Experience Cape-Town & Garden Route - Whale Watching Special - 12 Days (code: ESS01)
(3 Star) July to December

Day 01: CAPE TOWN - TABLE MOUNTAIN
Overnight in 3 star Hotel – B&B

Upon arrival at Cape Town International Airport, you will be met by a local English-speaking tour guide and welcomed into South Africa’s popular “Mother City”. You will be transferred to your hotel for check-in. Depending on your flight arrival time and if you wish we will transfer to Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront. Cape Town’s premier shopping and entertainment complex – to enjoy lunch at one of our many local restaurants. After lunch, we embark on an afternoon excursion to Cape Town’s most famous landmark - Table Mountain. No visit to Cape Town would be complete without a cable car ride to the top of the mountain. Photo opportunities from the top of this massif provide one with unequalled panoramic views of Cape Town. Late afternoon return to your hotel with time to relax and freshen up before dinner at a local restaurant.

Cable Car to the Table Mountain is included.

Day 02: CAPE TOWN – CAPE OF GOOD HOPE
Overnight in 3 star Hotel - B&B

Today will be a full day’s excursion where we will take a scenic drive along the Cape Peninsula stopping in Hout Bay to enjoy a short boat cruise to Seal Island to see our large Cape Fur seal colony. At the tip of the Cape Peninsula you will find Cape Point situated within the Cape Peninsula National Park where we will transfer to the Lighthouse lookout by funicular or on foot for spectacular views over the Atlantic Ocean. Also included in today’s outing will be a visit to Boulders Beach to view our resident African Penguin colony. A light lunch of sandwiches and drinks will be enjoyed en route. Dinner at a local restaurant.

Activities included: Seal island cruise, park entry fees to Cape Point Nature reserve, Funicular and Boulders Beach

Day 03: CAPE TOWN – WINELAND
Overnight in 3 star Hotel - B&B

FRANSHOEK AND STELLENBOSH
Today we will depart for the beautiful Cape Winelands areas of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek – situated within the heart of South Africa’s wine industry. Here you will have the opportunity to enjoy wine-tastings at some of our local award-winning wine estates. A light lunch will be served at one of the many wine estates along the way. During the late afternoon we return to Cape Town where we will have dinner at a local restaurant.

3 wine tasting are included

Day 04: CAPE TOWN – ROBBEN ISLAND
Overnight in 3 star Hotel – B&B

This morning we will depart our hotel for a morning tour to the well-known Robben Island – previously home to many political prisoners, including ex-President, Nelson Mandela. Today this old prison is purely a tourist attraction where tours are conducted by some of the ex-inmates.
Afternoon at leisure.

Activities included: Ferry cruise to Robben Island

Optional Activities: Aquarium / City Tour (Green Market Square, District six,..)

Day 05: GARDEN ROUTE - HERMANUS
Overnight in an accessible local Guest House, Hermanus – B&B

After breakfast, late morning departure for the coastal holiday village of Hermanus, situated approx. 2.5hrs drive from Cape Town. Lunch will be served at a local restaurant in town, followed by an afternoon Whale watching cruise. Hermanus is famous for its wonderful whale-watching opportunities, especially of the Southern Right whales (main whale-watching season runs from July – December).

Activities included: Whale watching cruise

Day 06: GARDEN ROUTE - KNYSNA
Overnight at Protea Hotel Knysna Quays or similar – B&B

After breakfast, we depart Hermanus for the start of our journey along the scenically beautiful Garden Route. Your route will take you via Mossel Bay and George to the coastal holiday village of Knysna – this quaint town has been voted South Africa’s favorite town. It is the place of adventure, with everything from adrenaline-thumping extreme sports to the more relaxing pleasures of arts, crafts and culture. The Waterfront at the Knysna Quays is a popular destination for tourists and locals alike, and offers unusual restaurants, bookshops, clothes, gifts and jewellery stores. Lunch will be enjoyed at Knysna’s popular Waterfront. After lunch we will enjoy a sunset cruise on board The Knysna Charter taking in the spectacular scenery of the Knysna Heads. There are plenty of local restaurants to choose from as dinner venues.

Activities included: Knysna Charter sunset cruise

Day 07: GARDEN ROUTE - KNYSNA
Overnight at Protea Hotel Knysna Quays or similar – B&B

After breakfast, we will make our way to Tsitsikamma National Park where the most adventurous will have the option of enjoying an exhilarating tree top canopy tour. This will take approximately 3 hours, after which we will visit Monkeyland and Birds of Eden, stopping for lunch along the way. Late afternoon we return to Knysna in time to freshen before dinner.

Activities included: Entry to Monkeyland and Birds of Eden.

Optional Activities: Tree Top Canopy Tour

Day 08: GARDEN ROUTE – ADDO ELEPHANT PARK
Overnight at Addo Elephant National Park – only accommodation (no meals included)

Today we travel further along the Garden Route via the Tsitsikamma, Plettenberg Bay and Port Elizabeth. 72kms from Port Elizabeth in the Sundays River Valley and Zuurberg Mountain range, we will arrive at the Addo Elephant National Park – the best place in the world to get up close and personal with the biggest land mammal. This park is sanctuary to over 420 elephants, 450 Cape buffalo, black rhino, and a variety of antelope species. Accommodation in the park will be in standard bungalows.

Park entry fees are included.

Day 09: GARDEN ROUTE – ADDO ELEPHANT PARK
Overnight at Addo Elephant National Park – only accommodation (no meals included)

Enjoy a full day at leisure in the Addo Elephant National Park. There are various optional activities available including breathtaking horse-riding trails – experience the thrill of riding on horseback between herds of elephant; 4x4 adventure rides, nature and walking trails through pristine bush and of course game-viewing which guarantees one of close encounters with the parks’ main inhabitants. One can also enjoy guided night drives where you will join rhino, buffalo and a host of other nocturnal hunters in the lush Addo bush.

Park entry fees are included.

Day 10: GARDEN ROUTE – PLETTENBERG BAY
Overnight in a hotel in Plettenberg Bay or Knysna – B&B

Today, after breakfast, we will transfer back towards Cape Town, stopping in Plettenberg Bay often remarked as the beautiful place where nature has made an enchanted abode.
Lunch and Dinner will be served in a local restaurant.

Afternoon at leisure.

Day 11: GARDEN ROUTE – LITTLE KAROO
Overnight at Skeiding Guest farm - D,B&B (Dinner included at the farm)

After breakfast we leave Plettenberg Bay and drive through the Little Karoo to Heidelberg. Nestling between the Langeberg Mountains and the Indian Ocean, this haven of tranquility does not land itself to being a place where the rattle of gunfire heralded a battle fought between "Boer & Brit".

A warm welcome awaits at this 1 200-hectare ostrich, grain and sheep farm between Swellendam and Heidelberg, 7 km off the N2. Enjoy panoramic Langeberg mountain views over a rolling landscape. Experience farm life at its best on a “hands on” farm tour with Neels, feeding the ostriches and observing the sheep dogs in action. Ostrich leather items on sale. Home-cooked candlelight dinners at the family dining table.

Day 12: After breakfast, we depart on a leisurely drive to Cape Town, stopping for lunch on the road. You will drive straight to Cape Town International Airport to connect your outbound flight.

2011 Departure Dates