First - this forum is greatly appreciated by me and my family. I read a 1000 times more than I will ever post.

We will be booking our trip next Friday for July of 2009. My wife and kids want to travel and tour Cape Town during 1/2 of the 12 day safari.

They know they want to see the penguins at Boulder Beach and go to the top of Table Mountain.

What other areas are a must see/do and any hotel recommendations are appreciated as well.

Also anything to avoid will help.

Mr. marshall,

welcome to this interesting site.

First, may I recommend a 14-day trip. That would give you 8 days in the bush and then six touring.

Cape Town in a nice place to tour. Table Mtn, as you mentioned is a don't miss. The wine country in the area is also very nice, but certainly more to adult tastes. The Cape Town area is a two-day sojourn at most in my opinion.

The bulk of the touring time would be best spent in the Richards Bay area of KwaZulu Natal Province. St. Lucia is breathtaking, the beaches are stunning, Shakaland will explain and show the Zulu culture in superb detail that will not bore the kids, and Umfolozi National Park is everything that Kruger is, but in my opinion better as it much more personal. Then there is Pongola Reserve in thge same area with good to great tigerfish fishing and accomm that include a very nice spa for the ladies.

If you would like contacts of area tour guides in the area of Richards Bay, as well as recommendations on places to hang your hat, let me know.

Six days in Cape Town is going to be VERY long.

And, well done sir, on taking the family.

I'd have to disagree with the above post. Whilst Zululand is a beautiful area with lots to do, it's a loooong way from the Cape and there's plenty to do and see in the Cape area. Certainly more than enough to fill a week or two. If your time is limited, the idea of going all the way to Zululand is ridiculous.

No trip to the Cape is complete without a trip to the 'Just Nuisance' memorial. - Don't know how old your kids are, but they might like to spend some time researching the Just Nuisance story on the net before they go.

You might like to contact Sunshine who posts her occasionally. He's in the tourism business in the Cape and could probably help you with a few suggestions. Alternatively, contact my friend John Ilsley at john@detra.co.za who could also help you with plenty of good ideas and a variety of budgets.

Hope that helps, and hope that Nkonka isn't offended by my comments!

D.M.,

The Cape is a stunning area but six days with kids will need some thinking. I'll assume the kids are old enough to walk, talk and generally appreciate what they see, say age 9 up???

You've two good things to do, Cape Point and the jackass penguins. Mind no one feeds the baboons, and keep an eye out that none get too close on that trip. Weather will have to be right for the Cable car to Table Mountain top. Plan to have a snack up there.

You can combine a very interesting walk on the contour path around Table Mountain with lunch or, in late afternoon, tea. Get a car to the entry point of the contour path either near the Rhodes Memorial or, for a shorter walk, further east along DeWaal Drive. Walk up to the contour path and then stroll along it for 45 minutes (?) or so, coming down into the Kirstenbosch botanical gardens with its variety of proteas, trees, flowers and superb lunch/tea as well as a great gift shop for small presents to take home. Your cab or hotel car can meet you there at some set time. (The contour path is accurately named: once you get to it it's a level walk about mid-height up Table Mountain.)

You'll want to take the kids to the Castle, a Vauban (star-shaped) fort that once protected Table Bay.

Might also go to Robben Island to see where the black (ANC and PAC) opposition/insurgents were imprisoned during apartheid. Bill it as an event for the kids to report on next school term.

Look for some horse-riding, maybe a wine estate does that in the Franschhoek area ( http://www.sa-venues.com/attractionswc/franschhoek.htm ) . Check the website for Boschendaal that also has the most extraordinary set lunches in a superb setting.

Regret that nobody is going swimming without a wet suit. That water is cold. And the Cape winter weather can be rainy and raw, unlike the dry rest of southern Africa.

Regards, Tim

A tremendous thank you to those that have taken the time to reply. I really appreciate it.

If anyone else has had good experiences in Cape Town - Please share them.

I strongly recommend the shark diving with Carcharias in Kleinbaai. It was absolutely amazing.

Carcharias’ website:

http://www.carcharias.co.za/index1.html

We got one good underwater digital picture when we went.

Cape Town is a wonderful place.

I second going to Roben Island as it was extremely emotional to me being in the cell where Mandela spent great part of his 27 years in prision. Just the fact that he was non violent then, and non violent after reacing power, the fact that he did not became corrupt and left power and governemnt after second term makes a great lesson to the kids.

Going to cape of good hope was very nice.

Dante

quote:

Six days in Cape Town is going to be VERY long.

I respectifully but definitely disagree...theres the city and then the surrounding areas north and east...you can EASILY stay busy for 6 days!

Cheers

I´d recommend using Leslie Cox of Amber Tours while you stay in CT. She is a marvellous guide and can also give you a tour of the wine country you´ll never forget. She was recommended to us by someone on AR (slips my mind who). Her prices are very fair. Have a nice trip.

the treetop tour thing my daughter had fun with while she was going to school there

I personally think six days is too long with the kids. Four or five days is good. When I visited the Cape area my guide was a local friend whom I've known for years. He took me everywhere he thought was or interest within a 150 Km radius. Beautiful place but again IMO 4-5 days will do it. Some of the places we visited.
1. tip of the Cape, Hermanos (spelling?), coastal drive.
2. Table top mt.
3. Wine country.
4. Downtown CT
5. Golf, many nice courses.
6. Did a beatiful 5 mile hike up a mt. ridge on overlooking the ocean by Hermanos.

We did all of this in a non hurried manner in 4 days.