Today, you’ll depart the U.S. for an overnight flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, arriving on Day 2.

Arrive in South Africa today. If you purchased your airfare with Vantage, you’ll be met at the airport by a representative who will assist you with your hotel transfer. Get settled into your hotel and enjoy an evening at leisure in preparation for tomorrow.

After breakfast and a Welcome Briefing this morning, your travels are again underway as you transfer via motorcoach to the Pilanesberg Game Reserve. On arrival, we’ll transfer to Black Rhino Game Lodge, overlooking a busy watering hole which serves as a central gathering area for all manner of local wildlife. Your arrival is timed perfectly for lunch, followed by an afternoon guided game drive.

The thrill of seeking out wildlife on this 150,000 acre reserve is enhanced by the variety we’ll see. Amidst a wonderfully diverse landscape (ranging from thornveld and bushveld to grassy floodplains), you’ll have the chance to view the legendary Big Five (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant, and Cape buffalo), as well as ostrich, zebra, giraffe, leopard, and many more. In addition, the unique bush terrain is especially hospitable to browsing and grazing species like the kudu, impala, and Oryx.

Arrive back to your lodge and freshen up for dinner.

Wake to a full day of safari activities, beginning with a morning game drive on a private concession. Feel your senses awaken as you explore African bush against dawn’s pastel panorama — this is the time when animals are returning from a night of hunting before hiding from the sun’s peak hours. Lunch will be back at the lodge before an afternoon game drive. As the day winds down, we will stop for sundowners in the bush against the breathtaking African sunset.

Another day of morning and afternoon game drives lets you absorb the sights and sounds of Pilanesberg one last time. Lunch is at the lodge, and following your afternoon drive, reminisce about your favorite safari moments with sundowners in the bush. Dinner is at the lodge tonight.

Following a leisurely breakfast, you’ll transfer to Johannesburg to link up with Day 2 of your base tour.

Fly from Victoria Falls Airport to Cape Town. Sailors approaching the Cape in the 17th century reported seeing a magnificent flat-topped mountain rising out of the earth from a great distance away. With some luck, we too will see Table Mountain in all its glory as we approach South Africa’s “Mother City.”

Transfer to the hotel for an afternoon at leisure or take advantage of the hotel’s free shuttle service to the V&A Waterfront. Tonight’s dinner is at the hotel.

It’s impossible to resist the mystical allure of Table Mountain — one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature — and today we aim to get to the top (weather permitting).

Ascend effortlessly up Table Mountain by rotating cable car — five thrilling minutes hugging the craggy mountainside all the way to the top! Views from up here seem endless, and stretch all the way down the mountain range towards Cape Point, across the ocean to Robben Island and over the city bowl hemmed in by land and water. It’s said to be the perfect feng shui city!

Peruse the fynbos plants, which are endemic to the Cape and found only here, which is why this important Cape Floral Region was proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Back down the mountain, sit back for a guided drive of the historic city, where beautiful old buildings tell the story of its colonial past. We’ll see the battlements of the Castle of Good Hope, Italian-inspired City Hall, and the old Slave Lodge with its paradoxical carved pediment, next to the Houses of Parliament. You'll also have the chance to shop at renowned Cape Town jeweler, AfroGem. 

The afternoon and evening are at your leisure in this glorious city, with so much else to explore, including Greenmarket Square, Two Oceans Aquarium, V&A Waterfront, museums, galleries, and gift shops.

The evening is at your leisure, with dinner on your own.

Included Features:

• Cable car ride to the top of Table Mountain
• City of Cape Town coach tour

After breakfast today, you’ll see why the bucolic scenery of the Cape Winelands and its fertile valleys lured the original settlers to farm here. Stellenbosch is South Africa’s second-oldest town and is liberally scattered with Cape Dutch wine estates, distinctive for their ornate gables, which we’ll see on a historical tour of this Afrikaans university town.

Wine-making was woefully bad in the 17th century, so French Huguenots with wine-making experience were invited to the Cape and settled in Franschhoek (French Corner). It is an exquisitely beautiful valley, hemmed in by mountains and lined with wine estates. It’s here in the heart of the Cape Winelands that we’ll do two wine tastings and have lunch at a winery high on the slopes of the Franschhoek Mountains.

After lunch, stop at the Huguenot Monument, dating back to the first settlers, for a photo stop. The Monument is at the far end of Franschhoek’s single main street and we will saunter down the sidewalk lined with bustling cafés, restaurants, and attractive boutiques, shops, and art galleries. Without a doubt, this is the most charming village in the Cape Winelands!

Back in Cape Town, the evening and dinner is at your leisure.

Included Features:

• Full day tour of the Cape Winelands
• Two wine tastings and lunch in Franschhoek with a photo stop to the Huguenot Monument

Design your own itinerary today with a full day at leisure to continue your explorations at your own pace.

Destination Enhancement: Customize your journey when you add an optional on-tour experience. Enhance your time in South Africa with a full-day excursion to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. Learn more

Live the life of the rich and famous this morning on a cruise aboard a very smart, 76-foot, luxury motor yacht. We’ll circumnavigate Robben Island (or get as close as possible, weather permitting) to witness the same view of Table Mountain that Nelson Mandela would have seen from this inescapable prison island — now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The tranquil inlets of Clifton are where pleasure yachts go to see and be seen, and we’ll pull into a sheltered cove and toast the day’s discoveries with sparkling wine and canapes.

During this ocean adventure, we’ll also be on the lookout for dolphins and penguins, Cape fur seals, and perhaps even enormous southern right whales, which migrate here to mate and calve. If you spot a large fin piercing the surface, it may not be a Great White Shark but the very strange Mola mola, or ocean sunfish, which has a rudder instead of a tail and drifts with the currents.

This wonderful ocean cruise ends at the V&A Waterfront, where you’ll have the afternoon free to shop and explore.

Tonight, we gather in camaraderie after the trip of a lifetime for a special Farewell Dinner.

During the Farewell Dinner, get a fascinating firsthand account of what life was like on Robben Island from one of Nelson Mandela's former prison wardens.

• Luxury motor yacht cruise of Table Bay with sparkling wine and canapes

• Lecture from Nelson Mandela’s former prison warden on Robben Island

After breakfast, transfer to Cape Town International Airport to catch the return flight home. We’ll say “so long” rather than “goodbye,” because after such an incredible adventure, we know Africa will have touched your soul and you won’t be able to stay away for long!