Cape Town, Garden Route, and Safari

Cape Town Discovery

Enjoy a full day with your guide exploring the city and surrounding area, including the city center, Company’s Gardens, Cape Town Castle, Bo Kaap, Signal Hill, and the V&A Waterfront. Your guide will help you get to know the city, its different cultures, history, and geography. You'll visit Robben Island and ride to the top of iconic Table Mountain in a cable car for magnificent views over Table Bay, Robben Island, The Cape Peninsula, and Lions Head.

Spend the day exploring Cape Town on your own. Visit one of the Mother City's local art galleries, or fine museums, like the South African Museum, situated in the historic Company's Gardens. Visiting during the weekend? Drop by one of the wonderful food markets such as the Neighbourgoods Market at the Old Biscuit Mill on Saturdays or the Oranjezicht City Farm Market Day held every Saturday and Sunday at the historic Granger Bay site of the V&A Waterfront.

Plan your visit to coincide with the Cape Town Art Fair usually held in February, and spend the day experiencing contemporary artworks from all over Africa.

Optional guided tours are also available. Consider a full-day visit to the lesser-known, more laid back Elgin Wine region, or to the Cape Peninsula, where you'll find penguins, the Cape of Good Hope, and more.

Hermanus and Cape Agulhas

Depart Cape Town early morning for Hermanus. Follow the scenic coastal road, stopping at Betties Bay to view a colony of endangered African penguins and spend the afternoon in the scenic seaside resort town of Hermanus, famous for hundreds of Southern Right Whales during the whale season (July to November) as well as many shops, restaurants, and markets. In the afternoon, drive on to Cape Agulhas, the southern-most tip of Africa, where you'll visit a viewpoint known as the 'real' place where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet.

Option: Experience a close encounter with the gentle giants of the ocean by joining an informative whale watching boat trip. This activity takes place over lunchtime in Hermanus, a town known for the many Southern Right Whales that visit the area from July to November every year.

Cape Agulhas – Oudtshoorn

Travel to Oudtshoorn in the Little Karoo, known as the Ostrich Capital of the World, via spectacular Route 62, which is South Africa’s longest wine route. Enjoy a delicious lunch and wine tasting at a local winery before experiencing the subterranean beauty of the Cango Caves on a guided adventure tour.

Oudtshoorn – Knysna – Sedgefield

After breakfast, head over the marvelous Outeniqua Mountain pass to explore Wilderness National Park by canoe. Enjoy a paddle up the Touw River through the indigenous forest, where there is an abundance of birdlife. Afterward, take a short hike along a boardwalk, to discover a lovely waterfall and rock pools.

After canoeing, head to the famous town of Knysna via the lavish Lake District of the Garden Route. This up-market small town is filled with curios restaurants and a waterfront - great for relaxing and shopping. After Knysna, head to the Knysna Heads viewpoint for magnificent views over Knysna River estuary and the Indian Ocean. Late afternoon you can explore Sedgefield with its expansive views and beaches.

Sedgefield- Tsitsikamma - Addo

After breakfast, depart for Tsitsikamma National Park. En-route, stop at Bloukrans Bridge and admire the view. Spend the late morning in Tsitsikamma National Park with its unique combination of indigenous forest and beautiful Indian Ocean coastline. The park has a wide choice of activities for all including hiking, crossing a suspension bridge, and swimming. Late afternoon, leave the Garden Route for 'Big 5' country, Addo.

Option: Get into the forest by zip-lining from one platform to another along a steel cable suspended up to 100 feet above the forest floor. Located in the magnificent Tsitsikamma indigenous rainforest, many of the platforms are built around giant Outeniqua Yellowwood trees that are up to 700 years old! Standing within the crown of these giants and looking down at the lush forest floor below is an experience of a lifetime. The scenery and birdlife is spectacular and professional guides ensure your safety while keeping you informed about interesting features of the forest ecology. If you are fortunate enough, you will spot a pair of Knysna Loeries or the brilliant red plumage of the elusive Narina Trogon.

Addo – Kariega Private Game Reserve

Spend the morning driving Addo Elephant National Park exploring the 28,000-hectare National reserve with approximately 600 elephants. Other wildlife such as Cape buffalo, lion, black rhino, warthog, zebra, eland, kudu, and hartebeest may also be seen.

Enjoy an optional, ranger-guided game drive this morning through Addo National Park. With the ranger, you'll get a better understanding of the animals and the park itself. The park guides also know where the animals hang out!

Private transfer to Kariega and check into your lodge suite, where you will spend the next 2 nights. Enjoy a late lunch and get ready for your afternoon game drive.

Welcome to Kariega Private Game Reserve

Kariega Game Reserve is a family-owned and operated 'Big 5' private safari reserve located in South Africa's Eastern Cape. The reserve is situated along the Garden Route, making it the perfect South African safari destination to compliment a Cape Town visit and a trip along the country’s beautiful coast.

This malaria-free game lodge incorporates 10,000 hectares of pristine African wilderness, as well as two abundant rivers - the Kariega and the Bushmans rivers - a delight for birders. The reserve offers five safari lodges to suit all needs. Experience close up game viewing of the 'Big 5' - lion, elephant, rhino, buffalo and leopard - as well as multitudes of other South African wildlife from the comfort of an open game drive vehicle.

Once farmland, the owners of this reserve have, either by habitat restoration or reintroduction, populated this area with the animals that once thrived here. In addition to the larger species, Kariega Game Reserve ecology hosts a variety of wildlife, most of which has persisted in the Eastern Cape over the centuries. Wild cat, lynx, hyena, jackal, genet, bushpig, warthog, baboon, monkey, aardvark, otter, honey badger and porcupine can all be seen here.

Kariega Private Game Reserve Safari Day

The main attractions of the reserve are the wildlife and stunning scenery. On game drives you will explore many different habitats highlighting five different ecosystems - valley bushveld, savannah grasslands, fynbos, riverine forests and acacia woodland. The awe-inspiring African landscape captivates the senses as the trees, grasses and plants of the Eastern Cape divulge their secrets.

Game drives happen twice daily. Coffee, tea and a snack are served at 6 am before the morning drive. Once back at the lodge, you'll enjoy a hearty breakfast or brunch. You are then free to enjoy a bush walk, a spa treatment, go canoeing, have a swim or just relax. After a refreshing afternoon tea, head out for the afternoon game drive. While out, you'll participate in an African safari tradition - the sundowner. Once back at the lodge, a hot evening meal will be waiting!

While on your game drive, you'll ride in an open safari vehicle with your ranger and other guests of the lodge.

Enjoy one last early morning game drive, a hearty breakfast and then check out. Say goodbye to South Africa! Private transfer to the Port Elizabeth International Airport for flights onward home or extend your African adventure!