South Africa October 2013

Staff Member: Dan Crandall
Travel Dates: October 2-13, 2013
Destinations Visited:  Johannesburg, Cape Town, Simon’s Town, Hermanus, Franschhoek, Knysna, Kruger

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This trip was a site inspection to a wonderful array of activities, hotels, and places inside South Africa sponsored by the South African tourism bureau. I traveled with a small group of other travel professionals, many of whom were experiencing Africa for the first time. Their infectious enthusiasm and excitement was off the charts! Even though this was my 6th time to Africa, I experienced a nice variety of new things and I was highly impressed with South Africa’s infrastructure improvements since hosting the World Cup in 2010. We can incorporate any of these places, hotels, and experiences as part of a grander Adventures Within Reach Southern Africa tour.

Day 1 / October 2 — Arrival into Johannesburg

We arrived on the evening of October 2 at the Johannesburg International Airport, O.R. Tambo (JNB). This is a clean, modern airport, with loads of shopping, a luggage storage facility and convenient airport hotels.  We transferred about 25 minutes to the nice 3-star Hotel Wanderers, situated in the Sandton neighborhood and part of the excellent, good value Protea chain, which includes mid-range to luxury properties in it’s broad South African portfolio. We enjoyed a delightful dinner with excellent service at the African Pride Melrose Arch, a fashionable, hop 5-star hotel in the heart of great nightlife, shopping, and dining.

Day 2 / October 3 — Tours in Johannesburg 

The highlight today was a 2 hour bike tour of Soweto. Most of my colleagues on the tour listed this bike trip as a top 2 or 3 experience of the entire time! It was equal parts cultural immersion, education on South Africa’s history, and exercise (nice after being in planes the previous 2 days). The Soweto bike tour features easy biking with an informative, entertaining local guide. Highlights included a) visiting a “shabeen” to experience a Soweto tradition of underground bars in window-less sheds with home-made corn beer; b) a local eatery (sampling a traditional corn paste and grilled bits of cow cheek); c) stops of historical or scenic interest d) biking through lower class, middle class and upper class Soweto hoods). Overall it was an excellent glimpse at what life was like and how it is now in Soweto.

*** Other points of interest we visited in Johannesburg today:

Mandela house visit – this is where he lived in Soweto. It’s mildly interesting, worth a walk through if you are near it or if you are passionate about Mandela’s story.

Hector Pieterson Museum – this museum is a much simpler, more modest alternative to the main Apartheid museum, home to many newspaper clippings, photos, etc.

We had a casual lunch at Sakhumzi Restaurant, a buffet style restaurant with classic South Africa specialties including stomach in mushroom sauce with live Zulu dancers singing and performing all around us.

Apartheid Museum visit – an educational, thought-provoking, inspiring and softly emotional experience. Allow 2 hours minimum to check it out.

We didn’t have time to make it, but if you have the time, a visit to the Rosebank Craft Market is recommended.

An amazing dinner was hosted by the phenomenal staff at the exquisite 5-star Saxon Hotel, Johannesburg’s finest boutique hotel, a spectacular property on the same scale as the Ellerman House and other super-elite properties in South Africa.

Our hotel tonight was the Johannesburg Fire & Ice, a chic, fun 4-star hotel perfect for younger couples in the Melrose Arch area. Make sure to have a drink at their lively bar and save room for one of their famous milk shakes!

Day 3 / October 4 — Hot air balloon and Cooking class

Today’s highlights were a beautiful hot air balloon ride near Johannesburg and a Malay-South African cooking class near Cape Town.

The day started at about 4 am with an approximate 1.5 hour drive from our Johannesburg hotel to Magaliesberg (near the Cradle of Mankind site) for a hot air balloon ride with the famous Bill Harrop. It was a beautiful sunrise flight high above scattered wisps of clouds with low mountains in the distance and peaceful farms all around below. After landing, we celebrated with champagne, and an ample breakfast waited for us back at the launch site.

We drove back to Johannesburg for a short flight to Cape Town, and from there, checked into our hotel, the 5-star Pepper Club, a well-run high rise hotel in the party district of Cape Town, great for weekenders and younger people looking for night-life. Later this evening we ventured to the quiet wineland removes just out of Cape Town and direct to the Cellars-Hohenort, a serene, styslish, Dutch-colonial style property with world-class dining. Here we donned aprons for a fun, engaging Cape Malay cooking class.

Day 4 / October 5 — Table Mountain and Cape Peninsula Tour

Highlights were a mountain cable car ascent of Table Mountain with a brief hike up top plus the visit to Cape Point, Cape of Good Hope, and Boulders Beach.

No trip to Cape Town is complete without a visit to Table Mountain. The best way to visit is hiking one way (either up or down, knees willing) and a cable car ride the other. The cable car feels like an engineering marvel – gently rotating 360 degrees and exposing passenger to breath-taking views of the sea, the city and the towering, ancient sandstone and shale mountain. Once you’re on in the windy, chilly top, you’ll encounter level circuits of easy groomed trails to viewpoints for more spectacular views. It’s hard to argue it’s status as one the 7 New Natural Wonders of the World.

After lunch at the Seaforth seafood restaurant, we traveled to scenic Boulders Beach to see the braying African penguins on the shoreline. There’s a nice little crafts market here to browse and a good look at yet another attractive suburb of this California / French Riviera-like area.

Back in Cape Town, we did a tour (and dinner) at the Grand Daddy Hotel in Cape Town, a fun, hip 3+ – 4 star boutique hotel that’s full of history (and still has an original, vintage elevator working the floors) in a good nightlife spot for younger people.

Day 5 / October 6 — Waterfront and Wine tasting in Franschhoek

Highlights today were a stroll of the bustling waterfront area, an amazing lunch at the heavenly 12 Apostles Hotel, and a wonderful trip to Franschhoek in the heart of wine country.

The V&A Waterfront is a lively, fun place to wander in the open sea air – just ignore all the tour touts. Lots of shopping, dining spots, bars, hotels, and tour agencies here, which is where you’d catch the boat to Robben Island, the infamous prison island where Nelson Mandela sculpted his political legacy.

We traveled along the scenic coastal highway for lunch and site visit of the sumptuous Twelve Apostles Hotel. Extraordinary place, this ocean-fronting hotel is a place you want to make time for to enjoy. A fantastic spa, great views from common areas to sea – boulders in ocean below, sweeping ocean vistas, etc. fantastic food and classy old-school gentleman’s club like bar area. Best for a 4 night stay doing ½ day activities in the mornings with rest and relaxation in the evenings. Complimentary shuttles to Camps Bay (beach) and V and A waterfront, about 15 minutes away. It’s near the road so request rooms away from it.

From here we enjoyed an easy, incredibly scenic, guided bicycle tour with wine tasting in Franschhoek. Only about 1.5 hrs out from Cape Town, vineyards dot the mountain area with raw rugged peaks rising all around in a stunning mountain landscape. French protestant immigrants from the 1600s started the local vineyard scene here. We sampled wines at two wineries. Grande Provence Wine tasting (30 minutes) had nice wines on offer. The space had a sleeker Sonoma, California feel, with a bright, open modern tasting room. Mont Rochelle Wine tasting (30 minutes) also had great wines, with tasting in a more classic French country bar/bistro style lodge. Very warm and charming– it had a relaxing outside patio to complement the country interior.

Day 6 / October 7 — Shark diving and Whale watching

Today’s more exciting moments were shark cage diving in Simon’s Town, whale watching while strolling the Hermanus ocean trail, and a delightful wine-food pairing at Creation Wines, situated in a majestic mountain valley.

We started early today, about 4 am, with a drive to Simon’s Town, a sleepy seaside community about 1 hour away from Cape Town. Shark cage diving is easy, exciting and far from routine. The best part about it are simply phenomenal views of elusive, powerful great white sharks, one off the more vulnerable species on the planet considering their surprisingly low numbers world-wide and how little science knows about them. “Diving” is simply dunking your head in the wtaer for the brief moment that the shark is near the cage. You are safe, protected by a thick steel cage immersed in the water. The water is freezing cold but ‘divers’ wear thick wet suits. Boats and operations in the Hermanus area are very comparable to one another, however try to find smaller boats with fewer passenger numbers if possible. Apex Predators is a recommended outfit. Sea sickness is a problem however in these small boats – be prepared! A surprise to me was how good the shark viewing was from deck – arguably better than in the water, which can have limited visibility.

After our fill of shark sightings, we drove to Hermanus, a picturesque coastal town about two hours from Cape Town. There is a wonderful coastal walk you can enjoy on your own, with breaching southern right whales sighted often in the distance. In fact Hermanus is considered one of the top 2 or 3 spots worldwide to whale watch from shore. Sleepy Hermanus has a small shopping downtown, nice restaurants and fine hotels.

After some rest at our fantastic hotel, The Marine Hermanus, a historical property full of prestige and colonial charms, we ventured to the singular Creation Wines for an educational, delicious and inspired wine-food pairing. Elegant wines, fantastic food, and breath-taking scenery tonight!

Day 7 / October 8 — Grootbos

Today we visited the tremendous botanical sanctuary and elite lodge Grootbos plus whale watching in Hermanus.

Much of the day was enjoyed simply learning more about the amazing accommodations and projects at coastal Grootbos, which protects one of the most botanically rich areas in the world. If budget allows, a stay of 2 nights here would be a truly special part of any South Africa safari. The accommodations are exclusive and modern and where else can you do a four-wheel driving safari? In the afternoon, we ventured out into Hermanus Bay for some wonderful, close-up looks at huge, acrobatic southern right whales.

Day 8 / October 9 — Grootbos

Largely road travel today, driving the idyllic Garden route; on the way we experienced a fun Cango Caves adventure tour and lunch in Oudtshoorn at one of the area’s famous Ostrich farms, sampling the local bird. Cango offers two tours – one that’s great for fit adventurous travelers with no concerns about claustrophobia and the other that’s a simple walking tour of the larger caverns. At the ostrich farm, lighter people (150 pounds or less) have a once in a lifetime chance to ride an ostrich!

We continued on to coastal Knysna, where we overnighted the next 2 nights at the 5-star Pezula golf resort and spa which offers superlative food and service along with spacious, chic chalets.

Day 9 / October 10 — River safari and Bungee jump

Highlights were the morning Knysna River Safari and the Bloukrans Bridge bungee jump later in the afternoon.

The Knysna River Safari was a fun casual boat ride in the morning through a calm, scenic, peaceful lagoon towards the quiet port’s mouth, which was actually a rather dramatic display of crashing waves (it’s the second most dangerous navigable port in the world). Wonderful and relaxing, we dined on fresh oysters (Knysna is rightfully famous for it’s oysters, which are meaty yet creamy) and drank white wine while looking for marine life and waterbirds. The town itself makes a nice stop on the Garden route.

Then we headed to the bungee bridge, about an hour away, with a refreshing, leg-stretching Tstistikamma forest walk en-route. Bloukrans Bridge bungee jump bills itself as the highest in the world, and from where I stood, it’s hard to argue! It’s a dramatic drop into a beautiful river canyon as it winds it’s way towards the sea. Dramatic and nerve inducing, this is a great activity for adrenaline junkies. Afterwards, we returned to Pezula  where many of us went to the world-class spa for a delightful treatment. Following that, I borrowed one of the bikes lying around for guests to use to steep ride down the pathways to the coast for sunset. It is a beautiful golf course with stunning views along the route.

Day 10 / October 11 — Hamilton Tented Camp

The highlight today was beginning our brief 2 night safari. We drove this morning to Port Elizabeth for an early morning flight to Nelspuit, the main gateway to the Sabi Sands and Kruger. There are more convenient nature preserves and game lodges on or near the Garden Route but availability was hard to come by for our dates – if you are traveling the Garden Route, we would recommend other options, like Shamwari, space permitting.  But when most travelers think of going on safari in South Africa, they are thinking of the greater Kruger ecosystem, exactly where we went.

We arrived Nelspruit’s Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport (MQP) and drove through Kruger National Park to a private concession area called Imbali. Here I stayed at the luxurious 5-star Hamilton’s Tented Camp. Tents, which are spacious and include nice touches like private decks, bath tubs and outdoor showers, have plenty of space between them on a raised wooden walkway. There is a delightful little plunge pool to cool off in and it borders the river which serves as a defacto water hole with inviting game viewing right at camp.  The food and service are outstanding. Game drives in open vehicles, bush walks and night game drives are options here, which is unique within Kruger itself.

Some of our party also spent nights in Imbali, a highly-rated 5-star lodge with the same activities on offer but a dramatically different style of accommodations, using chalets instead of tents.

The main difference with regards to game viewing between here and Sabi Sands is the game viewing in the Imbali area is restricted to roads only, whereas you can go off road in Sabi Sands. Secondarily, you see fewer vehicles in the Imbali corner of the park, since it’s somewhat remote and exclusive.

Day 11 / October 12 — Safari in Sabi Sands

We spent a full day exploring the Kruger including the Imbali concession grounds. Game viewing was affected by the heat – it was African hot today! January may technically be the hottest month in the Kruger but October was no slouch. The staff did greet us with vanilla ice cream cones on our drive though! Wildlife highlights today were lions, a black rhino, several white rhinos, close-up elephant families (including the cute baby elephants no more than several weeks old), plus lots of powerful, mean-looking buffalo! We saw some impressive elephants right at Hamiltons, from our decks and along the walkway – the elephants moved with ease between the tents. We also saw a crocodile in the distance ripping apart what appeared to be a wildebeest leg – very unusual. This evening, some of us on a late night game drive encountered a noisy mating pair of leopards 30 feet from the road!

Day 12 / October 13 — Departure

We had a final morning game drive and then we began our drive back to Johannesburg. Most AWR travelers would fly out the way they came, via Nelspruit, on to Johannesburg and home. Our 4 day Kruger extension and 10 day Highlights of Southern Africa are good examples of that.