South Africa: Cape Town, the Winelands & a Sabi Sand Safari

Cape Town, the Winelands & a Sabi Sand Safari

Cape Town • Cape Winelands • Sabi Sand
Duration: 10 Days

Overview

The classic first trip to South Africa: three nights in Cape Town, two among the vineyards, then four nights on safari in the Sabi Sand, a private reserve with an open border with Kruger National Park. You fly from the Cape to the bush, so the only long travel is getting there and home. One thing to plan around is timing. Cape Town is at its best in the southern summer, roughly November to March, while game viewing in the bush is best in the dry winter, May to September. April, May, September and October give you a good balance of both.

Trip Highlights

Table Mountain, the Cape Peninsula and the penguins at Boulders Beach

Wine tasting and long lunches in Franschhoek and Stellenbosch

Four nights in the Sabi Sand, one of the best places in Africa to see leopard

Two game drives a day with a ranger and tracker in an open vehicle

An optional extension to Victoria Falls on the way home

Ideal For

First-time visitors to South Africa • Couples and honeymooners • Families with older kids • Food and wine lovers who also want a proper safari

Preferred Properties

Cape Town (choose one): Ellerman House; Mount Nelson, A Belmond Hotel

Cape Winelands (choose one): La Residence; Delaire Graff Lodges & Spa

Sabi Sand (choose one): Singita Boulders Lodge; Londolozi Varty Camp; MalaMala Camp

Day-By-Day Itinerary

Days 1–3: Cape Town

Arrive in Cape Town and transfer to your hotel, about 30 minutes from the airport. 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 one of the city's good restaurants.
Overnights: Ellerman House, or Mount Nelson, A Belmond Hotel

Days 4–5: Cape Winelands

Drive about an hour east into the Winelands. Spend two days on wine tastings, long lunches and walks among the vineyards around Franschhoek and Stellenbosch, with a private driver so nobody has to stay sober. It is a slower middle to the trip before the early starts on safari.
Overnights: La Residence, or Delaire Graff Lodges & Spa

Days 6–9: Sabi Sand Safari

Transfer to Cape Town airport and fly to the bush. The simplest option is Airlink's nonstop flight from Cape Town to Skukuza, the airport inside Kruger National Park, followed by a road transfer into the Sabi Sand. Another is to fly to Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport near Mbombela and connect by light aircraft. Or you can fly to Johannesburg and take a light-aircraft shuttle straight to your lodge's airstrip: Fedair runs daily flights from OR Tambo to Londolozi, and scheduled shuttles fly to MalaMala's own airstrip. Arrive in time for the afternoon game drive. For the next four days, the rhythm is a morning drive at first light, a long break at the lodge, and an afternoon drive into the evening. The Sabi Sand is known for leopard, and with four nights you have a good chance at the rest of the Big Five too. Bush walks are usually for guests 16 and over.
Overnights: Singita Boulders Lodge, Londolozi Varty Camp, or MalaMala Camp

Day 10: Depart via Johannesburg

Take a last morning game drive, then fly from the lodge airstrip or Skukuza to Johannesburg's OR Tambo to connect with your international flight home. To add Victoria Falls, fly from Johannesburg to the Falls for two or three nights instead and head home from there. The water is highest from about March to May, when the spray is huge, and lower later in the year, when you can see more of the rock face.