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 |