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16-days 4-19 Sep 2003 Group 1 Capetown & Garden Route

Day 1: The group comprised of 15 ladies and 2 men and we gathered at KLIA for our flight at 2200hrs.
Day 2 Stellenbosch: We arrived in Cape Town at about 10am and proceeded by van shuttle to Stellenbosch, the heart of the wine district. We stayed at the Stellenbosch visitor's flats and had lunch at the Uni's student mall. We then visited the Village Museum, which is a collection of 18th century restored houses. This was followed by a walkabout in the Braak or Town Square. We adjourned early to recover from our jetlag.
Day 3 Swellenham: We picked up our Microbus and visited Die Bergkelder, a winery for wine-tasting and a tour of the cellar and wine making process. A short stop at Simonsberg Cheese factory was followed by lunch. On the way to Swellenham, we stopped over at a strawberry farm. We stayed late in Bontebok National Park, which is well known for its herd of 600 or so Bontebok antelopes.
Day 4 Montagu: In the morning we went for a game drive and was surprised by the fields of spring flowers carpeting the veld (African grasslands). We saw quite a few of the endangered Bontebok antelopes and mountain zebras. In the afternoon, we visited Swellenham's Drosty, which has some the best preserved Dutch buildings in the country. We then drove to Montagu 60kms away. While some soaked in the hot mineral pools, others took short walks or simply took it easy.
Day 5 Little Karoo road to Oudtshoorn: We went on an impromptu tractor ride up the Langedaan mountains in the morning. We were rewarded by excellent views of the valleys and mountain flowers. After a late lunch we drove 240 kms to Oudtshoorn on the Little Karoo (mountain) road.
Day 6 Full day Oudtshoorn: We started our full day of this Ostrich capital of the world with a visit to Cango Caves for a spot of adventure caving, a first for many in the group. We later went to see th Swartberg Pass, the Cango Ostrich Farm and Wildlife Cheetah Farm for a touch session with wild cheetahs and white Bengal tiger cubs.

 
White Tiger Cubs / White Daisies Bontepok NP

Day 7 Garden Route: Some 180kms is George, where we caught the world famous Outeniqua Cho-Tjoe, a steam train running along a spectacular line to Knysna, a very pretty seaside tourist town. We lunched at The Knysna Oyster Company, which claims to have the best oysters in South Africa. We moved on to Wilderness to stay at the National Park log cottages. 180 kms.
Day 8 Mossel Bay: Most of us went on the Giant Kingfisher Trail, which is a 8.7km trek up the Tuow River. After lunch in Wilderness, its off to Botlierskop Private Game Reserve for an "expensive" safari to view the many types of game/animal in its natural habitat. We arrived late in Mossel Bay.
Day 9 Caledon: The Diaz Museum is on every tour program covering the Garden route. This world class museum houses a caravel (wooden ship) built in Portual to replicate Bartholomeu Diaz's own ship. The group spend a bit of time shopping in the town mall and we left in the afternoon for Hermanus, with a short stop to visit an aleo ferox factory. We also managed about an hour at the Caledon annual flower show.
Day 10 Hermanus: This place is world famous for being the best off-shore whale watching site. September is the peak of the whale watching season and we saw many whales in Walker Bay. The town is also a pleasant tourist town with good shopping and restaurants.
Day 11 Hermanus to Capetown: Our next stop was Somerset Mall, reputed to be the best shopping mall near Cape Town. It was a Saturday and shops closed at 2pm. We then went to the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and spend a couple of hours walking about this renowned garden.
Day 12 Cape Peninsula: This full day trip involved a drive to the Cape of Good Hope. Along the way we visit Groot Constantia, the oldest and grandest winery in South Africa, Muizenberg colourful bath houses, the penguins of The Boulders and Mineral world. It was very windy at the Cape Point and also very cold.
Day 13 West Coast National Park: Its 120km one-way the Park, famous for its wildflowers spectacle. Unfortunately flowers were not in full bloom. Instead, the visit to Postberg section of the Park offered great game viewing and we were rewarded by big herds of elands, bonteboks and mountain zebras. On the way back, we stopped over at Blouberstrand for a scenic view of the Table Mountains.
Day 14 Capetown: We covered the Table Mountains, Malay area or Bo-Kaap, St George's Mall, Town Center, Two Oceans Aquarium as well as the Victoria & Albert Waterfront in one long day.
Day 15 Go Home: Went to the airport for our 1015 am flight home.
Day 16 Fri KL: Arrive in Kuala Lumpur 0540 am.

Tractor ride Langedaan Mountain

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