South Africa & Zimbabwe African Tour - Dec 20- Dec 31, 2023
The Skinny
Wednesday Dec 20, 2023
Delta RDU-ATL-JNB (Johannesburg)
Thursday, Dec 21, 2023
Arrive Johannesburg, RSA 5pm. Stay overnight at InterContinental at the airport
Friday, Dec 22, 2023
JNB International terminal to catch Airlink Airlines to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.
Victoria Falls River Lodge - lux “tented” property meets us and on to the Zambezi River for a boat ride to the Lodge.
Late afternoon boat cruise to see the river and wildlife
Saturday, Dec 23, 2023
6am departure for Victoria Falls to beat the heat and crowds. The Zim side is the best for viewing the Falls.
Toured historic Victoria Falls Hotel.
Breakfast at Falls side Blaine’s restaurant before attempting the Cataract Pools (Zim side equivalent to Devils’s Pools) but thunderstorm cancelled that.
Returned for spa treatments, fitness room, tiger fishing, and games around the lodge.
Sunday, December 24th, 2023 Christmas Eve
Fast Jet airlines from Vic Falls to Nelspruitt Airport just outside Kruger National Park.
CessZani Aviation, 6 seater Cessna shortcutted a 3 hr drive with a 20 minute flight into Thornybush Private Game Reserve adjacent to Kruger to be met by the Monwana Game Lodge. (Hoedspruit is a closer airport to Monwana, but there is no direct flight from VIc Falls.)
Afternoon game drive roughly 3 hrs
Monday, December 25, 2023 Christmas Day
5am game drive followed by huge breakfast; pool, spa, fitness, reading. Your choice
4pm game drive followed by huge dinner
Tuesday, December 26, 2023
5am game drive postponed due to torrential rain *which usually doesn’t stop a drive. Left around 10am after breakfast with ponchos - spa, fitness, reading after.
3pm game drive poncho-ed up followed by huge dinner
Wednesday, December 27, 2023
5am very wet but successful final game drive before departing for Hoedspruit Airport for Airlink flt to Cape Town
Arrived Queen Victoria Hotel and dinner immediately at Harbour House restaurant at the Waterfront/Victoria Wharf 5 minute walk across the street.
Thursday, December 28, 2023
Met our guide to ride the tram and hike Table Mountain across the flat top for a great 4 mile loop with incredible views.
Cruised Bo Keemp area - brightly colored houses.
Lunch al fresco at Cafe Paradiso on Kloof St
Quick walk through the Company’s Gardens
Dinner at one of the top dining experiences in Cape Town - Salsify.
Friday, December 29th, 2023
Leaving at 7:00am for the Cape of Good Hope by way of the magnificent senior drive along Clifton Beach, Camps Bay Beach, by the 12 Apostles mountains, over Chapman’s Peak, by Long Beach and onward to Simon’s Town to see the rapidly dying out Cape Penguins.
On to Cape of Good Hope, the most southwestern point on the continent of Africa where we start our hike out to the old lighthouse up and across the cliff top.
Beach afternoon within the park at Black Rocks beach.
Fly through of the Waterfront including checking out The Silo hotel also contains the Zeit Musuen of Contemporary Art in the old grain silo, The One and Only Hotel, The Watershed Artisan “mall”, the new Time Out Food Hall, and cruising through the VAST Victoria Wharf shopping mall.
Dinner was at The Bailey on Bree St, another area known for its restaurants - the top floor bar is colonial hip, the middle floor is more formal authentic French Brasserie, where we ate and the bottom floor is his Chef’s Warehouse brand serving tapas.
Saturday, December 30th, 2023
Wine Day to Stellenbosch was a departure at 8:30 to e-bikes at Lanzerac Wine Estate and then pretty ride in Jonkershoek Nature Reserve. Gorgeous mountain scenery, but rugged biking. Skippable.
Stop at Stark-Conde winery for a tasting flight
Punt on fine dining boozy lunch at Toscana and instead head to De Vrije Burger in Stellenbosch center. It was divine.
Strolling and shopping the streets of both Stellenbosch and Franshoek,
Dinner at the Black Sheep on Kloof St. Excellent and super casual.
Sunday, December 31, 2023 Happy New Year’s Eve
Clean up day around the waterfront. Started at highly recommended by locals to go to the Oranjezicht City Farm Market - an open air tented market, only open on the weekend and Wed night. Primarily a food market, we had lunch here.
Having kept one hotel room due to late departure, some lounged by the pool and others headed to Watershed Artisan market for shopping.
Dinner at Willoughby’s Restaurant, well known to be the best seafood and esp sushi in Cape Town….except that it’s inside the mall. And no reservations. But it was excellent. Showers and then airport bound.
The Meat on the Bones
Wednesday Dec 20, 2023
Delta RDU-ATL-JNB (Johannesburg)
Thursday, Dec 21, 2023
Arrive Johannesburg, RSA 5pm. Stay overnight at InterContinental at the airport for flight the next day. Dinner at the Intercontinental running into SanFran acquaintances.
Friday, Dec 22, 2023
Total chaos at JNB International terminal to catch Airlink Airlines to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Check-in a zoo; luggage conveyor belt broken which would rear its ugly ramifications later….Arrive Vic Falls to no luggage. (This turns out later to be a Airlink system-wide MAJOR airline meltdown affecting thousands.) But at the time, a huge PITA. Victoria Falls River Lodge meets us and takes us directly to Edgar’s, “Fashionable and Bold” store, the best option for make-do temp clothing until bags arrive. Another African moment as cash register doesn’t work and check out is forever. Onto the Zambezi River to meet our personal guide Christopher for a boat ride to the Lodge. (Quicker, more fun and more comfortable.)
The VFRL is a lux tented property that is a true delight and quite lovely. The main open air thatched roof lodge has a dining area and tastefully comfortable African decor in common areas. The bar and other dining area is a bridge walk down to the river and the 12 very large, luxury “tents” are a walk or golf cart service along the river. Complete with divine linens, AC, indoor and outdoor showers, sitting area, desk area, it is way above the term glamping. Note: water is fine as they have their own filtration system.
With a late arrival after a long travel day, we take the late afternoon boat cruise to see the river and wildlife including warthogs, guinea fowl, huge fresh water crocs, numerous hippos and bird species. All inclusive dinner is delicious and quite gourmet, but opted for purchased wine.
Saturday, Dec 23, 2023
The Lodge suggested a 6am departure for Victoria Falls to beat the heat and crowds, but we pushed to 6:30 which was totally fine. Arrived to Victoria Falls National Park to do the Zim rim walk which is a 13 stop path long the Falls gorge edge. Maybe 1/2 mile in length before stopping at the gorge edge as the Zambezi heads downstream through the kayaking portion of 21 major rapids. It’s spring-summer (July-Nov) and thus the dry season so the river level is very low and the falls have significantly less volume. This is actually a bonus as you can actually see the sheer rock cliff, the vegetation and most importantly, the spectacular gorge. There is still plenty of waterfall and mist plume going high in the sky like a nuclear cloud that can be seen for several miles away, not to mention the “mist” (more like rain) def still calls for rain gear. Can’t imagine what all that would be like in their fall March-June at the river high. One of the Seven Natural Wonders of the world, it is a marvel. Check.
Afterwards and before doing Cataract Pools (the Zim side version of the famed Devil’s Pools on the Zambian side which are swim areas at the falls rim that people are allowed to swim in and peer over the falls edge), we visited the historic Victoria Falls Hotel, a beautiful British Colonial grand hotel in town - Built around 1904 as the British were building the Cairo to Cape Town railway, and originally built to house workers. The large lawn across from the falls and historic railroad tressel/bridge is a pretty setting for the large luxury property with gorgeous dark antiques and stately, yet informal common spaces that is pure British to the core.
The whole Devils Pool/Cateract Island gig is an adventurous (and not cheap) experience and to witness from across the gorge is daunting. Cataract Island does seem much less frightening, plus closer to get to and in conjunction with the VFRL, the experience features an included breakfast at the new Baines restaurant, right on the Cataract Falls edge. Beautiful and quite good. But alas, the thunderstorms came shutting down our rim swim.
Back to VFRL for spa treatments, a work out in the small but well appointed gym-with-a-view. The fellas booked a fishing trip and were successful at nabbing the elusive Tiger Fish.
Cards, drinks and “native” braai (grilling out) buffet dinner rounded out a fantastic stay in Vic Falls.
Sunday, December 24th, 2023 Christmas Eve
Still no bags as we are finding out there are 5000 other people in the same shoes as us - literally - and same underwear, shirt, pants, socks, etc. Onward as the biggest packing concern of a weight limit of 44lbs for the puddle jumper into Monwana was erased. FastJet airlines from Vic Falls to Nelspruitt Airport just outside Kruger National Park is a misnomer with the small prop jet plane. Arrived to the promise of bags meeting us there to be disappointed again. Fortunately, some shops still open and able to purchase a few more items. CessZani Aviation, aka 6 seater Cessna with babyfaced pilot Wayne shortcutted a 3 hr drive with a 20 minute flight into Thornybush Private Game Reserve to be met by Almera (aka "Al") from the Monwana Game Lodge.
Two backstories: The western edge of Kruger is surround by a number of large area private game reserves bought up by private persons over the years. The reserves are open to Kruger (thus called Kruger Extension) and are preferable as they are private and only guests are visiting the luxury lodge properties in the private reserves. Thornybush Reserve had about 12-15 private lodges and is about 35,000 acres. Monwana Game Lodge is an old property owned by a Dutchman that was recently completely razed and rebuilt opening in 2022. It is beyond spectacular.
(BTW, Hoedspruit is a closer airport to Monwana, but there is no direct flight from VIc Falls.)
We arrive to Monwana greeted by cheering staff waiting for us with a cool hand wash and towel service in the lovely outdoor veranda area leading to reception. Once settled in our exquisite villas, we immediately climbed aboard the custom viewing trucks for our sundowner safari with our guide for the time Almera and his tracker Nick, perched up on the hood seat. And view we did: giraffes, wildebeest, zebras, elephants, lions, hippo, and plenty of impalas, nyala, and kudu. Surreal.
Rides are typically 3+ hours and we return late given the late start. One of Monwana’s assets is the fact that it is so small. Only 6 suites able to hold up to 16 total people. Bespoke attention is an understatement and even more so as we are the only guests until tomorrow afternoon. And they pulled out all the Christmas Eve stops with a 6 course dinner complete with wine pairings for each course and poppers no less. But we have to be up at 5am and it’s late, so we sadly skip the traditional peppermint trifle dessert.
Monday, December 25, 2023 Christmas Day
5am wake-up call and off we go for a fascinating tracking of a Leopard and his Mom making their way to her impala kill that she had drug high up into a Marula Tree. Even more fascinating was seeing and watching the hyenas stalk the area in hopes of the dead prey falling or dropped bits. The vultures weren’t too far away ready for clean up.
Back around 9am for a gorgeous Christmas breakfast complete with sugar-rimmed sparking wine, Christmas cookies and a gift from the hotel outside on the back deck overlooking the dry riverbed…Time is your own until the afternoon ride.
The afternoon drive proved to be exciting as well as we found a pride of lions awaiting their chance at the nearby hippopotamus.
Dinner was special as our guide Almera and his wife Sarene joined us for dinner along with MP, the sommelier when property consultant Susie Ord wasn’t feeling well.
Tuesday, December 26, 2023 Boxing Day
And the rains came. In fact so hard, we delayed the 5am ride to be more around 9am. We hunted rhinos, but instead found loads of elephants including 3 males staking their ground. Fascinating to watch as the bigger “wins” over the elder.
Rains cleared for some poolside sitting, but retuned with force for the afternoon ride. With this much rain, the trucks can’t go off road and fewer trucks out so no radio sighting help, making tracking is a bit more tricky. No rhinos again but discovered lion tracks and thus a pride with cubs, all so close we could feel them breathe as they stared us down. Bit nerve wracking but the guides never flinched.
Traditional and delish braai for dinner. Amazing. And the rain continues.
Wednesday, December 27th, 2023
One more try for the elusive rhino with the once dry riverbed filled with a swift current. The rains pelted, but success for the fellas knocking out the big 5 all in one morning. Another fab breakfast and then so so sad to depart. And to return their borrowed clothes….
An hour and bumpy side to Hoedspruit Airport….an outdoor chaotic airport. The nonstop flight, Airlink again, had to detour by way of Joburg to refuel. Apparently the rain prohibited the fuel truck from getting to Hoedspruit Airport. No surprise there I suppose. Finally, Cape Town and our luggage! Hardly know what to do with it after improvising for so long.
Arrived the Queen Victoria Hotel, in the Portswood Ridge area, directly above the waterfront area, and part of a group of sister hotels including the Victoria and Alfred Hotel across the street. A modern, smallish 4 star hotel, its is very quiet and really well located. There is a small shared pool in a large, nice grassy enclosed area. All very nice and one of the few that didn’t require a 5 night minimum for the Christmas hols!
We head across to the Victoria Wharf for dinner at the Harbour House, which normally would be quite nice with great waterfront views. But it is the Christmas/New Year vacay and as warned, the entire world has descended upon Cape Town and seemingly the waterfront area in particular. It is a zoo. Dinner was marginal, but it served its purpose mostly in its proximity.
Thursday, December 28th, 2023
Ingrid Preens, our guide for the next few days, met us at 8am for the day’s activities, which mainly consists of hiking Table Mountain. But first we rode bikes from Sea Point along the waterfront back toward the V&A waterfront area -- and enjoyed watching the parasailers coming down in the grassy area along the Sea Point waterfront.
Then on to Table Mountain tram. Ingrid opted for us to take the tram (11am) to the top and then hike across the flat top for a great 4 mile loop with incredible views. All really fantastic. Would have liked to attempt the entire hike up, but time was a factor and steep elevation was not everyone’s choice. And unbeknownst to us, the perfect weather was indeed perfect as it was not too hot, there was no wind and no “tablecloth” aka clouds on Table Mountain. Apparently, that is rare as we came to witness later. Most famous are the significant winds that come with summer temps. And they were not kidding about that. This is a must do. But note, the place was PACKED - even our tour guide was shocked and befuddled. The best thing was that we had paid for fast passes. Worth every penny. We also had to take a few loops around the mountain to sort out parking, but in doing so got to drive through the predominately Muslim Bo Keemp area, known for its charming and brightly colored houses.
Once down, we had lunch al fresco at Cafe Paradiso which was yummy. It’s on Kloof St which is known for being home to lots of fun and casual restaurants just below the mountain.
We had a quick walk through the Company Gardens, which are the historic gardens and park dating from the original Dutch. Lovey and peaceful, it is surround by National Museums of Art, Natural History, as well as Government buildings including Parliament. Also the former Prime Minister’s home, which has since been relocated further out and this used only for formal State affairs. All lovely, but heat and fatigue shortened our interest.
Dinner at one of the top dining experiences in Cape Town - Salsify. A relaxed atmosphere at the historic Round Hill building, the former home of a President, the food is anything but relaxed….8 formal courses, and really, more in between; all tasting sizes and extremely sophisticated, creative and OTT delicious. A very fun experience as we watched the sun set on the western Cape.
Friday, December 29th, 2023
Another blue sky day and it’s Field Trip day! Once again to beat the hordes of people, we leave at 7:00am for the Cape of Good Hope by way of the magnificent scenic drive along Clifton Beach, Camps Bay Beach, by the 12 Apostles mountains, over Chapman’s Peak, by Long Beach (picked up gourmet picnic baskets from famed chef Nicky Gibbs) and onward to Simon’s Town to see the rapidly dying out African Penguins (aka Jackass Penguins cause they sound like donkeys.) Interesting to learn about and see, it’s a quick stop before heading on to Cape of Good Hope, the most southwestern point on the continent of Africa.
This is actually still part of Table Mountain National Park, which basically covers the entire peninsula. The flora and fauna are abundant with most of the thousands of species only existing in this eco system. Baboons, Ostrich, seals, and eland antelopes are some of the wildlife here having to adapt to the severe conditions. The terrain greatly resembles Scotland, only hotter and dryer.
At the point, we start our hike up and out to the old lighthouse up and across the cliff top. The views are stunning and wind whipping. Breathtaking and not terribly overrun with people in the areas where we were.
Afterwards, we were rewarded with a beach afternoon within the park at Black Rocks beach. Very small and secluded and out of the wind, the guide crew has set up quite the gig on the beach with SUP boards, wet suits, umbrellas, towels and games. It was an unexpected treasure and the fun in the sun was welcomed, not to mention the divine gourmet picnic boxes. A few braved the firefly cold Atlantic waters with this side supposedly being a bit warmer….
We left and drove back a different way across the peninsula for different viewings including recent forest fire destruction.
Back in time to chill or do a fly through of the Waterfront including checking out The Silo hotel which also contains the Zeit Musuen of Contemporary Art in the old grain silo. Very cool. Plus The One and Only Hotel, The Watershed Artisan “mall”, the new Time Out Food Hall, and cruising through the VAST Victoria Wharf shopping mall.
Dinner was at The Bailey, a restaurant of Liam Tomlin, one of the area’s renowned exec chefs/restauranteurs. On Bree St, another area known for its restaurants, the top floor bar is colonial hip, the middle floor is more formal authentic French Brasserie, which is where we ate and the bottom floor is his Chef’s Warehouse brand serving tapas. We seem to be the first at everywhere restaurant we go to which actually suits us fine as it is quiet and puts tired people home early. (Lobster and Burger also suggested as a fun spot and Seaside both in this area.)
Saturday, December 30th, 2023
Wine Day! A more relaxed morning heading east to Stellenbosch was a departure at 8:30 to meet Luvo and his e-bikes at the Lanzerac Wine Estate. Beautiful estate before setting out on a pretty ride that ultimately brought us to Jonkershoek Forest Preserve. Gorgeous mountain scenery, we did a 6 mile loop that was quite rugged making us happy for the e-bikes and fat tires. We were rewarded with a stop at the beautiful Stark-Conde winery for a tasting flight in its pretty grassy and Japanese inspired pond and garden area. This is what we came for.
Because we want to get to see Franshoek as well, we punt on our fine dining boozy lunch at Tokara and instead head to Ingrid’s rec of De Vrije Burger in Stellenbosch center. A well known chef/restauranteur in the area with 2 other fine dining places has opened this strictly for burger, chips and ice cream. Just what the Dr ordered! According to Ingrid, burgers are a SA thing (there are numerous burger centric restaurants) as they have very good meats and the inclination for the love of Braais. Also often in ostrich, veggie and chicken form. It was divine.
And thus, this change made time for strolling and shopping the streets of both Stellenbosch and Franshoek, which is about 30 more minutes east. This road between them is the heart of this area’s vineyards. All open for tastings and venues and a hop on hop off train trolly for multiple vineyard tastings. Both towns charming and we weren’t able to devote the time to them as we wanted. Stellenbosch is the larger and perhaps more historic town as it is a university town as well. Both would be fun to stay overnight or two. Thought: If you have late flight, maybe this is your last day as it is fun and on the way back by the airport.
We drove back on the highway near another wine area Constantia, often passing government townships, the tin home slum areas (townships) set up by the Apartheid government. Originally meant for 30,000 people, they actually often have 100k or more living in them now. Terrible conditions that do have some brick and mortar homes, some ownership, and always Satellite TV dishes on every dwelling. Promises by the government for better conditions never materialize.
Chill time limited as we get caught in the Cape Town Stormers vs the Durban Sharks rugby match traffic. We debate punting on dinner at the Black Sheep, as it is back across town on Kloof St. So glad we didn’t, as the super relaxed, small and airy atmosphere is farm to table and delicious. A round of Left Center Right set the stage for a fun evening.
Sunday, December 31, 2023 Happy New Year’s Eve
We were so sad to leave Ingrid who was excellent. Tried to get her for another day, but she was already booked. So we made it a clean up day around the waterfront. While still a good idea, the fact that it’s NYE, detracted from it with the zillions of people. But we persevered heading to the local’s highly recommended Oranjezicht City Farm Market, only open on the weekend and Wed night. Primarily a food market, people come to try and buys all sorts of foodstuffs and eat as well. Great to experience, but bit hot and very packed. All kinds of great food to choose from!
We were smart enough to keep one hotel room since our flight was not scheduled for 11pm (and later moved to 1am) so the fellas parked it at the pool area and we headed to Watershed Artisan market for shopping. Good intentions of going to the Robben Island Museum and the Contemporary Art museum went by the way of shopping with the stunning Rand to Dollar rate.
We did have a 3:30 booking for the Shimansky Diamond Museum Experience. Note that there are 3 of these around the city and we were actually booked not at the one at the waterfront. But when we turned up there, they made amends for us. A short 45 minute history of diamonds and the methods of cutting and setting diamonds was quite fascinating. Def worth doing. Getting away from the heat and crowds was also a plus.
Our finale was to have dinner at Willoughby’s Restaurant, well known to be the best seafood and esp sushi in Cape Town….except that it’s inside the mall. And no reservations. But we went early and lucked out being seated immediately in a fine booth around 5:45pm. The sushi and experience was fantastic. Perfect also for our travel and traffic congestion needs. Back to shower and head to the airport.
Naturally, one more African anecdote…our Delta flight got pushed because according to CTN authorities, Delta had used it quota of fuel rationing and thus had to push their time slot to just past midnight in order to start a new ration in 2024. Par for Africa travel.
Trip of a lifetime. And hope to return!
Notes:
Robben Island Tours
Time of year
Other museums and restaurants
Amor notes
The Big Five, The Ugly Five, the Small Five
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