Making a Difference – South Africa
September 6-20, 2008
February 14-28, 2009
October 3-17, 2009
We offer an authentic experience of the new and real South Africa.
Our customers give rave reviews about their experiences on this trip:
"It was the most amazing travel experience - an eye opening two week tour. We met with South African people from all walks of life and saw how they lived on a day to day basis. Accompanied by knowledgeable and professional local guides we traversed from Johannesburg to Cape Town. We toured numerous townships, met with Zulus in their homes, visited with kids in orphanages, climbed the beautiful mountains of the Drakensberg, and learned about Apartheid from varying perspectives and saw the impact it still has on life today - all the while being surrounded by diverse and breathtaking scenery and landscapes. I truly commend The Cultural Explorer - everything from the accommodations, transportation, local guides, food, itinerary, and logistics was top notch. A once in a lifetime experience."
Maxine W., Vancouver,Canada, September 2007
"I feel like I've lived a lifetime in the past 2 weeks. I have experienced new situations that stretched me, opened my eyes, made me evaluate how I live my life, and my impact on the world. I fell in love with the country, the nature, the people."
Renee K., VA, May 2008
Here is a glimpse of what you can expect:
Visit rural schools and develop plans to help with computer work stations or the library. Tutor students in English. Visit local orphanages and learn how you can help AIDS orphans. Come up with a plan to get electricity to Zulu villages. Take a group of township kids on a field trip to the ocean or Robben Island. Observe animal rescue. Experience life in the townships; see what it is like to live without electricity or running water. Visit projects active in helping women develop much-needed work skills. Give developing entrepreneurs business or marketing advice and suggestions.
You can change the lives and the future of the people you meet.
Two weeks in South Africa.
We limit the travelers on our trips to 14.
• Township excursions and lunch with the locals
• Interact with children at an orphanage
• Visit an AIDS research clinic
• Visit with Zulu people in the Drakensberg area
• Help disadvantaged schools
• Tour facilities and projects of international organizations “making a difference”
• Meet with women entrepreneurs in Cape Town
• Meet our favorite Sangoma (a traditional healer) in the Knysna township
• Spend time with apartheid writers and reporters
• Meet with local artists and activists
• Stand in Nelson Mandela’s old prison cell
_________
• Ride among rhino, zebra and giraffe on horseback
• Touch the mystical Knysna Elephants
• Swim under a thundering waterfall
• Sip a fabulous wine & picnic in Stellenbosch
• Sit quietly on the beach
• Laugh at the Simon’s Town penguins
• Spot a whale or two
• Watch dolphins play from your window.
• Indulge at the spa
• Find fabulous and unique gifts while shopping
THIS IS A GENERAL SAMPLE ITINERARY:
For our Making a Difference trips - South Africa
Sunday: Johannesburg. You will be met by our representative at the airport in Jo'burg and transfered to your Afri-chic hotel. After a rest we will meet up for dinner at Moyo in the Melrose Arch district - where a feast of the senses awaits you -- food, music and art. Welcome to South Africa!
Monday: Soweto. We will spend one full day in the black township of Soweto with our guide, Patrick, who grew up there and now lives in Alexandra. An engaging entrepreneur, Patrick is part of the BEE in South Africa: Black Economic Empowerment program, a government-sponsored program to help “historically disadvantaged” black people start and develop their own businesses.
With a population more than 2 million, Soweto is the biggest black urban settlement in Africa with a rich political history. Soweto was the center of political campaigns aimed at the overthrow of the apartheid state. Patrick is plugged in to what is going on in the townships and may offer you some surprise suggestions and unique side trips.
We will enjoy lunch at Wandie’s, a famous local restaurant, with some of the residents in the township. We will visit Nelson and Winnie Mandela’s former home, now a small museum complete with bullet holes in the walls; drive by Bishop Desmond Tutu’s compound; and check out Winnie’s big new house. In the afternoon we most likely will visit a local shebeen (bar), and make a couple of brief stops at the open markets. Then it is back to the hotel for a little rest before dinner.
That evening we will enjoy dinner near Sandton, a posh area of Johannesburg. We have invited some local business people to join us for dinner – this will give you an opportunity to meet some South African professionals. This will be a day of contrasts.
Tuesday: Get ready for a history lesson. Before we head out for the Drakensberg mountains we will visit the Apartheid Museum and Constitution Hill.
Later in the day we will leisurely drive through the South African countryside to the majestic Drakensberg Mountains. We will stay in one of the fine resort hotels with a swimming pool (so pack your suit) and magnificent views of the mountains. You will love the grand buffet dinners – all kinds of local delicacies to sample, like Kingklip and bobotie.
Wednesday & Thursday: We will spend two full days exploring the Drakensberg, a world heritage site. We will see at least some (but not all) of the 20,000 Bushman rock paintings in the area.
We will spend some time with the Zulu tribes on their beautiful, lush land. We have arranged a visit with two Zulu families who will share their culture with us.
One is an inspiring granny who takes in abandoned children.
There will be an opportunity to visit some of the schools in the area and talk with teachers and students. We might want to take in books and school supplies.
Or we might want to look at how we can help them acquire computers and computer work stations. Many of these schools are in bad shape - broken windows, ancient desks, poor libraries.
We also visit an award-winning ceramic studio that was set up to encourage untrained black women to become skilled in the art of making pottery. There are now more than 40 artists including a number of men. Their beautiful work has been sold all over the world so bring your credit card – they ship. We will also stop at a popular rug factory.
The more adventurous of you might want to take an optional helicopter ride into the “dragon back” mountains or hike to the Blue Grotto and go skinny-dipping. An optional horseback-riding safari where you can actually ride among giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, and rhino is also available. Because you are on horseback, the animals assume you are one of them.
Friday: Leaving the Drakensberg, we will drive through part of the Kingdom of Lesotho and end up in the little town of Lady Brand, where we will stay at a quaint B&B. We will have dinner at wonderful local restaurant where you can sample ostrich and other local foods. There will also be an opportunity to meet with some of the residents of Lady Brand and surrounding area. They can’t wait to tell you what life is like in the middle of South Africa.
Saturday: Buckle up for the Karoo. We have one day of driving – right across the Great Karoo as we make our way towards the coast and the magnificent Garden Route. The Karoo is desolate, wild, and dotted with strange little “outback” towns. If we have time, we will stop at the Cango Caves to see the unusual stone formations. There is also a fun place along the way to stop for coffee or tea, owned by a doctor’s wife, where they sell local art and crafts.
We will spend the night in Graff-Rienett, the oldest town in the Eastern Cape. In the morning hours. you will have time to check out the town’s beautifully restored buildings or take a walk in the Valley of Desolation before we head out again for the Garden Route.
Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday: The Garden Route. We will spend almost three days exploring this upscale coastal area. During the day we will visit the coastal towns of Plettenberg Bay, Wilderness, and Knysna. We will spend one morning in the township above Kynsna, where you will meet an inspiring sangoma, a traditional medicine woman, who proves that one person can make a difference. You can spend time with the children in her day care center or chat with her about her healing methods. Here the drive from poverty to riches is only a mile or two down the hill.
After sampling the local seafood, we will take a ferry ride to The Knysna Head and visit the Featherbed Nature Reserve. This is a beautiful and relaxing trip, and you get in some exercise on the walk back.
We will also take a side trip to “play” with the mystic Knysna elephants – you will get to see these giant creatures up close. We will either stay at Dolphin Dunes
B&B in Wilderness or at Parkes Manor Hotel in Knysna.
Wednesday: We set off for Cape Town early in the morning, stopping at Swellendam for a quick light lunch and maybe a little roadside jazz. In the afternoon, if we have time and there is group interest, we will stop in Stellenbosh, the wine region, for a leisurely dinner and a chance to sample some superb South African wine. Only 45 minutes from Cape Town, this is the area’s most well-known wine region and is home to a variety of cellars producing some of the country's most acclaimed wines.
Thursday, Friday, Saturday: In Cape Town we will stay in a lovely hotel with sea-views not too far from the famous Victoria and Alfred Waterfront – an area with fabulous shopping and many restaurants.
Thursday morning we will take the ferry out to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for nearly 27 years. You can actually stand in his old prison cell. Robben Island is a major part of South African history, and the trip to the prison will both shock and enlighten you. Some of the guides are actually former prisoners. We also plan to visit the thought-provoking District Six Museum.
We will stop in Langa, one of two townships in Cape Town. You can see what the hopeful people of Langa are doing to improve life in their township and you also can buy arts and crafts at the Women’s Empowerment Center. You can spend the afternoon volunteering at one of the orphanages. Here you can read or interact with the children. Plus we are trying to arrange a special field trip for them. More specifics on this when you sign up.
Want a township immersion adventure? You can actually stay overnight in a B&B in Langa run by a very feisty grandmother. She and the aunties will cook you a traditional South African dinner and take you on a sunset walk of the township. There is also another interesting B&B in the township. Vicky’s B&B is very small, but you will know what life is really like in the townships after a night there. This overnight township experience is not for everyone; the accommodations are very basic – so know it is just an option.
There will be opportunities available to visit a couple of interesting projects, including the Streetwires - wire art studio, and the Philani Weaving studio in Khaylelitsha. Started in 2000 with two artists and two marketing coordinators, Streetwires provides the skills training and support necessary to enable over 120 formerly unemployed men and women to channel their creative energies into this vibrant art form. If we have the time, we also will look in on the projects of a global women’s fund and a San Francisco-based group’s initiative to help South African farmers.
It is important to understand the AIDS epidemic and its impact on the peoples of South Africa. In Cape Town we will visit an AIDS research center where you will be briefed on the ongoing efforts by various local and international organizations.
Friday: On our way to explore Cape Point Nature Reserve and the Cape of Good Hope (the “almost” southern tip of Africa), we will stop in the False Bay, area where there are all kinds of sea creatures. You will be amused by the African “jackass” penguins in Simon’s Town and may be lucky enough to spot a whale or two cavorting in the bay. False Bay is also home to many great white sharks. Friday afternoon and evening are free for personal excursions, shopping and exploring.
Saturday: If the weather is clear, we will take the tram, or you can hike, to the top of photo -perfect Table Mountain, the flat top mountain that dominates the city. We will enjoy high tea at Cape Town’s most famous hotel, the Mount Nelson Hotel, before those leaving will head to the airport for flights back to the US.
Sunday (optional): Those leaving on Sunday will enjoy the great jazz brunch in the courtyard at the Winchester Mansion. The hotel and the jazz brunch were recently written up in Vanity Fair.
What it costs:
$4,700 includes hotel accommodations, airport/hotel transfers, all ground transportation including ferry rides, all breakfasts and lunches, fees for professional local guides, entrance fees to all major museums and attractions.
Not included: International airfare, all dinners except in the Drakensberg resort (those are included in room costs), alcoholic beverages and tips for the local guides. Special optional tours not included: horseback safari, game park excursions, helicopter tours, as well as taxis and transportation for personal shopping or sightseeing excursions apart from the main group activities.
We also offer Custom Tours for special groups including universities,
organizations, associations and special interest clubs.
And we offer Independent Tour Services for those who can't join our tours
but want to take advantage of our trusted guides and contacts. Let us design
a safe and memorable trip tailored to your interests.
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
* The price includes: includes hotel accommodations, airport/hotel transfers, all ground transportation including ferry rides, all breakfasts and lunches, fees for professional local guides (except tips), entrance fees to all major museums and attractions.
* International airfare, all dinners except in the Drakensberg resort (those are included in room costs), alcoholic beverages and tips for the local guides. Special optional tours not included: horseback safari, diving with the great white sharks, helicopter tours, as well as taxis and transportation for personal shopping or sightseeing excursions apart from the main group activities.
Also see tour packages in:
Africa
South Africa
Cultural Journey
Women Tours
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