South Africa escorted group tour: High-end tour of a different kind

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This was published 7 years ago

South Africa escorted group tour: High-end tour of a different kind

By Sally Macmillan
Unforgettable experiences: A rhino in the wild.

Unforgettable experiences: A rhino in the wild.Credit: Brett Dudley

I haven't been on an escorted group tour since I was at school, so it's intriguing to join one now. It's rather more glamorous than hiking through the rainy Lake District with our eccentric headmaster all those years ago. My 11-day African Sojourn is the first luxury tour operated by Latitude 33, the latest venture from ecruising.travel founder Brett Dudley.

High-end escorted group tours are an increasingly popular holiday option for well-travelled couples and singles. Not only is everything laid on – international flights, transfers, accommodation, luxury rail and cruise journeys – you get to experience things like trips by private jet that would be tricky (and expensive) to organise yourself.

Dudley says, "Our tours are for independent, like-minded people who don't normally travel with a group. We don't wear name badges, nothing is compulsory – although generally everyone does participate – we give people the tools and they choose what they want to do."

Breakfast time on the game drive.

Breakfast time on the game drive.Credit: Brett Dudley

Our group of 30, hosted by Dudley, is pretty diverse – retired nurses, a doctor, a farmer and his daughter, teachers, cricket fans and cruise aficionados – and we don't meet en masse until we go out for dinner at the renowned Wombles restaurant in Johannesburg. Before that, we spend a couple of days unwinding at the exclusive Banyan Al Wadi resort in the desert outside Dubai, where we run into each other occasionally in between horse-riding in the dunes and watching peregrine falcons being put through their paces by the resort's expert falconers.

Several of the group are old Africa hands, but even they are excited to board three 16-seater Hawker Beechcraft jets at a private terminal at Joburg's Tambo airport. A smooth, one-hour flight takes us to the pretty bush airport of Skukuza that serves Kruger National Park, where we are met by ranger-drivers and transported in big dusty Land Rovers to Kirkmans Kamp in the Sabi Sands Reserve.

It's my first visit to Africa and even the 15-minute drive to Kirkmans is a major eye-opener. After a welcome drink and lunch at the historic, colonial-style &Beyond lodge, we clamber back into the vehicles for an afternoon game drive, each one taking a different route so we don't meet up again until much later.

Angels Garden.

Angels Garden.

As we bump along narrow sandy tracks through olive-green trees and scrub we spot baby impala "stotting" – sort of jumping – through the bush, warthogs and their piglets on their knees digging up roots and insects, and green wood hoopoe and lilac-breasted Roller birds flitting colourfully by.

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I'm taking notes and photographs and trying to keep up with the passing parade of wildlife but when bird-sightings give way to scenes of hippos wallowing in a pond with crocodiles lurking at the water's edge, a group of rhinos trying to extract water from a tiny waterhole and a stately kudu grazing near a bunch of old male Cape buffalos, the notebook is stuffed in a pocket. Cameras go into overdrive when we stop by a dried-up riverbed to observe a magnificent male leopard snoozing and grooming himself just a few metres away; I can hardly believe this is happening.

Over dinner back at Kirkmans, there's good-natured skiting about who captured the most impressive sights; by the end of five days we are exchanging photos and increasingly elaborate stories. Dudley and I take a side-trip to Phinda Mountain Lodge in the KwaZulu-Natal region, where he is planning to take the 2017 Africa tour; in the surrounding bush we witness an incredible confrontation between two groups of cheetahs and young lions, tussling over the carcass of a nearly dead wildebeest.

A pair of impala (Apyceros melampus) ewes drinking at a waterhole in the bushveld, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa.

A pair of impala (Apyceros melampus) ewes drinking at a waterhole in the bushveld, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa.Credit: iStock

We are all privileged to see – at extremely close quarters on our various game drives and around the lodges – adult and baby elephants, giraffes, vervet monkeys, baboons, hyenas and cubs, lions, lionesses and their cubs, not to mention smaller, no less fascinating creatures such a chameleon, spotted by an eagle-eyed ranger in the near dark of twilight.

Our last game drive finishes with a superb, surprise breakfast that is laid out beneath an ancient fig tree. One lady literally falls off her chair and while of course we're concerned – she is fine – we end up laughing until we ache. Another private jet whisks us off to Cape Town – "like rock stars", notes one of our group – where we check in to the elegant One&Only hotel. Set in the lively Victoria and Albert waterfront area, the One&Only boasts Africa's first Nobu restaurant, a spa and pool on its own island and panoramic views of Table Mountain. We take the cable car to the top of the famous landmark on our first day in the Mother City; it's cold and misty but when the clouds clear the harbour and city views are just as magnificent as the brochures promise.

We spend the second day at Grande Provence in scenic Franschhoek Valley, stopping en route to check out the historic town of Stellenbosch. The 300-year-old estate is about an hour's drive from Cape Town, and a different world again; the lush, mountainous Western Cape is South Africa's biggest winemaking region and grape cultivation dates back to the 1600s.

Game drive: Sabi Sands Game Reserve.

Game drive: Sabi Sands Game Reserve.Credit: Sally Macmillan

After an educational wine-and-food pairing we enjoy a long, convivial lunch. The estate's beautiful gardens are dotted with contemporary sculptures and the art gallery shows works by some of the country's best artists; it would be a lovely spot to linger longer.

Back in Cape Town for my last day, I visit Robben Island, the notorious prison where Nelson Mandela spent 18 of the 27 years he was incarcerated. "Sparks", a former political prisoner who was locked up there for seven years, leads a tour that takes in the rudimentary bare cells of the maximum security prison, the lepers' graveyard and lime quarries where prisoners were forced to labour under the blazing sun. And yet Sparks, like his fellow ex-prisoners, bears no bitterness. "We would have learned nothing if we wanted revenge," he says.

It is a sobering and inspiring conclusion to my first – and I vow not last – experience of this extraordinarily diverse, vibrant country. I say farewell to my fellow travellers who are taking a relaxing sea journey home on Cunard's grand Queen Elizabeth liner and head to the airport with a warm and fuzzy feeling of having made new friends, heard wonderful life stories and shared some seriously good times.

Elephants play in a private game reserve bordering the Kruger National Park, South Africa.

Elephants play in a private game reserve bordering the Kruger National Park, South Africa.Credit: iStock

FIVE MORE THINGS TO DO IN CAPE TOWN

SWIM WITH PENGUINS

Head to Boulders Beach in Simon's Town to see and even swim with African penguins, the only penguins that breed in Africa. They used to be called jackass penguins for their distinctive braying calls. See www.capetown.travel

The jet-setting group.

The jet-setting group.Credit: Latitude 33

CYCLE AROUND A TOWNSHIP

Get an insight into Xhosa culture, try traditional beer and watch a Sangoma work with medicinal herbs, on a guided cycling tour in a township. AWOL Tours partners with non-profit organisation Bicycling Empowerment Network. See www.awoltours.co.za

TAKE AFTERNOON TEA

Spotted: A Cheetah.

Spotted: A Cheetah.Credit: Brett Dudley

The opulent Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel opened in 1899 and has hosted scores of historic figures and contemporary celebs over the years. Enjoy one of its most traditional offerings, a lavish afternoon tea, on the terrace overlooking manicured gardens. See belmond.com/mount-nelson-hotel-cape-town/

RELAX IN THE COMPANY'S GARDEN

This tranquil, eight-hectare oasis in the centre of the city was established by the Dutch East India Company in the 1650s to grow crops for its ships. It's close to the Houses of Parliament, National Museum and National Gallery – perfect when you need a break from sightseeing. See capetown.gov.za

Franschoek vineyards.

Franschoek vineyards.Credit: South Africa Tourism

VISIT BO-KAAP MUSEUM

Find out about the history and culture of the resident Islamic community in this fascinating small museum. In an original 1768 house in the brightly coloured village of Bo-Kaap, it is set up as a 19th-century Muslim family home. Sample traditional Cape Malay cuisine in nearby restaurants. See iziko.org.za/museums/bo-kaap-museum

TRIP NOTES

MORE INFORMATION

See latitude33.travel

GETTING THERE

Latitude 33's 41-night Ultimate Africa fly/cruise/stay tour, for a maximum of 26 people, departs Australia in March 2018. It includes three nights in Singapore; a 25-night cruise from Singapore to Cape town on board Regent Seven Seas Navigator; three nights at the One&Only in Cape Town; a day at Grand Provence, Winelands; private jet to Kruger National Park; five nights' exclusive use of Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge; private jet to Livingstone, Zambia, for three nights at the Victoria Falls Hotel; private jet to Johannesburg for two nights at the Four Seasons Hotel The Westcliff; return flights from Australia with Emirates.

Sally Macmillan travelled as a guest of Latitude 33

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