On This Trip
- Visit Robben Island in Cape Town
- Whale watching in Walker Bay
- Tsitsikamma Forest, near Plettenberg Bay
- Private Reserves of the Kruger Park
This itinerary is a great showcase for South Africa, and ideally suited to the first-time visitor. It starts in Cape Town, one of the major highlights of the country and one of the great cities of the world. Apart from the iconic Table Mountain, you have the cosmopolitan city to enjoy, and are well placed for exploring the Cape Peninsula, now all part of the Table Mountain National Park.
Moving on, during whale season, head for Hermanus. Unlike the wet, cold whale-watching experiences you find elsewhere, in Hermanus you can bask under a clear sky, on the edge of a cliff sipping a local Chardonnay whilst watching the whales just off the shore. You can of course take a boat trip too!
Moving on to the Garden Route, you come to South Africa’s playground. Beautiful coastal scenery, dominated by lagoons, forested hillsides and long beaches are at the heart of the region’s attraction, explored on steam trains, cruises, and in your own time and pace by car and foot.
The trip concludes with a few days on safari in the Sabi Sands. This reserve, sharing an unfenced border with the Kruger National Park, is arguably the best place in the world to see the Big Five in the wild – concentrations of game, notably leopard, are so great that you would be very unlucky indeed not to have close and exciting encounters with the denizens of the bush.
Extensions
We can recommend that you add a few nights in Swellendam to break up the journey from Hermanus to the Garden Route.
Places Visited
- Cape Town
- The Whale Coast
- Plettenberg Bay