10 Africa welcomes you, dear friends!
After border formalities you will be met by a representative of the tourist company Alpha-Zulu, transferred to your hotel and have free time for rest. You can visit the Queen Victoria and Prince Alfred Waterfront, which is a tourist Mecca.Cape Town. There you will find a variety of cafes and restaurants, expensive shops and souvenir stalls, folk singers and dancers performing directly on the street, seals resting on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean that caresses the eyes with its blue waves...
After a delicious and hearty breakfast you will meet your guide for excursions in and around Cape Town. Table Mountain, the symbol of the city, will be the starting point of your excursion. You will go up to the mountain in the cable car (payment is made on the spot, for whether it operates depends on the weather) and from the top you will have a bird’s eye view of this unforgettable city. After that you will visit the Cape Town Castle of Good Hope, which was the first stone structure on the peninsula, and from there you will see the Grand Parade, dominated by the Town Hall building. Continuing the journey, you will visit the Company’s Gardens built at the time of Jan van Riebeeck, founder of Cape Town. You can buy peanuts to feed the squirrels, who will eat from your hand. Next to the Gardens you will see St. George’s church, famous for having the largest stained-glass windows in the Southern hemisphere. Nearby are also the Houses of Parliament and the National Gallery of art. A tour of a jewelry factory will help you understand the process of cutting of precious stones and you can touch diamonds of various sizes and learn useful information about jewelry. If you like, you can purchase jewelry at factory prices direct from the manufacturer.
Today you will relive the days of the discoverers and of the colonial conquests and you will spend the day on Cape of Good Hope, which you have heard about in school. In 1488 Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias landed on the Cape and called it the Cape of Storms, because he had survived a terrible storm that nearly cost him and his crew their lives. Portuguese King João II, having great expectations for a new Eastern sea route, renamed it the Cape of Good Hope. Here tourists often look forward to seeing large families of baboons. These animals are very cute, but be careful not to feed them, for you might get hurt when they fight for their food. After passing the entrance gate your bus will follow a level road and then drive down to the famous promontory. Here you can make a souvenir photo against a panel that has the coordinates of the Cape of Good Hope. Then you can climb to the highest point of the Cape Peninsula, where you will enjoy the extraordinary beauty of the ocean and the bay. We now say goodbye to the Cape and we are on our way back. The road runs along the coast of False Bay and goes through the small town of Simon’s Town, near which the largest South African naval base and Boulders Beach are situated. On that beach you will meet the famous Cape penguins. Long ago, these wonderful animals chose this beach for hatching their offspring and now they live there year-round, delighting local and foreign tourists. You will stop for lunch (at your own expense) at a restaurant well known for its seafood recipes. Return to the hotel around 17h00-18h00.
Relax and leisure in Cape Town. You can plan this day for additional excursion with the guide from Alpha-Zulu Africa. Options are as follows:
- Tour of the "wine route" You have surely heard about South African wines, which are produced according to old French recipes. You will be given an opportunity to visit several farms and to familiarize yourselves with the technology and the history of wine, and then you can taste a variety of wines. Lunch at one of the farms.
- White shark dives, one of the main attractions in South Africa, because there are only two places on the globe with the opportunity to dive with these dangerous predators. One of them is in Gansbaai (2-hour drive from Cape Town).
- It is also possible to plan for a day of shopping. Your guide will bring all the instructions.
After breakfast the guide will transfer you in a comfortable car to the exclusive Victorian train Rovos Rail, and warmly say goodbye to you. You step onto the red carpet leading to the station lobby and from that moment, you will feel transported back in time to the Victorian era. In anticipation of the departure, you will sit on comfortable chairs in the hall, while a chamber ensemble plays for you and waiters offer you champagne, non-alcoholic beverages and snacks. When all the tourists have arrived you will be invited to take your seats in the cars and begin an unforgettable journey on one of the five most famous trains in the world. Here, you every desire is the law. Butlers are ready to help at any moment, champagne splashes, tables in the train’s restaurants are decked with silver and cut glass and famous chefs prepare gourmet dishes that will surprise you every time. Lunch is at 13:00. At 17:45 the train will stop and you will be taken on a tour of the historic town of Matjiesfontein. Here you will visit the museum of vintage cars and antique utensils, take a ride on a double-decker bus around town and walk along the platform like in the days of Queen Victoria, and then return to your car. At 19:30 dinner will be served. Please keep in mind that the ladies are expected to wear evening gowns and the gentlemen formal jackets.
After a gourmet breakfast in one of the restaurants of the train, you can watch the beautiful scenery of the semi-desert Karoo outside the window and relax. At 14:00 the train will arrive in the town of Kimberley, well-known from the books about the Gold Rush. City tour and visit to the "Big Hole ", an open pit where miners dug for the first South African diamonds. After the tour you will return to your compartment and ten minutes after the departure from Kimberley the train will move very slowly to allow you time to take a picture of the pink flamingos (23.000 birds) that teem on a the lake on the left side of the train. After the tour, you will have time to enjoy the comfort of the train. It is pleasant to sit at the bar or in the smoking car with a cigar and a glass of brandy. Or you can just sit on the open balcony at the end of the train and get some fresh air. Dinner will be served at 19:30.
After lunch in one of the restaurants in the train you will have time to collect your luggage and at 12 pm the train will arrive in the capital of South Africa, Pretoria. You will meet the guide from Alpha-Zulu Africa and drive in a comfortable car for the two-hour trip to the Pilanesberg National Park. Along the way you will visit Sun City, the fantastic city of the Sun, where the guide will conduct a tour. After the tour, transfer to the Lodge in Pilanesberg National Park.
This reserve is situated in the crater of a very ancient volcano. In the centre of the crater a lake was formed, Crater Lake, where we now find house hippos, crocodiles and a variety of waterfowl. The landscapes of this corner of Africa are interesting and varied. Here, on a territory of 55,000 hectares, you will find rocky areas overgrown with bushes extending to the horizon of the valley, and flowering acacia trees, which are the main food for many giraffes. In this park you can see almost all the mammals that are found in South Africa, including the African Big Five (elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion and leopard). Depart for morning and evening group safaris in a specially equipped jeep, accompanied by a professionally trained ranger. Get your cameras ready! This is a hunt, but instead of guns you will use your photo equipment.
You rise early and a 2-hour flight will take you to Johannesburg, South Africa’s financial capital, where a connecting flight will bring you to Victoria Falls. This unique ecological system is the "wonder of the world". Tons of water of the Zambezi River crash down the rocks from a height of more than 100 meters, forming clouds of misty spray. This spray is what natives call “the clattering smoke". In 1855 the English adventurer David Livingstone discovered this wonder of the world for Europeans and named the falls in honor of Queen Victoria. After flights and border formalities, you will meet with an English-speaking company representative for a short transfer to your hotel. The cozy African atmosphere will induce you to relax. You will also cruise on a boat on the Zambezi River and enjoy light snacks and a glass of wine while you admire an unforgettable African sunset.
The day will begin with a walk to the waterfall. You will pass through the "Weeping Forest", which received its name due to the fact that millions of splashing water rising above the waterfall and creatin the effect of constant dew, like tears falling down from the trees. The waterfall itself amazes you with its majesty. It is considered to be the widest waterfall in the world, with a length of 1700 meters. After the walk, you can relax at the hotel or book additional tours.
This is the final day of your African trip. It is time for the journey home. As usual, the representative of the Alpha-Zulu Africa will transfer you to the airport for your flights to Johannesburg and home.