Africa · 11 Days
The South Africa Experience
Your Safari & Soul Era
From the awe-inspiring Big Five game drives in Pilanesberg to the cosmopolitan energy of Cape Town and the rolling vineyards of Stellenbosch, this 11-day journey through South Africa delivers the ultimate blend of wildlife, culture, and luxury. Stay at iconic properties including Four Seasons Westcliff, a private safari lodge, the 12 Apostles Hotel, and Lanzerac Wine Estate.
Dates
Dates to be announced
Duration
11 Days
Where
Johannesburg, Pilanesberg, Cape Town & Stellenbosch, South Africa
Travel with
A group of 2 to 10
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Johannesburg, Pilanesberg, Cape Town & Stellenbosch, South Africa. A past Caviar in the Air journey.Accommodations
Where You'll Stay
Four Seasons Westcliff
Perched on a cliff overlooking Johannesburg's lush northern suburbs, Four Seasons Westcliff offers panoramic views, world-class dining, and an atmosphere of refined elegance. The perfect launchpad for your South African adventure.
Shepherds Tree Game Lodge
Nestled in the malaria-free Pilanesberg National Park, this intimate safari lodge features suites with floor-to-ceiling glass, private viewing decks, an infinity pool and a spa, and a front-row view of Africa's most magnificent wildlife. Experience the Big Five in absolute comfort.
12 Apostles Hotel & Spa
Dramatically positioned between Table Mountain and the Atlantic Ocean, this iconic Cape Town hotel offers breathtaking views, an award-winning spa, and direct access to some of the world's most spectacular coastal scenery.
Lanzerac Wine Estate
Dating back to 1692, Lanzerac is one of Stellenbosch's most prestigious wine estates. Set among manicured vineyards with mountain views, it offers award-winning wines, gourmet dining, and Cape Dutch architecture at its finest.
Your Journey Unfolds
The Day-by-Day Rundown
Day 01DinnerWelcome to the City of Gold-Your Safari Era Begins
Land in Johannesburg and look for your name on the board - someone is already waiting for you. Your transfer climbs the ridge to the Four Seasons Westcliff, a pink landmark terraced into the hillside with cascading gardens and the whole city laid out below. Settle in, let the flight fall off your shoulders, and meet us in the lobby at dusk. Tonight's welcome dinner is at a celebrated open-fire grill house in the city's most stylish quarter, where everything arrives off the flame and the room hums. Eleven days start here.
- Airport meet and greet
- Four Seasons Westcliff check-in
- Welcome dinner over open flame
Day 02Breakfast · LunchSoweto-Where the Story Turns
Today asks something of you. Soweto is not a stop on a tour; it is the township that carried South Africa's freedom struggle and still sets the country's cultural tempo. You will spend the morning walking it with a guide who knows its streets, its history and its people from the inside. Lunch is a braai right there in the neighbourhood - grilled meat, traditional plates, conversation that keeps going. In the afternoon, the Apartheid Museum gives the whole of the twentieth century its full and unflinching weight. Tonight is deliberately unscheduled. Some days you need to sit with.
- Guided Soweto tour
- Braai lunch in the township
- Apartheid Museum
- Evening free to process
Day 03BreakfastA Day That Belongs Entirely to You
No wake-up call, no bus. Johannesburg is yours to take at whatever speed you like. Some of you will spend it in the spa or by the pool with a book and zero guilt. Others will want the city, and for that there is an optional inner-city walking tour you can add on - a beloved second-hand bookstore, the traditional healers' market, Chancellor House and the Ethiopian quarter, all in an afternoon. Shopping, galleries, a long lunch, a nap: all correct answers.
- Free day in Johannesburg
- Optional inner-city walking tour
- Spa, shopping or stillness
Day 04Breakfast · Lunch · DinnerInto the Bush-Shepherd's Tree
Breakfast, bags down, and we drive out of the city into Pilanesberg National Park - a malaria-free Big Five reserve sitting inside an ancient volcanic crater. Lunch is waiting at Shepherd's Tree Game Lodge before you check in to a suite with glass walls, a private deck and the savanna doing its thing in front of you. Afternoon tea at four, then your first game drive as the light turns gold and the bush starts moving. Dinner back at the lodge, under more stars than you have seen in years.
- Transfer to Pilanesberg
- Shepherd's Tree Game Lodge check-in
- Afternoon tea on the deck
- Evening game drive
- Dinner at the lodge
Day 05Breakfast · Lunch · DinnerBig Five, Sunrise to Sundowner
The optional wake-up call comes at half four, and you will take it. Hot tea in the dark, then out into the reserve as the sun comes up - lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, buffalo, and a guide who reads the ground like a page. Breakfast back at camp with your camera roll to compare. The middle of the day is yours: the pool, the viewing deck, a long horizontal nap. Lunch, afternoon tea, then out again for the sundowner drive, where a drink in your hand and the sky on fire is simply the standard here. Dinner runs late, and nobody is in a hurry.
- Sunrise game drive
- Breakfast back at camp
- Midday by the pool
- Sundowner drive
- Dinner at the lodge
Day 06BreakfastWheels Up for the Mother City
Early breakfast at the lodge, with boxes to go for anyone who would rather sleep, then the transfer to the airport and a midday flight south. Cape Town introduces itself properly: a twelve-minute helicopter flight along the shoreline, over Lion's Head, Clifton, Camps Bay and the Twelve Apostles range with the Atlantic glittering underneath. You land, and then you check in beneath those same peaks at the 12 Apostles Hotel and Spa, mountain on one side, ocean on the other. Dinner is on your own tonight - sunset drinks somewhere high, dinner somewhere good. The concierge has opinions and so do we.
- Flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town
- 12-minute helicopter flight over the coast
- 12 Apostles Hotel check-in
- Sunset over the Atlantic
Day 07BreakfastBo-Kaap, Cape Malay Spice and Robben Island
Morning in Bo-Kaap, the Cape Malay quarter where every house is painted a different impossible colour and the history underneath that colour is far older and far heavier than the postcards let on. Then into a kitchen for a Cape Malay cooking class - the spice blends, the technique, the food you will be trying to recreate at home by Christmas. In the afternoon we take the ferry out to Robben Island for a private tour: the leprosy graveyard, the lime quarry, Robert Sobukwe's house, and the maximum security prison where thousands of this country's freedom fighters were held. You will be quiet on the boat back. That is the right response. Anyone who would rather not make the crossing can stay ashore at the waterfront and shop. Dinner is yours tonight.
- Guided Bo-Kaap walking tour
- Cape Malay cooking class
- Private Robben Island tour
- Evening free in Camps Bay
Day 08BreakfastCape Town, On Your Terms
A whole free day in one of the most beautiful cities on earth. If you want to see all of it at once, add on the full-day Cape Peninsula tour: the cable car up Table Mountain first thing, Kirstenbosch at the foot of the mountain, a tasting in a historic estate cellar, the surf town and the seaside village, the penguin colony at Boulders Beach, the lighthouse at Cape Point and the whole spectacular run of Chapman's Peak on the way home. Or do none of it. The spa, the sea and a lounger with your name on it are also a complete day.
- Free day in Cape Town
- Optional full-day Cape Peninsula tour
- Table Mountain, Boulders Beach and Cape Point on the optional tour
- Spa and ocean at the hotel
Day 09BreakfastWinelands Bound-Stellenbosch
A slow morning and a midday checkout, then out of the city and into the Winelands, where the mountains close in and the vines run to the horizon. First stop is a working cellar: a wine advisor walks you through the barrels and the three-hundred-year history around them, then pours. Lunch afterwards is on your own at the deli or the lounge, which is exactly the kind of low-effort afternoon you want at this point in the trip. Check in at Lanzerac Wine Estate, all Cape Dutch gables and oak-shaded terraces, and give the rest of the day to the spa. Dinner is yours.
- Transfer to Stellenbosch
- Working cellar tour and tasting
- Lanzerac Wine Estate check-in
- Spa time among the vines
Day 10Breakfast · DinnerOne Last Day in the Vines-and the Farewell Table
Breakfast on the terrace, and then a day shaped however you want it. Two add-ons are worth your attention: a tour tracing South Africa's Black winemakers and the estates they have built, and a long lunch at a chef's private home. Otherwise: massage, vineyard walk, one more glass in the sun. Tonight is the farewell wine pairing dinner at the hotel - multiple courses, a wine chosen for each one, and the specific joy of a table full of people who were strangers ten days ago. This is the one you will be talking about on the plane.
- Free day in the Winelands
- Optional Black Winemakers of South Africa tour
- Optional chef's-house lunch
- Farewell wine pairing dinner
Day 11BreakfastNo Goodbyes, Just See You Soon
One last breakfast with the vineyards in front of you, then a private transfer to Cape Town International whenever your flight calls. You came for a safari and you are leaving with Soweto, Robben Island, the bush at sunrise and a group chat that is never going quiet again. South Africa does that. Come back.
- Final breakfast among the vines
- Private transfer to Cape Town International
- Departure
Words From Our Travelers
What They Said About The South Africa Experience
"The trip to South Africa was everything I expected and more. Every historical and cultural detail was curated based our interests and passions and they still provided some great surprises as well as flexibility for spontaneous changes and personal time."
Shauna Carter
South Africa
"I felt safe, I felt cared for, I felt pampered, I felt like this trip was made for me! From the opening dinner in JHB to the Game Reserve to the helicopter ride - it was so many things we would have never experienced without this trip."
Tracy Alexander
South Africa
"I am very impressed with the services curated for us on the South Africa trip. I really enjoyed my experience and am looking forward to traveling again in the future."
Perna Pierre
South Africa
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