South Africa: Cape Town, the Winelands, the Kalahari & the Sabi Sand at the Top Lodges

Cape Town, the Winelands, the Kalahari & the Sabi Sand at the Top Lodges

Cape Town • Stellenbosch • Southern Kalahari • Sabi Sand • Johannesburg
Duration: 13 Days

Overview

A longer trip to South Africa that adds a second, very different safari to the classic Cape and Kruger pairing. You spend three nights in Cape Town and two on a wine estate above Stellenbosch, then fly to Tswalu in the southern Kalahari, a private reserve of red dunes and grassland where every booking has its own vehicle, guide and tracker. The trip ends with four nights in the Sabi Sand for leopard and the rest of the Big Five, before you fly home through Johannesburg.

Tswalu runs its own scheduled flights to the reserve's airstrip, about two hours from Cape Town and about 90 minutes from Johannesburg. From Tswalu you fly to Johannesburg and connect the same day to a light-aircraft shuttle to the Sabi Sand, about an hour and a half, landing at Singita's own airstrip. On the shuttle flights, luggage is limited to about 20 kg per person in soft bags. Timing takes some planning. Cape Town is at its best in the southern summer, roughly November to March, and the bush is best in the dry winter, May to September, when Kalahari mornings and evenings are cold. April, May, September and October give you a good balance of all three. Tswalu is malaria free; the Sabi Sand is not.

Trip Highlights

Table Mountain, the Cape Peninsula and the art and wine cellar at a house above Bantry Bay

Tastings, long lunches and a spa on a wine estate on the Helshoogte Pass

Sitting with habituated meerkats, and searching for pangolin and aardvark in the Kalahari

A private vehicle, guide and tracker for every booking at Tswalu

Four nights on the Sand River in the Sabi Sand, one of the best places in Africa for leopard

Rock art walks and horse riding at Tswalu, and guided walks in the Sabi Sand for guests 16 and over

Ideal For

Couples and honeymooners • Repeat safari travelers • Food and wine lovers • Families with children aged 10 and up

Preferred Properties

Cape Town: Ellerman House

Cape Winelands: Delaire Graff Lodges & Spa

Southern Kalahari: Tswalu Kalahari, Motse

Sabi Sand: Singita Boulders Lodge, or Londolozi Varty Camp

Day-By-Day Itinerary

Days 1–3: Cape Town

Arrive in Cape Town and transfer about 30 minutes to Bantry Bay, on the slopes above the Atlantic. Keep the first day easy. Over the next two days, ride the cableway up Table Mountain early before the cloud or wind comes in, drive the Cape Peninsula to Cape Point with a stop for the penguins at Boulders Beach, and walk Kirstenbosch gardens. Leave an evening for the hotel's wine gallery and one for a restaurant in town.
Overnights: Ellerman House

Days 4–5: Cape Winelands

Drive about an hour east to the Helshoogte Pass between Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, where you stay in a private lodge on a wine estate with views over the Banghoek Valley. Spend two days on tastings at the estate's own winery and at neighbors in Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, with a private driver, and leave time for the spa. The estate has three restaurants of its own.
Overnights: Delaire Graff Lodges & Spa

Days 6–8: Southern Kalahari

Drive about 50 minutes to Cape Town airport and take Tswalu's scheduled flight to the reserve, about two hours. Motse sits in the west of the Tswalu reserve, where the Korannaberg mountains meet grass plains and red dunes. Your own guide and tracker plan each day with you: time with meerkats, searching for pangolin and aardvark, black-maned lion, cheetah and wild dog, rock art walks and horse riding, and a night out under canvas if you like. The game here is spread out over big country, so this is about rare animals and space rather than ticking off the Big Five.
Overnights: Tswalu Kalahari, Motse

Days 9–12: Sabi Sand

Fly to Johannesburg, about 90 minutes, and connect to the light-aircraft shuttle to the Sabi Sand, arriving in time for the afternoon game drive. Boulders sits on the rocky banks of the Sand River, and each suite has its own heated plunge pool. For four days, the rhythm is a morning drive at first light, a long break at the lodge, and an afternoon drive into the evening, with guided walks for guests 16 and over. The Sabi Sand is known for leopard, and the open boundary with Kruger means the full Big Five move through. Children aged 10 and over are welcome. Londolozi Varty Camp, a few kilometers along the river, is the choice for families with younger children.
Overnights: Singita Boulders Lodge, or Londolozi Varty Camp

Day 13: Depart via Johannesburg

Take a last morning game drive, then fly from the lodge airstrip to Johannesburg's OR Tambo to connect with your international flight home.