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4 nites in Cape Town
looking for tours to the Winelands and such. We arrive in Cape Town on a Tuesday and don't pick Tauck up till Friday. I have looked at the private tours$$$ Well we won't return, but I want to see if there are any other option tour wise. We are at the cape Grace hotel
Also black cool wick pants. No bugs attacking in South Africa is that correct? I have a couple of pairs in gray and green, but these 3 pairs took me across Canada with Tauck and Wyoming and Yosemite with Tauck.Washable in a sink and one hour dry. Weigh nothing and I hate to ditch them. REI looked at them and said they haven't seen them in years and nothing similar. Guidance please. We are on the May 3,2024 trip if anyone is coming in early on that trip and wants to tour Sheri
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Pants…I discovered Athleta Trekkie North jogger pants at REI earlier in the year. I wanted new safari and traveling pants. They fit me really well, are pull on and have zipper pockets. I’m not saying they will dry fast at the waist because the fabric is different there. But I did wash a pair on my trip and they don’t wrinkle. I have several pairs that I'm taking to AFRICA next week. They have tapered legs. I got the regular length, I’m short, 5 feet 2 inches and they fit perfectly. I went online to Athleta and snagged some in the sale, much cheaper but now they have stopped making them so had to pay full price at REI for some olive green ones. To me, they are much smarter than safari pants and can be worn for general touring. I even put a nice top over a black pair for dinner one night. I’m going to Southern Africa so don’t have to worry about biting tsetse flies. I checked, on sale at REI now.
When we went on the Elegant SA tour, a visit to a winery and dinner were included. When are you going, if it’s winter there, the vineyards will have bare vines. For us, wineries are wineries, and unless there are no other attractions we don’t make an effort to visit them. We went to one pre tour in the Santiago suburbs of Chile that had a connection to Manchester United, my childhood team, so I got a scarf for my son, no wine 😂
What are your interests, I could recommend other things as could others here, but let’s narrow it down
I also like the Mountain Hardware Dynama Pull on Pant ankle length at REI. Dries overnight. I’m also 5’2” and they fit me very well.
We returned from the Elegant Adventure in May and were lucky enough to stay at the Cape Grace. The Cape Grace hotel is fabulous, as is the staff. We've traveled a lot and I think this was one of our most favorite hotels. Location is great- down at the waterfront. I had been to Capetown before (Botswana trip). My husband missed that trip due to illness, so this time I wanted for him to share some of the sights of Capetown and go to some of the sights I had missed.
First on my list was Robben Island. I watched the weather forecast in advance and the weather was predicted to be lovely. Then tried to book tickets on line. Couldn't do so because you need passport info and didn't want to do that on line. Contacted the concierge at Cape Grace by email and gave him my credit card and passport info- they actually walked over to pick up our tickets and had them for us when we arrived.Little did I know that Tauck would have a lecture at the hotel by Mr. Brand, who was the guard looking after Nelson Mandela. It was wonderful to have visited the island.
Second and third was a visit to Table Mountain (had been to before) and the Holocaust museum area (also had been to). When we asked the concierge- no worries- they have a driver for the guests who took us to the museum, came back for us when we called and took us to Table mountain and picked us up again. No charge (of course, gave Eddie a big tip). As it was, the Table Mountain excursion with Tauck was canceled due to high winds (happens often), so we got to see it on a beautiful day.
The city tour of Capetown was poorly done. The tour ended up at a botanical garden, which was lovely, but really didn't spend any time at sites in the city. I had a Capetown city tour on our Botswana trip which was great. I would recommend asking the concierge for a good city tour that included District 6 (wonderful). Other people on our Elegant tour who arrived early had the concierge arrange a walking tour with food and loved that. Point is that i would contact the concierge next year (I think that's when the hotel re-opens) and have him/her arrange any trips you might be interested in.
We had a lovely dinner at a wine distributor, but did not visit a winery per se. I would ask the concierge again.
As far as clothes- I get many of my clothes from Eddie Bauer- 5'3"- good stuff. Get my stuff on sale. You can get laundry done at the camp (s) at a nominal fee, if you need. PS. You should being some water shoes for Victoria Falls and a British adapter for Zimbabwe.
Hi, Sheri!
We went on the Elegant Adventure tour last October and stayed at the lovely Cape Grace. It was a fantastic trip!! We arrived in Capetown two days early and did a private food tour with Pam of Cape Fusion Tours - I highly recommend them!! Then we did a tour of the Winelands also with Pam. She’s awesome! Both tours were excellent and we were so glad we did them. We visited Stellenbosch and Paarl. Breathtaking!! We had lunch at Delaire Graff which was delicious and the views were amazing. I thought Cape Fusion’s prices were pretty reasonable, especially for what we got for the money. We also visited Robben Island on our own - so worth it!
As for gear - I really like Prana pants and I also bought Eddie Bauer Guide Pro capris in several colors which were really comfortable. Not sure if it will be too cool in May for capris, but if not I definitely recommend them.
We are taking this tour in September 2024. I’ve enjoyed the comments posted above. We will arrive in Cape Town 4 days early and plan to visit Robbin Island, the Holocaust museum and we will investigate Cape Fusion Tours. We may do Table Mountain on our own weather contingent. Also, we are not wine aficionados so winery visits are not high on our list. Walking around the waterfront is also very appealing. Other suggestions are welcome.
As for pants, I have some from both Columbia and Eddie Bauer, but my favorites are from Clothing Arts (online). They have numerous security pockets, are comfortable, don’t wrinkle when packed, I have 4 pair and love them.
I confess: I am a shopper. We stayed at Cape Town for 6 days. We stayed at the Taj CAPETOWN. We loved the hotel!! We used the hotel car/driver to take us to the V&A area, to restaurants. But around the corner from the Taj was The Green Market. Fabulous wood bowls, original art work, etc. And a few blocks away was our favorite store: Tribal Trends. Gorgeous handicrafts, jewelry, handbags, tchotchkes- all well priced.
Tribal Trends
Shop in Cape Town City Centre
Winchester House, 72-74 Long Street, Cape Town City Centre, Cape Town
JanP, the Victoria and Albert Waterfront is wonderful for strolling, shopping ( the Shed or Watershed ), people watching, eating and drinking. For an amazing view of Table Mountain I recommend the beautiful bar at the One and Only Hotel. They also make a good burger there. The Zeitz Museum is worth a visit ( I think it has been renamed ) as well as the aquarium. If you want to go into town there is a terrific shop called Tribal Trends.i took the complimentary car service from the Cape Grace Hotel to get there. Capetown is one of my favorite cities in the world; you are fortunate to have four nights there prior to your tour. Enjoy!
@JanP ….whatever morning you wake up with a clear day, get going to Table Mountain!!! Later in the day it can get fogged in. Definitely worth the time, to see multiple oceans from the top.
Did people get tickets to Robben Island on line before leaving home, or were you able to wait and see what the weather was going to be once you got to Capetown and have the concierge arrange the trip?
We were recommended to buy tickets online well in advance - and the take the first boat out and on the first day possible. The waters were thought to be calmer earlier in the day. And if the weather wasn’t good, we could probably go later in the day or on another day. Luckily we had a lovely day on our 1st try.
Agree with Nancy I found Robben Island very moving after reading “Long Walk to Freedom”. It was a highlight of my time in Capetown.
I’m so glad we got to go to Robben Island when it was part of the Elegant South Africa tour. The guide we had there had escorted people like President Clinton around and other big wigs. Our last time in CapeTown, the whale watching boat trip was canceled due to rough seas. Cape Town sure has some rough seas
I searched thru my papers for CAPETOWN touring. We used Cape Fusion for a number of tours (Food walking tour with city history, Winelands and Cape Peninsula). We also took a Jewish tour with Craig (craig@mothercityjewishtours).
Here is what Cape Fusion wrote about planning our tour to Robben Island:
Sunday: On your own
Book for Robben Island for the 09h00 ferry. This ferry leaves from the Robben Island terminal, which is next to the Zeitz in the V&A Waterfront. The Robben Island trip is a tour – it takes 3.5 hours. As such if you book for the 9am ferry – you will be back by 12h30. Perhaps have a bite to eat at the Waterfront and then do the Zeitz Contemporary Museum while you are there or catch an Uber to Table Mountain.
We also signed up for a tour with Footsteps to Freedom Unfortunately we were never got to it.
Additionally, We never went up to Table Mountain - it was closed that week for their annual maintenance work. So I guess I need another visit to CAPETOWN.
I also was fortunate to have Robben Island included in the Elegant South Africa tour, our guide was a gentleman that had been a prisoner on the Island when Mandela was there.