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cape town tour on Botswana Safari

AnthonyStyler

We are booked on the August 25 Botswana safari and are spending a few days in the Cape Winelands area before the trip. Arrive in CPT at 10 am after long flights from Dulles. Renting a car and driving to Franschhoek on our arrival day which we plan on spending around Franschhoek, and getting over jet lag. Second day have a wine tour scheduled and dinner reservations in Franschhoek. Next day driving down to Hermanus, then back along the coast road on the R43 and R44, around False Bay as far as Fishhoek. Then on to hotel close to CPT, leave early next day for Liv (day 1 of safari trip)

On the last day of the tour (day 12) we fly back early evening - 5:45 pm flight. We would like to see Cape Town, and are unsure about what is included in the tour, what could be skipped, and if we have enough time in Cape Town.

Specifically;

1. does the tour include a trip up the cable car to the top of Table Mountain

2. On the trip to Cape point does the transport go along Chapmans Peak Drive - 12 Apostles

3. Is the trip to District Six worth it - we don't really enjoy museums where there are a lot of exhibits that require reading - would we be better spending time walking around the city? (I spent 3 months in SA during apartheid and went through Soweto during the riots so I am familiar with the history). Are the Kirstenbosch gardens a good alternative - to District Six (off tour trip)?

4. Any details on the barbecue dinner? views / duration?

5. Is the hop on/off bus tour a good way of getting an overview of CapeTown - other option is a driver - any recommendations / cost?

We would like to walk around the Long Street Greenmarket Square area. Also want to do Clifton beach / camps Bay area, - and other recommendations?

Comments

AlanS

Sealord is on K&T so you'll likely need to wait for British to weigh in. We don't go until next year.

From what I recall from previous posts, Cable Mountain is not included.

British

You obvious know SA but I think you are being overly ambitious on what you might be able to do,
District 6 museum was wonderful, we met one of the survivors who gave us a wonderful talk and I bought his book.
We absolutely loved Kirstenbosch Gardens but you need several hours there. We have been to Cape Town on two different tours so I am not quite sure. It I think on this tour you are given tickets for the Cable car but have to do it in your own time. I definitely went up the mountain on the first trip.
BBQdinner was at the lovely home of a very charming couple, one of the highlights for us. You seem to like opposite type of things to us so I cannot make any other suggestions.

taxare

You have asked a lot of questions, I will do the best I can to respond.

1. We received tickets to the cable car for table mountain, but we were on our own to get there. There is a cable mountain app that tells you how long the wait to get on the cable car is. When we went a few weeks ago the lines were very short. We ran out of time to go.
2. I believe we went on the route you speak about as our group photo was taken on a shore area with the 12 apostles behind us. I can't say for certain whether it was Chapman's Peak Drive, sorry.
3.We found the District 6 museum to be worthwhile. Primarily due to the docent Joe who was a resident at the time they were evicted and his discussion was heartfelt yet academic. After the museum visit which was about an hour we went to the Company's Gardens. We did not have the SA experiences you did, so its hard to be in your shoes on this one. We did not go to the Kirstenbosch gardens nor do we know of others that went.
4. I can't remember the neighborhood where the barbecue was. I know we passed by table mountain on the way. It is in the home of a chef and his wife that has a cooking school and does these dinners in their home. It was a very pleasant evening, the food was very good, interesting explanations of his dishes, some nice South African wines. Just a fun low key evening. I believe the entire evening including transportation was around four hours.
5. The hotel concierge recommended a taxi to/from table mountain from the hotel. They said that was the quickest and most cost effective way to go. Several of our fellow travelers did that and shared a taxi.
6. Can't help you on the other items. We took all the tours, enjoyed the beautiful weather on the waterfront and did shopping that we never had a chance to do earlier on the trip. Although we were really tired we are glad we attended the last nights reception and dinner. We were able to share our stories, thank our TD and say goodbye to our new friends.

DawnC28

AnthonyStyler wrote:

We are booked on the August 25 Botswana safari and are spending a few days in the Cape Winelands area before the trip.

We'll be on the same tour! We previously did the "An Elegant Adventure" tour, and spent some time in Cape Town, this trip has all different tours than our last one, except for the Cape drive - although we see seals on this tour, not the penguins.

3. Are the Kirstenbosch gardens a good alternative - to District Six (off tour trip)?

We did a private tour of the gardens and it was great - if you can go on a weekday, it is not busy at all. Our Taulk tour to Robbin Island was cancelled, so the gardens were also included in a make up day to fill the time, and we didn't enjoy it near as much as it was a Saturday, very busy, and with the whole tour group. The restaurant there serves excellent food, by the way.

5. Also want to do Clifton beach / camps Bay area, - and other recommendations?

We stayed at Cape Grace on our previous tour, and they had free cars to take you places, not sure where you are staying pre-tour. I am not sure if the One & Only offers this option. We went to Camps Bay for sunset and dinner on our night off meal, it was a very nice stop. You do see both on the Taulk Cape tour, but you may not stop at either for photos, depending on how busy/late, etc. the bus is.

Looking forward to meeting you on the tour!

Sealord

AlanS wrote:

Sealord is on K&T so you'll likely need to wait for British to weigh in. We don't go until next year.

From what I recall from previous posts, Cable Mountain is not included.

I think you have propelled us forward in an episode of “Back to the Future”. We are still here. We leave for K&T in about three weeks.

Table Mountain was included in our tour, but we did not go due to fog. The tour director gave us tickets to use the following day which was our day of departure. We did not feel we had time to do that and get to the airport on time.

Our dinner was in a man’s private home who was an ‘amateur’ chef, and quite a good one. It was a circuitous route getting there and I have no idea where it was. No views ... sorry. It was quite dark.