Your South African adventure begins the moment you check in to a Royal Suite at the Orient Private Hotel, a five-star oasis of luxury in Pretoria. The following afternoon, you will embark on a 3-day, 1,600-kilometer journey in an opulent suite on the luxurious old-world Rovos Rail. You will travel through the grasslands of the gold-rich Highveld to the haunting barrenness of the Great Karoo, passing through the spectacular mountain ranges and scenic winelands of the Cape. You’ll stop in Kimberley for a visit to the astonishing Big Hole and Diamond Mine Museum. Your journey ends in Cape Town, the Mother City of South Africa.
There, you will check in to the elegant Table Bay Hotel. After a night’s rest, you’ll be chauffeured to Vergelegen Wine Estate, where you will sit with the VIPs at a Starlight Classics concert, featuring one of opera’s biggest stars: the legendary soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.
The next morning, you are off to explore South Africa’s birds of prey at Eagle Encounters, a wildlife rehabilitation, conservation, education and ecotourism center at Spier Wine Farm.
The one-and-only Dame Kiri Te Kanawa joins you for lunch and a wine tasting at Glen Carlou, the award-winning South African wine estate owned and managed by the Hess family, proprietors of Napa’s The Hess Collection.
The following morning, you will be whisked away for a three-night luxury safari at the Dwyka Tented Lodge at Sanbona Wildlife Reserve, the Cape’s premier wildlife destination. Featuring nine luxury tents, a Relaxation Retreat, lounge, wine cellar and open-air boma, there are myriad ways to enjoy this beautiful lodge and the surrounding area, including game drives, nature walks, stargazing and spa treatments. Or indulge in the Relaxation Retreat at Sanbona, which overlooks ancient rock formations, and infinite mountains and plains.
On your final full day in South Africa, you will visit Waterkloof Estate near Somerset West for a wine-tasting experience, followed by a magnificent lunch prepared by acclaimed French chef Gregory Czarnecki.
After a final night at The Table Bay Hotel, you will board your flight home from Cape Town, bringing to a close your unforgettable South African adventure.
DONORS: Charl van Heyningen Enterprises, Glen Carlou Wine Estate, The Hess Collection, Illyria Hotel, Sabrina and Timothy Persson, Rand Merchant Bank, Rovos Rail, Sanbona Wildlife Reserve, Spier Wine Estate, The Table Bay Hotel
Designed for 2 guests
Trip dates: February 28–March 9, 2017