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Travel itineray available for self-drive/small groups and with private driver/guide.

Date

Day 1

Arrival in Cape Town where you will be met by your local private guide. Transfer to the hotel. Enjoy a

half day city tour with your guide and private vehicle, including entrance into the South African Museum

and the Table Mountain Cable Way (return and weather permitting).

Cape Town, located 40 km from the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Town is one of the most isolated metropolises in the world. Cape Town’s city centre lies cradled in a vast blue-grey amphitheatre formed by Table Mountain, Lion’s Head and Devil’s Peak. Few cities in the world can boast a more spectacular setting and it is certainly unrivalled in South Africa for its cosmopolitan ambience redolent with history.

In its three-and-a-half centuries, the city has transformed itself from a remote colonial outpost to one of Africa’s most important cities. This teeming metropolis is a major commercial, financial and industrial centre and one of the southern hemisphere’s premier ports for container shipping and the export of fruit. It is also quickly gaining a reputation as one of the loveliest holiday destinations worldwide, with its idyllic summers and majestic, stormy winter seasons.

The city centre includes the historic centre and residential districts, the Waterfront (the old harbour was transformed into an extensive shopping centre with cinemas, hotels, restaurants and bars) and the modern harbour. The rest of Cape Town is comprised of a series of suburbs and residential areas spreading around Table Mountain. Like many other South African cities, Cape Town is a city of contrasts. Not really European and not totally African, it is a curious blend of the Third World and the First. The diversity of its population and the number of varied districts make Cape Town a hybrid city set between two oceans.

Lunch and dinner at leisure.

Overnight in a 1 bedroom suite including breakfast at the CAPE ROYALE BOUTIQUE HOTEL

Dag 2

After breakfast exploring the Cape Peninsula including a boat cruise to Seal Island in Hout Bay, via the scenic Chapman’s Peak Drive to the Cape Point Nature Reserve (Cape Point Funicular included), the Penguin colony at Boulders Beach and before returning to Cape Town a walk in the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens.

“The fairest Cape we saw in the whole circumference of the Earth”, the great navigator Francis Drake exclaimed when he sailed into Table Bay in 1580. Through the centuries, it has been called many names of which "The Cape of Storms" (by Bartholomeu Dias) and "The Cape of Good Hope" (by the King of Portugal) are but two examples. During the 17th and 18th Centuries, sailors called it the "Tavern of the Seas" because fresh produce was grown locally and also shipped in, and later sold, to passing merchant ships. Nowadays, South Africans simply call it “the Cape”, an acknowledgement of its status as the Mother City of South Africa.

As part of one of the Floral Kingdoms of the world, there are more species of plants in the Cape Peninsula National Park (7,750 hectares) than the entire British Isles. Some of these species are unique to the Cape, with 30 actually threatened with extinction. The vegetation of the Peninsula is characterised by “fynbos” (proteas and moorland). Moreover, baboons, wildebeest, mountain zebras, porcupines and ostriches as well as abundant birdlife are present in the park.

Lunch and dinner at leisure.

 Overnight in a 1 bedroom suite including breakfast at the CAPE ROYALE BOUTIQUE HOTELa

Day 3

After breakfast a scenic day tour through the Cape Winelands. We start with a visit to Stellenbosch, South Africa’s second oldest town after Cape Town. The ‘Eikestad’ (Oak City) is famous for its many Cape Dutch historical homesteads. Visit the Stellenbosch Dorpmuseum, a cluster of historical homes giving you a perfect idea of the building styles during the colonial era. There after continue to Franschhoek, named after the French and Flemish Huguenots leaving Europe to avoid religious prosecution. A visit to the Huguenot Memorial is included as well as a wine tasting en-route at one of the wine farms or wine estates.

We conclude the day with a visit to Language Monument where you will enjoy a picturesque view over the winelands and weather permitting even as far as Table Mountain.

Lunch and dinner at leisure.

Return to Cape Town in the late afternoon/early evening.

Overnight in a 1 bedroom suite including breakfast at the CAPE ROYALE BOUTIQUE HOTEL

Dag 4

On arrival in Durban transfer to the hotel. Depending on the arrival time, short city tour pointing out the highlights of this large city.

Lunch and dinner at leisure.

Overnight in a standard suite including breakfast at the ROYAL HOTEL DURBAN

Day 5

After breakfast departure to Hluhluwe.

Lunch on arrival included.

Join an afternoon game drive in 4x4 safari vehicles including entrance fee into the world famous Hluhluwe/Umfolozi Game Reserve. The reserve is home to the Big-5 (lion, buffalo, leopard, elephant and rhino).

Overnight in a standard rondavel including breakfast/brunch, lunch, dinner, tea/coffee, high tea and game

drive at the HLUHLUWE RIVER LODGE

Leaving Durban after breakfast for a drive through the Kingdom of Swaziland. En-route a visit to a candle factory and a crafts market, both famous to the Swazi people.

The area which is now Swaziland has been inhabited by various groups for a very long time – in eastern Swaziland archaeologists have discovered human remains dating back as far as 110 000 years – but the Swazi people themselves arrived relatively recently.

In the great Bantu migration into southern Africa, one group – the Nguni – moved down the East Coast. One clan settled in the area around modern Maputo in Mozambique, and eventually the Dlamini family founded a dynasty. By the middle of the 18^th century, King Ngwane III led his people south to lands around the Pongola River, to what is today southern Swaziland. Today, the Swazi consider Ngwane III to have been the first king of Swaziland.

King Mswati I, with a combination of martial skills and diplomacy, managed to unify the whole kingdom of and by the time he died in 1868, a nation of “Swaziland” was secure. Mswati’s subjects called themselves people of Mswati or Swazis. Despite its history of internal conflict, today Swaziland is composed of a homogenous population who share language, culture and loyalty to their King - the descendants of King Ngwane.

Overnight in a standard luxury room including breakfast at the ROYAL SWAZI SUN HOTEL

We continue driving through Swaziland and make our way to the border with South Africa at Jeppe’s Reef. En-route a visit to the Ngwenya glass factory, another product famous to the Swazi people.

En-route a visit to a traditional Swazi Cultural village where visitors can join traditional Swazi living and traditional dancing, including buffet lunch.

The lodge is situated in a private game reserve and home to the world famous Jane Goodal Institute. This institute is an educational centre making people aware of the possible extinction of the Chimpanzee. You will have the opportunity to join a guided tour through the centre and enclosures.

Overnight in a luxury suite including breakfast, dinner and JGI institute visit at the CHIMP EDEN BOUTIQUE HOTEL

Kruger National Park

Until the arrival of “Westernised men” in the late 19th century, the area covered by the Kruger Park probably looked much like it does now, vast and relatively undisturbed. In the 19th century, farmers settled and white hunters brought their formidable firepower to bear on the herds, taking a devastating toll on the buffalo, wildebeest and other species. The situation worsened during the Anglo-Boer war as the English hunted to supplement rations and the hungry black population scoured the countryside for food. It was in May 1926 that this enormous slice of territory was formally proclaimed a National Park and named in honour of Paul Kruger, who gave impetus to the creation of wildlife sanctuaries in the 1890s.

Majestic in extent, rich in game, grand in its scenic splendour, the Kruger National Park is now the pride of South Africa. Lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino and tens of thousands of antelope roam the sunlit plains. Leopards stalk during the night; shy bushbuck hide in the riverine bush; giraffe browse on the sweet-scented acacias and vultures wheel overhead, alert for kills and carcass. The Park counts 137 mammal species, about 500 bird species and more than 100 reptile varieties.

Enjoy the famous nature reserve during a full day game drive in an open 4x4 safari vehicle, including a picnic lunch and entrance fee.

Overnight in a luxury suite including breakfast and dinner at the CHIMP EDEN BOUTIQUE HOTEL

The northern section of the Drakensberg Mountains stretches through the province of Mpumalanga. The road that joins the towns of Sabie and Graskop constitutes the spectacular Panoramic Route through the Blyde River Canyon section of the Drakensberg.

After the Grand Canyon in the United States and the Fish River Canyon in Namibia, the 30 kilometre long Blyde River Canyon (entrance included) occupies third place on the world’s list of canyons and is one of the most impressive natural phenomena in South Africa. The canyon is dominated by three similarly shaped peaks (the Three Rondavels) and by Mariepskop (the highest point of this section of the Drakensberg Mountain Range). The road continues through a rugged landscape where fruit, vegetables and tobacco are grown in reddish soil before entering Pilgrim’s Rest.

The Pinnacle, Jock’s View, God’s Window and Wonderview (entrance included) are some of the most famous scenic lookouts where a stop is highly recommended. These stops offer lookouts over sheer cliffs and unique geologic features over the expanse of the Lowveld. Further north are Lisbon Falls and the Berlin Falls, just before reaching Bourke’s Luck Potholes (entrance fee included). Here, paths and footbridges take visitors to viewing sites overlooking extraordinary samples of river erosion. Northwards, the Blyde River has carved a magnificent gorge through the mountains.

Lunch at leisure.

Overnight in a luxury suite including breakfast and dinner at the CHIMP EDEN BOUTIQUE HOTEL

Nelspruit - Johannesburg

Travel to the Highveld of the Gauteng Province. En-route a visit to the Ndebele Village in Middelburg. The Ndebele people are famous for their colourful symmetric wall paintings and clothes. Enjoy a guided tour through the village and meet the local people. Botshabelo

historical village (“place of shelter” or “sanctuary”), offers a traditional South-Ndebele open-air museum.  In

1971, the Transvaal Provincial Services allocated certain museums to local authorities with the intention of

preserving the culture. Ethnically, the Transvaal Ndebele is divided into the North and South

Ndebele. The majority of the South Ndebele nation currently lives in KwaNdebele (“place of the Ndebele”),

approximately 120 km north east of Pretoria.

The museum was constructed according to Ndebele architectural development. The first phase consists of the earliest hut constructions.  Characteristic of phase two is the rondavel-type hut, while the third depicts more recent rectangular and square shaped huts.  The most prominent characteristic of their culture is the richly coloured huts and clothing.

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