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South Africa, an Elegant Adventure starting Sept 1, 2023

If anyone else starting this date, but using gift of time to arrive a day early, we'd like to compare notes and plan to explore Cape Town. Most likely would be taking shuttle from Belmond Mount Nelson to the waterfront,
Bill and Betty Z

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    Hi. We are Jim and Linda I. We will be joining you. Can’t wait. So excited for this adventure. We will be joined by a couple that are dear friends and a cousin and his SO..I think we will also be taking shuttle to the waterfront the day before It’s about a 40 minute walk to the waterfront

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    Cheekryn, It’s years now since we took this tour and I was not sure why you say the hotel has a shuttle or is a 40 minute walk from the waterfront until I just saw you have a choice of hotels in CapeTown, so I am assuming that you are staying at the Belmond hotel. I wonder why Tauck has done this as The Cape Grace hotel remains one of our favorite Tauck hotels. The personal service is awesome, the hotel is a short walk from the waterfront and they have a couple pf luxury free limos you can use to take you anywhere. For example, when we were there, the Kirstenbosch garden’s were not part of the tour and a limo and driver took us there and back. When we went to CapeTown again and not staying at that hotel, we visited there for lunch in our free time. I had the best vegan tasting menu one time there, I’m not a vegetarian or vegan and it was amazing. The spa was also excellent.

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    I think the cape grace will be shut down for extensive renovations. When we first booked we were staying at the cape grace. The hotel changed just this past week

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    Ah, that’s a shame. Please post a review of the Belmond, it would be good to know of an alternative and about the shuttle service.

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    Cheekyrn, you're correct. Mike Henderson is blogging now from CapeTown. He's staying at the Cape Grace, but mentioned that it will be shutting down for 6 months for renovations.

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    I just returned from Cape Town and stayed at the Belmond Mount Nelson. It's everything you expect from an historic Belmond property. It was lovely and welcoming; food was great; high tea is a delight; there are 2 pools, one for everyone and one adults only. Live cocktail music at the dinner hour as well as tea. My room was incredibly comfy and well appointed and I had a great view of the fountain on the back side looking towards the expansive lawn area.

    The shuttle runs every other hour starting at 9 down to the waterfront area and drops you at the Table Bay hotel. It returns on the half hour.

    I was there for 6 days and was sad to leave it.

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    We are scheduled on this tour in September 2024. Hopefully, the Cape Grace will have been fully renovated and reopened by then.

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    My Son and I are going on the Elegant Tour on June 2, 2023. We are looking forward to this adventure! We have been informed of the hotel switch to the Belmond Mount Nelson. @voikk32 , I appreciate the review! I am considering a 9 am tour to Robbins Island, do you know if the shuttle service runs before 9 AM?

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    Margrocks--the first shuttle leaves at 9 am. You might be able to get a ride from the hotel but at extra cost in order to make the 9 am tour. I took a 1 pm tour and took the 11 am shuttle to the waterfront and puttered around until it was time to go board. I think we had to be there one half hour prior to boarding.

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    Isn't Robbins Island included in the tour? It was when I went in 2012.

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    Gladys, they stopped going quite a while ago, there are several theories why, one is the dangerous sea conditions.
    Just a note to say it is Robben Island. It was a fascinating place to visit. Our tour had a very colorful guide who was the one who led tours for celebrities when they visited.

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    Jim & LInda, looking forward to meeting you & your whole group. We don't get in until about 5:30 on Aug 30, so will explore area on the 31st before the meet & greet. Glad to hear how shuttle operates. We had thought about trip to Robben Island, but probably won't do.

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    You are right British, I misspelled the name, the tour guide we had at the Island had been in prison there, He was wonderful. We also had a wonderful tour guide that gave a lecture prior to embarking. What a shame that Tauck doesn't go there any more.

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    Hi bill and Betty. We arrive on the 31st at 14:30 so I imagine around 16:00 at hotel. Looking forward to meeting you as well. This will be our first adventure to Africa and to say we are excited is an understatement

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    Hey there! I’m going on the Sept 6th tour with my parents and my cousin. We are doing a full day tour of the winelands before the Tauck tour starts. https://www.toursbylocals.com/seewinelands-CApeTown-SouthAfrica-Privatetour

    -Alison

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