PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES

Last month, I headed to South Africa with some friends with the hope that they’d be as successful I was back nine years ago in seeing Africa’s Big Five:  lions, rhinos, buffalo, elephants leopards. And, if we wanted a good shot at seeing them, we had to plan for no less than three nights in the bush… but not before spending time in around Cape Town.

CRUISING AROUND CAPE TOWN

We booked two Garden Cottages at the legendary Mount Nelson.  And though there are some wonderful hotels in town, I think this Orient-Express Hotels property sets itself apart because of the acres upon acres of lush gardens, tennis courts, pools and consistently brilliant concierge team — and nobody in town does a better job with afternoon tea than them — and that alone is worth booking here.

We spent our first day checking out local adventures — including a 30-minute cruise to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was held prisoner for 18 of his 27 years in prison. Now a World Heritage Site, it held non-white inmates as far back as the 17th century. Of particular note is the fact that ex-political prisoners guide the island’s tours. We also snagged a ride on the cable car to the top of Cape Town’s iconic Table Mountain.  By the way, a great alternative if the weather interferes (as it often does) with your trip up, is driving up to the top of Signal Hill where the panoramic views are fairly similar to those at Table Mountain.

There are more trendy restaurants and bars than you can shake a stick at in Cape Town and nearly 80 of them are at the Victoria & Albert Waterfront complex. The complex is also home to a world-class aquarium and 450 retail shops and craft markets.  So, we dined at Sevruga that first night, but found it disappointingly mediocre.  The next night, following up on a tip that they served the best seafood in town, we chose Willoughby’s and it was amazing. One piece of advice, though:  go early to avoid the long-but worth-it line of diners waiting for a table.

Our third night’s Chef’s Table dinner took place a long farmer’s table at one end of the Mount Nelson’s bustling kitchen and began with a plate of fresh oysters in an orange jelly next to an icy mound of lime granitè. Seven courses later, we were indulged with an array of chocolate treats.

Cape Town is in close proximity to some of South Africa’s most fascinating destinations, so the hotel arranged for a car and driver so we could “cruise” south along the spectacular Atlantic coast to the Cape of Good Hope.  We made a few stops along the way, including a few quick looks at some very cute, but fairly brazen baboons hanging out along the way. We also stopped ostrich farm that was very cool because not having ever seen in person, we were fascinated not just by the size of them (they are the world's largest and heaviest bird and have the biggest eye of any land animal), but how they can run at fairly high speeds.

One male in particular seemed to proudly hold his head high while spreading his wings wide when we got close, which we later was how ostriches show dominance.

SAILING THROUGH THE WINELANDS

South Africa’s Winelands, where some of the world’s best wines are produced is less than an hour out of Cape Town. Once there, we headed for the  village of Franschhoek,  a picture postcard pretty village, and checked into Le Quartier Français, which is tucked away in secluded gardens at one end of a quaint main street lined with antique shops, boutiques and restaurants. This 22-room auberge is also home to two beloved restaurants — the Tasting Room and the more casual iCi bistro, and both are overseen by one of the 160 Relais & Châteaux Grand Chefs, Margot Janse. That list includes London’s Michel Roux, Jr. of Le Gavroche in and Hèlène Darroze at the Connaught.

Within minutes, we piled into the hotel’s SUV for a quick drive over to meet Neil Jewell (a self-taught charcuterie guru from Britain who is the head chef at Bread & Wine restaurant) on the Môreson wine estate.  Arranged by Le Quartier’s in-house Culinary Concierge, we were indulged with a private wine and charcuterie tasting with Jewell himself.

The next morning, Le Quartier arranged for a private excursion to Hermanus, a nearby seaport along South Africa’s aptly named Whale Coast. Though Hermanus is known for offering the world's best shore-based right whale watching, we choose to seek them out by cruising out of Walker Bay via a catamaran.  And while we indeed caught frequent glimpses of cavorting whales breaching (that’s when they playfully leap out of the water, sometimes even twirling), it was a fairly rough trip. Out of perhaps 50 passengers, at least half were seasick and the rest were queasy.  My advice? Definitely wear a patch or take medication before setting one foot on board.

Since it was only an hour's drive from Hermanus, we briefly considered  “diving” with the great white sharks between Gansbaii and Dyer Island. There, the idea is for two people with a scuba hose to get inside a cage that floats just under the water's surface for about 30 minutes. Despite the fact that we knew it would be an absolutely amazing experience, we just couldn't reconcile the huge scary factor and yet another opportunity to live through another queasy boat ride. Instead, we stopped at the seaside village known as Betty's Bay so we could visit a penguin colony at Stony Point. What a treat! So close that we could practically pet them, we walked along a boardwalk-like platform that seemed to head out to sea, we observed them waddling, lazing, dozing, squabbling — even canoodling, down below.

Then it was back to Cape Town in preparation of what would be a very early departure the next morning on the Blue Train, but this time we chose to hang our hats at the One&Only, the city’s newest luxury hotel and finished our day at Nobu, one of the hotel’s signature restaurants.  

ALL ABOARD

The all-inclusive Blue Train is a very glamorous and far more intimate alternative to flying between Cape Town and Johannesburg. This 28-hour cruise-by-land journey begins with no more than a few dozen passengers and makes one leisurely stop in the historic Victorian village of Matjiesfontein.

As expected, our pricey but highly serviced ride came with luxurious surroundings, including a wood-paneled coach outfitted for panoramic viewing while sipping aperitifs and partaking in a very English-style high tea and a Club Car for enjoying a cognac and, say, Cuban cigars.

By day, our Deluxe Suites were elegant sitting rooms with large windows — and private Italian marbled bathrooms with a generously sized, glassed-in showers. By night, our butler transformed our cabin to a twin-bedded room with eiderdown duvets and pillows. If you prefer a double bed and a bathtub, book one of the Luxury Suites. All guests enjoy the around-the-clock services of a butler — inclusive of fetching late night snacks, unpacking and arranging wake-up calls.  I called upon ours to press a few items — which was accomplished in less than 30 minutes.

Meals, all of which is prepared by a team of six chefs, are served inside a 42-seat dining car dressed up in crispy white linens and fine china, was nothing less than terrific. Breakfasts included made-to-order eggs, cooked-to-perfection breakfast meats, and French toast and crepes. At lunchtime, which always includes vegetarian and pasta selections, we sampled grilled kingclip, ostrich filets and springbok medallions. For our more formal four-course, silver-service dinner (men are required to wear jackets), we ordered Karoo lamb chops, Knysna oysters, crayfish and impala —  and each was perfectly paired with hand-selected South African wines. Desserts, which never disappointed, included a crème brulee infused with cardamom and a rich and a creamy chocolate pot de crème topped with amarula crème (a South African liqueur made from marula fruit) served with a slice of a delicately crusted flourless chocolate cake.

SAFARI SO GOOD

There’s a superb collection of indulgent all-inclusive digs on private game reserves in and around Kruger National Park, but be prepared for the hefty price tags. One of the best reserves for game viewing (and notable for more leopard sightings than anywhere else in South Africa) is Sabi Sand. With no fences between the reserve and park, animals roam freely, often cheek-by-jowl. Better yet, its highly trained, rifle-carrying rangers are allowed to drive off-road to get you even closer to any of the Big Five, which is generally not the case elsewhere. 

“Creature” comforts include gourmet spreads from master chefs (some even pull off surprise silver service bush breakfasts before heading back after the morning’s drive), butler-serviced suites with wood-burning fireplaces, sumptuous beds swathed in mosquito nets, private splash pools, and swank spas. And most will arrange transportation from as far away as Johannesburg.

Our driver fetched us from the Blue Train and took us to Sabi Sabi’s Earth Lodge. A five-hour drive, it was actually rather pleasant and certainly less of a hassle than driving to the Johannesburg airport for a flight to a small airport somewhat closer to the lodge, followed up with either a puddle-jumping ride to a lodge’s landing strip or a 90-minute drive.

Our mornings began with three-hour game drives at dawn (strong coffee and muffins strategically placed as we made our way to the Land Rovers) and wound down with another three-hours in the late afternoon, but not before stopping at sunset for some brought-along cocktails amidst distant lion roars, or perhaps trumpeting elephants. To get us within spitting distance of the animals, our tracker used footprints and believe it or not, dung, as his road map. He also watched for bubbles rising to the surface of rivers and lakes because that signaled the presence of below-water hippos getting ready to emerge. Additionally, rangers from all the lodges within Sabi Sand stay in constant radio contact, so any news of special sightings (i.e. leopards, honey badgers and serval cats) can be conveyed quickly. Incidentally, some of the best sightings come after dark, mainly because that’s when the more nocturnal predators stalk and kill prey — but these kill sightings are rare.

But, at the end of one of our late afternoon drives, our ranger suddenly veered off the road and plowed our vehicle through a dense thicket of brush. Lo’ and behold, he brought us face-to-face with a leopard and her cub — made visible by our tracker who slowly panned a huge spotlight from side to side and up and down as we sat there in the dark. The cub was perched high on a sturdy branch of a large tree, enjoying her mother’s impala kill when suddenly, a hyena showed up and began skulking about as he waited for the cub’s leftovers. All of this was taking place merely inches from the mother, who seemed to barely rouse herself from what appeared to be a much-needed nap at the base of the tree. Obviously, our ranger alerted his fellow rangers to this unusual sighting and within minutes, other Land Rovers carry guests from the neighboring lodges joined us. Forming a circle and using multiple spotlights, the area lit up what seemed like a very quiet, but very practiced choreography between the leopards and hyena.

One morning, we stopped for a “herd” of female buffalos and their young lumbering past us in single file. As we sat mesmerized, our ranger wondered aloud what had prompted this small group to go on the run. Later, he learned that their rather sudden trek was a result of a pride of lions coming down from the north. Not long after that encounter, we came upon a female rhino with her young taking a peripatetic stroll along a sandy airstrip, but soon a hefty male began following them, but from a distance. Our ranger told us he was looking for a bit of “intimacy” with the female… but she was having none of that because as he narrowed the distance between them, she suddenly turned toward him and snorted loudly… which sent the poor guy running for the hills. Another day, we spotted our first lion pride as they all stretched out impassively, either yawning, dozing or on their backs with spread-eagled legs – and followed that up with sitting stark still among a herd of giraffes. Their distinctive walking style, gracefully moving both legs on the same side, is breathtaking. We also learned that their tongues are blue and can extend up to 20 inches and sleep standing up.

If you’re wondering how we were able to get within feet of all these wild animals as they nonchalantly saunter very close by, there is a very interesting explanation. They’re accustomed to human onlookers, or more accurately, onlookers in vehicles, and basically consider them one very big, non-confrontational animal. If even one person stands up, the animal will consider that an open invitation to charge. 

In between safaris, we enjoyed hardy home-cooked breakfasts, lunches, afternoon teas and dinners in front of crackling fires — along with some very fabulous spa treatments, a handful of cozy afternoon naps and one really great ranger-guided walkabout that got us a bird’s eye views of a hippo and crocodile enjoying themselves in a nearby lake, while an elephant cautiously took a cool dip way over on the other side.

LAST RESORT

On our way back down to Johannesburg’s airport, we decided to have one last hurrah by booking one night at the Saxon, which is less than an hour’s drive from the airport. Originally built as a private home, Nelson Mandela lived there for six months after being released from prison and it’s where he finished writing his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. From the moment we drove up to this palatial hotel, it was one of the best hotel experiences I ever had. From the butlers to the amazingly sumptuous spa to the lavish buffet breakfast, there just wasn’t a moment where we didn’t feel coddled.

Safari Tips

The best sighting in South Africa are from June through much of October, when the weather is cooler and dryer and malaria risks are considerably less… and vegetation has died back, making animals easier to see.

Rest camps in Kruger Park (www.krugerpark.com) are the best budget options. Accommodations vary from tents to cottages and rates can be as low as $15 a night for two. For packing, choose colors such as gray, brown, beige and khaki to blend in with the bush. Morning and the later part of early evening drives are a bit on the chilly side, so bring along sweaters, jackets, scarves and a hat to stay warm.

Don’t forget to pack a sun hat with a visor, sunglasses, insect repellent, a good pair of binoculars and a camera (for the best shots, bring one with high magnification, preferably to 300X)

Wear pants that fit closer to the ankle and socks to avoid mosquito bites and prickly vegetation if you’re planning on a walking safari. 

Lauren Price