Day 1 - JOHANNESBURG - PARKWOOD HOTEL or similar

Upon arrival at Johannesburg (O.R. Tempo International Airport), you will be met and transferred to spend the next two nights at the Parkwood Boutique Hotel.  This 5-star, award-winning boutique hotel is located in the northern part of South Africa's largest city and is just a 35-minute drive from Johannesburg O.R. Tambo International Airport.  The 16 rooms and suites are located in the original residence and garden annexes. Facilities:  Hairdryer, En-suite bath and shower, iPod docking station, Wi-Fi available in the room, and safe.  Lunch and dinner on your own.

 

Day 2 - JOHANNESBURG - City Tours - PARKWOOD HOTEL or similar

AM: Buffet breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast, we will proceed with our English-speaking tour guide for a full-day Soweto and Apartheid Museum Orientation tour (South – Western – Township), the largest black residential area in South Africa, you will see a fascinating contrast to Sandton and Rosebank in the north. This sprawling “city within a city” essentially acts as a labor reservoir for the greater metropolitan area of the Witwatersrand. Your tour will include all the major points of interest, such as Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, Baragwanath taxi rank, Freedom Square, and the 12-year-old Hector Peterson, who has come to symbolize those that stood against the tyrannical regime. SOWETO is a national monument dedicated to offering insights into the life of Nelson Mandela and the families he lived with from 1946 through to 1990. Lunch on your own.

PM: Apartheid Museum Tour
Overnight at Parkwood Hotel or similar  BB

 

Day 3 - SABI SAND RESERVE - UMKUMBE SAFARI LODGE or similar

You will proceed to the airport for your short flight to Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport. Upon our arrival, you will be met and continue for a two-and-a-half-hour drive to SABI SAND RESERVE, a private concession within the big five (5) greater Kruger National Park, where you will spend the next three (3) nights at UMKUMBE SAFARI LODGE, BB, L, D.

 

UMKUMBE SAFARI LODGE (or similar) is situated in the west region of Sabi Sands, within its game reserve. The Sabi Sands borders Kruger National Park, which contains two rivers and boasts brilliant wildlife viewing all year round!

 

The Lodge accommodation consists of nine private suites. UMKUMBE SAFARI LODGE accommodation consists of beautifully appointed suites with open-plan bedrooms and en-suite bathrooms. All suites have both indoor and outdoor shower facilities. All windows and sliding doors are fitted with screens, and insect coils are provided. Each suite at Notten’s Bush Camp leads onto a private wooden deck with a beautiful view of the bush. Paraffin lamps and candles replace electric lighting for ambiance, and all the rooms are cooled with an overhead ceiling fan. Facilities are available for the recharging of video machines and camera batteries in the safari lodge’s reception area.

 

The Sabi Sands Game Reserve has become famous for its magnificent leopard sightings. This gorgeous wild cat can be incredibly difficult to find, but at Sabi Sands, you are very likely to get the unique opportunity of tracking one in the midst of a hunt! In an open 4x4 vehicle, you will be able to follow this magnificent creature and see how it survives in the wild. Perhaps you will even go off-road and experience a thrilling journey through the African bush.

Sabi Sands is a superb Big Five territory and also has a huge variety of other mammals, reptiles, and winged beauties. You will certainly have ample opportunity to take home stunning photographs.        
PM: Afternoon game drive by Landrover. Return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.   BB, L, D

 

Day 4 - SABI SANDS GAME RESERVE - UMKUMBE SAFARI LODGE or similar

AM: Early morning game drive followed by breakfast, then kick back and relax with a cool refreshment while reliving your safari experience with your tour companions or relax around the pool, browse through the curio shop, book a massage or maybe take a siesta. Lunch at the lodge.

3:00 PM:  Meet for tea on the verandah before starting your afternoon game safari.  Return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.  BB, L, D
 

Day 5 - SABI SANDS GAME RESERVE - UMKUMBE SAFARI LODGE or similar

AM: Early morning game drive followed by breakfast, then kick back and relax with a cool refreshment while reliving your safari experience with your tour companions or relax around the pool, browse through the curio shop, book a massage or maybe take a siesta.

3:00 PM:  Meet for tea on the verandah before starting your afternoon game safari.  Return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.     BB, L, D
 

Day 6 - SABI SANDS GAME RESERVE - UMKUMBE SAFARI LODGE or similar / JOHANNESBURG - Parkwood Hotel or similar

AM: Early morning breakfast, followed by your departure back to Johannesburg.

PM: Arrive in Johannesburg, where you proceed to the Parkwood Hotel for overnight.

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Day 7 - JOHANNESBURG - ROVOS RAIL

AM: Early morning breakfast, followed by your departure to Pretoria to board –THE PRIDE OF AFRICA - your luxury ROVOS TRAIN to spend the next three nights onboard from Pretoria to Cape Town.  

ROVOS TRAIN (From Pretoria to Cape Town 994 miles)
The train, with all the glamour and excitement of the golden age of steam, offers accommodations and amenities of the very highest standard, combining the opulence and ambiance of the twenties and thirties with subtle modern innovations. Breakfast, lunch, and formal dinner are served (One setting) in the charming Victorian atmosphere of the dining car – meals carefully prepared are complemented by a selection of excellent South African wines.  The observation car with an open balcony, seating 32 passengers, takes up the rear end of the train. At the center of the train, there is the lounge car (Non-smoking) seating 26 passengers, where one may linger over cocktails before lunch or dinner.  

 

Each one of your A/C restored deluxe suites accommodates two passengers in either double or twin beds, with en-suite bathrooms. Original fittings are combined with the modern technology of hot showers, hairdryers, shaver plugs, toilets, and basins. All are equipped with a lounge area, a writing desk, and, for valuables, a personal safe. There is also a bar fridge filled with drinks of the passengers’ choice, and room service is available 24 hours a day.  Breakfast & lunch onboard the train are elegantly casual, while dinner is more formal and is served on fine bone china with silver cutlery and cut-crystal glasses. (NOTE: Jacket and tie for men and cocktail dress for women).
 

ROVOS TRAIN day-by-day program

11:00 AM: Departure from Pretoria Station:
(Guests may freshen up in their suites before joining fellow travelers in the midway Lounge Car or Observation Carriage at the rear of the train

1:00 PM: Lunch is served in the dining cars

4:30 PM: High tea is served in the lounge and observation cars.
7:30 PM: Dinner is served in the dining car. The dress is formal.  Overnight on board.

BB, L, D

 

Day 8 - ROVOS- Kimberley – The Big Hole & Diamond Museum
7:00 AM-10:00 AM: Breakfast will be served in the dining car

12:30 PM: Lunch is served in the dining cars.

Enjoy a tour of Kimberley’s Diamond Mine Museum and the Big Hole. Capital of the Northern Cape, Kimberley is well known for the discovery of diamonds that led to its establishment in 1871.

7:30 PM: Dinner is served in the dining room.  The dress is formal.

Overnight on board. BB, L, D

 

Day 9 - ROVOS / The Historic Village of Matjiesfontein
7:00 AM – 10:00 AM: Breakfast will be served in the dining room cars.
The train travels through the Karoo, a vast semi-desert region that was once an enormous inland sea. Over millions of years, the volcanic matter was ground down and deposited as silt upon the seabed to form what geologists call the Karoo System.

1:00 PM:    Lunch is served in the dining car. After lunch, there is a chance for guests to disembark the train at Whitehill and walk the 5km into Matjiesfontein for an opportunity to stroll through the historic village. Of special interest are the Museum on the platform and a collection of historic cars and railway carriages to the right of the Lord Milner Hotel.

4:30 PM:    High tea is served in the lounge and observation cars.

About an hour after Matjiesfontein, the train arrives at the first of four tunnels on the pass. The first tunnel is 13.5km long, so guests should be careful when walking through it and may wish to turn on the necessary lights. 

7:30 PM:    Dinner is served in the dining car as the train climbs 750m down the escarpment towards Worcester. The dress is formal. Overnight on board.  BB, L, D

 

Day 10 - 7:00 AM: Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 09:30. The train travels through the Hex River Valley.

10:00 AM: Arrive at Cape Town station, where you will be met and transferred to spend the next three (3) nights at VICTORIA & ALFRED HOTEL, BB

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The Victoria & Alfred Hotel, Cape Town's first hotel in the exciting new Waterfront development, is located in the historic 1904 North Quay warehouse, which offers great views of Table Mountain, Table Bay, and the working harbor. The hotel has 94 large, comfortably furnished, air-conditioned, en-suite double bedrooms, each with a fully stocked bar/fridge, television, radio, and hairdryer. 
The Waterfront Café, a cocktail bar, is located alongside the Alfred Basin's working dock. The Waterfront offers many interesting shops and boutiques, a shopping mall with cinemas, a theatre, restaurants and cafés, bistros and bars, a local brewery, historic buildings, and a maritime museum. The city center is only minutes away.
 

Day 11 - CAPE TOWN- (Full Day Peninsula Tour) - VICTORIA & ALFRED HOTEL
6:30 AM – Wake-up call.
7:30 AM - Morning breakfast. 
9:00 AM - Depart from your hotel and drive along the Atlantic Seaboard coast, passing the seaside suburbs of Sea Point, Bantry Bay, and Clifton.  En route, stop on the granite boulders, where you have magnificent views of  
The Twelve Apostles along the Atlantic coast side of Table Mountain and the beach of Camps Bay. Drive to the old lookout point, where the road is closed, for spectacular views across Hout Bay and the Sentinel and Karbonkelberg mountains. You then leave Hout Bay and travel over the mountain and through the Constantia Valley, and over Ou Kaapse Weg to the Noordhoek area.  

Drive to Kommetjie and Scarborough, which are little hamlets on the Atlantic Coast. Between June and November, there is a chance that you may see whales along the coastline. These are mainly Southern Right whales that come into the waters to mate and calve.  Have your cameras ready!   You then enter the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve and can take a drive off the main road to the untouched area of Olifants Bay. There is a herd of endemic Bontebok living on this side of the reserve and you have the possibility of seeing them on the beach and in the surrounding "fynbos", magnificent indigenous floral vegetation with flowering species throughout the year.   Enjoy lunch on your own at one of the restaurants along the coast. 

After lunch, you will spend time exploring the rocky coastline and fynbos with the possibility of seeing the African Black Oystercatchers and Avocets, as well as fynbos endemics such as the Cape Sugarbird and Protea Canary, as well as various Sunbirds.   Continue your drive to the tip of the Cape Peninsula and take a walk to the lighthouse at Cape Point with its beautiful views overlooking False Bay, so named as the early navigators thought they had put into Table Bay!   You will drive to the Cape of Good Hope, the southwesternmost point of the African continent!  You now leave the reserve and drive along the False Bay coastline to Boulders Beach and enjoy an opportunity to study the only penguins to be found on the continent of Africa, the African Penguin, returning to your hotel in the late afternoon.   Dinner on your own.  Overnight.    BB

 

Day 12 - CAPE TOWN / CITY TOUR – Cape Town City Tour & Robben Island - VICTORIA & ALFRED HOTEL

Buffet breakfast at the hotel, followed by your half-day Cape Town tour. Lunch on your own.

PM: After the morning tour, you will proceed to start your second half-day tour. You will be transferred to the harbor for your 30-minute ride on a ferry to Robben Island, where you will spend four hours touring, including a visit to the cell of former President Nelson Mandela.

The small flat islet of Robben Island, situated some 7km off the coast of Bloubergstrand and just a few meters above sea level, has been varyingly used since the end of the 17th century to isolate political prisoners, serve as a leper colony and quarantine animals.

The original Dutch settlers under Jan van Riebeeck first used the island to warn passing ships of the dangerous rocks around the island by building huge bonfires at night. The original colony of African Penguins was eliminated by 1800 but has since been re-established and is today one of the largest breeding colonies of these birds along the African coastline.   

A short ferry ride departing from the V&A Waterfront carries passengers across Table Bay. On arrival, guests will participate in a guided tour of the prison buildings, including a visit to Nelson Mandela’s cell, where he was incarcerated for eighteen years. Many well-known individuals, including current South African president Jacob Zuma, were imprisoned here in the Apartheid era. The excursion lasts about four hours. 

After the visit, you will take the ferry back to our private coach to return to your hotel to freshen up for your optional dinner at the Africa Café Restaurant.  BB

 

Day 13 - JOHANNESBURG / VICTORIA FALLS (Zimbabwe) - BATONKA LODGE

AM: Buffet breakfast at the hotel. You will be transferred to Johannesburg International Airport for your 2-hour flight to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. Arrive at Victoria Falls Airport, where you will be met and transferred to Victoria Falls City to spend the next three nights at the historical BATONKA LODGE or similar.

 

The hotel is set in lush tropical gardens with lily ponds, palm trees, and semi-tropical shrubs, providing the tranquility and seclusion that many guests seek. The famous Victoria Falls are just a ten-minute walk away using the hotel’s private pathway, and “the smoke that thunders,” or “Mosi-O-Tunya” in the local dialect, is clearly audible and visible from this luxurious landmark.

It has 161 rooms. All rooms are air-conditioned and have every modern amenity, including digital satellite television and a personal safe. The old-fashioned bathtubs in the stable wing turn the bathroom into a haven of relaxation. 
The standard room services include same-day laundry and 24-hour room service.  Each room with its unique look also comprises the following:

•    Digital satellite television
•    Safety deposit box
•    Bathtub and shower
•    Bar fridge (only in deluxe rooms and suites)
•    Hairdryer
•    Air conditioning
•    Smoke detectors & sprinkler system
•    Telephone
•    Razor outlet
•    Complimentary early morning tea & coffee
•    En-suite bathroom (toilet, bathtub, and shower)

 

VICTORIA FALLS: Described by the Kololo tribe living in the area in the 1800s as “Mosi-oa-Tunya” – “The Smoke that Thunders” and in more modern terms as “The greatest known curtain of falling water,” Victoria Falls is one of the seven natural wonders of the world – is a spectacular sight of awe-inspiring beauty and grandeur on the Zambezi River, bordering Zimbabwe and Zambia. A mile-wide avalanche of twisting, leaping water. From the rush of Devil’s cataract, over the precipice of the Main Falls, Rainbow Falls, and the Eastern cataract, the Zambezi pounds into the Bakota Gorge, rainbow arching over its frenzied, furious progress and smoke billowing upwards in clouds that can be seen over 28 miles away.

The Curtain of falling water has been known to reach a volume of 700.000 cubic meters per minute when the Zambezi is in full flood and at its most aggressive. At Main Falls, the water is channeled into smaller falls and rivulets, falling 100 meters into the chasm below. Awe-inspiring views of the Falls are found at lookouts located at intervals along a short walk through the opulent abundance of the rain, home to the graceful Chobe bushbuck. At times, the spray-drenched visitors stand only 60 meters away from the thundering water beyond a flimsy fence of the woven brush. The winding path ends at Danger Point, which overlooks the turbulent waters of the Boiling Pot in the river below.  Lunch and dinner on your own. Overnight.  BB

 

Day 14 - VICTORIA FALLS - BATONKA LODGE

8:00 AM Buffet breakfast. 

9:00 AM: Your private coach and guide will pick you up for your tour of the Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe side, which offers excellent photographic opportunities. Visit the Eastern Cataract and cross the footbridge to the Knife Edge. Lunch will be at the Look Out Cafe. After lunch, return to your lodge.

3:15 PM: You will be picked up again to enjoy your Zambezi River sunset river cruise. Return to the lodge overnight.  Dinner on your own. Overnight. BB, L

Day 15 - VICTORIA FALLS - CHOBE NATIONAL PARK - VICTORIA FALLS - BATONKA LODGE

Buffet breakfast at the hotel followed by a tour to CHOBE NATIONAL PARK in Botswana

Chobe National Park is well known for its large herds of elephants that frequent the Chobe River daily. In the dry season, an estimated 85,000 elephants are dispersed within the Chobe National Park, where the majority of them can be found along the river. Apart from the herds of elephants, Chobe also has lots more to offer. The Park has lions, leopards, buffalo, and a whole host of antelope such as sable, puku, kudu, eland, roan, and many others which you can get to see. The river teems with rafts of hippos and some of the biggest crocodiles in Africa.

You will be transferred to the Kazungula border, where your Botswana guide will meet you. Then, you will proceed straight to the morning cruise, where you will spend the morning game viewing along the Chobe River. The cruise will end at around 12:30, and you will go to a hotel on the riverbank for lunch. After lunch, you will board safari vehicles for an afternoon game drive in the Chobe National Park. Following this, you will be taken back to the Kazungula Border, where you will be met by their Zimbabwean guide for your return transfer to Victoria Falls. Lunch is included, and dinner is on your own. Overnight. BB, L

 

Day 16 - VICTORIA FALLS / JOHANNESBURG 

Buffet breakfast at the hotel and then your morning at leisure

Mid-morning: transfer to Victoria Falls Airport for your short flight to Johannesburg. Once you arrive in Johannesburg, you will connect with your flight back home. BB