misha2

As scrupulous trip planners I am sure you will appreciate my dilemma. I find myself in a delightful/difficult situation. Friends of friends are organizing/gifting us a last minute trip to South Africa. Hurray!! We leave at the end of September. They will take care of the Kruger part of our trip with guides and stay etc. I am so appreciative and concerned because I have no idea about where we will be or what we will do.

Our friends also booked a three-night stay at Alluvia Wine Estates in Stellenbosch, which looks quite nice. I have been put in charge organizing activities for the last five nights of our stay including finding a place to stay in Cape Town for the last two nights of our trip.

I know we will want at least a full day wine tour. Guide suggestions?

There are so many other options that I am trying to wrap my head around. What should we do from each location? What area and where should we stay in Cape Town? (Two couples like central locations and luxury, but would rather stay around the $300 a night mark)

I've just returned from another trip and have not had a chance to look into this the way I normally would.

Please help

misha2

Oops -- error. We are leaving at the end of August. Has anyone stayed at the Victoria and Albert in Capetown?

SecretaryBird

Hi Misha2,

As you are going to be spending 3 nights in the winelands I would probably recommend, to make the best use of your time, to do the day wine tour from there, rather than driving back out to the winelands for a day trip from Cape Town.

In Cape Town, if there are four of you, why not hire a driver/guide for the day? You can then pretty much choose according to the weather, how you feeling etc as to what you do.

If the weather is nice maybe a visit to Kirstenbosch Gardens, a trip up Table Mountain or out to Robben Island would be good. If the weather isn't so good, maybe a long scenic drive around Chapmans, a nice long lunch next to fire and bottle of red before lazy drive back to your hotel.

The V&A is an excellent 4 star hotel located in the V&A Waterfront, you will have restaurants, shops etc on your doorstep - very convenient.

You might find the information in this blog quite helpful: http://www.mysafari.com/african-blog...-markets-3710/

misha2

Secretary Bird than you so much. Do you have suggestions for a good driver/guide? I look forward to exploring the blog.

braaiseason

From Stellenbosch you could 1) drive to Hermanus shark dive or whale watching, 2) Visit Spier & the cheetah programme, 3) Visit Franschhoek or Paarl & the monument & then head to Wiesenhof wild park.

Cape Town deserves at least 3 days to do it justice.

Sfulton

While I was in CT, I preferred the smaller establishments as opposed to the larger hotels.

An African Villa in Tamboerskloof: OUTSTANDING! Service, rooms, comfort, breakfast...not a complaint.

La Splendida in Mouille Point: Another great small establishment right on the waterfront at half the cost of the V&A.

The above are just my personal favorites.

misha2

Thank you braaiseason. How far would Hermanus be from Stellenbosch? Love the other ideas too.

Sfulton, thanks for the suggestions. An African Villa looks fabulous! I think, though that our friends would really like to be able to step right out and walk to restaurants etc. La Splendida looks nice, but the rates I am getting for the V &A are close.

kurt_a

Also consider one of the excellent cultural tour operators - AWOL (www.awoltours.co.za), Andulela Experience (www.andulela.com), Coffeebeans Routes (www.coffeebeansroutes.com), Uthando (www.uthandosa.org) or Camissa (www.gocamissa.co.za) - and there are others.

Suggestions:
- learn to cook Cape Malay food
- take a guided cycle tour of the new (and excellent) biodiversity garden in the Green Point Park, learning about fynbos and traditional medicinal and culinary uses
- go on a Jazz Safari and experience authentic local goema and Cape Jazz

Other thoughts:
- !Khwa ttu San Culture and Education Centre (just north of Cape Town) - www.khwattu.org
- walking tour cum street theatre of the slave history of Cape Town "Sex & Slaves in the City" - www.capetownwalks.com


HTH

Kurt

SecretaryBird

Hi Misha,

You can get driver/guides through Budget or Europcar alternatively tour companies like Ilios would also be very good option.

If you are looking for smaller more intimate accommodation options - check out: Kensington Place or O on Kloof.

braaiseason

Can't give exact times as I've not done it from Stellenbosch but would say about 1-1½ hours. It will be prime whale watching time when you visit.

It's a shame you only have 2 nights for Cape Town, many visitors stay nearer to the city areas & miss the False Bay area & only visit on a day trip to the peninsular/cape point/boulders, there are some very nice places & beaches along this coastline Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek, Simons Town, Noordhoek, Scarborough ... to name a few, scenic drives, lots of whales & you can get quite close as well as hear them at night, you can also shark dive from Simons Town if you don't go to Gansbaai nr Hermanus.

karn

You asked for suggestions for drivers, and I would like to throw my 2 cents in. When we were in Capetown we hired a driver for two days, as well as to and from the airport. Rhino Africa provided the van and our drivers. We had two different people, both were great. Very knowledgeable, pleasant and nice to be around. The cost was super reasonable. Have a great time!!

misha2

Thanks Braaiseason. I am beginning to wonder is we can reduce one night in Stellenbosch and add a night to Cape Town. Don't know if that will work. But, more and more it seems like the best choice.

Kurt, wow! Thanks for the info, I've sent in inquiries about the awol cycling and the walk. There seem to be so many wonderful options.

Thanks Karn. I'll look into that. My big concern is driving back from dinners in Stellenbosch. We will be at the Alluvia Wine estate and I understand that the town is about a fifteen minute drive from there. I hate to have someone abstain from cocktails every night at dinner.

ekscrunchy

I just noticed this thread. We had a guide for a week in Capetown who was absolutely stellar. I cannot recommend him highly enough. You can read the details in my trip report, but his contact information is:

CHARLES RATCLIFFE [email protected]

or, he can be contacted through this outstanding local travel agency, SOUTHERN DESTINATIONS.
They have an 800 number so you can phone them toll free from the US, if that is your home:

http://www.southerndestinations.com/...s/south-africa


This is the report I wrote after my trip in 2007. Charlie accompanied us through 6 days in CapeTown and a few days in the Winelands. He enhanced out experience greatly.



http://www.fodors.com/community/afri...lsbotswana.cfm


http://www.fodors.com/community/afri...uth-africa.cfm

satpackpete

You're in for a lot of fun and a lot of hard decisions as there is so much to do around CT and the Western Cape. If you want some maps listing what to do and where, check out our free maps at www.satpacktravel.com -attractions, eating out and activities are the maps you want, just open them up in Google and zoom in on Cape Town.

SecretaryBird

Hi Misha,

Thought you might like this list of restaurant winter specials in Cape Town helpful.

http://www.mysafari.com/travel-forum...wn---2011/310/

misha2

Oh No! Charlie Trout is already booked. Now what?

ekscrunchy

You could call Southern Destinations, the agency he works with, and see if they recommend anyone else....

It's Charlie Ratcliffe, but Charlie Trout is a funny nickname, based on his e-mail!

misha2

He suggests Delvin from Cape Options. She followed up right away and seems to have great ideas for itineraries etc. Wonder if any fodorites have worked with her.

misha2

My head is spinning with all the options. I thought it might be best to consolidate thoughts here:

Overview -- Two couples, first time visitors to Africa -- early September will have already spent five nights in and around Kruger

Day 1 late arrival -- will be staying at wine estate near Stellenbosch - dinner and bed.
Day 2 - Stellenbosch and environs wine tour with guide - stop at Cheetah Outreach Program
Day 3 -Franschhoek &Paarl with guide
Day 4 - (will be checking in to the Victoria & Albert) perhaps a tour to Cape Point and Langa township and some other sites with guide?
Day 5 - Robben Island (to reserve ASAP) , Kirstenbosch gardens and Table Mountain
Day 6 - explore the Waterfront -- evening flight out.

There is so much to do and so little time! I really wanted to try the AWOl cycle tours, but that is a whole day. However, I am concerned that I have planned to do many things in shallow way.

Also, I figure that if we have a guide (we're going to go with the one that Charlie Ratcliffe suggested) for Day 2-4 then we can easily do cabs or the hop-on, hop-off in Cape Town and not need a car. What do you think?

ekscrunchy

You do not need to devote an entire day to the Waterfront; that area is basically a beautiful shopping mall. We were not able to take the Table Mt. cablecar because it was too crowded on that day and we did not want to waste time waiting. So if it is jammed when you arrive, do not worry, as there is another vantage point nearby, Signal Hill, that offers a great view not only of the city but of Table Mountain as well.


The drive to Cape Point is a must; you might want to devote an entire day to that, combined with a visit to Constantia (for lunch?), Simonstown, etc. That area is just incredibly gorgeous!