2006CapeTown

What makes An Anir Experience visit to South
Africa different from any other tour
experience is the personal contact with living
history and the personal approach to learning
abut the culture not just sight-seeing. Our
guides and facilitators are not only experts on
South African Culture and the sites you will be
visiting but most have lived the history and
were active members of the anti-apartheid
struggle. Our Education Specialist can offer
you insight and access to people and places
not found on the average tour.

We arrive in Cape Town in the early afternoon
where we are met and transferred to our European
style accommodations in the heart of town. We will
be staying in a 3 Star hotel on a bed and breakfast
basis with a majestic Table Mountain view so close
you feel as if you can touch it. Cape Town is one of
the most beautiful cities in the world. An eclectic mix
of architectural styles, Cape Dutch, English Tutor,
brightly Coloured Muslim homes, with cobble stone
streets and cultural diversity that enhances the
cosmopolitan texture of the city.

*Day one our first full day in the city will start with
an early morning lecture on South African culture
then take us to the Iziko Cultural Museum of Cape
Town, one of the finest cultural museums in the
country. Here you will learn about and acclimate
yourself to not only the major indigenous cultures of
the area but also the topography and ocean around
it. In the afternoon we will tour the historic points of
the city; then in the evening dine at the famed Africa
Café where you will sample the food treasures of the
continent.

*Day two starts with an open forum meeting on the
history of the antiaprtheid movement. We meet with
individuals who went underground as political activist
and revolutionaries; they will openly discuss their life
under apartheid and are open to questions. That
afternoon we will visit Robben Island which is
situated 11km from Cape Town, in the middle of
Table Bay. Here Nelson Mandela was held for 18 of
his 27 years in prison, much of it under hard labor.
The island is now a museum and conservation area
and was declared a World Heritage site in 1999.
Former inmates lead the tours and there is also
wildlife viewing, with antelopes such as springbok
and bontebok, and a diverse selection of birds,
including ostriches and an African penguin colony,
Cape Fur Seals play in the cold Atlantic waters and
are food for great white sharks; who along with the
cold water and strong currents deterred prisoners
from attempting to swim to the mainland.

*Day three we experience the raw energy of this
‘rainbow nation’ in one remarkable day. We start with
a tour of the vibrant Bo-Kaap (Malay Quarter) where
bright colored boxy houses contrast with the Cape
Dutch & English style architecture of downtown.
Then on to the District Six Museum, which
dramatically documents the tragic disintegration of
this once-vibrant community by the apartheid
government. From here, we tour Langa, the oldest
apartheid housing scheme in the Western Cape and
visit the Tsoga Environmental Gardens, which are
an example of the entrepreneurship of the township
people of the new South Africa. Continue to
Guguletu, gaining invaluable insights into the
cultures and history of each township. Then sample
a slice of township life with a visit to an informal
spaza shop, a shebeen (pub) and hostels.
Contemplate this land of contrasts over lunch at a
township restaurant for aspiring young chefs and
students of the tourist industry. This tour is lead by
members of the township community.

Day four we tour the spectacular Cape Peninsula
and you will learn why Cape Town is considered one
of the most beautiful cities in the world; in addition
we visit the coastal towns of Fish Hoek, Muizenberg
and the penguin colony at Simon’s Town as well
Cape Point. The Cape Peninsula is the thin finger of
land in the south-western most corner of Africa with
the city of Cape Town at its head. As we travel south
towards Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope,
the land gets narrower until the continent ends with
nothing beyond except Antarctica. In 1578 Sir
Francis Drake described it as “The fairest cape in
the whole circumference of the globe”. The rugged
Table Mountain range meanders down the centre of
the peninsula, and long white soft sandy beaches
and little rocky coves, line the edges. The flora and
fauna is unique to the area and brightly coloured
birdlife is prolific.

Day five you are free to rest, explore the city on
your own and to shop at the oldest market location
in South Africa. Greenmarket Square has been a
market site since the late 1700’s and now is home to
a variety of African vendors from all over the
continent. And then contrast it with a visit to the very
glamorous Victoria & Alfred (V&A) Waterfront Mall;
or spend the day visiting the Kirstenbosch National
Botanical Gardens home to examples of 10% of the
world’s flora (7% is cultivated, 90% is covered by
natural fynbos and forest). Highlights include an
almond hedge planted in the 1650’s, Colonel Bird
bath and a conservatory, which displays all the floral
regions of the country. Or a hike or tram ride up to
the top of Table Mountain. The hike will allow you a
chance to inspect mountain wildflowers. The tram
ride gives you a birds-eye-view of Table Bay. Or
indulge on a full day tour visiting the Cape
Winelands consisting of several towns including
Stellenbosch, Paarl, and Franschhoek. Gracious
Cape Dutch homesteads set against a backdrop of
mountains, forests, and rolling vineyards provide an
unforgettable landscape. You will have the
opportunity to sample and purchase noble vintages,
to explore the realm of the wine maker and
experience a rich historical and architectural
tradition while you learn first-hand how this
picturesque part of South Africa produces some of
the world’s finest wines