10 Days: Cape Town, Greater Kruger Park Area, Johannesburg

Tour overview:

This well balanced journey starts with several days in beautiful Cape Town, includes the Cape Peninsula and famous Kruger National Park, where you enjoy game drives and ends in South Africa’s largest city Johannesburg, where among other sites you visit Soweto famed for its struggle against Apartheid.

Day 1 - Arrive Cape Town

Arrive to Cape Town, South Africa, where you are met and escorted to your hotel.

Day 2 - Cape Town – City Sightseeing

You will be collected from your hotel at 8:15 am for the half-day city tour of Cape Town, South Africa’s “Mother City”. Sense the depth of history as guests drive past Parliament Buildings, City Hall, and the Slave Lodge before stopping for a short visit to the Castle of Good Hope (optional), originally built as a maritime replenishment station and now the oldest surviving colonial building in South Africa! Alternatively, guests can walk around the Grand Parade square which has its historical significance. Hear of the brief history of District Six en route to a visit at the Company Gardens where we walk through the landscaped gardens. Learn more about the history of the Bo-Kaap and its people as guests will move up the cobblestoned hills to the Malay Quarter, and marvel at the ice-cream colors of the quaint Bo-Kaap homes. Trace the moves of a professional diamond cutter as he creates every girl's dream stone with a visit to a diamond cutting factory. After learning more about the history of diamonds and gold in South Africa, we will drive past the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town Stadium, Sea Point, Clifton, and Camps Bay as we make our way to Table Mountain where there is the option of either admiring the views from the lower cable station or purchasing a ticket (for own account) to reach the summit. After delighting in this photo opportunity, return to the hotel or stay on top of the mountain and find your way back to your hotel.(B)

Day 3 - Cape Town – “Walk To Freedom”

You will be collected from your hotel at 8:45 am for the full day Walk to Freedom tour. Drive past the Slave Lodge and City Hall to view Mandela’s Statue, the site of the first-ever public speech Nelson Mandela delivered after his release from prison. Visit the riveting District Six Museum and travel through the District Six Site (the Museum is closed on Sundays & Public Holidays) for a sharp reminder of the past. Tour Langa Township, the oldest apartheid housing scheme in the Cape, visiting the local market Gugu Sthebe, where the community showcases their skills and various projects including arts & crafts. Thereafter continue to see the informal housing as well as new housing developments under way. A visit to Robben Island in the afternoon. Cruel home of Nelson Mandela for so many years, it's a highly charged and emotional moment when guests visit the site of this suffering, and realize how far South Africa has come from those days. Return to your hotel around 6:00 pm. (B)

Day 4 - Cape Town – Cape Peninsula

You will be collected from your hotel at 8:00 am for the full-day Cape Peninsula tour. The Fairest Cape…and it surely is! You’ll soon see for yourself where and why it earned its name. Travel along Millionaires Paradise from Clifton to Camps Bay and on to Llandudno before an up-close-and-personal Seal Island cruise. Wind along Chapmans Peak Drive with lunch (own account) at Cape of Good Hope Section of the Table Mountain National Park before meandering back along the coast, visiting Simons Town and ending your day at the penguin colony at Boulders Beach where you get to watch these entertaining, waddling characters. Return to your hotel around 6:00pm. (B)

Day 5 - Cape Town / Kruger Safari

Transfer to the airport. Fly to the Greater Kruger Park area and transfer to your safari lodge. This afternoon, enjoy an open-vehicle game drive followed by dinner under the stars. (BLD)

Day 6 - Kruger Safari

Enjoy a full day in the Greater Kruger Park area. Explore the reserve on early morning and afternoon/evening open-vehicle game drives as well as mid-morning bush walks. Roam the reserve in open 4WD vehicles in search of elephant, leopard, cheetah, kudu, giraffe, Cape buffalo, hippo and other species. (BLD)

Day 7 - Kruger Safari / Johannesburg

After the morning game drive, return flight to Johannesburg. Transfer to your hotel with the remainder of the afternoon at leisure. (B)

Day 8 - Johannesburg – History of Humankind & Lesedi Cultural Village

You will be collected from your hotel at 7:00 am for the full-day History of Humankind & Lesedi Cultural Village tour. We’re going right back to our beginnings, to the exceptional World Heritage Site of The Cradle of Humankind. The superb Maropeng Visitor Centre is truly an exciting, world-class exhibition, focusing on the development of humans and our ancestors over the past few million years. From past to present, we’ll be exploring Five cultures at the Lesedi Cultural Village, heart and home to families of a range of African tribes, all living harmoniously in traditional homesteads. You’ll be right there experiencing the warmth and hospitality of people from the Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele, Sotho and Pedi cultures. Our multilingual, multi-visual orientation depicts the history of South Africa and will deepen your understanding of the complexity of our multicultural community. We will enjoy a traditional African meal, a fine way to round off a day of new experiences and fresh insights. Return to our hotel around 4:00 pm. (B)

Day 9 - Johannesburg – “Journey to Freedom”

You will be collected from your hotel at 7:45 am for the full-day Journey to Freedom tour. Many South Africans gave much, and some gave all, to achieve a truly democratic South Africa. Come join this full-day tour which shares some of the journey, pain, and struggle of those heroes; witness the places, and experience the diverse museums where these momentous, tumultuous years have been so well documented. The day begins at the Kliptown Open Air Museum where delegates met in 1955 to adopt the Freedom Charter, now the cornerstone of the Bill of Rights and the South African Constitution. The next significant stop is the fascinating Regina Mundi Church, the site of so many of the underground meetings of the then-banned political parties. Standing in here, guests will feel the tension, picture the intensity, the strain on the faces of those unthinkably brave souls, committed at any cost to changing the way of life of a nation. The next stop is the Hector Pieterson Museum, which starts to unravel the cause of the devastating riots, before traveling past Mandela House, where guests have the option of visiting this small museum (own account). Lunch stop in Soweto at a local restaurant (own account). Then continue the journey driving past the affluent suburb of Diepkloof, which is in stark contrast to the lower-income areas seen earlier in the day, en route to the iconic Apartheid Museum. This is an interactive voyage of discovery, one which takes guests from the dark days of whites-only privilege, through to Nelson Mandela's historic release. The Apartheid Museum is a multimedia experience, with documentary film snippets, texts, sound clips, and live accounts, recapturing life in the dark days of South Africa. It is a fascinating tour, filled with tales of bravery and sadness, but ultimately, it is a story with the right ending. Return to your hotel around 6:00 pm. (B)

Day 10 - Depart Johannesburg

Transfer to the airport for your departure flight. (B)