On arrival at Cape Town International Airport, after clearing immigration and collecting your luggage, your private representative meets you in the arrivals hall and escorts you to your waiting vehicle for the transfer through to Franschhoek. The route runs east on the N1 through the northern winelands toward Paarl, before turning onto the R45 and into the Franschhoek Valley, with the mountains closing in as you near the village. The drive takes around an hour to an hour and a quarter, traffic depending.

Your home for the next two nights is Chapter House Boutique Hotel, set a street back from the main road in the centre of Franschhoek. The property is part of The Living Journey Collection and is steeped in the history of the building, which was put up as a mission house in 1888 and served as the village school right up until 1974. A recent renovation restored much of the original detail, and the connection to the church next door is still present, down to the bell that chimes in the yard on occasion.

The hotel is made up of two parts that work together as one. The original main house carries the age and character of the building, with rooms that are individually styled and in keeping with its history. A newer annex sits alongside it in a quieter, contemporary register. Across the two there are nine rooms in three categories, several with their own private touches, including one with a private deck and another with its own plunge pool.

The public areas were given close attention through the renovation, with bespoke pieces from local artists and handpicked furniture throughout. The main lounge has high ceilings and an original fireplace. Reception leads to a bar and terrace on one side, looking over the pool, and to a panelled breakfast room on the other, which opens onto the original veranda and a garden of roses, lavender, and indigenous trees set against the Franschhoek mountains. Each afternoon a freshly baked cake is set out in the dining room, best taken back to your room as the light comes off the mountains.

Breakfast is served each morning until late, with an all-day dining menu through the rest of the day and a bar and coffee station open around the clock. A twenty-four hour concierge and in-room spa service round out the stay, and the team will help with restaurant bookings, wine estate visits, and anything else you need across your time in the valley.

The location is a short walk from the village centre. The main street, with its galleries, shops, cafés, and restaurants, is a few minutes from the front door, several of the country’s best-known restaurants are within walking distance, and the in-town tasting rooms of a number of Franschhoek estates are close by. For trips out, the wine farms of the surrounding valley are all within a short drive of the property.

Today is yours to spend at your own pace in Franschhoek. The day is built to be flexible: rest at the property, see a few sights in the village, or get out into the vineyards on the Wine Tram if you have the appetite for it.

The simplest version is to stay on at Chapter House. The property has a pool, a garden of roses, lavender, and indigenous trees set against the mountains, and a high-ceilinged lounge with an original fireplace, and the team can arrange an in-room spa treatment or set up tea on the veranda. Each afternoon a freshly baked cake is set out in the dining room. Breakfast runs through to late morning if you want a slow start, with an all-day menu and a coffee station open through the day.

The village is a short walk from the front door, and an unhurried circuit of the main street covers the galleries, boutiques, and lifestyle shops, with several good coffee stops along the way. The Huguenot Memorial Museum sits at the head of the street and gives the historical context for the village and the French refugees who settled the valley from 1688. The Huguenot Monument next door is worth a brief stop, and the Franschhoek Motor Museum at L’Ormarins (a short drive out of the village) is a fuller half-day visit if cars are of interest.

If you would rather get out into the vineyards, the Franschhoek Wine Tram is the easy way to do it. The hop-on, hop-off route runs as several colour-coded lines that each take in six to eight estates over the course of a day, with a mix of vintage open tram and tractor sections between stops. Tastings are at your own cost at each estate, and the structure means you can ride the whole loop or jump off for a longer lunch at an estate that catches your eye. Tickets need to be booked in advance and the lines do sell out, so the front desk will help with the booking and recommend the line that best fits your interests, whether you are leaning toward Cap Classique, big reds, or estates with strong restaurants.

In the late afternoon, the village restaurants come alive, and the team will help with a dinner booking nearby if you would like one.

This morning your private guide collects you from your hotel for a full day exploring the Cape Winelands as you transfer from Franschhoek back to Cape Town, with stops at three different estates and time on foot in Stellenbosch along the way.

The day begins close to home at Haute Cabrière, on the slopes of the Franschhoek Pass a short drive above the village. The estate was founded in 1985 by Achim von Arnim and the cellar is built directly into the mountainside, with the tasting room and restaurant looking out across the valley. Haute Cabrière is best known for its Pierre Jourdan range of Cap Classique sparkling wines, made in the traditional Champagne method, alongside the still Chardonnay and Pinot Noir the property has built its reputation on. A relaxed tasting introduces both sides of the range.

From Franschhoek, the route climbs over the Helshoogte Pass, one of the more scenic links between the two valleys, with vineyards giving way to mountain fynbos as you cross the ridge and drop down toward Stellenbosch. On the Stellenbosch side, the road leads to Simonsig in the Koelenhof area north of the town. Simonsig has been in the Malan family for several generations and holds a particular place in South African wine history: Frans Malan made the country’s first Cap Classique here in 1971, the Kaapse Vonkel, and the estate has continued as one of the country’s leading sparkling wine producers since. The tasting takes in the Kaapse Vonkel range alongside the still wines, with the Cape Dutch buildings and vineyard views as the setting.

The next stop is Stellenbosch itself, one of the oldest towns in South Africa and the historical centre of the country’s wine industry. Your guide leads a walk through the oak-lined streets of the old town, where Cape Dutch, Georgian, and Victorian buildings sit alongside the boutiques, galleries, cafés, and university buildings that give the town its lived-in feel.

Lunch is booked at the Postcard Café at Stark-Condé in the Jonkershoek Valley, a short drive east of the town. The café sits at the edge of a dam, with the tasting room on a small island in the middle of the water and the Jonkershoek mountains rising behind. The kitchen serves a seasonal menu of soups, salads, small plates, and a few mains.

In the afternoon, you continue to Babylonstoren in the Simondium area between Paarl and Franschhoek. The eight-acre formal garden at the centre of the farm is what draws most visitors. It is inspired by the historic Company’s Garden in Cape Town and laid out with fruits, vegetables, herbs, citrus, and indigenous plants, all grown for the kitchens and farm shops on the property. A walk through the garden takes about an hour, with the surrounding vineyards and the Drakenstein mountains in view throughout.

From Babylonstoren, the drive back to Cape Town takes around an hour, and you arrive at Derwent House in Tamboerskloof around 17:00 for the next three nights. The hotel sits on a quiet residential street in the City Bowl, close under Table Mountain and a short walk from Kloof Street. The building keeps a pale grey Cape Victorian face to the street, while the rear opens into a more contemporary space, with a double-height loggia, two garden wings of rooms, and a wooden-decked pool that looks up to the mountain. Inside, the open-plan lounge runs to high windows, leather seating, sandstone floors, and South African art on the walls, including prints of Mandela’s Robben Island sketches. There are ten individually styled rooms in the main house, with en-suite bathrooms, air conditioning, and complimentary wifi, several with balconies or a private deck, and a separate self-catering apartment next door. Breakfast is a buffet alongside a cooked-to-order menu, taken in the dining room, on the veranda, or under the citrus trees by the pool, and an honesty bar and evening coffee and cake round out the day. The team is hands-on and well-informed, and Kloof Street is around the corner, with the V&A Waterfront, the city centre, the Table Mountain cable car, and Camps Bay all short drives away.

Your private guide meets you at Blackheath Lodge after breakfast for a full day exploring Cape Town, weaving the city’s geography, history, and present-day character through a single route on foot and by vehicle.

The first stop is the foot of Table Mountain, the city’s defining landmark and one of the oldest mountains on the planet. With cable car tickets booked in advance, you board the rotating car for the five-minute ride to the summit, the floor turning a full 360 degrees during the ascent so the panorama opens out from every angle. From the upper station the views run across the city bowl, the Atlantic Seaboard, Robben Island, and the mountain ranges leading north toward the Winelands. Short paved paths lead to several viewpoints around the summit plateau, and your guide will share context on the geology, the fynbos vegetation that grows only in this part of the world, and the role the mountain has played in the life of the city below.

Back at the base, the day continues into the city centre. You follow Adderley Street past a mix of colonial-era buildings and later architecture, with the Slave Lodge Museum near the top of the street. Built in 1679, the Slave Lodge is one of the oldest buildings in Cape Town and now houses a museum covering slavery at the Cape and its legacy. From here, your guide leads you through St George’s Mall, the pedestrianised spine of the city, to Grand Parade. It was from the balcony of the adjoining City Hall that Nelson Mandela delivered his first public address after his release from Victor Verster Prison in February 1990, and the square in front still hosts markets and gatherings as it has done for centuries.

From the city centre, the route climbs the lower slopes of Signal Hill to the Bo-Kaap, the historic neighbourhood known for its brightly painted houses, cobbled streets, and deep Cape Malay heritage. The community traces its roots to the Malay slaves and political exiles brought to the Cape by the Dutch East India Company in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and the area remains an important cultural and religious centre today. A stop at Atlas Trading, the neighbourhood’s long-standing spice shop, is part of the visit. The shelves run floor to ceiling with spices and blends drawn from Africa, India, and the Middle East, and the smell of the place is half the experience.

The day finishes at the V&A Waterfront, the working harbour that has been redeveloped over the past few decades into one of the city’s main gathering places. The Watershed is worth a stop on the way in. The market sits in a converted warehouse on the harbour edge, with stalls focused on South African design, art, and craft, and jewellery, textiles, ceramics, and homeware from producers across the country. From there, the rest of the afternoon is free to explore the Waterfront at your own pace, whether that means lunch at one of the restaurants along the harbour, a drink with Table Mountain in the background, or simply wandering through the shops and galleries.

Your guide returns you to Derwent House Boutique Hotel in the late afternoon, or, if you would rather extend the day on your own, the walk back along the Sea Point Promenade takes around forty minutes.

This morning, your private guide collects you from Blackheath Lodge after breakfast for a full day exploring the Cape Peninsula, often cited as one of the most scenic coastal drives in the world. The route from Sea Point cuts south across the city and over to the False Bay coastline in roughly thirty to forty minutes, where the day begins in earnest.

Your first stop is Muizenberg, with its row of colourful beach huts and long sandy shoreline often dotted with surfers in the morning light. From here, the road follows the False Bay coast through Kalk Bay, a characterful fishing village with a working harbour, independent shops, and a handful of seaside cafés, before arriving at Boulders Beach near Simon’s Town. Boulders is home to a protected colony of African penguins, and elevated boardwalks allow close but respectful viewing of the birds as they nest among sheltered coves and granite boulders. The area is managed by SANParks and an entry fee applies.

From Boulders, the road continues south into the Cape of Good Hope section of Table Mountain National Park. The landscape grows wilder as you move into the reserve, with fynbos-covered hills rolling toward the sea cliffs at the southern tip of the Peninsula. At Cape Point itself, you can walk up to the historic lighthouse for panoramic views, or take the Flying Dutchman funicular for most of the climb. A short drive away, the viewpoint at the Cape of Good Hope marks the south-western-most point of the African continent.

Leaving the reserve, you head north through Scarborough and Kommetjie before joining Chapman’s Peak Drive, the cliff-hugging toll road carved into the mountainside between Noordhoek and Hout Bay. The route runs nine kilometres with 114 curves, rising high above the Atlantic with several pullouts for photographs along the way. The afternoon light along this stretch is some of the best of the day.

From Hout Bay, the road continues along the Atlantic Seaboard, passing the sheltered coves and granite outcrops of Clifton and the beachfront suburb of Camps Bay, framed by the long ridgeline of the Twelve Apostles. This is a good section for a late-afternoon stop with a drink looking out over the ocean before the short drive back into Sea Point.

Your guide returns you to Derwent House Boutique Hotel in the early evening.

Your last morning in Cape Town is unhurried. Breakfast at Derwent House is a buffet alongside a cooked-to-order menu, taken in the dining room, on the veranda, or under the citrus trees by the pool, with Table Mountain above you. There is time for a slow start before the day’s travel begins.

After breakfast, a driver meets you at the hotel for the transfer to Cape Town International Airport, around twenty-five minutes away. From here you board your scheduled flight to Maun in Botswana (flight cost not included). On arrival in Maun you are met and assisted through the formalities, then connect to a light aircraft for the flight into Moremi. The descent gives you your first sight of the Okavango, with winding channels, floodplains, and scattered game below as you come down toward the airstrip.

At the Xakanaxa airstrip your guide is waiting to meet you. A short transfer by open vehicle runs through mopane woodland and floodplain on the way to camp, with elephant, giraffe, and antelope often seen along the track. The drive works as a first game activity and sets the tone for the three nights ahead.

Xakanaxa Camp is one of Botswana’s original safari camps, set on the banks of the Xakanaxa Lagoon in the central part of the Moremi Game Reserve. The permanent water of the lagoon is what sets the location apart, as it is one of the few camps in the Delta able to run both land and water activities through the year. Ancient riverine trees shade the camp and give it a sense of seclusion.

The twelve tents are Meru-style canvas, raised on wooden decks and spaced along the fringe of the lagoon. Each has an en-suite bathroom with a shower, hand basin, and toilet, and a private veranda with loungers that looks out over the water or the bush. There is no air conditioning. The double canvas roofs are cooled by a fine sprinkler system, with a fan for the warmer months.

The interiors keep to the classic tented style, with wooden furniture, woven rugs, and crisp white linen. The feel is simple and unfussy rather than designed, in keeping with the age and character of the camp.

The central area is built of timber, reed, and thatch, raised on platforms that extend over the lagoon. There is a lounge with deep seating, a library, a help-yourself bar, and an open-sided dining space. A sundeck and plunge pool look over the water, and a fire-deck becomes the gathering point after dark. A jetty at the camp’s edge is the departure point for the boats.

Game Drives
Morning and afternoon game drives run in open 4×4 vehicles through the Moremi Game Reserve, one of the most productive wildlife areas in Botswana. The reserve holds large herds of elephant and buffalo alongside lion, leopard, cheetah, and wild dog. The guides know the ground well and read the movement of the game across the day. Drives cross a range of habitats, from floodplain and grassland to lagoon edge and woodland, so each outing covers different country. Note that night drives are not permitted within the Moremi Game Reserve.

Water Safaris
The lagoon and its channels make Xakanaxa one of the few camps in Moremi able to offer boating year-round. From the jetty, motorboats run out along channels lined with papyrus and reed, a quiet counterpoint to the game drives. Crocodiles lie on the banks, hippo wallow in the deeper pools, and the birdlife is strong, with malachite kingfisher, pygmy goose, and African fish eagle among the regular sightings. A sunset cruise to the heronries on the nearby islands is worth asking for in the breeding season.

Time between activities is slow. You might sit out on your deck with binoculars, swim, or listen to the fish eagles overhead. Breakfast is often taken before the morning drive, lunch in the shade through the middle of the day, and dinner in the dining area or out on the deck under lantern light. The evening ends at the fire, with the sounds of the Delta around you, hippo close by and lion carrying from further off.

Your last morning at Xakanaxa starts early, with a final activity before you leave the Delta. You can take a last game drive into Moremi or head out on the water by boat, depending on what you would rather end on. Back in camp, breakfast is unhurried before the short transfer to the airstrip.

From Xakanaxa you fly by light aircraft to the Savute airstrip in Chobe National Park. On arrival you are met and transferred to Savute Safari Lodge for the next three nights. The flight crosses from the permanent water of the Delta to the drier country of Savute, and the change in landscape is clear from the air.

Savute Safari Lodge sits on the edge of the Savute Channel, in the Savuti region of Chobe. The lodge was rebuilt from the ground up and reopened in 2024, with the new design built around the view of the channel and the waterhole in front of camp. It is run by Desert & Delta Safaris, who have held this site for more than twenty-five years.

There are twelve chalets, built of timber, thatch, and canvas, each raised to take in the channel. Glass sliding doors open onto a private deck that looks out over the water and the bush beyond. The interiors keep to calm, neutral tones drawn from the surrounding country.

Each chalet runs as an open-plan bedroom and lounge, with an en-suite bathroom and, new to the rebuild, a private outdoor shower. The feel is contemporary but unfussy, in keeping with the setting.

The main building holds a lounge, a library, and a bar, with al fresco dining and a swimming pool looking over the channel. The centre of the design is an elevated deck with a fireplace that leads down to a sunken hide at the waterhole, where you sit at eye level with the game that comes to drink. The waterhole has featured in wildlife films including Planet Earth and Savage Kingdom, and elephant and other game are often in view directly from camp.

Game Drives
Game drives in open 4×4 vehicles are the core of the Savute experience. The Savute Marsh and the surrounding plains carry strong concentrations of game, with large herds of elephant and buffalo alongside lion, leopard, and hyena. Drives also run to the Gubatsa Hills, a low rocky outcrop in otherwise flat country, where San rock paintings have survived for centuries. Savute sits on the route of the second largest zebra migration in Africa, which moves through with the rains, usually November to December and again February to April. Night drives are not permitted within the national park.

Between drives the pace is slow. You can watch the waterhole from the deck or the hide, swim through the heat of the day, or sit out at the fire as the light goes. Meals are taken in the open air where the weather allows, and the evening is the time to go back over the day’s sightings under a clear Botswana sky.

Your last morning at Savute starts early, with a final game drive before you move on. The cool of first light is the best time for predators, and the Savute Marsh and surrounding plains often produce lion on the move, a leopard working the edge of the bush, or wild dog on an early hunt. Elephant gather at the waterholes through the morning, and the open country makes for long, clear sightings.

Back at the lodge, breakfast is set out on the deck with the waterhole in view as you eat. After breakfast there is time to settle up and say goodbye to the staff before the short transfer to the Savute airstrip.

From Savute you fly by light aircraft to Nxamaseri, in the far north of the Delta. The route runs from the dry country of Chobe out over the channels and floodplains of the Okavango, and the water spreads out below you as you near the Panhandle.

Nxamaseri Island Lodge sits on a wooded island in the Okavango Panhandle, the deep permanent water at the top of the Delta where the channels run wide and river-like. It is one of the oldest lodges in this part of Botswana and was rebuilt in 2024 as a quieter, retreat-style camp. Like Savute, it is run by Desert & Delta.

This is a water and birding destination rather than a big-game one. There are no game drives here. You will see hippo and crocodile, and elephant pass through, but the draw is the waterways, the fishing, the birdlife, and the culture of the Panhandle. It works best as a slower counterpoint to the game-viewing camps earlier in the trip.

The lodge is spread across the island under a canopy of jackalberry and riverine forest, with the chalets set apart from one another for privacy and linked to the main area by raised wooden walkways. The forest keeps the rooms shaded and cool through the heat of the day.

There are nine chalets, built of timber, thatch, and canvas and raised on platforms at the water’s edge. Each has an en-suite bathroom and a private deck that looks out over the channel and the forest.

The interiors are simple and unfussy, with local artwork and handmade pieces in keeping with the setting. The rebuild added an over-water spa, and each guest is offered one complimentary treatment during the stay.

The main area is open on three sides and built around the trees, with a lounge, indoor and outdoor dining, and a bar. A fire pit and a swimming pool look over the water, and a jetty at the island’s edge is where the boats set off.

Mokoro and Boat Safaris
The waterways are explored by motorboat and by mokoro, the traditional dug-out canoe poled from the stern. The boat covers more ground along the main channels, while the mokoro moves slowly and quietly through the shallower reed beds, close to the water and the birdlife. Both are led by guides who grew up on these channels. A boat cruise toward sunset is the usual way to close the day.

Fishing
Nxamaseri was founded as a fishing lodge, and fly-fishing for tiger fish was pioneered here. The fishing runs through much of the year on a catch-and-release basis, with tiger fish, bream, and barbel the main species. The barbel run, when catfish move up the Panhandle to feed and the tiger fish follow, falls around September to November. Basic spinning tackle is available at the lodge; bring your own gear if you fly-fish.

Birding
The Panhandle is one of the strongest birding areas in Botswana, with over three hundred species recorded around the lodge. Among them are Pel’s fishing owl, African skimmer, slaty egret, wattled crane, and, on migration, carmine bee-eaters. Birding is good from the water, from the walkways, and from your own deck, and a night boat trip brings a chance at the shyer nocturnal species.

Guided Walks
The islands can also be explored on foot with a guide. The walks are gentle and focused on the detail of the forest, the tracks, and the woodland birds that are harder to see from the water. It is a different pace from the boat and a good way to read the island itself.

Tsodilo Hills (Optional Extra)
A guided trip to the Tsodilo Hills is the cultural highlight of a stay here. The hills rise from flat Kalahari country a short distance from the lodge and hold more than four thousand San rock paintings, some of them very old, on a site of deep spiritual significance that is listed by UNESCO. A San guide leads the walk among the paintings. The standard visit is a guided day trip, and a scenic helicopter flight to the hills can be arranged as an optional extra for those who want the aerial route over the Panhandle.

Between activities the pace is slow. You can take a treatment at the spa, read on your deck above the water, or sit out at the fire as the light goes. Meals use fresh, local produce and are taken in the open air when the weather allows, and the evening is for going back over the day on the water under a clear northern sky.

Your last morning at Nxamaseri is unhurried. There is time for a final outing on the water if you want one, a quiet mokoro through the reeds or a last boat along the channels for the early birdlife, or you can take it slow on your deck with coffee and the sounds of the Panhandle around you. Breakfast follows back at the lodge.

After breakfast there is time to settle up and say goodbye to the staff before the short transfer to the airstrip. From here you fly by light aircraft back to Maun, the route running south over the channels and floodplains of the Delta as the permanent water gives way to drier country.

On arrival in Maun you are met and walked through to the terminal, where the team assists with check-in for your onward flight home. From there your journey out of Botswana begins, with the Delta behind you.