Africa in Style: The Best of East and South Africa

Welcome to Tanzania! Upon arrival at the Kilimanjaro Airport this evening we will be met and assisted with our transfer to our hotel for our overnight stay.

After breakfast at the hotel, transfer to Arusha airport for our flight to Tarangire National Park. On arrival we will be met at the airport to begin our safari with a game drive through Tarangire National Park with our arrival at the lodge just in time for Sundowners

Full day of activities including game drives; visit an authentic Masai village, a game walk and a game drive. Meals and overnight at Tarangire Treetops

Tarangire National Park situated only 120 km from Arusha and South East of Lake Manyara National Park is famous for its dense wildlife population, which is most spectacular between June and December. During this time of the year, thousands of animals migrate from dry savannah grasslands to Tarangire River looking for water.

Among other species to be seen at Tarangire are Rhino, Buffalo, Elephant, Lion, Warthog, Eland, the Fringe-eared Oryx, Lesser and Greater Kudu, Gerenuk, and large numbers of Impala. The park is also famous for tree-climbing Pythons and abundant bird life.

After a morning game drive and a picnic lunch in Tarangire, we fly to Manyara airstrip. On arrival, our luxury safari vehicles and friendly guides will be waiting for us. En route to our accommodation, we stop to visit an authentic African market arriving at The Manor in time for high tea. 

Enjoy a full day experiencing the abundant wildlife in the Ngorongoro Crater. Meals and overnight at Manor Ngorongoro.

In the Great Rift Valley, that great schism in the earth's crust lays the wonderful Ngorongoro Crater, one of the wonders of the natural world. It is an extinct volcano that collapsed in on itself around 25 million years ago thus forming a vast super bowl where the largest permanent concentration of African game is on display.

The central bowl, the caldera, has sides roughly 1,950 feet high and a flattish centre with a diameter of about ten miles. The views from the top of the crater wall are absolutely breathtaking. The crater walls are forested but four wheel drive vehicles will take you down into this primeval paradise of woodland, lake, river, swamp and plain that shelters around 20,000 animals. Many of these are the large grazing animals such as wildebeest, buffalo, gazelle and zebra that depend on the open grasslands in the crater. These attract the attendant predators, the black-maned lion, the leopard and hyena. The elephant found within the caldera tend to be the lone males who have left the herds in the forested crater rim.

When the water stocks are low elsewhere the animals within this micro-world turn to the swamps for fresh water and food. Elephants feed on the giant sedges and hippo wallow in the pools. The Fever Tree forests shelter monkeys, bushbuck and waterbuck and the few black rhino that have taken refuge here. A soda lake, fed by the Munge River attracts water birds, including flamingos and is a favorite place for predators to make their kill. Wildly beautiful as it is, it is not surprising that Ngorongoro Crater has been called a Garden of Eden.

This morning you have the option to visit Lake Manyara or choose from a host of activities at the estate. After lunch, we fly to Lobo airstrip in the world-renowned Serengeti National Park and then transfer to our lodge. Serengeti National Park is one of the most famous wildlife sanctuaries in the world, unequalled for its natural beauty and the greatest concentration of plains game anywhere.

Full day spent in the Serengeti with morning and afternoon game drives.

George Adamson, co-raiser of Elsa the lioness, and husband of "Born Free" author Joy Adamson, visited the Serengeti in the early sixties and describes the experience in "Pride and Joy", his autobiography. At this time he considered it probably the greatest of all game reserves in Africa and one man was mainly responsible - Bernhardt Grzimek, Director of Frankfurt Zoo. The Serengeti had suffered terribly from over-zealous hunting in the 1930's and from large-scale killing of game during the war. Grzimek applied himself to the tensions between Maasai need for grazing and the indigenous wildlife. He and his son carried out a massive survey, using planes to quantify the game, and identifying and logging the plant life. He used his best seller "Serengeti Shall Not Die" to raise funds and publicize the exercise. Thanks to the Grzimeks, and to John Owen who established a renowned scientific research establishment there, the Serengeti still has an amazing concentration of wildlife.

The 14,763 square kilometres of the Serengeti are probably most famous for being the southern end of the Great Migration. Every year over 1.5 million animals, mostly wildebeest but also zebra and Thompson's gazelle, follow their instincts and move through the western corridor on their 1000 kilometers journey to the fresh grazing of the Masai Mara. Predators pick off the weak, the laggardly and the young and crocodiles feast as the vast herd crosses the rivers but they continue their trek, as they have done since time immemorial. This is one of the earth's great sights - but it is by no means all the Serengeti has to offer.

The vast, flat central plains, made fertile by the ashes of the volcanoes of the Ngorongoro highlands, are places of huge skies, of shimmering heat hazes, yet also of delicate wild flowers blooming after the rains. The savannah, sprinkled with Acacia Tortilis, has majestic termite mounds and rock formations called kopjes, which make great vantage points for predators. The lion are abundant, the leopard are plentiful (yet still secretive) and black rhino and cheetah both breed here. There are more than 500 species of bird and, interestingly, 100 sub-species of dung beetle - a sign of a varied animal population! Ndutu, in the south, has small lakes where you may see hippo and water birds. Perhaps one of the best ways to see the Serengeti is a hot air balloon ride when, in the cool of the early morning, you may admire the grandeur, the vastness and the stunning landscape. Page 100 of g. Adamson - Serengeti shall not die - Bernhardt Grzimek, Director of Frankfurt zoo.

After breakfast, transfer to the airstrip for our scheduled flight to Arusha. On arrival, we transfer to the Arusha Coffee Lodge for a relaxing afternoon.

After breakfast this morning we will transfer to the Kilimanjaro airport for our flight to Johannesburg. Upon arrival at OR Tambo airport, we will be met by a local representative and assisted with the transfer to our hotel. Enjoy dinner at our hotel this evening.

Enjoy breakfast and then board the coach for our fascinating cultural tour. Five cultures in  a day, that’s what we’ll be exploring at the Lesedi Cultural Village, heart and home to families of a range of African tribes, all living harmoniously in true traditional homesteads. You’ll be right there experiencing the warmth and hospitality of people from the Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele, Sotho and Pedi cultures, and you’ll find it fascinating! Our multilingual, multivisual orientation depicts the history of South Africa, and will deepen your understanding of the complexity of our multicultural community. Your experience will include a vibrant, traditional African welcome with a refreshing drink, and the Giant Ingoma – song and dance of all five villages. The dance culminates in communal dancing with the guests around the fire. A Pan-African feast is served in the Nyama Choma restaurant with delicacies from the North, East and South Africa.

After another delicious breakfast, we join our luxury coach for our half-day tour of Soweto, the largest township in Southern Africa. (Soweto is an acronym for South West Township). Experience the excitement and goodwill of the inhabitants of Soweto as they work towards creating a better South Africa; enjoy the sights and sounds of the typical African township. We visit the site of the June 16 1976 massacre that gave birth to the rise of the anti-apartheid era that would eventually see the downfall of the oppressive government regime of the apartheid (segregation) era. Our tour includes a visit to the Hector Pieterson Museum, a monument to a schoolboy shot by the police in 1976 and the only street which was once home to two Nobel Peace Prize winners, Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu. You’ll see Regina Mundi Church and Mandela House before you have lunch at Sakhumzi’s Restaurant.

After lunch, transfer to the train station in Pretoria and board the luxurious Rovos Rail for our journey to Cape Town. We depart from Rovos Rail Station aboard the Pride of Africa and travel south via Johannesburg through the goldfields of the Witwatersrand. This afternoon enjoy tea in the lounge and observation cars. Dinner is served in the dining car/s.

Accommodation: Rovos Rail in a Pullman Suite

Breakfast is served until 10h00. Arrive in Kimberley, and visit the Big Hole and the Diamond Mine Museum.  Later the train departs for Matjiesfontein via De Aar.

Breakfast will be served until 10 am, but you might want to start early today so you can get off the train for a visit in the historical village of Matjiesfontein. At 10:30 the train departs for Cape Town via Worcester. Lunch and tea are served on board. At 6 pm we will arrive at Cape Town Station, Platform 24, where we will be met and assisted to our hotel.

No visit to Cape Town is complete without a tour of the "Mother City". We will be taken to see the Houses of Parliament, the Castle, the South Africa Museum, and a few other historical sights. A highlight is a visit to the bustling Green Market Square. Our tour begins with a cable car ride up the magnificent Table Mountain (weather permitting), for a breathtaking view over the city and its surroundings. Once we have descended, we will then visit the picturesque Malay Quarter with its spicy bobotie and curry aromas filling the air. We wil be dropped off at the V& A Waterfront where a guide will walk us to the ferry crossing located at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront close to the Clock Tower, where we’ll board the ferry and cross Table Bay to Robben Island, where we will have the opportunity to interact with an ex-political prisoner. Take a 45-minute bus ride with a guide providing commentary. We will have the opportunity to explore the Murray's Bay Harbour precinct attractions, such as the Muslim shrine, or kramat, and the Museum Shop. Formerly a political prison and a leper colony before that, the historic landmark of Robben Island was recently established as a museum, national monument and world heritage sight. Experience the conditions of incarceration - view Nelson Mandela's maximum security prison cell (Cell 5) and see the lime quarries. In the one, hard labor was served, in the other prisoners discussed strategy, freedom and the future. Later, many would develop eye problems as a result of the sun's reflection off the lime surfaces. This well-preserved landmark is a monument to the triumph of freedom, dignity and determination over humiliation and oppression. On Robben Island, visitor's movements are restricted by regulation to the bus and a Robben Island specialist guide. Tours of the island are conducted in large buses.

This evening, enjoy a unique dinging experience. Discover GOLD in Cape Town. From the moment you walk through the Gold of Africa Museum in the heartbeat of a unique African restaurant in Cape Town. GOLD Restaurant will take us on a taste safari from Cape Malay to African cuisine – from Cape Town to Timbuktu with its set 15 course menu served at your table. Sit down at your table in one of our beautiful inner city courtyards surrounded by ancient trees and history. A set 15 course menu consisting of Cape Malay cuisine and African cuisine will be served to us by one of our beautifully adorned member of staff who will explain each dish to us and from which African country the dish originates from. Be captivated during dinner by our tall, graceful Mali Puppets as they dance around our tables with the drummers and singers. Their live entertainment is unique to South Africa and their performances will embrace us and take us into the heart of Africa.

The Fairest Cape…and it surely is! We will soon see for ourselves where and why it earned its name. Sit back and relax, we’re going to cruise along the exquisite stretch of coastline known as Millionaire’s Paradise – from Camps Bay and Clifton to the exclusive beach hamlet of Llandudno – towards the charming working harbour of Hout Bay; embark on an up-close-and-personal Seal Island cruise (weather permitting). Back on terra firma, we wind along the legendary Chapman’s Peak Drive, hugging the cliffs and relishing the breath-taking ocean views: the wild and beautiful Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, an integral part of the world-renowned Cape Floral Kingdom. Take a ride up on the funicular for magnificent views. We meander back along the coast towards the City, visiting the endearing penguin colony at Boulder’s Beach.  Lunch is included today at Seaforth’s Restaurant in Simon’s Town. 

This morning we will be collected for a Winelands Tour. Just outside the bustling Mother City we'll find another world entirely, full of tranquility and old world charm. Escape for a few hours and experience the magic of Stellenbosch and Paarl, in the heart of the Cape's wine-making region, with beautiful old oak trees and rolling vineyards which stretch almost all the way down to the sea. On this fascinating tour you will visit two well-known wine-farms, Franschhoek and Huguenot Memorial, as well as the historical Afrikaans Language Monument. Enjoy visits and wine tastings at 2 wineries today, along with lunch. 

After breakfast this morning transfer to the airport for your flight from Cape Town to Mpumalanga, where you’ll be  met and driven to your game lodge in the Sabi Sands Private Reserve. Enjoy a late afternoon game drive.

Enjoy your day at Singita and Sabi Sand. The Sabi Sand is a privately owned game reserve adjacent to Kruger National Park, and together the two areas make up some of South Africa’s most incredible and pristine land. Singita Sabi Sand has been owned by the Bailes family who has acted as the dedicated custodians of this precious part of South Africa’s natural heritage since 1926. With the opening of its first lodge, Ebony Lodge, in 1994, Singita’s philosophy has been to protect large tracts of wilderness and wildlife populations for future generations. Prior to the lodge’s construction, this part of the Sabi Sand had been completely inaccessible save for Singita’s environmental team and the owner’s family. Since Singita Ebony Lodge opened and subsequently Singita Boulders Lodge, guests have shared the privilege of experiencing this carefully protected part of South Africa.

Spanning more than 45,000 acres, Singita Sabi Sand is renowned for high concentrations of big game and frequent leopard sightings.

Enjoy another full day at Singita. Here are some optional activities that the group might consider booking:

• A private airstrip dinner with the Singita Choir performance
• A private wine tasting in the Boulders Cellar
• A community tour

Enjoy a fantastic day!

After breakfast this morning transfer to the airport for our homeward bound flights.