Tour Itinerary
Day 1-2: International flights from Ottawa to Amsterdam & Arrival in Johannesburg
Day 1: Depart Ottawa for our flights to Amsterdam with KLM (call the office for flight schedule).
Day 2: Arrive into Amsterdam for the connecting flight to Johannesburg
Overnight: Intercontinental O.R. Tambo Airport Hotel (B)
Day 3-6: Madikwe Game Reserve
This morning you transferred to Madikwe Safari Lodge. (Approximately 4.5 Hours)
Madikwe Game Reserve, in the North West province, is one of South Africa’s largest Big Five game reserves and features a variety of lodges and camps, ranging from comfortable to luxurious.
Set in a malaria-free area in the historic North West province, near the border with Botswana, the 76 000 hectare (187 800 acre) Madikwe Game Reserve supports a diverse combination of bushveld and the semi-arid Kalahari. Madikwe is famed for Operation Phoenix, the world’s largest game translocation exercise. Established almost 20 years ago, the reserve successfully reintroduced more than 8 000 animals of 28 species, including lion, elephant and buffalo, as well as black and white rhino. This area is now home to the famous Big Five, as well as the endangered African wild dog and 350 bird species.
Tonight we will embark on our first game drive!
Here is an example of the daily events at Madikwe (times are approximate and subject to change):
05h00 Wake-up call
05h30 Tea/Coffee and game drive departs
09h00 Game drive returns, breakfast/brunch is served
At leisure Bush walk or activities of personal preference
16h00 High tea
16h30 Game drive departs
19h30 Game drive returns and dinner follows
Overnight 4 nights: Madikwe Lelapa Lodge -ALL INCLUSIVE (Including: all meals (B, L, D), Tea, coffees and mini bar in room, selected beverages alcoholic and non-alcoholic, two daily game drives (time and weather permitting).
Day 7: Madikwe to Johannesburg
After the morning game drive you will transferred to the Johannesburg Melrose Arch Hotel. (drive is about 4.5 hours)
Experience a passionate sense of style and service at the Melrose Arch Hotel. Situated in the new Melrose Arch development in Northern Johannesburg, the Melrose Arch Hotel offers easy access from the airport to the best that Johannesburg has to offer, day or night. The world-renowned March Restaurant, legendary swimming pool, inviting library and modern, comfortably appointed rooms conspire to make your visit to the Melrose Arch Hotel unique and unforgettable, while the high tech executive meeting rooms and full-service Business Centre make for inspired and effective business gatherings. Feel the pulse of urban Africa, set the course for your business, or just lay back in designer luxury – the choice is yours at The Melrose Arch Hotel where service excellence, absolute luxury and superb facilities are the order of the day.
The rest of the day will be at leisure.
Overnight: Melrose Arch Hotel (B)
Day 8: Full Day Soweto and Apartheid Museum - Johannesburg
You will be collected from your hotel after an early breakfast for your full day tour of the Soweto and Apartheids Museum. Soweto is a sprawling township, or more accurately, a cluster of townships on the south-western flank of Johannesburg. Soweto was created in the 1930s, with Orlando the first township established. In the 1950s, more black people were relocated there from ‘black spots’ in the inner city – black neighborhoods which the apartheid government had reserved for whites. With a population of over 2 million, the township is the biggest black urban settlement in Africa with a rich political history. Soweto was the centre of political campaigns aimed at the overthrow of the apartheid state. The 1976 student uprising started in Soweto and spread to the rest of the country. Many of the sights on this route therefore have political significance. From the footbridge of the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, the largest on the continent, one can get a panoramic view of Soweto. Visit the Hector Pieterson Museum in Orlando West, Soweto, built in memory of the people who died that day, 16 June 1976. Nelson Mandela’s humble little house in Orlando West, Soweto, now called the Mandela Family Museum, is an interesting stopover for those keen to imbibe a slice of authentic history on the world’s most famous former prisoner. The museum, a house comprising four inter-leading rooms, contains a rather eclectic assortment of memorabilia, paintings and photographs of the Mandela family as well as a collection of honorary doctorates bestowed on Nelson Mandela from universities and institutions around the world. You can also have a glimpse of the mansion belonging to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in an affluent part of Orlando West. Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s house and the Sisulu residences are in the same neighbourhood.
The Apartheid Museum tells the story of the triumph of the human spirit over adversity. Whoever you are, you cannot but come away with a deeper understanding and appreciation of this country, its darkest days and its brightest triumphs. The Apartheid Museum, the first of its kind, illustrates the rise and fall of apartheid: The racially prejudiced system that blighted much of its progress and the triumph of reason which crowned half a century of struggle. The Museum has been assembled and organized by a multi-disciplinary team of curators, film-makers, historians and designers. An architectural consortium comprising several leading architectural firms, conceptualized the design of the museum on a seven-hectare site. The museum is a superb example of design, space and landscape offering the international community a unique South African experience.
Overnight: Melrose Arch Hotel (B)
Day 9: Johannesburg to Cape Town
Today you will be collected at your hotel and transferred to the Johannesburg OR Tambo International Airport domestic terminal for your flight to Cape Town. Upon your arrival at Cape Town International Airport domestic terminal you will be collected and transferred to your hotel.
The rest of the day is at leisure. Overnight: Cape Cadogan Luxury Room (B)
Day 10: Full Day Table Mountain and City Tour – Cape Town
Firstly you will proceed to Table Mountain (weather permitting). Often described as magical and mystical, Table Mountain is Cape Town’s most prominent feature and a world famous landmark. This majestic mountain is visible from almost everywhere in Cape Town and is often used as a beacon by which to find direction.
The mountain is sculpted from sandstone and rises 1086 metres at its highest point, Maclears Beacon, above the bay. Its flat summit measures nearly 3km and provides breathtaking views over the city and its beaches. The panorama stretches from Table Bay to False Bay and around the mountain to the Hout Bay Valley and Kommetjie. On a clear day one has a magnificent view across the Cape Flats to the Hottentots Holland Mountains.
Afterwards, travel to the Company Gardens and view the oldest museum in sub-Saharan Africa, the South African Museum (SAM) has been adding to their collections for nearly 200 years and was established in 1825. Collections here range from fossils to insects and fish found as recently as a week ago; there are Stone Age tools, over 120 000 years old, side by side with displays of traditional clothes from last century.
Continue to the Castle of Good Hope. The Castle of Good Hope is the oldest surviving building in South Africa. Built between 1666 and 1679, this pentagonal fortification replaced a small clay and timber fort built by Commander Jan van Riebeeck in 1652 upon establishing a maritime replenishment station art the Cape of Good Hope for the Dutch East India Company, better known as the VOC (Verenigde Oos-Indische Compagnie).
Overnight: Cape Cadogan Luxury Room (B)
Day 11: Full Day at Cape Point Tour- Cape Town
This is an awe-inspiring tour to the towering headland known as Cape Point. Magnificent beaches, breathtaking views, and picturesque coastal villages are to be seen along the way.
Today you will view the exclusive suburbs of Sea Point, Clifton and Camps Bay before continuing via Llandudno to the fishing harbour of Hout Bay. If calm seas prevail, join a launch cruise to view the Duiker Island seals and cormorants at close quarters (Time and weather permitting – $ Own Account).
Then we’ll travel along the spectacular Chapman’s Peak Drive to Kommetjie, and enter the Cape Point Nature Reserve where you will be taken to the best vantage point to view what is erroneously said to be the meeting place of two mighty oceans.
Lunch will be included at a local restaurant.
After your lunch stop, we will follow the coastline along False Bay, we’ll return to Cape Town by way of Simon’s Town, where we visit the Penguin colony at Boulders Beach (for own account), Fish Hoek fishing village and Muizenberg. Before our return, we’ll stop at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens for a short walking tour of the beautiful gardens. We return to Cape Town, passing the University of Cape Town, Rhodes Memorial and the Groote Schuur Hospital.
Overnight: Cape Cadogan Luxury Room (B, L)
Day 12: Full Day Winelands - Cape Town
We will start our day by visiting Stellenbosch. It is easy to understand why Simon van der Stel decided to settle a village amongst the mountains. The backdrop of the Hottentots Holland Mountains, the white gabled Cape Dutch homesteads and the oak lined streets and lanes all blend in to give this place a charm that will not be forgotten. Proceed to Paarl where you will visit Anura at 10:00 for a Cheese and wine tasting. Finally, we make our way to Franschhoek with a photo stop at the Groot Drakenstein Prison where Nelson Mandela was released in Feb 1990. The village of Franschhoek nestled amongst the mountains, can easily be mistaken as being in Switzerland. After a short tour of the little town, there will be time for another wine tasting.
The Winelands tour will end off with a home dinner in Somerset West.
Overnight: Cape Cadogan Luxury Room (B, D)
Day 13: Cape Town
Optional tours offered today by your Travac Tours Director – at your own expense.
Overnight: Cape Cadogan Luxury Room (B)
Day 14: Cape Town
Optional tours offered today by your Travac Tours Director – at your own expense.
Your room is available for the day (until 8:00pm). A Farewell dinner will be available at your own cost (details TBA).
Late night transfer to the Cape Town International Airport for your flight home. (B)
Day 15: Flights back to Ottawa
Flight departs early in the morning at 00:30.
TIMES ON THIS ITINERARY ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. YOU WILL BE NOTIFIED BY TRAVAC TOURS STAFF OR YOUR TRAVAC TOURS DIRECTOR.
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