Please provide my husband and I with some guidance. We are arriving in Cape Town in late august and leaving from Cape Town in early September. Excluding travel days, we have 8 full days to explore. Here are the 7 things we want to do:

1. Shark Cage Diving (ecoventures, Dyer Island)

2. The Winelands

3. Township tour from Cape Town

4. Table Mountain

5. Cape Town (shopping, drive to the Cape, see penguins, etc)

And, driving the garden route to see...

6. Schotia (seemed to be a better priced game reserve)

7. Addo Elephant park

Is all this possible in 8 days? Any recommendations on ordering activities or combining activities?

Thanks in advance for your help.

hi, sandylee,

the short answer is NO. I'm doing a trip report at teh moment [just click on my name at the top] about our recent trip ,which covered most if not all of your suggested itinerary. we took 12 days, and it was TOO SHORT.

in 8 days, you could do CPT, and the activities you mention in that area, or the garden route and Addo/Schotia, but not both.

the main problem is that it is a long way -two days drive - from CPT to PE, where Addo and schotia are. you could fly CPT tp PE, but then you miss out the garden route, and several of your CPT activities.

I need to do some work and go to bed now, but if you read my trip report, and have some specific questions after that, please feel free to ask them.

regards, ann

Thanks. I've read your report. Sounds like you had a nice trip. Guess I was thinking that we good drive from Cape Town to PE and fly back to Capt Town. That might save some time. What are your thoughts about that?

About Schotia and Addo, can they both be done in a day trip? Say morning at Schotia (2-3 hour game drive) and afternoon at Addo (Self drive), spending night at Addo. We want to pack the most in. Was it easy to see animals or did it require some serious time and patience?

Thanks again

To quote <i>Fodor's African Safari</i>:

&quot;Try not to pack too much into your itinerary. The African bush moves to a slow drumbeat; don't try to impose a hectic schedule on your time there if you want to experience the hypnotic essence. Game viewing is seldom predictable, and the interactions between animals and their environments are extremely comples. To get even the smallest insight into an area, you have to take the time to observe it.&quot;

sandylee,

Before you start running around trying to change plans and find safaris near to Cape Town (see other thread that you have started up) please dont panic because I feel you <b>more than likely can</b> do the journey that you want to do. Before I comment on how I need to be 100% sure that I am understanding you correctly so would you please you let us know the following:

1. Exactly how many sleeping nights you have available to you while you are in the the region of the Western and Eastern Cape (8 or 9)

2. What time do you arrive in SA and from where to where are you flying your longhaul flights. Furthermore at what time do you leave SA. This information is crucial so as to know whether what you are possibly planning can be done. As a matter of fact it would help a lot if you could pass on where and when exactly (Place, date and time) you intend landing and departing in and from SA.

Once you have answered the above I will be able to elaborate with a lot more detail on how to do things however what I have to have you understand is that believe me what you are planning <b>can be done</b> and my advice is &quot;dont panic&quot;. What could well happen is you might have to give up one activity in the process (such as shark dive) so as to be able to do the whole journey but depending on your answers to my questions even this might not be needed.

May I also mention that you should not bother with local safaris outside of Cape Town as they are all simply a couple of steps up on a zoo experience.

Please answer the questions posed and I will help you further thereafter.

Very proudly part of the wonderful nation of South Africa

Thanks Selwyn, I was hoping you would respond. I'm new on Fodor, and still not quite sure how to go about getting questions answered. I checked out your website and was planning on contacting you once dates have been confirmed.

To answer your questions:

1. Currently the plan is...We have 9 sleeping nights in/around the Western &amp; Eastern Cape.

2. I am traveling from Canada (long long flight) and meeting my husband in Cape Town (the evening of August 26). He is arriving by boat. I'm leaving from Cape Town on August 4 (morning) back to Canada. That leaves us with 8 full days to explore.

My flight is being arranged by a third party and these dates are not yet confirmed. Unfortunately I have to work with this uncertainty. Will I have a problem with last minute reservations?

Look forward to your reply.

Sandylee,

Firstly I assume that you will be leaving Cape Town on Sept 4 and not August 4 as per your mail.

Relative to what you have told me I definitely believe that you can do the Garden Route and Cape Town inclusive of all that you had planned plus more if you follow the plan I am going to outline to you.


<b>Aug 26.</b>
Arrive in Cape Town. I would suggest that you don’t even leave the airport and sleep over at the airport hotel. You can have your husband come out to you at the hotel when he arrives in Cape Town. After meeting up I suggest that you go straight to bed to have a good nights sleep. This will hopefully have you gain back your jetlag and set you up for your journey

Airport hotel - http://www.citylodge.co.za/rl12.htm

Note that you are not going to find the best food at the airport so don’t expect a wondrous meal that evening. Anyway I believe that you should invest as much time as possible on your first night obtaining as much sleep as possible.


<b>Aug 27.</b>
I would try and catch a latish flight to Port Elizabeth. I say latish because you will have the time to sleep in late at the airport hotel and help you with your jet lag recovery

There is a SAA flight at 10h00 which lands in PE at 11h10.

On arrival at Port Elizabeth airport you can arrange for the rangers from Schotia Game Farm (www.schotia.com) to meet you. They will then drive you to Addo and settle you into accommodation at Schotia. If they have rondawels available I would suggest that you look into taking this form of accommodation as opposed to the big communal home that is also available for accommodation on Schotia.

Once on Schotia you can have a slight rest and at 15h00 you will be joined by your ranger who will take you onto the farm for their two game drives - Fantastic experience with many animals to be seen inclusive of what Schotia is famed for viz. their lions in the wild. Other animals you could see would be one of 15 types of different antelope, giraffe, rhino, hippo, zebra, warthog, wildebeest and many others. This drive will take you the best part of 4 hours in total and on completion you will join all the other visitors who also were on a similar drive for dinner around the campfire at Schotia


<b>Aug 28</b>
In the morning you will be woken rather early by your game ranger who will take you for breakfast on the game farm before taking you to onto the Addo Elephant Park. You will probably spend 3 hours on the park whereafter your ranger will take you through to PE and my suggestion would be that he takes you to the PE airport. This is where you should pick up a hired car and my suggestion would be that you hire from AVIS, Tempest or Budget as these are the 3 car hire companies that have branches all along the Garden Route in case you need to swop cars in an emergency. I reckon that your ranger could have you back at the airport by 12h30 if you tell him to do so. As soon as you have your car you then should complete the 2 hour journey to the Tsitsikamma Adventure Village and at 15h00 go on the treetop safari. It is a fantastic experience and I recommend it highly. Simply let the website do the talking for itself by you going to http://www.treetoptour.com After your treetop adventure ( 2-3 hours) I would suggest that you take things easy by sleeping over in the Tsitsikamma Forest at the Tsitsikamma Village Inn http://www.village-inn.co.za/about/index.html. Ask for one of the two honeymoon suites. They are wonderful and unbelievably cheap. You should have dinner at the Tsitsikamma Village Inn that night. Don’t expect a wondrous meal however believe me it is a pretty adequate culinary experience.


<b>Aug 29</b>
I would make an early start and travel back towards Knysna via the Bloukrans Valley and Nature Valley road (Do NOT take the national road as it is boring in comparison to these two valley roads.) This is where it all starts happening as one enters the Garden Route. You will drive through many forest regions which will amaze you. You will pass the incredible Bloukrans River Bridge where the scenery simply is out of this world. You will then move through Plettenberg Bay before you arrive in Knysna. All in all this whole road to Knysna is a wonderfully scenic drive.

On arrival in Knysna I would suggest that you book yourselves into Overmeer Guesthouse and go should go straight to the venue. If you dont opt for Overmer there are many other palces to stay over on Knysna. In the evening I suggest you visit the mother and daughter team of Dell and Sancha at their unique little hidden secret restaurant called Firefly. Absolutely amazing and different culinary experience

<b>Aug 30.</b>

I would wake up early have breakfast and pack up to leave for the Cape Winelands. Before leaving Knysna I would go pay a visit to The Heads as well as spend a short amount of time in the Knysna village. Thereafter I would start the drive back to the Cape Winelands which should take you about 5 hours. If it interests you then you might want to stop at the Gouritz Bridge near Albertinia and do a dual bungy jump off the bridge.

There are many places to stay at in the Winelands. I always stay at Cathbert Country House because I know that it is a surefire winner and a marvelous venue at that. As far as I am concerned it was the find of 2001 for me (yup that’s how long I have been frequenting the venue) It is so peaceful and tranquil as the venue is set high up in the Franschhoek mountains. You wont hear a car. All you hear is nature around you and the scenery is to die for. The rooms are well appointed and spacious. The food is fantastic too. The location is absolutely first class in terms of wanting to explore the Winelands. Your hosts will be Robert and Ann Morley who are marvelous people. In my opinion, as a tourism professional, I think Cathbert represents an absolute delight to want to stay at.

If you go to http://www.cathbert.co.za where you will see more of the venue.

That night you can enjoy the fabulous cuisine on offer at Cathbert Country

<b>Aug 31.</b>

I would use this day to peacefully explore the winelands. You should try and include the town of Stellenbosch in this journey.

After returning to Cathbert I suggest that you travel to Franschhoek (20 minutes away by car) where I suggest that you visit one of the most exciting restaurants in the country in the form of Le Bon Vivant which is in Franschhoek. To see why I say this simply go to www.ILoveCapeTown.com/bv/bv.htm. I wrote this website specially for my own visitors to see how good this establishment truly is. A very special evening indeed; of this you have a guarantee from me as well as Kavey who writes regularly on this board.

<b>Sept 1.</b>
I suggest that you pack up at Cathbert and make your way to Cape Town. There are many places for you to stay in Cape Town and I strongly suggest that you simply scan the Fodors board for many ideas in this regard. In the afternoon I would suggest that you take time to explore the city centre as well as the Waterfront region. In terms of where to eat in Cape Town the world is your oyster and once again I suggest that you scan this board for some great ideas. Rest assured you will always find a good bed and great food in my city.

<b>Sept 2.</b>
On this day you could do your shark dive. I know that you were thinking of doing the dive at Dyers Island but I would rather suggest that you put yourselves in the hands of Rob Lawrence and his staff from African Shark Eco Charters. (http://www.ultimate-animals.com/ ) This is in my opinion the best shark cage diving outfit in Cape Town. They know what they are doing and they are not reckless. Please note that this is an event that will necessitate you rising at 05h00 in the morning. Your day with Rob will end at 14h00. My suggestion would be that you make contact with Rob via their website and let him guide you further with regard to this whole journey.

After your journey with Rob you should join Jenny Trethowan from Baboon Matters and go do the baboon walk with her. See more at http://www.baboonmatters.org.za/
This walk takes place in an area quite close to the launching pad for Rob Lawrence's operation. Babbon matters is and expereunce that you will never forget.

<b>Sept 3.</b>
I suggest that you leave this day for your Peninsula tour where you can travel down to Cape Point and back to Cape Town. Spectacular journey which will include you visiting the penguin colony as well as an ascent up Table Mountain and should be quite easily covered by yourselves in your own car.

<b>Sept 4.</b>
Home time

Some comments.

All of the above will be weather dependant.

You should be able to find accommodations and bookings very easily at this time of the year but try not to leave matters too late.

The above does not include a township experience that you metioned you want to do however do remember that if you do something that is not in the above suggested plan you will lose out on something that is in the plan anyway. The same applies to visiting Robben Island that is if you want to. Please note that if you decide on visiting Robben Island you will have to book in advance.

OK Sandylee there you have an outline you can work with that is perfectly do-able. Furthermore I can tell you of many people whom I have advised to do a similar trip and they have loved it to bits. So will you and your husband.

If I can help in any other way simply post your questions in this thread and I will respond to you as best I can.

I hope all of the above helps you in your planning.

Very proudly part of the wonderful nation of South Africa

Hi Selwyn,

It is nice to see you back in the loop here on Fodors. I had sent you two emails on the 3rd June and 29th June requesting for a CT itinerary from 18-22nd April 2008. Did you receive my emails as I never did hear from you?

Regards
Mohammed
(Sri Lanka)

hi, sandylee,

I couldn't possibly compete with selwyn so I won't even try.

everything he says about schotia is true, and more. if you want a real african experience, you should try to book either of the &quot;warthog&quot; or &quot;springbok&quot; cottages [what Selwyn calls roundells i think]. have a look at my description of them in my trip report ofr full details - they are individual thatched lodges for 2/4 [a family could fit in one of them ,not the other] with ful bathrooms and hot and cold water, but no electricity. magical!

the game viewing was pretty good; the only thing to watch is that once you arrive at schotia [which you should aim to do early afternoon] your luggage is placed in trailers which are taken to the lapa, so you need to have with you everything you may need - including warm clothing for the evening drive - as you won't be able to access your bags until you get to your accommodation, which may not be til bed-time! and one overnight bag will be better than several bits of luggage, and endear you to your ranger.

after supper, you have the option of a night-drive - and DS got to hold the lamp! Needless to say he loved this and it was a real highlight.

they do collect you early in the morning, then take you to addo. we had a rather disspointing time there, with elephants only in the distance, but that's the thing about wildlife - it doesn't conform to timetables.

then instead of the lunch we had, you could go straight to PE as SElwyn suggests.

the only amendment I would make is that if you really fancy bungy -jumping, if you stick to the main N2, you will cross Bloukrans bridge, and could do the highest commercial bungy-jump in the world. I only mention this as DS did it and we all lived to tell the tale. I even watched it on the close-circuit TV! it was very professionally done, and if you're going to bungy, you might a well start at the top, as it were.

hope this helps,

regards, ann

Sandylee,

Ann's tips are superb, especially the one about watching your luggage at Schotia go to the lapa. Take what you need for the afternoon when your luggage leaves you because thats it from thereon. Whatever you do <b>DONT</b> miss the Schotia night drive as it features the lions of Schotia and is the highlight of the Schotia experience.

I purposely never suggested the Bloukrans bungy jump as you would then miss the Bloukrans Valley and Natures Valley drive in that you pass the turnoff on the National Road to these valleys when you go to the bungy jump area at the Bloukrans bridge. As per Ann's mail I have to agree with her fully that it is close to a heart stopping event and not worth missing if you are so inclined. Thus what you could do on the morning of your drive to Knysna is go to the Bloukrans bridge, do or watch the jump and then backtrack for about 10 km to the turnoff to the Bloukrans Valley (Coldstream turnoff) where you can then enjoy this fabulous ride. I must also mention that they have a firefox at the Bloukrans bridge which I have been told by those who have done it is quite a ride too. I have not been crazy enogh to do these adventurous events so whatever I tell you about the firefox or bungy is hear and see say.
- If you follow the above route then when you are at the bottom of the Bloukrans Valley look upward left and you wont believe the view of the Bloukrans bridge from the bottom of the valley. Unbelievable visual.

Addo, like all game parks, is a hit and miss affair. I have been to this park on more than 50 trips and my sitings range from zero to plentiful. You just have to go because overall I think your chances of sitings are higher than non sitings and the expereince of 100 elephants surrounding you at close range is absolutely indescribable. Ann was just very unlucky in my opinion and I was very sorry to read in her trip report that they had a below average day in Addo. Anyway now she will have to come back to make up for what she did not see.

Btw Ann I think your writing style for your trip report is wonderful and I have been enjoying your adventure tremendously while reading your report.
What is most important to me is that overall you seem to have an an amzing journey which you all thouroughly enjoyed.

Hope all of the above helps Sandylee.

Very proudly part of the wonderful nation of South Africa

Mohammed,

I have just found both your mails to me in my spam box. Dont ask me why the mails went in this direction as I dont have an answer in this regard. :'(

I will answer you per email with the next 48 hours.

Thanks for excercising so much patience with regard to the above.

Very proudly part of the wonderful nation of South Africa

Selwyn, I cannot say &quot;Thank you&quot; enough. What a wonderful trip you've detailed for us. Your reply was very thoughtful and much more than I ever expected. Now we're more excited that ever.

Ann, thank you as well. Wow, people are so helpful on this site. Ann, your trip report sounds fantastic. We will definitely take you both up on your recommendations.

Thanks very much Selwyn and look forward to hearing from you.

Regards
Mohammed

hi, selwyn,

can I take the opportunity here to thank you for all the help you gave me on planning our trip. our stay at Schotia was all down to you and was truly memorable. unfortunately we were locked into a number of our choices before I got your advice, which I would have followed even more closely otherwise.

thanks also for being so understanding when we cancelled our day with you. in the event we saw rather more of townships than we had expected just driving around. [yes, I realise that this is nothing like the same as a proper visit such as we would have got with you]. in my naiivety I had thought that they were just prevalent outside major cities. how stupid. it is disappointing that apart from places which will be on show for the world cup, little building of decent housing seems to be happening. somehow, all the reports of SA crime [of which we saw none, BTW] are more understandable now.

hope you will forgive my thoughts on this- I recognise that forming an opinion after such a short visit is dangerous, but the difference in living conditions between the haves and the have nots is very marked, far more so than in most of europe, for example.

Thanks to you and Sandylee for your kind remarks about my trip report. It gives me encouragement to carry on with it!

sandylee,

rereading selwyn's draft itinerary, you wil need an early start to do his cape/peninsular day, if you include table mountain. we found that we wanted to spend quite a long time up there [I'm about to do my report for that day] and in fact went on one of the free guided tours that takes about 90 minutes. the views are stupendous. you would not have that luxury if you were combining it with a trip to the cape.

once you'd &quot;done&quot; table mountain, you could carry on down to simonstown for the penguins - again, just a quick look, not the hour plus that we spend there, and then drive onto the cape. the good news is that by September, you will have longer days than we had in July, which will give you more time. so you could set off out from the cape later, in time to get to signal hill for sunset - you'll need about 90-120 minutes to drive back up the western coast, via chapman's drive, to get there in time.

best wishes for your trip,

regards, ann

Thanks everyone, the trip is pretty much planned out (where to go &amp; what to do).

Now we are looking for advice on a nice guest house to stay at in Capetown. A private bathroom is a must...and in an area close to the waterfront. Any ideas?

Back from South Africa. What an amazing trip. Look out for my trip report on a new thread.

Make sure to avoid sundays for visiting the Winelands as most wineries are closed that day.

Try the Cape Standard in Cape Town www.capestandard.co.za Lovely rooms, all ensuite, close to the Waterfront and cable car. Robin

Sorry - more info - for a great dinner in CT try the Africa Cafe - see Frommer's - was a favourite with us - great food, great atmosphere - close to downtown

For an outstanding township tour try Inkululeko Tours - they have a web site - fabulous tour - small groups (~8) - you get out of the van and visit people in their homes - you also visit a medicine man and a pre-school - guides all live in the townships - was a highlight of our year in South Africa - highly recommended

Shark cage diving is a tad controversial - scientists believe it is responsible for the increased number of shark attacks in the region

Trip up Table Mountain is a must - great combined with a lunch at the outdoor restaurant at Rhodes Memorial - great food, best view in the city - but you need to reserve ahead.

Personally I loved Addo and would give up time on the Garden Route to have more time in Addo - don't forget you will be there in winter - Garden Route can be wet and miserable