TOP 10 TRIPS - SOUTH AFRICA

CAPE PENISULA AT DUSK
Surely one of the most beautiful regions on the planet, the Cape Penisula is a treasure of mountains, beaches, scenic beauty and protected fauna and flora. Take day trips its beaches, table mountain, cape point or immerse yourself in its natural on the trip a lifetime.

 GARDEN ROUTE

Lush with evergreen vegetation, beaches, rivers, lakes and friendly towns, the Garden route is the most extraordinary natural beauty. Play golf, dine, sunbathe and experience one-of-a kind marine, nature and adrenaline sports activities amid it's dramatic mountain scenery and ancient forests.

CAPE WINELANDS

 Any time is a good time to visit the winelands in the Cape. Rated among the best in the world, the well priced wines and diversed wine routes will leave devotees of the grape spoiled for choice.

PANORAMA ROUTE

From beginning to end, the Panorama Route is breathtaking – a joyride of geological wonders encompassing the splendour of the Blyde River Canyon, Bourke’s Luck potholes, waterfalls, and sweeping lowveld vistas as far as the eye can see.

JOHANNESBURG TO DURBAN

Free State grasslands near Harrismith, and the majesty of the Drakensburg Mountains near Ladysmith. The green hills of the Midlands lead you to Victorian elegance in Pietermartizburg, and your final destination: Durban – South Africa’s Golden Mile of sea, sun and fun. A detour to the Battlefields of KwaZulu-Natal, and small town stops along the way are de rigueur.

JOHANNESBURG TO CAPE TOWN

From the City of Gold, follow the N3 all the way through varied landscapes - Highveld flower fields and farmlands, golden Head out on the N1 to the City of Roses, Bloemfontein. All the way, magnificent scenery and small towns filled with history and character beckon. From Beaufort West, spectacular mountain passes, nature reserves and lush farmlands keep you company until you arrive in Cape Town – one of the world’s most beautiful cities.

KwaZulu-Natal Midlands
Explore Pietermartizburg’s colonial heritage, then head for the Midlands scenic landscapes to explore its art galleries, craft studios, country pubs and bistro’s, old fashioned farm stalls, artisanal and organic farmers, micro-breweries and home-style hospitality.

Cape West Coast
Absorb the attractions of the West Coast at a gentle pace; relish the unspoiled coastline, acres of wildflowers, bird life, lakes, fresh seafood and warm hospitality this coastal treasure trove at the southern edge of Namakwaland presents.

ELEPHANT COAST 

In northern KwaZulu-Natal, track the coastline to the World Heritage Site of iSimangaliso - a natural Eden where each season brings fresh wonders: whales in November, turtles in December, world-class scuba diving, and Big 5 reserves in landscapes barely changed since time began.

 Route 62

Laid-back adventurers will relish the world’s longest wine route. Lose yourself for a day, a week or more on a sybarite’s journey of discovery that includes wine tasting, dining, country shopping, homely hospitality and a host of unforgettable characters.

The Best of Mozambique

8 Best Beach Resorts in Mozambique

Overlooking its own stretch of private beach, the Pestana Inhaca Lodge offers families all the comforts of home in addition to fun and adventure. All rooms here have satellite television and air conditioning. Hotel amenities include two outdoor pools, a restaurant, bar, arcade game room and pool table. Guests here can enjoy various on-site activities such as swimming, snorkeling, boating, fishing, water skiing and whale-watching.

 

 Located on the beautiful archipelago of Bazaruto near the mainland of Mozambique, the Indigo Bay Island Resort is surrounded by stunning beaches and crystal clear waters teeming with coral reef and marine life, presenting a prime destination for diving and snorkeling. Rooms offer flat-panel televisions with premium satellite channels, air conditioning, refrigerators and balconies that open to ocean views.  This resort also offers many fun activities that range from kite-surfing to fishing, kayaking, sailing, swimming, horse riding, hiking, biking and miniature golf. Additionally, guests can opt to venture out to nearby attractions like the gorgeous beaches of Santa Carolina and Bazaruto.

  Nestled in a secluded spot within the Vilanculos Coastal Wildlife Sanctuary, the Nyati Beach Lodge offers peace and relaxation in a combined setting of tropical forest and coastal beauty. Accommodation at this Mozambique beach resort includes the choice of one-bedroom chalets or family villas.  With the resort’s location on a nature reserve that shelters an abundance of both land and marine life, guests can enjoy eco-tours, hiking and birdwatching as well as a variety of water sports at the beach.

 Situated on a private beach just outside of the capital city of Maputo in southern Mozambique , the Catembe Gallery Hotel offers a quiet and remote destination with nearby attractions like the Museum of Natural History and the Tunduru Gardens. Rooms here are all individually furnished and include satellite television, free Wi-Fi and private balconies. The hotel features amenities such as a restaurant, outdoor pool and bar as well as massage and treatment rooms. Recreation includes swimming, snorkeling, scuba diving, fishing, volleyball, hiking, biking and nearby shopping and sightseeing. 

Conveniently located near regional attractions like the Magaruque Island Beach, this seaside beach resortin Vilanculos offers rooms with private plunge pools, minibars, air conditioning as well as amenities that include a restaurant, bar/lounge and outdoor pool. Guests can enjoy activities like swimming, snorkeling and kayaking in addition to eco-tours and excursions for fishing and boating.

 

Set within the capital city nearby attractions like the Museum of Natural History, Maputo Cathedral and the Maputo Botanical Gardens, this beautiful beachfront hotel features three restaurants, a bar/lounge, a full-service spa, fitness facility and an outdoor and indoor pool. Rooms offer jetted bathtubs, wireless Internet, air conditioning and televisions with premium satellite channels. Guests can enjoy on-site recreation like swimming, aerobics and tennis as well as nearby sightseeing and shopping. 

Facing its own private beach within walking distance of the popular Vilanculos Beach, this attractive beach resort is where guests come to be pampered. Featuring a full-service spa and 4 restaurants, the resort offers rooms with premium satellite channels and balconies that open to ocean or beach views. Guests can enjoy recreational activities that include swimming, surfing, sailing, kayaking, volleyball, basketball, hiking and biking. 

Housed within three beautiful, historic mansions overlooking prime waterfront on Ibo Island in the Indian Ocean off northern Mozambique, this unique resort offers a great destination for both families and romantic getaways. Rooms feature luxury furnishings of exquisite antiques, handcrafted furniture and carved wooden doors. Hotel amenities at one of the top Mozambique beach resorts include 2 swimming pools, a hired chef, private dinners and massages. Recreation includes children’s activities, historical island tours, boat cruises, mangrove excursions, fishing, hiking and scuba diving.

Meet the Denizens of the deep - Two Oceans Aquarium

The southern tip of the African continent is the meeting place of two mighty and bountiful oceans, the Indian and the Atlantic. The Two Oceans Aquarium on the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town is ideally positioned to showcase the incredible diversity of marine life found in these two oceans. The Aquarium is one of the top tourist attractions in Cape Town and over 3000 living sea animals, including sharks, fishes, turtles and penguins can be seen in this spectacular underwater nature reserve.

 The Two Oceans Aquarium opened in November 1995 and is recognised as one of the top tourist attractions in Cape Town

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 It has established itself as a key player in raising environmental awareness through its high-quality exhibits, conservation and education programmes.
 

The Aquarium is rapidly gaining recognition as a leading environmental education centre in South Africa. It is also respected internationally for its high standards of animal husbandry and the expertise of its staff in collecting and transporting live animals.

The Two Oceans Aquarium Trust is a private body carrying on business as a public aquarium with emphasis on education and entertainment.

Interisting facts to know about Beira - Mozamique

Beira is the second largest city in Mozambique. It lies in the central region of the country in Sofala Province, where the Pungue River meets the Indian Ocean.  It holds the regionally-significant Port of Beira which acts as a gateway for both the central interior portion of the country as well as the land-locked nations of Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi. Beira was originally developed by the Portuguese Mozambique Company in the 19th century, and directly developed by the Portuguese colonial government from 1947 until Mozambique gained its independence from Portugal in 1975. 

 Portugues Rule

*  The city was established in 1890 by the Portuguese and soon supplanted Sofala as the main port in the    Portuguese-administered territory.
* Originally called Chiveve, after a local river, it was renamed to honor the Portuguese Crown prince Dom Luís Filipe who, in 1907, was the first member of the Portuguese royal family to visit Mozambique.
 *  Traditionally the Portuguese Crown prince carried the title of Prince of Beira, a historical province of mainland Portugal. The Portuguese built the port and a railway to Rhodesia, Portuguese families settled in the newly founded locality and started to develop commercial activities.
* With the growth of the village, in 1907 the Portuguese Crown elevated Beira to the status of city (cidade). Headquarters of the Companhia de Moçambique (Mozambique Company) from 1891, the city's administration passed from the trading company to the Portuguese government in 1942.
* In 1966, the construction of a new railway station was completed. Before Mozambique's independence from Portugal, as a city of Portuguese Mozambique, Beira was noted for its well-equipped seaport, one of the major facilities of its kind in all East Africa, tourism, fishing and trade.
* The city prospered as a cosmopolitan port with different ethnic communities (Portuguese, Indian, Chinese, Bantus such as the Sena and Ndau) employed in administration, commerce, and industry. A large English-speaking population was the result of being a favourite holiday destination for white Rhodesians. One reminder of this is the Grande Hotel, built by the Portuguese, near the shore of the Indian Ocean. By 1970, the city of Beira had 113,770 inhabita.

After Independence

After independence from Portugal in 1975, many white ethnic Portuguese left the city. Mozambique was ravaged by a civil war from 1977 to 1992, opposing Marxist FRELIMO, which controlled the government, to the rebels of RENAMO, descending to near total chaos in a couple of years. The famine, disease and poverty-stricken country collapsed. In Beira, the famous Grande Hotel was occupied by around 1,000 homeless Beirans, and by the end of the civil war it was in near-ruins.

The 2000 Mozambique flood devastated Beira and the surrounding region, leaving millions homeless and severely damaging the local economy.

A History Forgotten Is A Failure Lost - Apartheid Museum

Many films have been made, books written and stories told about South Africa’s oppressive past, but nothing captures those dark years better than the Apartheid Museum, located in western Johannesburg. The museum exhibits unedited and uncensored audio-visual material and photographs documenting some of the most harrowing episodes in South Africa’s history.

The policy of apartheid was introduced by the National Party in 1948 as a form of domination and control of black people through racial segregation. Black people were subject to inhumane treatment, their movement was curtailed and they needed permission to travel to certain parts of the country.

The Apartheid Museum takes visitors on an emotion-filled journey through those times. Film footage, photographs, text panels and artefacts in 22 individual exhibition areas bear witness to oppression. The exhibits include visuals of daily life in South Africa’s townships – under the watchful eye of security police in armoured Casspir vehicles – as well as of forced removals and innocent people being mauled by police dogs.

In other rooms, the sounds of toyi-toying and struggle songs reverberate, and visuals document the almost daily protests by the restless masses. Marches were brutally suppressed – as on 16 June 1976 in Soweto, when police opened fire on defenceless schoolchildren protesting the use of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in schools.

The museum also features footage of former president Nelson Mandela’s interview with the BBC while in hiding from the authorities in 1961, as well as of apartheid architect Hendrik Verwoerd justifying racial segregation.

A tour of the museum is sure to leave visitors wondering how South Africa has managed to put behind it the injustices of the past and build a society based on dignity and equality.

Conference facilities are available at the museum, and various events, from workshops to formal dinners, have been hosted at the venue.

Spectacular Art in Zimbabwe

Art from Zimbabwe dates back thousands of years to the San people who used the rock faces and caves across the country as a canvas for their unique and extraordinary art known as Bushmen paintings.  Today this small nation has produced so many outstanding world renowned artists, it would be impossible to list them all.  But they include stone sculptures, wood carvers, landscape and wildlife painters, photographers, singers and dancers.

Larry Norton Art

Larry Norton is an internationally recognised African Wildlife Artist. Born in Zimbabwe in 1963 he has had successful exhibitions around the world. Larry lives in Victoria Falls and has a Gallery at the Victoria Falls Hotel.Larry Norton works in oils, water colour, charcoal and pencil and specializes in Wildlife art and African landscape especially Victoria Falls.

Shona stone sculpture is now widely recognized as one of the most significant art movements to have evolved in recent times.These carvings, in a variety of different stones, are made by the Shona people of Zimbabwe for whom stone carving is not a traditional craft. Started experimentally about 35 years ago it is now widely recognized as one of the most significant art movements to have evolved in recent times. Zimbabwean art sculptors talk about the way in which they free a shape from within the stone and the influence of the tribal spirits on their work.
Shona Soapstone Family They believe that each work of art finds its way to a predestined owner and that in some way makes the owner part of an extended global family.
The sculptures are wonderfully expressive, many of them portray a human message in a figurative or abstract manner and some of them convey emotional values such as family or the maternal bond. The “Ukama” sculptures are very popular and these are renditions of the family group- couples, dancers, loving families. They symbolize the family bond that is so important to the Shone people. In pieces representing a mother and child the bodies and arms are joined to emphasize the strength and longevity of these relationships.

Zimbabweans carve some of the the finest Wooden carvings you will find anywhere in Africa. They are extraordinarily talented.
Many of the ironwood carvings found in Zimbabwe are of African wildlife. Many of the carvings are inimitable feature pieces, exquisitely hand carved and imbued with the indefinably mystique of Africa.

Many of the carvings are of traditional heads and come in a great variety of sizes and styles. Many different woods are used such as olive, mukwa, fresh teak and pod mahogany. You will also find many carved animals such as buffalo, giraffe, tortoise, crocodile, hippos and warthogs.

Spectacular Landscapes of South Africa

The Table Mountain

Africa has spectacular landscapes. South Africa with it's beautiful landscapes contributes to this wonders of Africa.

Cape of Good Hope

Walk on the beach and just embrace the beauty South Africa has to offer. 

The Lions Head - Cape Town

According what people believes, if clouds get stuck on top of this mountain, the day after will be rainy.

I VOW TO.....♥

A Romantic Safari Getaway

Combining the best of exotic adventures, beautiful wildlife, luxurious accommodations and pristine beaches, Tanzania is the absolute best destination for honeymoons and anniversaries! Get ready to embark on a grand romantic adventure with your loved one and make memories you will share for a lifetime.

Stalk a leopard. Lose yourself in a million wildebeests. Watch a crimson sunrise wake the Serengeti from a night of silver moonlight and lion roars. Indulge in decadent luxury, gourmet food and world-class service. Feel the sun on your face and the wind in your hair. Connect with nature, lose track of time, and live an epic story that will be well worth retelling to future generations. Nature's harshness and beauty that governs daily life in Africa; a paradox that will delight, inspire and humble you. Experience it together.

From your initial consultation with your safari consultant, to the day you bid farewell to your guide and board for your return flight home, 

NAMIBIA RESERVATIONS 

covers every minute detail to ensure that your safari is the trip of a lifetime you've always imagined.

To book your Valentines Getaway please contact

Namibia Reservations at:

info@namibiareservations.com or visit the website on:

www.namibiareservations.com

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