VACATION DETAILS

Summer in Cape Winelands is a celebration of health and beauty and good things in life. Visit world-class wellness centers and spas for the best treatments or try more unconventional methods and visit a Sangoma, a traditional healer, who will use age-old expertise to heal ailments or foretell fortunes. For the freshest locally grown produce and homemade products visit the wonderful farm stalls and packing co-op´s. Exciting activities such as fruit picking tours can be enjoyed at fruit farms. Cape Winelands is the largest wine producing region in Western Cape - with over 200 cellars. Experience the rich historical and cultural heritage while visiting quaint villages and vibrant townships, outdoor museums and galleries, open-air theaters and outdoor art and craft exhibitions. For more adventure, there are activities such as game viewing, canoeing, 4x4 trails, horse-back safaris, hiking, mountain biking, rock pool swimming, abseiling and kloofing. Enjoy a bird´s eye view from a hot air balloon or glider. Enjoy guided nature walks, camping, golfing, bird watching or fly-fishing.

Originally christened "Bahia Formosa" (beautiful bay) by Portuguese explorers, Plettenberg Bay can now be easily accessed. Great forests lying at the feet of the fabled Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma mountains are the gateway to the incredible indigenous African wealth of Plettenberg Bay, which lies on South Africa's spectacular south coast. The Outeniqua-Tsitsikamma indigenous forests are a unique mixture of Cape Fynbos and temperate forest and offer the nature lover world-renowned hiking trails and an exciting opportunity to see last remaining forest elephants of South Africa. The entire area teems with birdlife. No less than ten important nature reserves embrace the varied ecosystems of the area as well as unique marine reserves, home to soft coral reefs, dolphins, seals and a host of other marine life. The bay itself is Nursery to the endangered Southern Right Whale which come here to calve in the winter and spring. The area is a sports paradise and boasts fabulous trails for hikers, mountain bikers, horse riders and canoeists. The highlight of the area is the rivers, beaches and bay with ideal conditions for all facets of watersports, including sailing, rock and surf fishing and scuba diving. Or simply stroll along clean, sandy beaches stretching for miles along the Indian Ocean or enjoy its safe swimming areas. At night, Plettenberg Bay is alive with pubs, night-spots and fine restaurants.

Hermanus is located on the southern coast of the Western Cape of South Africa. Hermanus is a famous viewing spot for southern right whales, and they can often be spotted from the cliffs in the town center June through December. Visitors also enjoy the many open-air cafes, restaurants, art galleries, craft markets and boutiques in town.

Johannesburg's contrasts are some of the most extreme in the world; poverty-stricken and overcrowded Alexandra is surrounded by some of the richest suburbs in South Africa, and downtown hundreds of homeless struggle to survive around the Stock Exchange. The contrast between suburb and township is mirrored nationwide, but is more extreme here because of the intense wealth of many of the suburbs, and the sheer size of the townships and their satellite squatter camps. Yet the city as a whole continues to suck in people and skills from all over the country, making it the financial, commercial and cultural powerhouse of South Africa.

Cape Town is southern Africa's most beautiful, most romantic and most-visited city. Few urban centers anywhere can match its setting along the Cape Peninsula spine, which slides like the mighty tail of the continent into the Atlantic Ocean. By far the most striking - and famous - of its sights is Table Mountain, frequently mantled by clouds, and rearing up from the middle of the city to provide a constantly changing vista to the suburbs below. Table Mountain is the city's solid core which divides the city into distinct zones with public gardens, wilderness, forests, hiking routes, vineyards and desirable residential areas trailing down it's lower slopes.

Excursions