Blog Detail
- Cape Town to Cairo 2008
- Tour of Cape Town to Cairo - luxury African tour
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With a fairly long flight through Singapore to Cape Town everyone was very excited to finally be there and it is a real eye opener on the drive to our hotel, The Cape Grace, on the Victoria & Albert Waterfront. The Cape Grace is truly an amazing hotel with excellent facilities and staff very eager to do everything they can to ensure your stay is perfect. After an orientation walk around the waterfront so that everyone knew where all the great shopping was and the wonderful restaurants for the dine around in a couple of days it was back to the hotel for lunch and an opportunity to mingle with all the other people travelling in our group; some had travelled ahead earlier to visit Sun City.
We then went to District Six Museum which was a very interesting account of Apartheid laid out in an interesting manner and everyone enjoyed it. Back to the hotel for a rest before welcome drinks and dinner.
The next morning with clear blue skies everyone was excited about Table Top Mountain, but although it was clear it was too windy to operate the cable car. Disappointing as this was we took off on another route and past the prison where Nelson Mandela was released from and were able to view the bronze statue of him that had just been uncovered two weeks previously - it was really special to see and really said it all....
We headed off to Stellenbosch and the Winelands for wine tasting and lunch but I received a call saying that the wind had died down back at Table Mountain and did we want to skip the wine tasting, just have lunch and head back and forego our wine tasting for the opportunity to get up on Table Mountain - there was no question about it.....everyone wanted to do Table Mountain....it was worth the wait, awesome views, clear blue sky and no wind!
The next morning we were again extremely lucky as there was no wind and calm seas for our trip to Robben Island on the catamaran. We arrived there in 20mins and boarded old style school buses where we rode with the guide (an ex political prisoner) telling us all about the island and then we were dropped off at the actual prison where another guide (another ex prisoner) tells of life in the prison, about Nelson Mandela and leads us through a tour of the prison including the cell where Nelson was incarcerated. It is a real eye opener this tour and very moving....we leave there and head back to the mainland and to rejoin our bus with the most amazing boxed lunch you can imagine.
We set off on our drive down the coast. The coast is extraordinarily spectacular and some of our group even spotted calving whales just off the shore. After a stop to visit this very special type of penguin at the penguin colony we are back on the bus and on our way to the Cape of Good Hope where many took the opportunity to climb, walk and investigate the rockeries, monkeys and just to enjoy the view. We took the funicular to the top for a wider panoramic view and many even walked to the top where the lighthouse is.
Back in the bus and back to the hotel - quite a long day but not too tiring. Tonight was a dine around evening and so many people took advantage of the wonderful seafood restaurants all around the waterfront – everyone was given a sum in the local currency and each guest could spend as they wished, it was very convenient.
Next morning it was time to move on and head for the station of Rovos Rail - how impressive, musicians playing in the background while everyone sipped on champagne and delightful little snacks. Rohan Vos, the owner of the train, spoke for a few minutes then we where all escorted to our compartments where our luggage was already in the rooms. The rooms are quite spacious with a separate shower and toilet, plenty of cupboards if you want to unpack everything, tea/coffee making facilities, air conditioning/heating and wonderful staff that are very helpful. It was a quick unpack and then down to the Observation Car for a welcome drink and a chat with fellow passengers and other folk who were on the train. It was not long before we set off on our journey. The scenery is amazing and changes really quickly as you slowly head down the track.
Meals are just delightful on the train - it is wonderful to dress up for dinner back to a golden era where people dressed up for dinner with three courses of really fine dining with plenty of choices, nice red and white wines to sip while enjoying the atmosphere in the dining car.
The first stop Matjiesfontein is a very quick one with a very 'interesting' character to take you on a very quick (10min) bus ride - you could skip the ride and just walk, interesting museums (one on the station and the old car museum) to investigate and of course a visit to the pub with some of the locals and fellow travellers is always a bit of a laugh. The next stop if the Kimberley Diamond Mine which of course has a really interesting tour, a short film to watch on the history of the place and then of course the wonderful shop......back to the train and off we go.
Pretoria Station - it's time to get off the train and hop on our privately chartered Rovos Air plane. It was really quite special having our very own plane just waiting for us there. We head off to Victoria Falls, where we stayed at the Royal Livingstone Hotel, an amazing hotel with loads of history and our first peak at some wildlife just sitting on the lawn at the hotel and swimming in the adjacent Zambezi River. A walk around the Falls the next morning before heading off to Chobe for the first of our many game drives.
Chobe is a huge reserve that features hundreds of elephants. The elephants are quite destructive beasts, breaking down trees and kicking up the sand. But there is still a variety of other wildlife there – hundreds of hippo, crocodiles, impalas, lion, monkeys and a wide variety of birdlife. A river cruise and three game drives later our appetite was growing at the prospect of more wildlife to come at the next game reserve.
We then flew to Zanzibar where again a cultural shock awaited us....completely different to Chobe, where it was dusty and dry - Zanzibar was green, colourful and loads of people buzzing about doing their usual daily chores. The Serena Inn, right on the ocean in the middle of Stone Town, was a breath of fresh air - clear water, sea breeze and a wonderful atmosphere at the hotel. Meals were wonderful and the Spice Farm we visit was an amazing insight for us all. Stone Town was really interesting to walk around and learn about all the buildings and what they were used for. There was also an option to visit Prison Island but none of our group decided to take that up. Prison Island is about a 20 minute boat ride from the harbour and is quite idyllic and houses the ruins of an old prison and also a tortoise farm. Whilst Prison Island is lovely I think our guests enjoyed the Spice Farm tour more than they would have Prison Island.
We then head to the next of our reserves - Masai Mara, which is completely different to Chobe, the colours here are just amazing with about 30 different types of green as you look across the amazing valleys and hills in front of you in any direction. Masai warriors met us at the hotel. Keekorok is a fairly basic lodge and while very comfortable does not fit into our usual five star status. The hippo pool is awesome and our game drives here were just wonderful. We saw so much wildlife here.
Some people then chose to drive to Lake Nakuru through the Rift Valley and some flew. Whichever way you go both are interesting, the drive although dusty, bumpy and long is the most wonderful way to see the countryside and they have nearly completed the roadworks so should be wonderful to do this drive by next year. Those who flew could see the dramatic changes in the landscape and all the farming and utilisation of the land. The flamingos and white rhino at Lake Nakuru are awesome. Most people could not get over the number of flamingos there and the wonderful noise they make as we were able to walk amongst them.
It was sad to leave here but we headed off to Egypt....pyramids, sphinx and tombs await! The first impact is that of noise, dirt and the heat. We arrived late at night so a great deal of their pollution is hidden in the night sky but morning reveals a huge city which is hugely over populated and traffic that is something to be seen. The Pyramids, Sphinx and tombs are of course the highlight here and truly something special to walk around. Egypt has a unique feel about it and is very warm, the people are very friendly and passionate about their country.
Some early mornings are required from here on in to fly to Luxor to the Valley of the Kings but it is far better to fly early and try and avoid not only the heat but the crowds that flock to these amazing sights. The carparks were extremely full by the time we were leaving as others were just arriving with long queues waiting to gain entrance in the mid morning heat - much better to go early and leave early where we were able to return to our hotel and have a refreshing swim.
This is one of my favourite tours, with a variety of luxury hotels (plus more basic game lodges), game viewing, train travel, private air flights, spice island and of course Egypt - what more could one want in one tour!
