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Penguins in Cape Town - Botswana, SA & Zambia Tour

mil

Hello everyone.
As I'm Continuing with my homework, there are some questions I would like to ask.

Does the tour visit the Cape of Good Hope, or the Penguins?

On day 11th it does mention visit to Cape Point Natural Reserve and the visit to the lighthouse from which you can view Cape of Good Hope. but nothing about visiting the place- also no mention about penguins, instead we go to Seal Isl. to see the seals...
Not to sound rude... but I can do that at the Aquarium, but walking next to the Penguins it's unique; even more because it's listed as one of the 10 "most see" in Cape Town.
Another thing missing is a wine tasting, are any of these 3 supposed to be one of Tauck's surprises?
Feel free to PM me if so, I'm trying to book private tours as I'm staying 2 xtra days, but don't want to either repeat a visit or waist my money.
Also, there is 2 free afternoons -Day 9th arrival day and Day 10th with a BBQ dinner.... if this dinner is at 5:30 pm which it's becoming a norm. how much time do we have?
we cannot do much at all...
This is my 8th tour with Tauck, never felt like the stay is incomplete, it's weir... I hope I'm wrong. )
Please advise.
Thanks

British Help!!!

Comments

British

The Penguins are not scheduled on this tour, but when we went, the seas were too rough to do the Seal island and sharks boat trip, so they took us to the penguins instead, we had been there before but loved going again. It’s also a beautiful beach.
You get to see the Cape of Good Hope mad you get your photo taken next to the sign.
Don’t think I recall a wine tour. It will be the winter, so I doubt there will be much to see on the vines.
I think I already made comment just in my opinion you will never get to see everything in the time you have there.

PureLuxury

mil I took this tour over a decade ago, but at that time it included Cape of Good Hope where you must have your picture taken and we did see the penguins either before or after lunch, I can't remember. Our lunch was at a restaurant o the beach. It was a really relaxing atmosphere. I have really cute pics with the penguins in the background.

The Seals were part of the tour as well, but frankly, it smelled really bad, so I opted to shop with the small vendors near the boat launch. Watch out for the baboons. They like to get up close and personal.

British

There was no choice to see the penguins on our tour, but we defaulted to go there when the sea was too rough for our scheduled boat trip….perhaps it has changed now and there is a choice.
I have found that when Tauck goes to the same city on different tours, the places visited are different which is why we have seen so much in CapeTown because there was no crossover visits between our Elegant South Africa tour and this tour. When we took Elegant SA we did Robben Island, a Wineries trip and the Cape Point and Simon’s Town penguins. We also did a ride around the city and Table Mountain. Now Robben island is replaced by Kirstenbosch gardens, which we went to pre tour on that trip.
The thing about the penguins is the walk to the beach on the broad walk and with lovely scenery, rocks and sand and the penguins right by you and frolicking in the waves

mil

Thanks Cathy.- Great info.
1 question- on arrival day , about what time do you arrive to the hotel, is it possible to have a Spa treatment or maybe visit the Aquarium?

2 & #3 questions - to come..... )

Thanks

mil

Hi, Cathy .. here is #2 question, the city gardens that you mention , is it the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden?
#3 You will also receive a ticket to Table mountain but you must arrange your own transportation.? a Ticket? from whom? doesn't Tauck take you to see it?
Please advise.,
Thanks for your time and help.
Mil

British

Table mountain is very weather dependent, anything from wind to rain will close the cable down which I believe happens quite a bit. I assume that is why Tauck may just give you a ticket and see if you can go in your free time.

janet_dzubow

Hi- I went on this tour about 5 years ago, in June. My husband got sick right before I left, so I went without him. Had a blast. You will love this tour. In Capetown, I stayed at the One and Only, which is in a great location. Right by the waterfront- can spend hours walking around there- eating and shopping. I did a tour there as well. The One and Only had a really neat gadget in the room that you could do lots with- call for cabs, make phone calls, get directions. So, on my extra day, the concierge programmed it for me and I went to the Jewish Museum and to Table Mountain. As mentioned, Table Mountain cable car was not included in this tour, and it's very iffy. If weather is changeable, then it's a no go. In any case, it was easy and safe to get around and went with a few friends who I met on the tour. The winery is not visited on this tour, but it should be pretty easy to arrange a visit if you want. The concierge at the hotel was fabulous. Not sure if Capetown still has a drought, but water use was limited. Not a big deal, but lots of hand sanitizer use (pre-covid) and no baths.

On this tour in June, the weather was rainy and chilly one day, but then nice for the next few days. Our tour did go on the boat trip to see the penguins and sea lions. I always take dramamine when I travel, so I was okay on the choppy seas. But that was fabulous. We also went to the Cape of Good Hope. Lovely trip and saw quite a bit of wild-life as well.

I guess my advice is not to over plan in Capetown. There's lots to do and people to help you arrange things. See how it goes. Loved this trip. My first time to Africa. Will try again with my husband and will probably do the elegant South Africa trip with him.

I've been on several Tauck trips and this I count as one of the best.

mil

janet_dzubow Hi )

Thanks for all the info., not sure if it was you... but I do remember someone going in this tour with husband and he got sick so ended going on her own, if it is you ... I'm glad you had a blast and hope your husband is doing well.
What I will do is... knowing what I want to see, opening hours and location... I'll get in contact with the concierge, I will see what he offers and cost, if it's not too expensive and Tauck gives us a choice of 1 the boat or the other (the penguins), I'll do the boat with Tauck and then penguins with the hotel.
All the other attractions are withing walking distance, so I can walk everywhere and for the Botanical gardens as well as the wine region I can Uber- which is very common in Cape Town and easy, I can hire the Uber driver for 2 days... he will charge my uber account and I will give him a great tip in cash. Problem solved!
Uber acct.-appt is international so it works everywhere, I have used in Dubai, in Jordan and Australia. rates are comparable to U.S, so it is better than Taxi's and faster.

*FYI some hotels do hire Ubers to work for them- they charge the hotel on their own Uber acct. and you pay hotel. *

Have a great evening.
Thanks.
Mil