Eastern Cape, Garden Route & Cape Town private Tour
Day 1 – East London to Mthatha
Today you will arrive at East London Airport, where you will be met for the start of your Eastern Cape tour of Mandela's footsteps. A stop will be made at the Kei River, where your guide will give you an introduction to the area. Here you are in the heart of Xhosa country and the hillsides are dotted with traditional thatched huts and villages. We reach Mthatha, a typical African city with its street traders and markets. The afternoon is spent following the early footsteps of Nelson Mandela and you will visit the Nelson Mandela Museum before checking into your accommodation for the evening, a comfortable B&B found on the outskirts of the town of Mthatha.
Accommodation:
Country Lodge B&B -more info
Country Lodge
Country Lodge is a convenient stop-over point between Durban and East London, just outside Mthatha, and is an ideal base from which to explore the Transkei Hinterland, the rugged Wild Coast and local attractions such as the Nelson Mandela Museum and Qunu – Mandela’s birthplace.
Country Lodge offers a country setting where guests can relax in one of the 12 en-suite bedrooms and enjoy home-cooked breakfasts and 3 course dinners. Country Lodge offers good old-fashioned hospitality at competitive rates. The Lodge is family friendly, with beautiful gardens and a friendly pub where log fires burn on cold winter nights.
Country Lodge is graded 3 star.
Basis:
Bed & Breakfast, Picnic Lunch en route, Dinner
Day 2 – Mthatha to Cintsa
Enjoy breakfast at your lodge before checking out and then we head to the village of Qunu, this humble village where Madiba was born and raised. Have tea with the locals and listen to stories about Madiba's childhood. Continue south to Cintsa on the Southern Wild Coast and overnight at Crawford's, which is a beautiful lodge found on the beach at Cintsa.
Accommodation:
Crawford's Lodge B&B -Crawford’s Lodge and Cabins
Crawford’s Lodge and Cabins is set in the lush dune forests, on the beautiful Cintsa Bay Beach, only 40km from East London. Crawfords Lodge and Cabins offer elegant accommodation and Self-Catering cottages. You will experience personal service and fine country fare, in an atmosphere of intimate peace and tranquility.
Each cottage has an individual balcony looking out over an abundance of wild life and nature. Breakfast is served overlooking the sparkling pool. You can spend your days soaking up the sun at the pool or taking strolls along the unspoilt beaches at your doorstep.
Crawford’s Lodge is graded 3-star.
Basis:
Bed & Breakfast, Picnic Lunch en route, Dinner
Day 3 – Cintsa to Port Elizabeth
After breakfast you have some time to take a slow stroll along the beautiful stretch of beach in front of your lodge, before checking out. Continue to King Williams Town, where the grave site of famous Steve Biko is located, and here your guide will increase your knowledge about this great man's struggle during the days of Apartheid. Professor Perrier will then join you and talk of the many battles and wars fought in the area, which has influenced our country as a whole and where we have come to day. Continue on to Port Elizabeth, and check in to your beachfront accommodation for the evening.
The Kelway Hotel
Day 4 – Port Elizabeth to Knysna
After breakfast you are collected by your tour guide for a private tour of the Garden Route. We travel to the Tsitsikamma forest, an indigenous primeval forest with towering ancient yellowwood trees, lush vegetation and deep gorges. We drive down a steep pass to the aptly-named Storms River Mouth, where there are numerous short walking trails into the forest. We also visit the 800-year old "Big Tree". Before leaving the Tsitsikamma Forest, we stop at Bloukrans Bridge to witness the world's highest commercial bungi jump. Today we are in the heart of the Garden Route and we enjoy a scenic drive along the Old Passes road via Natures Valley. We reach Knysna in the late afternoon and check in to our accommodation for two evenings on B&B basis. Restaurants in Knysna specialise in locally-caught fresh fish and this evening we have the chance to sample the catch of the day.
Accommodation:
Knysna Log Inn -Knysna Log Inn
As the largest known timber structure found in the Southern Hemisphere, the Knysna Log Inn provides its guests with a unique accommodation experience in the heart of the town of Knysna. Beautiful yellowwood interiors and massive stain glass windows creates a setting of timeless beauty and style.
The stylish en-suite rooms provide comfortable accommodation. Hearty breakfasts and sumptuous dinners are served at the in-house restaurant. There is an outdoor swimming pool.
Knysna Log Inn is graded 4-star.
Basis:
Bed & Breakfast, Dinner at Knysna Waterfront
Day 5 – Knysna and surrounds
Today is at leisure in Knysna and your guide & vehicle are at your disposal. This quaint seaside village is full of arty-crafty shops to browse through. There are also some excellent roadside curio stalls. We suggest you take a ferry on the Knysna Lagoon, which will take you out to the Featherbed Nature Reserve. A 4x4 trailer takes you up to the top of the Western Head, one of the large sandstone cliffs guarding the narrow mouth to the lagoon. From here you can either enjoy a guided nature walk down through indigenous vegetation or you can ride the trailer again. Enjoy lunch under the milkwood trees on the edge of the lagoon before returning to Knysna. You could have dinner at one of the Knysna quayside restaurants, do a tour of an oyster farm, visit the beach at nearby Brenton-on-Sea, take a walk in the Knysna Forest, or simply relax at your hotel.
Accommodation:
Knysna Log Inn -
As the largest known timber structure found in the Southern Hemisphere, the Knysna Log Inn provides its guests with a unique accommodation experience in the heart of the town of Knysna. Beautiful yellowwood interiors and massive stain glass windows creates a setting of timeless beauty and style.
The stylish en-suite rooms provide comfortable accommodation. Hearty breakfasts and sumptuous dinners are served at the in-house restaurant. There is an outdoor swimming pool.
Knysna Log Inn is graded 4-star.
Basis:
Bed & Breakfast, dinner at Knysna Waterfront
Day 6 – Knysna to Cape Town
This morning check out of Knysna Log Inn and travel via the scenic Lake District and Wilderness. Bypass George, and continue via the small towns of Albertinia, Riversdale and Heidelberg. At Swellendam, a small village nestled at the foot of the Langeberg Mountains, we will stop to stretch our legs, and perhaps have lunch here. We then travel over undulating wheat and sheep farmland and the apple orchards of Grabouw, until the scenic Sir Lowry's Pass gives us our first view of Table Mountain and the Mother City. You will be dropped off at your hotel in Cape Town, and you have the evening at leisure to visit the trendy Victoria & Alfred Waterfront.
Commodore Hotel
Day 7 – Cape Town city tour, afternoon at leisure
This morning, on a city tour of one of the world's most beautiful cities, we visit the historic Castle and Bo-Kaap Malay Quarter with its narrow cobbled streets and colourful mosques. We view the Houses of Parliament and then, weather-permitting, we will ride the cable car up Table Mountain to enjoy the view over Cape Town and across Table Bay to Robben Island (cable car fare is not included in tour price).
You have the afternoon at leisure to visit the fashionable shopping precinct of the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, where you can book a ferry trip to Robben Island. An ex-prisoner takes you on an extensive tour of the prison, which includes a visit to Nelson Mandela's cell, the limestone quarry and the old leper colony.
Day 8 – Full day Cape Point tour
This morning we start a tour of the peninsula by following the coastline southwards, travelling via the quaint seaside village of Hout Bay and the famous cliffside Chapman's Peak Drive. The highlight of this tour is a visit to Cape Point. Looking at this dramatic promontory jutting into the sea gives us an idea why early sailors nicknamed it the Cape of Storms. We then follow the coastline northwards via Simonstown, where we visit the penguin colony of Boulders Beach. We take a stroll through the glorious Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, devoted almost exclusively to the indigenous flora of the Cape Floral Kingdom. A leisurely drive through the leafy southern suburbs brings us back to our hotel in the late afternoon.
Day 9 – Full day Winelands tour
We are driven to the Cape Winelands with its backdrop of majestic mountain ranges and lush valleys. We stop for tastings at a minimum of two wineries and you have the chance to purchase some of the wines you have tasted. We visit Stellenbosch, the "town of oaks" for a short guided tour of South Africa's second oldest town. A scenic drive over the Helshoogte Pass (Hell's Heights) takes us to the Franschoek Valley where we visit the memorial to the French Huguenots, who sought refuge from religious persecution in Europe and settled here in the late seventeenth century. We return to Cape Town via Paarl, with its three imposing granite domes.
Day 10 – Cape Town and home
This morning you are at leisure to do some last minute shopping to buy curios for your family and friends waiting for you at home, at the shopping precinct of the V&A Waterfront. This afternoon you will be collected from your hotel and transferred to Cape Town International Airport for your flights home.