Surfing and wine tasting may sound like an unusual combination but this is one of our most popular tours for the adventurous and young at heart. You head to one of Cape Town’s many beautiful beaches, depending on where the surf is best that day – it could be Muizenberg on the False Bay side of Cape Town or it could be Long Beach on the Atlantic ocean. You start with a surfing lesson in the water. The surf lessons are conducted at a beach break that has ideal waves for beginners as well as intermediates. The instructors have had many years of surfing experience and have helped hundreds of people find their surfing feet in South Africa.

After a morning of surfing you have earned a keenly awaited lunch, after which you head to the beautiful Constantia Valley Wine route where you will enjoy wine tasting at the world renowned wineries there such as Steenberg and Klein Constantia.

Such a tour costs R940 per person (if 4 people) in 2010 and more if you are only 2 people.

See our Special Interest Tours in Cape Town for more info or contact us…

In contrast the Taj is in the heart of Cape Town with the Anglican cathedral opposite, the historic Company gardens, where the new settler grew vegetables for the passing ships and the vibey pedestrian St Georges Mall on your door step, with art galleries, museums, restaurants, street cafes and street markets all within a couple of minutes walk.

The other big plus is the impressive interior of this 110 year old building with its high vaulted ceiling. It offers a winning combination of rich history and elegant contemporary architecture and really does feel like one of the grand old city hotels of Europe.

I didn’t get to sample an evening meal but I liked the eclectic mix of its exquisitely furnished Indian restaurant, the Bombay Brasserie, with its ornate chandeliers and table settings, and the more casual and modern Mint restaurant, where I had breakfast. This has tables flowing out onto the streets enclosed by partitions of greenery a la Paris.

My bedroom, a Heritage room, was very spacious with understated elegance and soft colours in the bedroom area and a sleek modern bathroom.  The bathroom has a glass wall onto the bedroom which can be closed off behind a blind for additional privacy – a feature which I really liked as I think its really important that people who want privacy in their bathrooms are able to get it – a fact that many modern hotel architects seem to ignore! Check it out when you are next in Cape Town.

Earlier this morning we had gone for a quick walk near the camp, Cottars 1920’s Safari Camp, focusing on some of the plants and trees used by the Masai. I knew about the “toothbrush tree”, but had never seen the “sandpaper tree”. Older leaves can be used to smooth the shafts of the Masai spears, whilst younger leaves are sometimes used by the women to clean their tongues! Wild sage makes a good anti-perspirant or can be used for a bit of a freshen up, and the “orange leaf tree” really fascinated me: apparently lion sometimes make use of its insect repellent properties by dragging their kill to its base to keep the flies off their food.

After breakfast I had a look at the Cottar family portraits in the mess tent – four generations of American adventurers, hunters and photographic safari pioneers. Charles was entranced by a report of Theodore Roosevelt’s 1909 safari, and moved his young family out to Africa soon after. Looking at the potted histories under the portraits is instructive: Charles was mauled by leopard three times, injured by an elephant and eventually killed by a rhino; his son Mike survived nine episodes of blackwater fever, when one bout is enough to finish off most men.”

With us in the Land Rover is Baba, one of the Masai warriors based at the Camp. Bowling along the gravel road we start to chat, and it transpires that Baba has led quite an eventful life. For one he survived a leopard attack when young and, perhaps even more unusually, he is one of the few Masai in the area to own a passport. A Japanese guest at Elephant Pepper was opening an African themed hotel in Tokyo and invited Baba and two of his friends out to Japan for the launch. Via Jules and the lingua franca of Swahili I quiz Baba about his experience. He didn’t enjoy the flight very much but had a good time once there.

Sure enough Alex and Neboo from Cottars 1920s Camp are there to meet us at the gate, and I jump ship and begin the next phase of my Mara exploration.

My fellow guests are a little the worse for wear after making the most of the wine last night at dinner – perhaps the most convivial and jolly evening on my whole trip; nearly twenty of us on one big table and, as sometimes happens just the right mix of people to make for a really fun evening. Before dinner we had enjoyed a great sighting of a small elephant herd and also been astonished by the size of  two of the largest dik-dik (the smallest of the antelope species) any of us had ever seen.

Now Francis and I are pulling into Elephant Pepper Camp. After a beautiful lunch, and a welcome afternoon nap, we head out for our afternoon game drive. Almost immediately we’re at one of the most thrilling sightings of the whole trip: a lioness with two very young cubs – perhaps two to three days old, busy suckling from their mother. At this age cubs are spotted, and they twitch every now and then as they adjust their feeding position. We watch spellbound for a while before leaving them be, and circle round to the other side of a thicket, to be rewarded with a fantastic sighting of a lone lioness. I stare in awe at the size of her paws, and watch the rhythmical rise and fall of her chest as she breathes in the late afternoon air. Later we find a huge plateau for our sundowners; vast night skies open up in all directions.”

“Although the Masai Mara has been exerting a strong gravitational pull on me for some years this is my first visit; the attraction has always been deflected by other pressing priorities. Was it worth the wait? Absolutely! I love the South African Lowveld, was wowed by the stark beauty of Damaraland in Namibia and of course rate the Okavango Delta as one of the jewels in the African safari crown. But there’s something about the Mara that still bowls me over. Maybe it’s the relative simplicity of the landscape (successions of rolling grasslands seeming to extend to infinity in all directions); perhaps the immensity of the sky? I don’t know. All I can say is that it didn’t disappoint at all.

My first night is at Kicheche Mara Camp in the Koiyaki Lemek region north-west of the Masai Mara National Reserve but on the way we stop to visit a couple of other small and intimate bush camps: Kicheche Bush Camp and Porini Lion Camp. Along with one other camp they have exclusive traversing rights over the Olare Orok Conservancy which allows excellent game viewing without hordes of vehicles. I like both camps very much and after lunch at Kicheche Bush Camp, we head, via an incredibly steep, rocky and picturesque route towards Kicheche Mara. We see a lot of game early on as the local area has benefited from some recent generous rains. Then with darkening skies the rain starts, heavy enough for us to stop and put the roof on….”

Later that afternoon we watch a small herd of elephant browsing on the grass which has sprung up after the recent and very welcome rains, and I make one small addition to my knowledge of elephant behaviour: we watch as they use a calculated swipe from their front foot to uproot a bundle of grass already grabbed in their trunk.

As dusk gathers we stop when Charles spots three male cheetah in the middle distance. Straining to see them through the half light I locate them in my binoculars. For a while they’re all seated, but we watch spellbound as they stir themselves and walk three abreast away from us: three brothers on a mission – but when their path is blocked by a pride of lion they wheel round to the right and cross the track close behind us. We return to camp for a superb dinner with camp managers Andy and Sonja, warmed by the open fire in the mess tent and elated by such a fabulous spectacle  – for me context, mood and setting can be just as powerful as the clarity and proximity of the sighting.

Back at the conservancy gate I notice James, my guide at Porini Rhino Camp, is drawn to the sports pages (just like me!): Kenya are playing Nigeria later today and we discuss Kenya’s chances. Apparently both sides have failed to qualify for the World Cup but the match is important for the African Nations Cup. Yesterday afternoon we were out walking with two of the Masai warriors at the camp; I failed miserably in a test of strength which involves trying to pick up a Masai spear by the very tip. After the walk we continued on a drive, with great sightings of reticulated giraffe, elephant, Thomson’s gazelle, zebra and impala before returning to have a few beers round the fire and a delicious and very jolly dinner with four Kiwis and their guide Campbell.

On our way to the gate this morning we had three game encounters, all memorable in their own way. Firstly we spotted a female Jackson Hartebeest with a fawn which James estimated to be only a couple of hours old; then a lone female black rhino; and finally a white rhino and her calf. There’s something about the tiny eye in that relatively large head that is incredibly endearing….”

Laetato is accompanying me, the safari guide Patrick and Alex Hunter (the owner and manager of the exquisite Ol Pejeta Bush Camp) on this late afternoon walk along the banks of the Ewaso Nyiro River, in the northern sector of the Ol Pejeta Conservancy west and south of Mt Kenya. We’ve already spotted a pied kingfisher perched in a branch. Apparently it’s the only kingfisher which can hover in flight but as it’s perched rather than in flight I can’t confirm this! Later I pointed to a large excavation in the river bank opposite, and was told that it was probably the work of a monitor lizard. They were certainly in the vicinity as we saw the characteristic footprints mingled with the drag line of its tail in a muddy bay a bit further on. Also on display were the tracks of Egyptian geese and buffalo, both after liquid refreshment.

Ol Pejeta is one of the best places in Kenya to see black rhino as it boasts a population of around 80. Alex showed me several rhino middens – territorial dung mounds which are added to over time. The twigs on which the animal had been browsing were so cleanly and uniformly topped and tailed that they looked like they had been through a commercial shredder. As the sun set we headed back towards camp and Alex chatted about his fondness for running: keen runners can accompany him for some circuits of land near the camp. Really ambitious runners can try and keep pace with Laetato. But he thinks nothing of running for 10 km, and bear in mind that the altitude here is over 2,000m – though the benefit of this is that the Ol Pejeta conservancy is non-malarial.

A quick safari shower (for my money the best there is; although short they’re always hot and the water often carries the delicious odour of the fire that’s warmed it) and it was time for an elegant dinner outside, lit by numerous lanterns which seemed in perfect keeping with the essence of safari.”

Icon flies from Skukuza to Livingstone on Tuesday and Friday leaving at 12:00 noon. En route they touch down at Polokwane Airport to clear customs. The flight takes approx 2½ hours with extra 30 mins for clearing customs.

Icon flies back from Livingstone at 10.30am on Wednesday and Saturday arriving at Skukuza in the early afternoon.

The big plus is that included in their rate is a complimentary transfer by air (or road) or to any one of 32 game lodges in the Sabi Sands or Timbavati.  (There is a landing fee at some of the lodges).

Plus points for Icon
•    You can still do the morning game drive before your flight
•    Flight TO Skukuza arrives in time for an afternoon game drive
•    Only need to get to Skukuza 30 mins prior to take-off
•   They offer a scenic flight over the Falls as they come into Livingstone

Thus if you are planning a safari in South Africa, and also want to go to Victoria Falls, you might like to consider this new charter flight. It is expensive but given the time savings and the fact that you don’t need to stay over in Johannesburg, it could be money well spent.

Today I’ll mention the well-known Five Rivers safari in Botswana. The Five Rivers safaris is actually an offer by several independent safari companies in Botswana and also in Namibia and Zambia.

The Five Rivers Safari is available only during the emerald season between  15th Nov 2009 and 30th April 2010

The concept is very simple.  If you stay at one of the participating camps for a minimum of 3 nights, or stay 4 nights in total at 2 different Five Rivers Safari Lodges, then you qualify for the special Five Rivers safari price, which is much lower than normal. The Five Rivers lodges are Xakanaxa Camp and Kwando Kwara Camp in the Okavango Delta, Kwando Lebala Camp & Kwando Lagoon Camp in the Linyanti, Deception Valley Lodge in the Kalahari Desert, Susuwe Island Lodge and Impalila Island Lodge on the Caprivi Strip of Namibia and also Stanley Safari Lodge at Victoria Falls in Zambia. The Five Rivers safari also offers lower charter flight rates than normal as well.

The beauty is that you can combine some of these Five Rivers lodges with other Botswana safari lodges of your choosing as long as you stay for 3 nights at one lodge or 4 nights at two lodges….

Contact us for a tailormade quote…