GLOBAL VISION CONNECTIONS© 2024 Learning Tour – South Africa & Victoria Falls

Today you will board your international flight from Newark, NJ or JFK, NYC towards Johannesburg, South Africa. (Flights included For Air & Land Package)

Upon arrival, you will be met by your driver and transferred to your Vista ORT hotel where you will stay the next 3 nights. The hotel is located less than 10 minutes from the airport with beautiful gardens where you can stretch your legs after a long flight. We will enjoy an Orientation Buffet Dinner at the hotel’s restaurant.
(Meals: D)

Today you depart at 8:30 am on your Ultimate Johannesburg and Soweto day tour. This tour involves some walking, and you need to wear comfortable shoes.

Johannesburg:
The tour starts with a Walking tour through Marshaltown, you will visit the house of Mohandas Ghandi (1908 to 1909). The house was designed by the architect Hermann Kallenbach for Gandhi.

Soweto:
The tour continues through the South of Soweto where you will see iconic places like the FNB Stadium which was built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the Diepkloof area with its famous “Matchbox” houses and the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital (the 3rd largest hospital in the world with 3200 beds and over 6700 staff members).

Next is the colorful Soweto Cooling Towers, a prominent landmark in Soweto. The tour of Soweto South ends at Walter Sisulu Square aka Freedom Square in Kliptown where 3000 people gathered in 1955 to adopt the Freedom Charter, which is now the basis of our Constitution. From here we continue to the Hector Pieterson Museum in Orlando West with our next stop being the vibrant Vilakazi Street. This is the most famous street in Soweto and is the only street in the world to have had two Nobel Peace Prize winners as residents – Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. The tour includes entry to Hector Peterson Museum, and the Mandela House Museum. Traditional lunch.

Rosebank:
After all the somber yet intriguing information and places the next stop is the Rosebank African Art Market for some shopping & browsing. The African Craft Market is a unique African cultural shopping destination.
(Meals: B, L)

After breakfast, depart around 10:00 am to Sun City – Africa’s Kingdom of Pleasure (this is where the movie Blended was filmed) in the Northwest Province, on the edge of the Pilanesberg National Park.

Later, stop for a cultural experience at the Lesedi Cultural Village, in the Cradle of Humankind. Lesedi is home to various African Tribes, to learn more about their culture.
The Lesedi tour includes a tribal dancing show. Later, we will enjoy an African dinner at Lesedi after the dance.
(Meals: B, D)

After breakfast, we will check out from our hotel and will be transferred to the Airport for our flight to Cape Town on AIRLINK flight departing at 10:25 am (Will be transferred to the airport 2 hours prior to flights’ departure).
Upon arrival to Cape Town at 12:35 pm, you will be met by your driver and guide, and transferred to your hotel where you spend the next 4 nights.
Housed in one of Cape Town’s oldest buildings, the Inn on the Square Hotel is conveniently located in the corporate business and government district and can be found only 25km from Cape Town International Airport.
The hotel is within a stone’s throw of many world-class restaurants, lively bars, and entertainment venues.
(Meals: B)

EXPERT TIPS
Note that all local flights include 1 piece of checked luggage weighing no more than 44lbs and 1 piece of hand luggage weighing no more than 15lbs per person.
Excess luggage is at your own expense and can be paid for on check-in at the airport.

You have the morning at leisure to explore the V & A Waterfront on your own, maybe book a tour to Robben Island (weather dependent), visit the MOCAA Museum of African Art and do some shopping at the numerous arts & crafts stalls at the Waterfront.

Our tour for the day departs from the hotel at 2:00 pm and starts with a visit to Table Mountain (weather dependent).

After enjoying the spectacular views from Table Mountain, we will go to suburbia to visit a local school or orphanage to meet the kids and distribute some gifts.

Later, we will enjoy a hosted dinner at Bo-Kaap ( storytelling and dinner) including drinks before returning to the hotel.
(Meals: B, D)

After breakfast at the hotel, you will be met by the guide for a full day Cape Peninsula Tour. This tour encapsulates the best that the Cape has to offer, an awe- inspiring tour of the headland known as Cape Point.

Magnificent beaches, breathtaking views, historic and picturesque coastal villages are to be seen along the way.

The Cape Peninsula is one of the world’s most scenic areas and stretches from the city center to Cape Point.

We travel along the Atlantic Seaboard via Sea Point, Clifton, and Camps Bay, stopping at a Llandudno look-out point before continuing to Hout Bay, a quaint village and fishing harbor with magnificent mountain views and beach.

On through Chapman’s Peak, one of the world’s most breathtaking coastal drives, to Cape Point and the Good Hope Nature Reserve, which has magnificent fynbos vegetation, birdlife, endemic antelope species and zebra, historic lighthouses, and shipwrecks.

Cape Point is perceived to be the meeting point of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

We go on to historic Simon’s Town, a village with charming Victorian architecture, where we stop for lunch at a local seafood restaurant.

After lunch, we will visit the penguin colony at beautiful Boulders Beach.

Our route back to the hotel takes us through the fishing village of Kalk Bay and Muizenberg.

Dinner tonight is at your leisure and own expense.
(Meals: B, L)

Today we will explore the stunning Cape Wine Region. Despite the colloquial name, the area is much more about than wine. We will have time to spend and mingle with the locals. Later, we will visit Oom Samie se Winkel (Uncle Samie’s Shop) or some of the numerous museums. Oom Samie se Winkel, meaning “Uncle Sammy’s Shop”, is a family run business that offers the same personalized services and goods of yesteryear. Before the days of supermarkets and shopping malls there were general dealers. Take a step back in time at Oom Samie se Winkel where you can leave the modern world behind and experience a sense of nostalgia in this living museum full of the character and charm of a Victorian-era general dealer.

From here we move on to Paarl, on the edge of the Swartland region. We visit one of the wine farms for some wine tasting and then spend some time at the Spice Route, a sensory feast for today’s connoisseurs of craftsmanship and authenticity.

The Spice Route Paarl is a popular tourist destination located in the city of Paarl, The old farm house offers a variety to explore: typical South African delicacies like local wines from the surrounding wine yards, draft beer and dark chocolates. The name Spice Route dates back to the historical mariners who used to trade Eastern spices to Europe along the “Spice Route” for spice trade in the 15th century. The Estate gives visitors the opportunity to explore local foods, beverages and goods, that are produced in a traditional manner supporting the local community while spreading the taste and spirit of South Africa out to the world. Its cellar production and wine tasting is conducted of red and white wines from the local Malmesbury and Darling wine yards, which received national and international attention. You can wander around at your leisure, try some of the craft beers and wines. We will have lunch here.

Our last stop of the day is the Taal Monument (Language Monument) in Paarl. The Taal Monument is not only an architectural marvel but also a testament to the enduring cultural identity of Afrikaans-speaking South Africans. Around 60% of Afrikaans speakers in the country are Colored. It serves as a reminder of the importance of language in shaping a nation’s history and culture. The location of the Taal Monument on a hill provides panoramic views of the town of Paarl and its surroundings. Visitors can enjoy stunning vistas of the surrounding vineyards, farmland, and the Drakenstein Mountains.

We return to Cape Town to freshen up before our dinner at Gold Restaurant, a celebration of various African cultures with a 14-dish taste-safari.
(Meals: B, L, D)

An early departure takes you back to Cape Town Airport for your scheduled flight to Victoria Falls on South African Airways flight departing at 8:00 am.
Upon arrival at Victoria falls at 1:20 pm, your driver will meet you in the arrivals hall and transfer you to Shearwater Explorer’s Village hotel where you will spend the next three nights.
You can enjoy lunch (own expense) at the hotel, after which your room should be ready for check-in.
After lunch and check-in, you will visit a local village to meet the people and learn about their way of life.
We have a support program in this area with our local operator handling funds donated by our guests to assist with school fees for some of the kids, clothing, groceries, a water tank and so much more.
If possible, we will arrange a visit with the local school too.
Tonight, you have an evening of African entertainment and cuisine at The Boma – Dinner & Drum show.
(Meals: B, D)

EXPERT TIPS
Note that all local flights include 1 piece of checked luggage weighing no more than 44lbs and 1 piece of hand luggage weighing no more than 15lbs per person.
Excess luggage is at your own expense and can be paid for on check-in at the airport with South African Airways.
You will need to buy a single-entry visa for Zimbabwe, currently costing $30 US per person (subject to change), payable in cash at the airport.

Today, you will have the opportunity to join an optional Zambezi National Park game drive to learn about the conservation efforts in the area and the impact of conservation and tourism on the lives of the local people. The drive concludes with a bush breakfast on the banks of the Zambezi River. (Departure time TBA)
You have time to freshen up at the hotel before heading to the main event – the Falls and everything around it.
You start off with a Historical bridge tour and then go for lunch at The Lookout Cafe, overlooking the stunning Batoka Gorge. From here you go on a guided walking tour of the Falls through the rain forest.
While it is neither the highest nor the widest waterfall in the world, it is classified as the largest, based on its width of over a mile and height of 350 feet, resulting in the world’s largest sheet of falling water.
Be sure to wear comfortable shoes.
(Meals: B, L)

Today is another long day out, visiting 3 more countries! (Remember to take your passport!) This area is known as Africa’s Four Corners or Africa’s Eden and is where Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, and Zambia almost come together where the Chobe and Zambezi Rivers meet.

After breakfast, you cross over the bridge to Livingstone, Zambia. You will learn about the city’s rich history, hearing stories about all the changes in the area since David Livingstone first explored the area.
You visit the Livingstone Museum and the Mukuni Arts & Craft market.

From here we cross over to Botswana over the newly built bridge. Although the bridge is great for regional trade and commerce, it is also a little sad as before you would have to take a ferry or barge to cross the river, which was rather romantic.

In Botswana you have lunch at a hotel on the banks of the Chobe River before setting off your tour of a local village on Impalila Island on the Namibian side of the river.
Note: Impalila Island, Namibia. Village tour excludes conservancy fee of $10 per person.

You will need your passport as you check through customs before going on a boat to cross the river. Please make sure to wear comfortable shoes.

The journey itself can be quite scenic, as you navigate through the waters of the Zambezi River, witnessing the riverbanks and potentially spotting wildlife along the way. Impalila Island is inhabited by several ethnic groups, including the Lozi people. Visitors may have the opportunity to interact with the local community, learn about their traditional way of life, and experience their customs and rituals.

After the tour you return to Botswana again by boat and then back to Victoria Falls.
Dinner for your last night will be at a new restaurant on the banks of the mighty Zambezi River.
(Meals: B, L, D)

After breakfast, you have the morning at your leisure to explore the vibrant village of Victoria Falls on your own, or to sleep in. Note that you will have to vacate your room at 10h00 but can safely store your luggage at the hotel and make use of the hotel’s public facilities till it is time for you to depart to the airport.
Your flight is scheduled to land at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo airport around 4pm.
Board your international flight ( Included For Air & Land Package) – (Meals: B)

EXPERT TIPS
Note that all local flights include 1 piece of checked luggage weighing no more than 44lbs and 1 piece of hand luggage weighing no more than 15lbs per person.
Excess luggage is at your own expense and can be paid for on check-in at the airport.
We will be transferred to Victoria Falls Airport for the flight to Johannesburg where we will take our onward flight home.

OR

N1 Hotel & Campsite Victoria Falls