Email a friend about VBT Bicycling Vacations. VBT   614 Monkton Road, Bristol, Vermont 05443-0711 1-800-245-3868 Mon-Fri 8:30 am to 5:30 pm EST Visit our Web site at www.vbt.com.

South Africa: The Garden Route 2008 - Detailed Itinerary

t

Day 1 of PRE-TRIP EXTENSION Depart US/Fly overnight to Johannesburg, South Africa

Depart from the U.S. for South Africa. The particulars of your arrival overseas are detailed with your flight itinerary and airline tickets. Please note: YOU MUST HAVE A BLANK PAGE IN YOUR PASSPORT FOR EACH COUNTRY YOU WILL VISIT.

Day 2 of PRE-TRIP EXTENSION Arrive in Johannesburg/Rest at Johannesburg airport-area hotel

Upon your arrival at O.R. Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, a VBT representative meets you and helps you transfer to your nearby hotel. Check in and relax.

Hotel: Garden Court Airport Hotel

Day 3 of PRE-TRIP EXTENSION Fly into Kruger Park/Begin safari

After breakfast, you will again be met by a VBT representative for your transfer back to the airport. Once there, catch your one-hour flight to Kruger Mpumalanga Airport. On arrival, transfer by van to the lodge (approximately 2 hours). Check-in and relax in your comfortable accommodations. Mid afternoon, enjoy a traditional high tea and then head out on your first safari drive, accompanied by a ranger and a tracker. Opt for a drink at sundown, followed by dinner back at the lodge. This is an independent extension — there is no Trip Leader. VBT provides you with a destination information booklet, which includes information and recommendations on the many activities available to you during your stay at Kruger Park. The lodge maintains a full staff including professional safari guides, all of whom are at your service during your stay.

Meals: B, High tea, D  Hotel: Rhino Post Safari Lodge

Day 4 of PRE-TRIP EXTENSION On safari, Kruger Park

Enjoy the day game-viewing. The lodge offers an early morning and later afternoon game drive, which may extend into a night drive. You have some time at leisure to relax. Brunch, high tea and dinner are at the lodge today.

Meals: Brunch, High Tea, D  Hotel: Rhino Post Safari Lodge

Day 1 of AIR PACKAGE Depart US/Fly overnight to Cape Town, South Africa

Depart from the U.S. for Cape Town. The particulars of your arrival overseas are detailed with your flight itinerary and airline tickets. YOU MUST HAVE A BLANK PAGE IN YOUR PASSPORT FOR EACH COUNTRY YOU WILL VISIT.

Day 1 of BIKE TOUR Arrive in Cape Town, South Africa/Transfer to hotel

VBT No-Air Package Guests: A hotel room is provided for you this evening. Please transfer on your own to the Winchester Mansions hotel. Please refer to the final page of this handbook for your hotel address and phone number. Spend the evening at your leisure; you will meet your trip leaders in the morning. VBT Air Package guests: Upon arrival in South Africa at the Johannesburg airport, you claim your luggage, then clear customs. VBT's local representative meets you outside the customs area in the international arrivals terminal (please utilize the carts for transporting your luggage), and directs you to the adjacent domestic terminal. Here, you need to check in with your luggage for your continuing flight to Cape Town. Upon arrival in Cape Town, VBT's local representative meets you outside the luggage claim area for your transfer by minibus (travel time 30 minutes) to your hotel in Cape Town, where you begin your trip. VBT Pre-Trip Extension guests: This morning, you may opt for either one last game drive with a boxed breakfast, or to skip the game drive and enjoy a relaxed brunch. If you choose to participate in the game drive, please ensure that your luggage is packed prior to the game drive so that it may be packed in the vehicle and ready for your airport transfer upon your return from the game drive. You will depart from the lodge mid- morning for the transfer overland to Kruger Mpumalanga Airport for an early afternoon flight to Cape Town. On arrival in Cape Town, a VBT representative meets you and helps you transfer to your hotel. The remainder of the day is yours to enjoy as you wish. All other guests joining the bike trip from the U.S. arrive in Cape Town this evening.

Hotel: Winchester Mansions, Cape Town

Day 2 of BIKE TOUR Meet Trip Leaders/Cycle in wine lands/Wine-tasting lunch at wine estate/Welcome reception

All guests: Meet your VBT Trip Leaders, who will be wearing VBT staff garments, at the hotel in Cape Town at 8 a.m. After breakfast, transfer (60 minutes) to Stellenbosch, the second-oldest town in South Africa and home to the oldest Wine Route in the Cape. After a bike-fitting session, admire the Cape Dutch architecture while you take in the scenery from your bicycle seat. The ride takes us into the Jonkershoek valley, which ranks among the most beautiful in the Cape. Eat a tasty picnic lunch, accompanied by local wines, on one of the many wine estates. The group enjoys a reception and dinner tonight in a Cape Town home.

Meals: B, L, D  Hotel: Winchester Mansions, Cape Town

Day 3 of BIKE TOUR Cape Point Nature Reserve/Township Tour

This morning, shuttle to Simonstown, with a spectacular coastal view of False Bay. Then visit the African Penguin Colony at Boulders Beach, a unique conservation effort in an urban area. Afterward, cycle along undulating roads amongst pristine fynbos (natural shrubland vegetation), primarily within the Cape Point section of Table Mountain National Park. Depending on prevailing winds, you ride south to north or vice versa. Relax and enjoy a picnic lunch in Cape Point Nature Reserve or Red Hill. In the afternoon, participate in a township tour by bike. Be sure to keep any problems for the Sangoma (the traditional healer) to solve! After a long day out, choose from many interesting restaurants at the V&A waterfront for dinner on your own.

Meals: B, L  Hotel: Winchester Mansions, Cape Town

Day 4 of BIKE TOUR View Karoo scenery and mountain passes en route to Oudtshoorn and De Rust/Visit an ostrich farm/Afternoon ride through rural South Africa

After breakfast, depart for a six hour transfer to De Rust. We will be traveling along scenic Route 62 through the Little Karoo with lunch along the way. Visiting an Ostrich farm is a must, and we will stop to take tea with the farming family. In late afternoon we check-in to our accommodations in De Rust. Once settled in we enjoy a 9 or 13 mile ride exploring this beautiful valley. A morning ride in the apple region/Overberg may be offered instead today. Dinner will be at your hotel this evening.

Meals: B, L, D  Hotel: Housemartin Lodge

Day 5 of BIKE TOUR Ride through Swartberg Mountains/Visit the ancient Cango Caves/ Optional donkey cart ride in true Karoo style

Spend this morning cycling through the vast expanse of the Swartberg Mountains. Enjoy 15 miles of mostly downhill riding through mountain passes marked with the twisting sandstone formations of the Cape Fold Mountains. Explore the Cango Caves and their magnificent stalactite and stalagmite formations. Back in De Rust, take an optional donkey cart ride in true Karoo style (at your own expense). Dinner, a traditional South African Braai (BBQ), is back at the guesthouse tonight.

Meals: B, L, D  Hotel: Housemartin Lodge

Day 6 of BIKE TOUR Ride downhill through the Prince Alfred Pass or Knysna to Belvedere/Cycle through indigenous Knysna Rainforest

Today's ride brings you through some of South Africa's only indigenous rainforest. After a leisurely breakfast, shuttle (60 minutes) to Uniondale, where the long-ride option starts (riders continue on, with some hills to climb, to Avontuur). Just beyond Avontuur, the short-ride option starts, with spectacular downhill riding to Die Vlug. From here, take a brief shuttle ride before continuing the bicycling portion of our journey to Wittedrif. The lodge waits just a few minutes' shuttle ride away. Dinner tonight is at the lodge. (In some cases, VBT may substitute a Knysna-to-Belvedere ride today.)

Meals: B, L, D  Hotel: Laird's Lodge Alternate Hotel: NH Hotel Plettenberg Bay .   Nestled on a private estate embraced by the Indian Ocean, the Keurbooms River and the rolling fairways of the Gary Player designed Goose Valley Golf Course; this contemporary African hotel offers luxury accommodation in the heart of the Garden Route. Each of the 38 spectacular, stylishly decorated rooms and 5 luxury suites offers all the comforts of home complete with an open fireplace, satellite TV, airconditioning, coffee and tea station and private balcony or terrace with views of the golf course and Bitou Polo Fields.

Day 7 of BIKE TOUR Bloukrans Pass/Eat lunch overlooking the sea, Tsitsikamma National Park

Pedal quiet roads today, riding through the old Bloukrans Pass amidst lush Afro-Montane forest. Take lunch in Tsitsikamma National Park overlooking the Indian Ocean. Hike through the forest and relax on the beach, where the ocean is ideal for swimming. Spend the night in our lodge near Plettenberg Bay, where you have some time to explore. Dinner is on your own.

Meals: B, L  Hotel: Laird's Lodge Alternate Hotel: NH Hotel Plettenberg Bay .   Nestled on a private estate embraced by the Indian Ocean, the Keurbooms River and the rolling fairways of the Gary Player designed Goose Valley Golf Course; this contemporary African hotel offers luxury accommodation in the heart of the Garden Route. Each of the 38 spectacular, stylishly decorated rooms and 5 luxury suites offers all the comforts of home complete with an open fireplace, satellite TV, airconditioning, coffee and tea station and private balcony or terrace with views of the golf course and Bitou Polo Fields.

Day 8 of BIKE TOUR Addo Elephant National Park safari/Sundowner

The morning is spent traveling (four hours) to new accommodations in Sunlands, where a light picnic lunch precedes an afternoon game drive. Here, you might see the Big Five, other wildlife, and many birds. As the sun sets slowly in the African sky, the animal activity increases, as do the chances of excellent viewings. Cap your safari with traditional “sundowner” drinks in the Bushveld. Later, return to the hotel in the Addo area and soak up the beauty of the Eastern Cape surroundings.

Meals: B, L, D  Hotel: Cosmos Cuisine

Day 9 of BIKE TOUR Ride from Paterson into Addo Elephant National Park/Watch African sunset while on safari

Ride this morning on quiet country back roads with the Zuurberg Mountains in the background. Stop for a relaxing picnic lunch. In the afternoon, return to Addo Elephant National Park for a safari: search for the elephant, jackal, and lion. Relax in the evening with your favorite drink while watching a true African sunset.

Meals: B, L, D  Hotel: Cosmos Cuisine

Day 10 of BIKE TOUR Transfer to Port Elizabeth/Flights to USA

VBT No-Air Package guests: After breakfast, transfer to the airport in Port Elizabeth. Important: Flight departures from Port Elizabeth airport prior to 12 noon are not recommended; if you depart earlier, you must make transfer arrangements from the last hotel at your own expense. VBT Air Package guests: After breakfast, transfer by minibus (approximately 1 hour) to the airport in Port Elizabeth to catch your flights home.

Meals: B