Cape Town, Winelands and Garden Route Adventure

This trip is run by a Cape Town based guiding company with a focus on natural and human history, concentrating on unique fauna and flora and on the cultural and historical aspects of their country. Travel is in small groups to minimise the impact on often fragile environments and all excursions are led by experienced and highly knowledgeable guides keen to make a trip educational and informative as well as fun.

The trip is led by an experienced and highly knowledgeable local SA Tourism-registered guide. The guiding company we use are based in Cape Town, and focus on natural and human history, concentrating on unique fauna and flora and on the cultural and historical aspects of the Southern Africa region.

Travel is in small groups for flexibility of itinerary and to minimise the impact on often fragile environments. The company are well known for Special Interest excursions which include Birding, Botany, Culture, Archaeology and Wine appreciation, all led by specialists.

We use small, locally owned accommodation throughout the trip with Responsible Tourism practices. For instance, in Cape Town, the hotel we stay at supports the Hotels Housing Trust, which helps provide housing for destitute shack dwellers that live near the airport and the outskirts of the City of Cape Town. A brown paper brochure is put into hotel bedrooms. It offers guests an opportunity to contribute towards housing for the poor and needy. Every cent of the donation goes towards building houses.

The hotel has also fitted water saving mechanisms in all toilets, requests guests to use their towels more than once, has fitted energy saving lighting wherever possible and separates waste for recycling and the donation thereof to various organizations, including the Oasis Association, an association dedicated to enabling persons with intellectual disability to realise their fullest potential and thereby become as independent and productive as possible within their community.

The trip includes a visit to Monkeyland, a unique 12 hectare conservation sanctuary which allows visitors a guided walking safari amongst the free-roaming primates. Most of the primates here were previously caged, and the sanctuary provides an opportunity for them to rediscover their natural instinct to forage, chatter and swing between the trees, and to live as they would in the wild. Entrance fees to the sanctuary help with the rehabilitation work undertaken, and providing an environment where previously caged monkeys can move about the forest freely. Multi-lingual game rangers lead visitors through the forest: there is an emphasis on promoting a greater understanding of the primates of the world and the threats they are facing.

The trip also visits the Knysna Elephant Park, set up to bring elephants back to the Knysna area after their numbers dwindled from 400 to just 3. The elephants of the Southern Cape were once an important part of the ecology of the area. They roamed and fed on the grasslands and fynbos when water was plentiful, and delved deep into the forests when the dry seasons came.

But, with a great fire of 1869, heavy poaching and uncontrolled logging, these herds have all but died away. Today, only three elephants are known to be living wild in the area, and the have retreated deep into the forest. Many elephants now found here have escaped a culling programme, and visitors have an opportunity to learn about the conservation work and behaviours of these impressive giants. The Park’s vision is to create environmental awareness amongst visitors and to unlock employment opportunities for local people. Entrance fees to the Park help promote awareness of the plight of the elephants, and, by highlighting their plight, to show the world why conservation of natural resources is vitally important to our survival.