a surf experience together with a surf-pro, who will show you the best waves