Winelands, Cape Town and Kruger Family Getaway

CAPE TOWN, CAPE TOWN CENTRAL, SOUTH AFRICA Arrive at Cape Town International Airport and pick up your automobile rental. A short drive will take you to Cape Town's Gardens district and along trendy Kloof Street to the chic More Quarters Apartment Hotel. More Quarters, located in the slopes of Table Mountain, embodies Cape Town, with its classic elegance and contemporary characteristics completely in keeping with the area's culture. Gardens is a busy and laid-back cosmopolitan district with elegant restaurants and eccentric stores, and the Atlantic coastline's sparkling beaches are just a short drive away across stunning Kloof Nek. Explore the bistros and nightclubs of Camps Bay's beachfront promenade, one of Cape Town's most popular attractions, and plan a day in the sun in Clifton's perfect four coves. Return to Gardens via the V&A Waterfront as the sun sets behind the mountain and book a sundowner boat as the city lights flash around you. Finally, prepare a meal in the solitude of your own space; you've returned to More Quarters, your home away from home with Internet connection, satellite TV, and a fully equipped kitchen. Or, on a nice evening, travel to Kloof Street for a variety of outdoor eating alternatives.

Your Africa Safari Expert can tailor your stay, whether you choose a tandem-paragliding flight off Lion's Head to soar over the ridges of the Twelve Apostles mountain range and the glistening sands of Camps Bay, to a soft-grass landing on Sea Point Promenade; or a journey to Cape Point, Africa's extreme south-western tip, to witness the ancient meeting of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Then, as a prelude to your future Cape Winelands trip, visit the ancient Constantia Valley, which features South Africa's oldest wine farms dating back to the 17th century. The name Constantia is connected with some of the greatest wines made in this nation, having been highly esteemed by Napoleon and sought after by the royal courts of Europe. Each of the properties on this tiny wine path boasts a tradition that perfectly suits the valley's terroir, with its spectacular vines reaching up the slope. Picnic under old trees or relax at the cellar entrance or tasting rooms of some of the world's most hauntingly beautiful wine vineyards as the shadows stretch into late afternoon.

After breakfast, drive to Franschhoek in the Cape Winelands and check into your suite at the beautiful Franschhoek Country House & Villas. Franschhoek, one of South Africa's oldest towns, was founded over 300 years ago by French Huguenots and is now known for its beauty and sophistication, as well as being the country's gourmet capital. On the scenic 45-minute trip from Cape Town, glide past lovely vineyards and breathtaking landscapes. Its streets are lined with art galleries and cafés, and Franschhoek is best explored on foot, with its pure natural beauty and unspoiled Cape Dutch architecture reflecting the Cape's historic history. The Franschhoek Country House's Monneaux Restaurant is a gourmet attraction in and of itself. Relax at the hotel's small treatment room with a full-body massage before enjoying a beverage in the lounge before supper. You have a lot to look forward to with its distinctive meals, which are an imaginative combination of Mediterranean and Cape Malay ingredients coupled with Franschhoek Valley wines. Set off in search of the appropriate wine for your palate after a great buffet breakfast overlooking the hotel's lawns and with its groomed herb garden, climbing roses, lavender bushes, and lemon trees delivering a pleasantly perfumed start to your day. The wine roads of Stellenbosch and Paarl are both within a half-hour drive of Franschhoek. Wine tasting and light lunches may be enjoyed in dappled sunlight under tall trees, or you can explore cellars plunged into hillsides. South African wineries are surprisingly accessible, each lovely estate a producer of globally known varietals that more than welcomes tourists, with its winemaking history eloquently merging the Old World with the New.

KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, KRUGER PRIVATE RESERVES, THORNYBUSH GAME RESERVE, SOUTH AFRICA Return to Cape Town International Airport to return your rental vehicle and join your journey north to Limpopo's Hoedspruit Eastgate Airport. A representative will be waiting for you for your 30-minute road trip to Thornybush Main Lodge, which overlooks the seasonal Monwana River in Thornybush Private Game Reserve, near to the Kruger National Park. You've arrived in unparalleled Big 5 game watching zone. A delightful welcome of cold lemonade and a relaxing face towel awaits you as your lodge manager familiarises you with your itinerary, assigning you a ranger and a tracker team to accompany you on your early-morning and afternoon wildlife drives. Settle into your magnificent accommodation, wash away the dust from your trek, and relax on your veranda for a bit, watching the local waterhole in the river bed. Kudu are softly making their way down to drink. And then there's an elephant, and then another...your safari trip has only just begun. Thornybush Lodge is a collection of delights: a beautiful environment, devoted personnel, welcoming service, and breathtaking views. Your days will become a treasured collection of memories, from the shadow of a leopard materialising above you through a mist of trees to a troop of elephants walking through the dust of an empty riverbed as you halt for sundowners.

Return to the lodge for a last, excellent buffet breakfast after a final early-morning wildlife drive with a hot-water bottle and blanket over your knees. Bid farewell to the vervet monkeys that have entertained you all morning, as well as the warthogs grazing on the lawn, and proceed to Hoedspruit Eastgate Airport for your departure to Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport and onward trip home.