Family Wilderness & Wildlife holiday Tour
Day 1 – Arrival in Cape Town
Upon arrival at Cape Town airport you are met and assisted to the car hire company kiosk to collect your Group V hire car (Toyota Condor or Volkswagen Touran). You drive into Cape Town and check in at Ocean View House in Camps Bay. Ocean View House is set at the foot of the Twelve Apostoles, where sun, sea and mountain meet. Your quarters will be in the two-bedroomed bungalow, which has a kitchenette should you not wish to eat out every day. Breakfast is served on the pool deck of the main house. Ocean View House is a mere 5 minutes' walk from Camps Bay's Bakoven beach and the guest house has large grounds for children to play in. The rest of the day is at leisure to relax and freshen up after your international flights. In the late afternoon you can take a drive to Table Mountain and catch the cable car to the summit to experience the spectacular views over Cape Town and Table Bay.
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Ocean View House
Day 2 – Cape Point
Today we suggest you might like to take a drive along the Atlantic seaboard to the quaint seaside village of Hout Bay. Here you can take a boat ride from the fishing harbour out to the seal colony on Seal Island. Continue via the scenic Chapman's Peak Drive to Cape Point. Looking at this dramatic promontory jutting into the sea gives one an idea why early sailors nicknamed it the Cape of Storms. You can then follow the coastline northwards via Simonstown, where you can visit the penguin colony of Boulders Beach. End the afternoon with 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 will bring you back to your guest house in the late afternoon.
Day 3 – At leisure
We suggest you spend this day at leisure exploring the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. We recommend you take a ferry from the Waterfront across Table Bay 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. We would then recommend you take a short boat trip around Cape Town harbour or visit the "Scratch Patch" where children can scratch for pretty semi-precious stones in a "treasure cave". This afternoon you could visit the Waterfront's Two Oceans Aquarium, which is highly recommended for the insight it gives into life in the two oceans off the southern tip of Africa – the cold Atlantic Ocean and the warm Indian Ocean. It has a wonderful children's "touch pool". This evening would be a good time to go up Table Mountain if the weather was inclement on day one.
Days 4 & 5 – At leisure
You have the next two days to spend at leisure at one of Cape Town's beautiful beaches. There are the beaches of Camps Bay right at your doorstep or you may wish to drive over to the the warmer Indian Ocean side. Fishhoek Beach has safe swimming for children. Alternatively, museum lovers can wander through the South African Museum and the National Gallery, while shopaholics can return to the shops at the Waterfront.
Day 6 – Winelands and Grootbos
Today you depart Cape Town and drive out to the Winelands with its backdrop of majestic mountain ranges and lush valleys. You can stop for tastings at wine estates along the way and you will have the chance to purchase some of the wines you have tasted. Most of the estates have huge gardens where restless children can stretch their legs. We particularly recommend a cellar tour at Boschendal Estate on the Franschhoek Wine Route and a wine and cheese tasting at Fairview Estate on the Paarl Wine Route.
Spier Wine Estate on the Stellenbosch Wine Route has a cheetah breeding and rehabilitation programme where the children can get up close with cheetahs. Continue via the Strand and Gordon's Bay to the quaint seaside village of Hermanus, site of some of the best land-based whale watching in the world. Check in at Grootbos Private Nature Reserve. Grootbos has accurately been labelled "luxury in harmony with nature". Set among ancient milkwood trees, the large, private suites give the guest a chance to unwind.
Grootbos
Day 7 – Grootbos
Today is at leisure to explore the natural wonderland of Grootbos. Accompany a specialist guide to explore the tidal rock pools and coastal caves and spend an afternoon lazing on one of the safe swimming beaches. The expert guides will also guide you through the 1,700 hectare Grootbos Nature Reserve, introducing you to the wonders of the fynbos and showing you the fascinating relationships between the insects, birds, mammals and flowering plants of the diverse Cape Floral Kingdom ecosystem. There are over 650 species of indigenous plants on Grootbos. You can also take a meandering path through an ancient Milkwood forest with thousand-year-old trees. Grootbos can be explored on foot, by four-wheel drive vehicle or on horseback.
Day 8 – Grootbos to Plettenberg Bay
You should aim to leave Grootbos late morning. Your route takes you back inland towards Swellendam. This small village nestling at the foot of the Langeberg Mountains has many beautiful historical buildings. You continue through rolling wheatfields to Mossel Bay, where you can visit the old "Post Office tree", a 500 year old milkwood tree used by 15th century Portuguese sailors as a mailbox. You can also see a life-sized replica of the tiny ship in which Bartholomew Dias sailed around the Cape of Good Hope in 1488. You continue through the scenic Lake District and the towns of Wilderness, Sedgefield and Knysna, arriving at Hog Hollow Country House near Plettenberg Bay in the late afternoon. Hog Hollow is a 4-star lodge set on the edge of an indigenous forest in a private nature reserve with panoramic views of the surrounding indigenous forests, valleys and mountains.
Hog Hollow
Day 9 – Plettenberg Bay
Today you may just want to relax in the beautiful grounds of Hog Hollow and enjoy the swimming pool. Alternatively, you may want to go into nearby Plettenberg Bay and spend the day on one of its beautiful beaches, or go on a boat-based whale and dolphin watching excursion. We can also recommend that you take a sedate 45 minute "eco-stroll" along the Robberg Peninsula, a rocky headland which presents a fine example of how plants and animals adapt to the interacting influences of land and sea. Plettenberg Bay has several beachfront restaurants at which you can enjoy a seaside lunch.
Day 10 – Plettenberg Bay
Today we suggest you explore nearby Knysna. This quaint seaside village is full of arty-crafty shops to browse through. 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 walk down through indigenous vegetation or you can ride on the trailer again.
Enjoy lunch under the milkwood trees on the edge of the lagoon before returning to Knysna. You could also do a tour of an oyster farm. On the way back to Hog Hollow you could stop off at Monkeyland, an impressive primate sanctuary. Rehabilitated pets, endangered species and injured wild monkeys roam free within the sanctuary and enjoy a quality of life in the indigenous forest.
Day 11 – Plettenberg Bay to Jeffreys Bay
You check out of Hog Hollow and drive through the Tsitsikamma Forest, a primeval indigenous forest with towering ancient yellowwood trees, deep gorges and lush vegetation. We suggest you drive down the steep pass to the aptly-named Storms River Mouth, where there are numerous short walking trails into the forest. Particularly recommended is the 1km trail along the river to the swing bridge.
You may also like to stop in Storms River Village and do a Treetop Canopy Tour. Here you will experience the wonders of the forest suspended 30 metres up in the forest canopy. The Tree Top Canopy tour involves traversing from one platform high up in a yellowwood tree to another along a steel cable. Guides at each platform inform guests about the forest flora and fauna. This tour is suitable for all ages from 7 to 70.
You then leave the Garden Route behind and continue to the surfing mecca of Jeffreys Bay. Here you check into Diaz 15 beachfront apartments right on the edge of the beach. Set in lush gardens, the Mediterranean style apartments are tastefully decorated and spacious. This evening take a slow walk down the miles of sandy beach, delve into rock pools and stop to watch the surfing at the world-famous Supertubes. The swimming at Jeffreys Bay is safe and the Indian Ocean is warm.
Diaz 15
Day 12 – Jeffreys Bay to Madikwe
Have an early morning swim before driving through to Port Elizabeth and handing in your hire car at Port Elizabeth airport. You fly to Johannesburg, where you collect another hire car and set off for Madikwe Game Reserve. The 76,000 hectare Madikwe Game Reserve is one of South Africa's biggest wildlife sanctuaries. The malaria-free game reserve is home to the Big 5 and over 340 bird species. Share the wildness of Africa in the luxury of the magnificent Jaci's Safari Lodge, which overlooks game-filled plains. In the late afternoon, you are taken on your first game drive in an open land rover by a specially-trained Game Ranger. You return after dark for a safari cuisine supper under the African stars.
Jaci’s Safari Lodge
Days 13 & 14 – Madikwe
For the next two days your Game Ranger will take you on safari - both by day and night - and on walking trails, learning about the game found in Madikwe, including lion, leopard, rhino, buffalo, elephant and cheetah, tracked and followed off-road, deep into the African bushveld. There will be two game drives each day, one leaving very early in the morning and one leaving in the late afternoon, returning after dark, as these are the best times for game viewing. Animals are at their most active then and some nocturnal animals are still about. Between game drives you can relax by the pool, bird watch from your deck or simply relax in the peace of your suite.
Day 15 – Madikwe to Johannesburg and departure
This morning you are taken on your last game drive in Madikwe before you bid farewell to this African wonderland. You drive back to Johannesburg and return you hire car at the airport before catching your flight home.