Tailor-made tours and safaris to Southern Africa

SAMPLE ITINERARY 7

Food, Wine, and Wildlife in South Africa

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Day 1

Members of the group will arrive at Cape Town international airport, where they will be met and transferred to Roggeland Country House near the charming town of Paarl in the heart of the Cape wine region. You would probably spend the rest of the day relaxing, recovering from the flight, and catching up with each other.

Days 1 to 4

You will spend 3 nights at Roggeland on a dinner, bed, and breakfast basis. Roggeland is a wonderfully atmospheric and historic country house and is, in our opinion, one of the best-kept secrets in South Africa. On Day two, 2 luxury Volkswagen minibuses (with air-conditioning and full insurance) will be delivered to Roggeland, and you will retain these for the duration of your stay in the Cape wine region. With these minibuses, you will have the freedom and flexibility to explore the Cape Peninsula's many highlights (including Cape Town, Table Mountain, Sea-Point, the Cape of Good Hope, etc.); we will advise you on highlights, but will not schedule any tours to these features. You will, of course, also be able to tour the vineyards under your own steam but, in this regard, we have included 3 very special full-day tours under the guidance of a wine expert (more on that later).

Days 4 to 7

On day 4 you will check out from Roggeland and make the scenic drive (roughly an hour, depending on where you stop off along the way) to Franschoek, where you will check into Le Quartier Francais. (We will provide maps and directions for this easy drive). Franschoek is our favourite little town in the wine region, and Le Quartier is a very stylish and sophisticated boutique hotel. You will spend 3 nights here on a bed and breakfast basis. You will also have the minibuses for the duration of your stay.

As mentioned earlier, we have included 3 full-day, specialized tours of the vineyards that can be fitted in flexibly during these seven days in the Winelands. These wine tours can be completely tailor-made to incorporate any estates, wines, or cellars that you may have heard of or have an interest in. Alternately, we can work under the advice of the wine expert who heads up Vineyard Ventures (she is wine editor for Conde Nast House and Garden Magazine, and one of South Africa's leading experts on wine). The preliminary advice is that three tours would allow you to cover the majority of South Africa's significant estates. Regions would be grouped: Constantia (the oldest wine region in South Africa) and part of Stellenbosch can be covered in one tour; the rest of Stellenbosch, Paarl, and Franschoek would be another tour; and the Walker Bay area would comprise the third tour. On each tour you would be guided through 4 or 5 private estates (focus is on quality over quantity), and would also tour a couple of cellars (where the whole process of wine making will be explained, for each of the different types of grape and wine). You will do wine-tasting at each of the estates visited, under the guidance of your expert guide. Each tour also includes lunch at a top restaurant (typically on the estate), wine and soft drinks with lunch, and all entrance fees (in other words, it is fully inclusive). You would be transported in 2 luxury minibuses (although a 15 seater bus can be arranged if you would rather stay together).

Day 7

You will make the relatively short drive (a little over an hour) to Cape Town international airport, where you will return the minibuses, and catch a flight to George on the scenic 'garden route'. At George airport you will collect another 2 minibuses (the same as you dropped off in Cape Town), and make your way up the coast, through Knysna to Plettenberg Bay. That afternoon you will check into the wonderful Hunter's Country Hotel. As you will see from the description, Hunter's is a gastronomic delight, and an amazing boutique hotel (we've never had service like we had at Hunter's anywhere in the world!).

Days 7 to 9

You will spend two nights at Hunter's on a bed and breakfast basis. When not relaxing and enjoying being spoilt, you can explore the surrounding Tsitsikamma forest, or enjoy the beautiful beach and the spectacular marine life in Plettenberg Bay. The highlight of your stay at Hunter's, however, will be the gourmet and wine-tasting evening on Day 8. Hunter's is famous for its food and wine cellar and Ian Hunter (the owner) has agreed to prepare a special feast, and invite one of the Cape's leading wine masters to come up and do an exclusive wine-tasting evening with your party.

Days 9 to 12

On Day 9 you will bid farewell to Ian and his staff, and make the leisurely journey to Shamwari Private Game Reserve, roughly 3 hours to the north. You will leave the keys to the minibuses at reception, and the rental compamy will come to collect the vehicles later in the day. You will spend the next 3 nights at the very exclusive Shamwari Lodge (which you will book out entirely, and have all to yourselves). Your stay at Shamwari will be on an all-inclusive basis (accommodation, all meals, all activities; only additional costs will be of a personal nature, such as drinks, curios, etc.). At Shamwari you will enjoy a wonderfully exclusive safari experience, with all the flexibility of having the camp to yourselves!

As a guideline, your daily schedule on safari might look something like this:

6:00 Wake-up with light breakfast of tea, coffee and snacks

6:30 Morning game drive or walk

10:00/10:30 Brunch back at the lodge

Guests at leisure in the early afternoon

3:00 Tea

3:30 Afternoon game drive or walk

7:30 Return from drive

8:00 Dinner

Day 12

You will be collected from Shamwari and transferred to Port Elizabeth airport. From Port Elizabeth you will catch a flight to Johannesburg, from where you will bid farewell to Africa, and catch your connecting flights home

To find out more about this sample itinerary, or to start creating your own itinerary, call on 27-11-463-7889 or email us at info@Liyatshwa.com