Best of Cape Town, Cape Winelands and Zimbabwe Safari

There’s a classic rule in Cape Town, one that few visitors know about. Visit Table Mountain on the first morning it’s clear, because the tablecloth of clouds and fog can be unpredictable, especially during the afternoons. Choose to ascend by cable car or on foot (a challenging 2-hour hike), and then indulge in the views. The Pacific Ocean stretches out on one side, the Atlantic extends to the other, and two sister peaks dominate the foreground as the city glistens below. It feels like you’re on the edge of the world, this spine of rugged peaks rising out of the oceans like the unruly fingers of a crumbling giant.

From Table Mountain, you descend into the city for a lunch in Gardens, an attractive area of pop-up restaurants and cafes that reflect the city’s cosmopolitan atmosphere. Robben Island lingers off shore and upon your arrival you sense a tragic history of the place where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for 18 years. An ex-inmate during the apartheid era leads the tour, footsteps echoing around the stark nothingness of the prison, where Mandela’s tiny old cell sits unchanged. Haunting and poignant, visiting Robben Island creates an even deeper respect for modern South Africa’s founding father. The evening is at your leisure and your guide can provide dinner recommendations and reservations.

In the morning sun, you’re walking past springbok and zebra, guided by a barefooted San bushman. This ancient nomadic tribe are the original gatekeepers to the Cape and !Khwa ttu is a wonderful introduction to their ancestral lifestyle. From here, you can drive to the whitewashed houses of Darling, a classic Afrikaans village with a rich history. Or you can cycle a 12-kilometer rural, mountain bike track that passes the odd wandering herd. First stop at a winery, an elegant introduction to the wines of the Cape and the history of Darling.

Next, lunch at the town’s popular brewery, a great example of how South Africa’s atmosphere encourages small independent businesses to thrive. There are 13 distinctive beers that are produced here and you can sample some or all, while looking out onto the shimmering steel of the production plant. In the heart of Darling, surrounded by the charming dereliction of the train station, is Evita Se Perron, a theater that employed satire and humor to provide laughter during South Africa’s old politics of fear. Pieter-Dirk Uys is the legendary figure behind the theater and he personally guides you around the small apartheid museum, providing a very unique insight into the country’s history. This is a full-day tour and you’ll arrive back in central Cape Town by early evening.

The Cape Winelands are landscapes of decadent colors that arouse all the senses. Vines stretch across lower mountain slopes, then drop into a valley dotted with old farmhouses. It’s the centerpiece for South Africa’s relatively unique approach to making and enjoying wine. Travel to La Rioja in Spain and appointments are needed to taste through the Tempranillo wines, the only grape grown on any scale. Visit Burgundy and the only wine you can sample are variations on the famous Pinot Noir. In contrast, the Cape Winelands terroir supports a huge variety of grapes and the focus is on the tasting experience. For two days, you sit on elegant vineyard terraces, sampling a full menu of wines, relaxing into the opulence of the experience.

Your two days in the Winelands are tailored to your tastes; the private guide knows which farms’ flavors best suit your preferences. The Stellenbosch Valley region is a perfect place to start, the best celebration of the region’s viticulture diversity and the original home of Pinotage, the local South African grape. Owner Pieter De Waal leads your first tasting, throwing in stories of his grandfather, the man who first synthesized Pinotage. There’s then time to visit another two or three wineries in the area, before a night of luxurious views of the Stellenbosch Mountain and valley. Lunch is included, and like the vineyards, the guide can present various recommended options dependent on your tastes. For dinner, the guide can provide transport to any restaurant in the Stellenbosch or Franschhoek area.

Opulence thrives on either side of the imposing Stellenbosch Berg, the region’s most exclusive vineyards creating wines driven by terroir and reputation. Think lush Chardonnays given 18 months in first-fill French oak barrels, soft Cabernet Sauvignons deliberately kept back before release, the wine Nelson Mandela chose for his Nobel Peace Prize celebration dinner, and Bordeaux-style blends that have become South Africa’s most collectable small-production wines. Many of these farms date to the 17th and 18th centuries, the history etched into the tasting rooms and terraces, the decadence told through wines, lunchtime nibbles, and Relais & Chateaux fine dining. Like yesterday, today’s tour is private and tailored to your preferences.

Today’s relaxed morning in the Cape Winelands is a time to lounge around and rest, before the big game safari to come. A direct flight route between Cape Town and Victoria Falls started operating in May 2017, leaving in the mid-afternoon and touching down just in time for a sunset dining cruise on the Zambezi. As you arrive in Zimbabwe, hippos are emerging from the water and baboons are playfully jumping through the trees. Tranquil and enchanting, the cruise provides initial introductions to the big game experience, while maintaining the culinary indulgence you enjoyed at the Cape Winelands. It’s the classic way to start a safari in Zimbabwe.

The Zambezi River thunders past the crocodiles and the baboons, roaring towards a narrow abyss. Tipping over the edge, it growls louder, a thunderous noise of aggression and intent. The canyon is consumed by spray, water rising in steamy clouds that can be seen as far away as your lodge. Victoria Falls is nature in a stirring mood, the extent of its power best experienced from the walking trail that runs parallel to the precipice. Spray rains down and getting soaked is part of the experience. But for great photos, you need to escape the mist. You continue the experience with a microlight flight, soaring slowly above the lush colors that surround the spectacle. The 360-degree rainbows flitter across the mist, forests and grasslands seem to stretch for eternity, and you gaze down on the divide between Zambia and Zimbabwe. The rest of the day is at your leisure with the option of a sunset cruise.

An elephant herd wanders past, thick prints left in the dust of the savannah. A lion watches on, its brown-ochre mane reflecting the colors of the land. In the distance, you can see three giraffes, friendly icons along the horizon. Up close, you’re watching a herd of impalas, their pricked-up ears an indication there could be predators nearby. Hwange offers a classic African safari experience and Linkwasha Concession ensures this experience is very private. Fly here from Victoria Falls, touching down onto a landscape that supports over 100 different mammal species. Then explore, game drives following the scent of water to create thrilling moments with the continent’s famous giants. And as the safari continues, you realize that the experience is not about photographing an elephant herd or ticking off a cheetah from your checklist. It’s about the theater that ensues, the drama that exists when wilderness thrives and every animal is battling for survival.

Lively sounds perforate the canvas of your suite. Waiting on your private verandah is a simple breakfast, the scent of coffee mixing with the smell from a nearby wildebeest herd. Other antelopes are in the distance and after yesterday, you can successfully identify duiker from kudu and bushbuck. It’s early and there is energy on the savannah, told through the echoing elephant trumpets and the soft drumroll of marauding hooves. Head off on a game drive and you find big cats on the prowl, hungry predators that cause the antelope herds to gallop as one. This is a private concession so the guides can follow subtle clues, taking you off the trails to a fresh kill, where you’re close enough to smell the flesh and hear the lions making their way through a black and white carcass.

On the game drive, you stop at a viewpoint for a hearty brunch, admiring the nearby ambling of buffalo and elephant. Then continue, the game drive searching for the brilliant variety of life that exists here. Hartebeests and elands hide beneath the bushes, brilliant horns distinguish roan and sable antelopes, hyenas scamper past with a charm beneath their facade of menace. Arrive back at the camp for lunch and a siesta, the hot hours of early afternoon a time to rest. Then take another game drive later in the afternoon, sometimes staying out after dark. Linkwasha Concession is large enough for you to continually explore new trails, yet small enough for guides to understand exactly which herds and prides hang out where. And as this is a private safari, you can also choose to venture into the rest of Hwange National Park, where the big game savannah extends beyond the imagination.

Touch down in Mana Pools National Park and the colors change dramatically. Gone are the reds and burnt oranges of the savannah, replaced by floral tones and an exuberance of green and blue. You’re now in the wetlands, exploring a maze of watery channels and lagoons, following elephants and impalas across forests and floodplains. The inhabitants here are roughly similar to those in Hwange, however, these wetlands are a place where woodland and water-dwelling species can really thrive. And while the national park is much smaller, the propensity of food and water allows a higher density of animals to coexist.

A lion pride slurping from the riverbank, a buffalo herd giving you an intense stare, large elephant bulls wandering languidly across the grassland; you’ve seen these kind of scenes in Hwange, but in Mana Pools you are afforded a new angle. Game drives remain a large part of the safari program and they’re complemented by alternative activities. This is a park that really encourages walking and water-based safaris, with motorboats and canoes providing very different impressions. After today’s introductory game drive, the guide will sit down with you to plan a program of activities for viewing big game Africa from the most intimate of angles.

Travel by motorboat, zooming down the Zambezi River, following scenes of profusion. Animals cluster together on the banks and you see how their natural partnerships works, like baboons shouting a warning from the trees to the impalas down at the water. With a motorboat, you can cover a lot of ground, following the belief that animals are most easily seen when at the water. In a canoe, you move serenely, almost silently, paddling into narrow channels that separate the river from the lagoons. Wildlife doesn’t see you coming and it’s astonishing how close you can get, elephants and hippos among those that dot the banks. From the water, you get a new perspective, looking up at the animals, taking in their enormous size, rather than looking down at them from the raised vantage point of a safari vehicle.

Walking safaris are equally immersive. You walk tentatively at first, following expert guide and an armed ranger. The focus is on the small and surreal, staying clear of any big cats or rumbustious elephant herds. When walking, you are just another mammal on the landscape and most animals will not run. Instead, they will gaze back at you, a look of peculiar curiosity painted across their faces. Sometimes you’re surrounded, different herds filling the land all around. And sometimes you’re alone, staring deeply into the eyes of a zebra that’s just a few meters away. Like in Hwange, the safari experience continues throughout every hour of the day and the night, your verandah perched over a strip of water that’s popular with a whole procession of wildlife.

After a relaxed final morning in Zimbabwe, it’s a short flight to Victoria Falls, where you transfer onto your international departing flight.