South Africa 11N In the Footsteps of the leaders of the struggle
9 x nights’ accommodation at a Superior Quality Hotel in Johannesburg and Cape Town on a Bed & Breakfast basis
All transfers in air conditioned vehicles
Qualified guide on all day tours
Johannesburg City Orientation Tour
Tour of Soweto (including visits to the home of Nelson Mandela, the Hector Pieterson Museum, the Apartheid Museum and lunch)
Tour of the Union Buildings
Cape Town City Tour
Aerial cableway to the summit of Table Mountain
Township Tour with traditional African lunch
Ferry to Robben Island for a tour of the island
Winelands tour including cellar tour, wine tasting and African drumming session
Dinner on a Wine Farm
Cape Peninsula Tour including visit to Cape Point and lunch
Farewell dinner
Meet and greet at the airport
Complimentary gift
24h emergency medical evacuation
DAY 01
On arrival at Johannesburg International Airport you will be met by our representative and assisted with your luggage. Follow the representative to the coach which will transfer you to the hotel. En route to the hotel we will take you on a City Orientation Tour where you can witness the rebirth of a once vibrant city.
Known as the gateway to Africa, Johannesburg is a city literally built on gold. Established in 1886 when gold was struck, the city has been rebuilt four times in the past century – it started as a tent town, worked up to a tin-shack settlement then a four-storey Edwardian settlement and finally graduated as a modern city of glass and concrete skyscrapers. It’s one of the youngest major cities in the world, a mélange of African cultures and is quite possibly the most cosmopolitan city on the continent.
Overnight at a Superior Quality hotel
DAY 02
Experience township life in one of South Africa’s most famous townships as you take a Tour of Soweto. Included in your tour today will be visits to the home of Nelson Mandela, the Hector Pieterson Museum and the Apartheid Museum.
Hector Pieterson, 12, was one of the first casualties of the Soweto uprising of 16 June, 1976 – home of Nelson Mandela. Today he is a symbol of resistance and the triumph over oppression. You will not see snapshots of Hector but what you will see is one of Sam Nzima’s six photographs showing the unconscious Hector being carried by fellow student Mbuyisa Makhubo, with Hector’s sister, Antoinette Sithole, running alongside. When you visit the museum you will get to see Antoinette herself, as she gives guided tours at the museum.
As you walk through the dusty streets of Soweto, you will have the opportunity to experience the vibrancy of modern day township life. You will visit the home of former President Nelson Mandela in Orlando West, a four-room house in Soweto where he lived during the late 1950’s and early 1960’s and again immediately after his release from prison in 1990. We end off the morning with a typical lunch in the township where one of the local homes has been turned into a restaurant.
After a few hours at the Apartheid Museum you will feel that you were in the townships in the 70s and 80s, dodging police bullets or teargas canisters, or marching and toy-toying with thousands of school children, or carrying the body of a comrade into a nearby house. Just when you feel you can’t tolerate the bombardment of your senses any longer, you reach a quiet space, with a glass case which contains a book of the new Constitution of South Africa, and pebbles on the floor. You can express your solidarity with the victims of apartheid by placing your own pebble on a pile, and take a book. You’ll then walk out into grassland with paths which take you to a small lake – you’ll need this reflective time.
Overnight at a Superior Quality hotel
B/L
DAY 03
After breakfast your guide will collect you at the hotel and transfer you to Pretoria, the administrative capital of South Africa. In Pretoria we visit the Constitution Court, the Union Buildings and the Palace of Justice.
The ten hectare historical and heritage site is being developed into Constitution Hill, a symbol of the South Africa’s regeneration. The Constitution is at the centre of South Africa’s transition to democracy and is guarded by the Constitutional Court under Judge President Albei Sachs. The Fort, the Native Gaol and the Women’s Gaol are now being incorporated into the landmark complex, including buildings to house constitutional commissions, museums, archives and libraries with cultural and economic significance. The Native Gaol, better known as the notorious and dreaded No.4, previously housed such prominent people as Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Chief Albert Luthuli – founder of the ANC. It closed its doors in 1983 and has remained largely derelict ever since. It will be kept intact as a vital heritage component of Constitution Hill. It is the dark heart of the precinct and will provide visitors with a profoundly moving sense of what prison life must have been like.
The Union Buildings were built to commemorate the unification of South Africa under British rule. More than 80 years later they were chosen as the place where South Africa’s first democratically-elected president, Nelson Mandela, was inaugurated in May 1994. Today the Union Buildings represent the spirit of unification in South Africa. While the structure forms a part of South Africa’s current history as the seat of the administrative government, the Union Buildings also represent part of the architectural wealth of the country and stands today as a tribute to the country’s troubled past….
We will also visit the Palace of Justice, where Nelson Mandela famously declared he was prepared to die for a democratic country after he was found guilty of high treason in 1964 along with Walter Sisula, Ahmed Kathrada, Govan Mbeki and other Rivonia trialists. Today the only visible reminders of their stay at the palace can be seen on the walls of a holding cell in the basement. The walls also bear the names of freedom fighters such as Tokyo Sexwale and Mosiuoa Lekota who scribbled anti apartheid slogans on the walls.
Overnight at a Superior Quality hotel
B
DAY 04
Enjoy a morning of leisure and shopping at Sandton City, a shopping mall known as the shopaholic’s heaven. From exquisite jewellery and high-fashion designer clothes to cutting-edge local style, your every wish can be fulfilled. Experience authentic Africa by browsing through the array of flea markets and craft markets dotted around the city. Well-organized and bursting with goods from around Africa, there is something for everyone.
In the afternoon you will visit Lesedi Village – A Cultural Village and Gauteng’s most exciting showcase of African culture. As the sun sets over the bush, guests are escorted by Lesedi cultural hosts for an experience of a lifetime during which they are introduced to the art, dancing, history, tribal legend and cuisine of five Southern African tribes. The cultural programme begins with a multi-visual presentation on the history and origins of the rainbow nation, followed by a tour of four ethnic homesteads – Xhosa, Zulu, Pedi and Sotho. Guests are then escorted to the boma for traditional singing and dancing and the people of Lesedi tell stories that date back to the days of their ancestors. A traditional African-style feast is served in the restaurant, with a full bar close at hand. At the end of the evening, guests can gather around the open fire and talk late into the night. Guests are welcomed in true African style by the families of Lesedi. Next on the itinerary is a multi-media presentation in the theatre, setting out the origins and history of the African people up to the present day. After singing, dancing and refreshments, it’s time to browse in the living craft market, where vibrant Ndebele murals decorate the walls and courtyards.
Overnight at a Superior Quality hotel
B/D
DAY 05
Fly to the Eastern Cape.
Pick up guest from Umtata Airport and visit the Nelson Mandela museum.
This is a very popular museum that gives you information about the struggle for freedom and Mandela’s life,this is also where most of the gifts
Mandela got from all over the world are displayed.
From here we proceed to Qunu the village where Nelson Mandela’s home is and drive through the rural Transkei villages experiencing rural life.
We will drive via Kei-mouth where we will cross the river Kei on a
river pontoon and be ferried to the other side and proceed to Kingwilliamstown.
We will depend on time here ,things we cannot do this afternoon can be done the following day before leaving for Alice.I would like to suggest that we meet Mrs Biko,wife to Steve Biko the following day.
Anyway here we will visit the Bisho massacre memorial where 28 ANC marchers were gunned down while on a peacefull march in protest against the Ex-Ciskei homeland government.KWT/Bisho is also capital to the Eastern Cape Province.
We will overnight at Mnqgesha great place in the village.
This is a big complex where the King of the Xhosa’s in the area lives.
Accomodation is rondavels(roundish traditional Xhosa houses) each
depicting and representing each tribe of 40 that serve under this King,
each having its own chief.
Day 6 :
Have breakfast and visit Steve Biko’s home and grave at Ginsberg township in Kingwilliamstown.
Steve Biko died in the hands of the South African Police while in the
struggle for freedom in this country.We will be able to meet Mrs
Biko maybe at their home or grave yard it will just depend on her
busy schedule.
Depending also on time, we can visit the Amathole
museum popular with the history of the British settlers meeting
with the Xhosa’s in the 1800’s with also a section about the Xhosa culture.
We will then proceed to Alice and check in at our Mak
Mak local guest house.
Alice is an educational centre for the Eastern Cape.This is
where you get the historic Fort Hare University which educated many
African leaders like Mandela,Bishop Tutu,Robert Mugabe and many
more.It was the first black University in South Africa.
We will visit here the popular De Beers centenary art gallery where you
will see art work done by Africans depicting township and village
life and also interesting paintings about the days of the
struggle.
We will also be entertained by traditional dancing and
have a taste on Xhosa traditional food for dinner and we will also
be joined by historians from this historic little town surrounded by Xhosa villages.
Day:7
Have breakfast and continue with activities in Alice e.g visiting
the villages,meeting with people and in the afternoon
leave for East LondonL which is about two and a half hour drive from here.
Depending on time left we can drive through
Mdantsane township the second biggest township in Southern
hemisphere on the way to the airport and visit the highway shopping centre where the local township folk do their shopping if they don’t feel like going to East London, a bigger city.
This is very interesting to visit and the proceed to East London airport,drop off guest,for your flight to Cape Town.
Cape Town, South Africa’s ‘Mother City’, dominated by the soaring Table Mountain and surrounded by the wild Atlantic Ocean. The city itself is diverse, with grand colonial buildings and beautiful public gardens standing cheek to cheek with tin shacks and unfinished highways. Atmospheric suburbs frame the lower slopes of the mountain, while the Cape Flats lie further out, their sprawling townships a lasting testimony to the apartheid era.
On the Cape Town City Tour we visit the Company Gardens which was once the vegetable garden feeding the inhabitants of the city. The garden supplied fresh produce to revive the scurvy-ridden crews of Dutch trading fleets on their long haul between Europe and the Indies. That humble patch of ground still flourishes today, though over the centuries it has changed beyond recognition: it is now one of southern Africa’s most attractive and botanically most interesting city parks.
We then proceed to the picturesque Malay Quarters in Bo Kaap. It is a multicultural area, tucked safely into the fold of Signal Hill. Use the cobble stoned streets as your guide and you will be lead into a lively suburb filled with brightly colored houses from the nineteenth and seventeenth century, Muslim saints’ shrines and many beautiful Mosques including the first established Muslim Mosque in South Africa.
The tour will proceed to the top of the majestic Table Mountain for an overview of the city nestled below (weather permitting). The views in all directions are magnificent and the feeling of being on top of the world is what makes this such a popular destination.
Overnight at a Superior Quality hotel
B
DAY 08
Discover the multicultural side of Cape Town and interact with the locals. From District Six where forced removals changed the lives of many people to informal settlements where traditional healers and shebeens add to the rich culture of township life. Today we visit Cape Town’s townships. We call this tour the Rainbow Curtain Tour because our tour is a cross cultural voyage of discovery into the many facets of South African society. This tour is completely interactive and encompasses the history of the lives and development of the disadvantaged communities in Cape Town, starting in 1652.
District Six was once the home of thousands of Capetonians of all hues and cultures. In the 1960’s all these people were forcibly removed from their homes due to the separate development policy of the apartheid government. These people were then scattered all over the Cape Peninsula (as far from the city center as possible) to areas known as the Cape Flats. On our tour we visit the original site of District Six (now a barren wasteland) as well as the District Museum.
Langa – The oldest formal township in Cape Town. In Langa you learn about the hostel system that was initiated by the former government to house migrant workers (men) who came to the city to work but were not allowed to live in the city. You also get a sense of what township life is like. Visit the Chris Hani Community School in Langa and interact with the students and teachers. On our tour you learn the history of Langa and see the living conditions of thousands of Capetonians who were previously disenfranchised. You also get the sense of the spirit of the ‘New South Africa” that exists here.
Khayelitsha – It is here that we spend the bulk of our time. This is the largest informal settlement in Cape Town. We take you see the informal housing (shacks) as well as to see the underground economy that operates here. We visit residents in their homes as well as a township tavern/shebeen.
Robben Island Ferry Service is the official transport facility to Robben Island for a tour never to be forgotten. The Robben Island tour includes a visit to the lime quarry, which was used by the prisoners to mine lime. The harsh white light and heat in the quarry in summer and the long, wet winters made it an extremely uncomfortable space to work in. A visit to the maximum-security prison, home to Nelson Mandela for many years, is one of the important highlights. This section includes the single cells in which Nelson Mandela and other prisoners spent their prison time in. In the village tour you get to see the leper cemetery, Sobukhwe house, WW II gun batteries as well as the houses used by the warders.
Overnight at a Superior Quality hotel
B/L
DAY 09
Enjoy a winelands tour with a difference. We call this tour the Winelands Freedom Route. Today we visit Nelson’s Creek, a wine farm which a portion was handed over to the labourers. We enjoy a glass of wine and listen to the new owners explain how they became able to develop and sell one of the best wines on the market under their own label. This represents economic freedom. On the farm you will have the opportunity to taste and purchase some wines. A picnic lunch will be served in this scenic paradise. Then join us for a drumming session. This interactive group drumming is the most fundamental way to reduce stress and to learn to work together, celebrate success, build community , build team spirit, relax, and break down racial, political, cultural, gender, and age barriers.
We then visit the fascinating winelands area including wine tasting along the way. We will visit various monuments such as the Huguenot Monument which is symbolic of religious freedom. The Taal Monument which represents language freedom. This follows the Pniel area .This is the area that slaves were banished to from Cape Town in the 1800’s.This is a symbol of freedom of slavery.
From here we take the long road to freedom to the Mandela House at Victor Verster Prison. This is the house that Nelson Mandela occupied at the prison. Here you will be fascinated by anecdotes such as important meetings and decisions taken in the house and also tales of espionage and deceit. Here we listen to first hand accounts of the life of Nelson Mandela from wardens who looked after him during his stay. This represents political freedom.
End the day with dinner on a wine farm.
Overnight at a Superior Quality hotel
B/L/D
DAY 10
Cape Peninsula Tour – View the golden beaches of Camps Bay and Clifton. We stop at the quaint fishing village of Hout Bay where local fisherman still go out everyday in little fishing boats to feed their families hoping for a big catch. From there we go via Chapman’s Peak sandwiched between the ravaging ocean and looming mountain cliffs via the scenic artist village called Noordhoek en route to the Cape of Goodhope Nature Reserve – home to the famous fynbos plant species and you might also catch a glimpse of buck and ostrich.
We spend some time at Cape Point – There is some debate as to whether or not this is where the two oceans meet. Some people believe the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet at the southern most point of Africa, Cape Agulhas, about 200km East of Cape Town, while others think it is here at Cape Point on the Cape Peninsula.
We then proceed via enchanting False Bay Coast line paying a visit to a land based Penguin Colony and then onto historical Simonstown and Kalk Bay. Walk about in this multicultural fishing village interacting with the fisherman and learning more about the lives of the fishermen and their families, their history and culture. We end the tour with a traditional meal in Kalk Bay.
Overnight at a Superior Quality hotel
B/L
DAY 11
Your guide will be available for any last minute shopping and the evening you will be collected at the hotel and transferred to Africa Café for your farewell dinner.
Overnight at a Superior Quality hotel
B/D
DAY 12
Check out of your hotel and be transferred to Cape Town International Airport for your flight home.
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Price and availability are subject to confirmation at time of booking.
All meals and drinks unless stipulated, flights, airport taxes, sight-seeing (unless stipulated) and items of a personal nature are excluded.
Prices are per person arriving on the same flight and sharing a room.