MARCH 5-15, 2020
We begin this tour in Cape Town, discovering this beautiful city sat below the Table Top Mountain and the nearby wineries. From Stellenbosch we will fly along the coast into the Karoo desert through the beautiful landscapes of South Africa. This will allow you to view the country, and its beauty from above for the first time. This tour is packed with activities for you and your family. Explore some of the famous wineries around Cape Town, join on guided wildlife safaris, gaze at the Augrabies Falls and visit Sneeuberg Nature Reserve in The Karoo. There is certainly something for everyone.
Cape Town, Stellenbosch and Table Mountain
This 10-day Air Safari tour starts with spending several days in the Cape Town and Stellenbosch area. We will be visiting some of the great wineries, the Cape Peninsula, Table Mountain and ending our days dining at some of the well-known restaurants in the area. From the Cape, we will then fly on to Kariega Private Game Reserve in search of the Big Five, after which we will fly to Sneeuberg Nature Reserve in The Karoo. From The Karoo, we will continue towards the Augrabies Falls. We will be stopping over at Kagga Kamma or Bushmanskloof exploring historical bushman painting sites, before returning to Cape Town. If you have an EASA or FAA pilot license, we will assist you with getting your pilot license converted to a South African pilot license. The process is straightforward and includes some paperwork, one theory exam on South African Air Law once you arrive in Cape Town, and a check ride with a local flight instructor. In addition, we will help you find a suitable aircraft to rent for this trip – meaning the whole trip will be as hassle-free as possible!
If you do not have a pilot license, you can fly along as a passenger. A professional pilot will fly you personally around on this trip in his 6-seater aircraft.
Tour Highlights
- Visiting Cape Town and its surrounding area;
- Flying through South Africa to both bush airstrips as well as tarred airfields;
- Safaris in open game drive vehicles with a qualified safari guide, and seeing some of the countries flora and fauna;
- Wine tasting guided by a South African wine specialist;
- Exquisite dining at some of the best restaurants in the Cape Town area;
- Flying along the Coast of South Africa, taking in the beautiful views from both the land and the sea;
- A balloon flight over Sneeuberg Nature Reserve, taking off directly from the lodge;
- Explore historical Bushman painting sites.
| TRIP START/END LOCATION | Meeting Point is in Cape Town, South Africa. | ||||||||||
| DEPARTURE DATE/TIME | Please arrive latest on March 5th, 2020 at 18.00 hours. | ||||||||||
| RETURN DATE/TIME | The tour ends on March 15th, 2020, after arriving back in the Cape Town area. | ||||||||||
| SELF-FLY OPTION* | Total flying distance: 1233 NM | Approximate total flying (block) time: 12:00 hours (C172), 10:00 hours (C182/C206) | Flying time check-ride with South African instructor including overland: approx. 2:00 – 2:30 hrs. All aircraft owners charge block times from off-blocks to on-blocks. | ||||||||||
| PASSENGER OPTION* | Total flying distance: 1233 NM | Approximate total flying time: 10:00 hours. There is room for a minimum of 3 passengers up to a maximum of 5 passengers that together will share the flying costs. Professional pilot and commercial operator in a 6-seater aircraft. Flying costs including a professional pilot, all landing fees, fuel and accommodation/food for the pilot: €395,00 per flying hour. The cost of 3 passengers sharing will be €145,00 p.p. per flying hour and with 5 passengers sharing €95,00 p.p. per flying hour. An arrangement can be made directly with the aircraft operator. The above-mentioned charges include VAT. | ||||||||||
| GROUP SIZE | Maximum of 4 participating aircraft and 12 participants, excluding the support aircraft and the guides coming along. | ||||||||||
| WEAR | Comfortable clothing suitable for safari and travel. Informal dinner attire for first few dinner nights in Cape Town. Good walking shoes if you want to participate in guided bush walks. Bring a hat or cap to protect against the sun. | ||||||||||
| PACKAGE TRIP | Yes, guaranteed by STO-garantiefonds (Dutch travel insurance fund). | ||||||||||
| TERMS | Our Terms & Conditions as found here are applicable to this Tour offer. | ||||||||||
| INCLUDED |
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| OPTIONAL ACTIVITIES* |
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| NOT INCLUDED |
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*Safaris, Game Drives and Guided Bush Walks are normally a part of the lodging arrangement in Africa and as such included in the price. The accommodation is offered full-board including the drinks, which include standard wines and beers but excludes exclusive champagnes, wines, and spirits. The options (optional items) are not a part of our tour offer price, nor are they a mandatory element of our tour. The options are available but have to be paid to the local operator offering the specific activity by credit card or in Rand or US$. As for aircraft rentals, we provide you with information about the aircraft owners willing to rent out their own South African registered aircraft to you, so that you can arrange a direct rental agreement with one of them. We will also provide you with the contact information of a local flight instructor that will assist you with the conversion of your EASA or FAA pilot license into a South African converted license. If you want to buy any wine at the wineries that we visit you can do so. We will, in that case, provide you with a box that can fit 12 bottles of wine, which we will ship to your home address free of charge.
Tour Documents
Day 1: Arrival in Cape Town
Note to pilots: If you are planning to fly along and need to validate your foreign pilot license into a South African license, then you could come in one day early to do the validation ahead of the tour, or you can do the license validation on day 2 (Friday) while your partner joins the wine tour.
Day 2: Cape area and Stellenbosch Wineries
Morgenster Winery
- Visit Morgenster Winery for an olive oil and wine tasting.
- Visit Waterford for wine tasting and chocolate pairing.
- Drive through the historic town of Stellenbosch.
- Lunch at Tokara Restaurant, Stellenbosch.
- Visit Thelema Mountain Vineyards for a wine tasting.
- Visit Simonsig for Cap Classique and still wine tasting.
- Dinner at The Pot Luck Club, Cape Town.
A great day of wine tasting
Musango Safari Camp
Simonsig Wines
Day 3: Cape Peninsula with Table Mountain
- Visit Groot Constantia for wine tasting.
- Drive south via Constantia, Boyes Drive, Fish Hoek, and Simonstown.
- Visit the African Penguin breeding colony at Boulders Beach.
- Visit Cape Point and ascend to the lighthouse by funicular.
- Fish lunch at Two Oceans Restaurant.
- Drive north via Scarborough, Misty Cliffs, Kommetjie, Chapmans Peak Drive, Llandudno and Camps Bay to Table Mountain.
- Ascend to the top by cable car, to take in the beautiful view of the surrounding area from Table Mountain. If you are in luck, you will see the most beautiful sunset!
- Dinner at Aubergine Restaurant.
Penguins at Boulders Beach
Day 4: Stellenbosch Wineries with Scenic Tour
- Visit Luddite Wines for wine tasting.
- Visit Bouchard Finlayson for wine tasting.
- Food and wine pairing lunch at Creation in Hermanus.
- Drive back to Cape Town via scenic Clarence Drive.
- Dinner at Lanzerac Hotel.
What would be your last bottle of wine ...
Clarence Drive
Day 5 and 6: Flight from Stellenbosch along the coast to Kariega Private Game Reserve
- Drive to the Stellenbosch Airfield.
- Flight from Stellenbosch along the coast to Mosselbaai Airfield, where we will stop to have lunch.
- Flight to Kariega Private Game Reserve.
- Afternoon safari in search of the Big 5.
- The next day will include two game drives in search of the Big 5.
Big 5 safari at Kariega Private Game Reserve
Day 7: Flight to Sneeuberg Nature Reserve, The Karoo
- Visit historical town Graaff-Reinet.
- Flight over the Valley of Desolation.
- Guided bushwalk.
- Guided mountain bike tour.
- Game drive.
- Health treatment.
- South African Braai around the fireplace.
Driving to the airstrip in The Karoo Desert
Cottage pool at Sneeuberg Nature Reserve
Day 8: Early morning Balloon flight and activities in Sneeuberg Nature Reserve
Optional: Hot-air balloon ride over the Karoo desert
If enough people are interested and weather permitting, several hot air balloons will rise from to our lodge for a sunrise hot-air balloon ride over the Karoo desert. This is a truly special experience and will allow an uninterrupted and expansive view of the beautiful countryside below. It is arguably one of the best ways to take in the miles and miles of the landscape of the Karoo Desert.
Day 9: Dundi Lodge
Departure from farm airstrip in the Karoo
The Big Hole
- Visit of the Big Hole, originally the aftermath of the hunt for diamonds, it is now a fascinating site for visitors every year.
- Lunch of your own accord.
- Flight to Dundi Lodge.
Day 10: Visit of the Augrabies Falls
- Visit of the Augrabies Waterfalls, which are over 183 feet high and truly spectacular!
Augrabies Waterfalls
Augrabies Falls National Park
Optional:
- Take a leap of faith and sign up for some river rafting
- Visit historical sites such as Riemvasmaak Hot Springs and historical site
- Visit the museum at the first ever built hydraulic power station built in South Africa
- Take a scenic flight over Augrabies Falls and the surrounding area.
The Orange River
Day 11: Flight from Dundi Lodge back to Cape Town
- Flight from Dundi to Kagga Kamma or Bushmanskloof.
- Historical Rock Art Tour.
- Last lunch together
- A flight back to Cape Town.
Bushman rock art paintings
Flight from Kagga Kamma or Bushmanskloof back to Cape Town.
Optional extension of the Tour could be a stay at Bushmanskloof Safari Lodge.
- Returning the aircraft to their owners.
- End of the 10-day self-fly adventure trip.
- Trip back home. We will be sad to see you go!
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This Air Safari Tour will be guided and supported all along.
Welmien Foster will be your first contact and manages our reservations desk. She is responsible for all the bookings. She operates from our office in Cape Town. Any questions you might have related to lodging, generic questions related to the trip, what to bring, customs, luggage or what to wear or anything else can be addressed to her. Welmien comes originally from Hoedspruit, which is situated right next to Kruger National Park, and she grew up near the bush and African wildlife – so she really is a guru on all things South Africa! She will also monitor all of our flights during the whole tour through a satellite link connecting each aircraft to our system (flight following).
Left: Welmien | Right: Sjoerd Jan & Johan
Johan Jansen van Rensburg is responsible for all the logistics around the participating aircraft. He studied at the University of Stellenbosch in the field of forestry and worked as a forester in South Africa for some years before starting his own construction company specialized in construction work in the mines. He enjoys flying his planes, has his own airstrip at his house and enjoys riding his motorbikes during enduro adventures. Johan is responsible for the availability of the aircraft, the fuel logistics en-route and will come along as one of the embedded guides on this trip to assist with any (technical) issues which might arise.
Steve will join us the first few days as a local wine specialist while we tour through the Cape and Stellenbosch area visiting some very special wineries. He had a wide and intimate knowledge of the wines of the area, accumulated over forty years of wine tasting. He also knows personally many of the winemakers and proprietors of the most important wineries. He should be able to answer all your wine orientated questions!
Sjoerd Jan ter Welle is the founder of African Flying Adventures and will come along on this tour. He enjoys flying aircraft and has been flying aircraft throughout most of the African continent and even wrote a book about his flying adventures in Africa which you can buy at Amazon if you are curious. Sjoerd Jan will take care of all the flight logistics involved such as the filing of flight plans, getting the required permits to fly through Africa and to the bush airstrips. As well as flying, he enjoys the African Wildlife, is a qualified safari field guide, makes his own wine at home and has just completely fallen in love with the African continent.
