South Africa: Battlefields & Bodegas 18 March – 1 April 2020
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SOUTH AFRICA: BATTLEFIELDS & BODEGAS 18 MARCH – 1 APRIL 2020 FROM £7,995 PER PERSON Tour Leader: Andrew Cumming DRAMATIC SCENERY AND EXHILARATING ADVENTURE South Africa is often described as ‘a world in one country’, and this tour combines four of her most enduring attractions: wildlife, battlefields, wine and culture. From the cosmopolitan city of Cape Town, to the rolling vineyards of the winelands, the spectacular coastal scenery and battlefields rich in history, South Africa needs little introduction. In the course of the tour we explore not only Cape Town itself, but also the beautiful Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens and the dramatic scenery of the Cape Point Nature Reserve. We then venture to the Cape Winelands to see some of its most historic wine estates and cellars. We will get in touch with nature at Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve, a South African Natural Heritage Site. Bushmans Kloof is a sanctuary to more than 130 ancient Bushman rock art sites and home to many endangered species of flora and fauna. Exhilarating activities include nature drives and walks, canoeing and swimming in rock pools. Our next stop is the seaside town of Plettenberg Bay, a special treat for nature lovers, surrounded by ocean, lagoons, untamed forest, and lush countryside, with monumental mountains rising gracefully in the background. We will take a boat trip to see dolphins and visit pristine beaches, walk in the beautiful Featherbed Nature Reserve and visit bird and elephant sanctuaries. We end in Kwazulu-Natal, steeped in history and literally littered with battlefields; vestiges of the struggles of the Zulu Civil Wars and the clashes between the Boers and the British. Visit the most well-known sites where the legendary Battles of Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift took place on the same day, lodging the Zulus firmly at the top of great warrior nations. Isandlwana Battlefield Knysna Lagoon Boulders Bay 15-DAY ITINERARY, DEPARTING 18 MARCH 2020 18 March London / Cape Town wonderfully well-preserved areas 22 March Cape Town & Stellensbosch interspersed with quaint towns and Suggested flight (not included in the harbours. Highlights of the trip to Full day excursion to Stellenbosch, cost of the tour) British Airways flight Cape Point include one of the world’s a picturesque university town BA 43 to Cape town departing London most spectacular drives, Hout Bay, surrounded by mountains and Heathrow at 18.15 hrs. Chapman’s Peak, Noordhoek Beach, vineyards. The town has a blend of the Cape Point Nature Reserve and historical, beautifully preserved Cape 19 March Cape Town two lighthouses on the tip of Africa. Dutch and Victorian architecture and Arrive in Cape Town at 07.45 hrs. See Boulders Beach in Simon’s Town, oak-lined avenues as well as the many Transfer to the Queen Victoria Hotel, famous for its colony of urban African enticing art galleries and shops. Visit overlooking Cape Town Harbour, penguins, plus Kalk Bay – essentially South Africa’s most famous wine where four nights are spent. The a fishing village, still a lively working farms, Babylonstoren, one of the hotel is a haven of calm, luxury and harbour and one of the best places to oldest Cape Dutch farms, L’Ormarins, understated opulence amongst the buy fresh fish straight off the boat. and La Motte, located in the beautiful hustle and bustle of Cape Town’s wine valley of Franschhoek. popular V&A Waterfront. Lunch at Harbour House Restaurant. Dinner at Gold Restaurant, an Lunch at La Motte, home to the finest Lunch under own arrangements. African 14-course menu in a wines and recognised internationally Afternoon tour of Cape Town, resting safari lodge setting. for exceptional quality. It is famous at the confluence of the Indian for its picturesque setting, traditional cuisine and historical charm. Return and Atlantic oceans, sandwiched 21 March Cape Town between the slopes of the iconic to the hotel for dinner under own Morning tour of Robben Island, arrangements. Table Mountain and the glistening which needs no introduction with sapphire waters of Table Bay. Take regards to the significance of its the cableway up Table Mountain place in South Africa’s and indeed 23 March Cape Town / Cederberg and enjoy a guided orientation walk, the world’s history. As ‘home’ to one Mountains taking in the magnificent views. After of the world’s most famous prisoners, Check out of the hotel and transfer descending the mountain take a tour statesmen and leaders in Nelson to Clanwilliam and Bushmans Kloof of the ‘Mother City’ from Signal Hill Mandela, Robben Island is quite Wilderness Retreat where two nights – where the Noon Day Gun is fired possibly the most well-known are spent. A haven of staggering at midday every day except Sunday island-prison on the planet. beauty and timeless tranquillity – through the colourful Bo-Kaap or where abundant wildlife roams free, Cape Malay Quarter, past the Grand Lunch at Mayo Restaurant. Continue Bushmans Kloof is set in the heart Parade and City Hall to the Castle of to the world-famous Kirstenbosch of the Cederberg Mountains, only Good Hope and the South African National Botanical Gardens, 270km from Cape Town. Here wide- Cultural History Museum. Dinner spectacularly sited on the lower open plains, majestic rock formations under own arrangements. slopes of Table Mountain. The gardens and crystal-clear waterfalls provide contain 9,000 of the country’s 18,000 the setting for a unique wilderness 20 March Cape Town species and has formal gardens and experience. The five-star Relais Full day exploring the Cape Peninsula lawns as well as a wild section of & Châteaux lodge has won many which offers a spectacular combination mountain forest. Return to the hotel international awards, including being of beaches and mountains, with for dinner under own arrangements. voted as Best Hotel in the World. 020 3411 4595 | [email protected] | THEULTIMATETRAVELCOMPANY.CO.UK Fugitives’s Drift Protea, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens Lunch at the lodge. Afternoon to enjoy 25 March Cederberg Mountains / just a short half-hour drive from the the various activities on offer at the Plettenberg Bay hotel and one of South Africa’s most lodge. Dinner at the lodge. picturesque and naturally beautiful Check out of the hotel and transfer seaside towns. Perched on the edge with a packed lunch to Cape Town for of a lagoon, the vibrant and bohemian 24 March Cederberg Mountains a domestic flight to George. town was established in the gold Day to enjoy the activities at the rush of 1804 and is a hub of local lodge. The reserve offers walking, On arrival transfer to Plettenberg arts and crafts. Dinner under river walks, canoeing and swimming Bay and check in at the Old Rectory own arrangements. in crystal clear natural rock pools, Hotel where three nights are spent. bird watching, rock art excursions, This heritage building, located just game viewing and sunset game drives metres from the beach, dates from 27 March Plettenberg Bay in open 4x4 game vehicles. It is the 1777 and was later used as a rectory Excursion to the stunning perfect environment for painting, by the Anglican church until the Featherbed Nature Reserve in photography and quality downtime. present rectory was built in 1939. Knysna. Take the ferry across the Bushmans Kloof is a malaria- and The beautiful building is now being Knysna Lagoon to the Western Head. predator-free area, ensuring guests returned to its former glory and is From here you will be taken up a are safe to experience wildlife and the focal point of this boutique hotel. beautiful 4x4 trail into the Reserve, herds. Only the rare and secretive Lunch and dinner at the hotel. inhabited by the Knysna turaco, Cape leopard roams the most remote endangered dwarf chameleon, Brenton blue butterfly and illusive of the mountains. Bushmans Kloof 26 March Plettenberg Bay forest elephant. The smallest today protects one of the largest Morning boat ride by cat-style boat antelope, the blue duiker, and South private herds of Cape mountain to some of the best spots along the Africa’s national bird, the blue crane zebra in the world, an animal saved coastline to see dolphins. Other can also be viewed here. You can from the brink of extinction. The sightings may include seals, pelagic also choose to take a short, guided Cape mountain zebra is identified birds as well as sharks, big fish, tour through the coastal forest into by its bold black and white stripes, penguins and octopus in their nearby sea caves. as opposed to its savannah-dwelling natural habitat. cousin, the Burchell’s zebra, which Buffet lunch at the Reserve’s famous has brown ‘shadow’ stripes, and Lunch at Bramon Wine Estate. This outdoor restaurant under a canopy a creamy undercoat. The wildlife afternoon visit the Birds of Eden of Milkwood trees. Visit an elephant reintroduction programme has also sanctuary which is home to about sanctuary where guides will provide seen the return of the magnificent 220 different types of birds with in-depth information and insight bontebok, red hartebeest, grey rhebok more than 3,500 birds living in the into African elephants. You will be and the ostrich. Smaller creatures sanctuary. The award-winning bird introduced to the elephants in the such as the bat-eared fox, African sanctuary provides a home where sanctuary’s forest area, and here you wildcat, Cape fox, caracal (African caged birds can live a life of free-flight will be able to touch and interact with lynx), Cape clawless otter, baboon, in a habitat as large and natural as is the elephants. Dinner at the hotel. rock hyrax (dassie), klipspringer, possible. The feathered inhabitants aardwolf and aardvark also roam of the aviary are comprised of a the plains and rocky outcrops of mixture of exotic as well as African 28 March Plettenberg Bay / the reserve.