South Africa - Best of the Cape

The beauty of Cape Town and its magical position at Africa’s southernmost tip are well known. Set beneath the spectacular Table Mountain, close to the Cape of Good Hope and the meeting point of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, few cities are blessed with such scenic splendour. This 2-centre holiday, based in Cape Town for five nights and Hermanus for two nights, focuses on the region’s colourful flora, scenic national parks, wild coastlines and wealth of birds, mammals and cetaceans, amongst the latter the abundant Southern Right Whales that come to breed in the Cape’s inshore waters. 

On arrival, we will receive our first taste of South African birding during a stop at the marshlands of Rondevlei Nature Reserve on the Cape Flats. We will also get a flavour of the fabulous Cape coastline as we travel along Chapman’s Peak Drive to Hout Bay, from where we may see our first Southern Right Whales. However, to best appreciate our wonderful situation we will take a cable car ride to the top of Table Mountain – assuming it is clear of its occasional ‘table cloth’ of cloud. After enjoying the stunning views over the city and the Cape Peninsula, we will explore the surrounding slopes in search of birds and plants and then move to the nearby Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens where we will spend the rest of the day. Delicately nestled on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, this 830-hectare ‘reserve’, of which just 60 hectares are cultivated, not only offers a fabulous collection of Cape flora, but is also one the Cape’s best birding spots.

Bearings established, those that wish may choose to spend a day at sea, heading out from Simonstown harbour to a point about 65 kilometres offshore where the cold Benguela current’s nutrient-rich upwelling along the continental shelf provides some of the world’s best seabird-watching. Albatrosses such as Black-browed, Atlantic Yellow-nosed, Shy and even the magnificent Wandering Albatross (the species with the largest wing-span of any bird) may be seen gliding effortlessly over the ocean whilst a wide variety of their smaller cousins – petrels, prions and shearwaters – will test even the most knowledgeable sea-birder’s skills to the limit.

Back on dry land, we will spend a full and rewarding day exploring the Cape of Good Hope Reserve. This reserve was formed to protect the fragile and beautiful fynbos flora, which should be in full bloom during our tour, and is part of the greater Table Mountain National Park. An interesting selection of mammals may be seen here, amongst them Bontebok, Eland, Cape Mountain Zebra and Chacma Baboon (not to mention the Southern Right Whales that are to be seen close in-shore in virtually every bay!), as well as an excellent variety of birds, including Ostrich and the African Penguin colony at Boulders Beach.

We travel next to Helderberg Nature Reserve, passing through the beautiful town of Stellenbosch en route. All five of the fynbos endemic birds are to be found within this compact reserve, and we also hope to see another avian speciality here, the Cape Rockjumper. On another day we will travel north to the town of Langebaan, and the West Coast National Park, a spectacular 27,000-hectare reserve that encompasses the lagoon, shoreline and Postberg peninsula, home to a great range of wetland and strandveld (coastal scrub) birds, among them Black Harrier and Southern Black Korhaan.

For the final two nights of this holiday we will move from Cape Town to Hermanus, at the edge of Walker Bay. Hermanus is the perfect spot from which to enjoy an afternoon of land-based cliff-top whale-watching, for here the Southern Right Whales often come very close in-shore and can be seen blowing, fluking and even breaching from the comfort of dry land.

For those who would like to view the Southern Right Whales from the water, we offer a second optional boat trip out into Walker Bay from Hermanus. The excursion usually lasts around two hours and offers a wonderful opportunity to view these magnificent mammals at close range, along with a wide variety of other wildlife including Cape Fur Seal, African Penguin, Cape Gannet, Black-browed Albatross and perhaps even Common Dolphin or Humpback Whale.

Finally, before our overnight flight back to London, we will keep the last day of the tour free for optional sightseeing back in Cape Town or a visit to Robben Island, most famous – or infamous – for having been the isolated prison of former South African president Nelson Mandela and many other political dissidents, a number of whom work today as the island’s guides, providing a unique insight into its recent history! Robben Island is also a World Heritage Site and home to much wildlife including Cape Fur Seals, African Penguins and a great many seabirds.