Visitors to Africa · February 2027
The Cape
Ten days from Table Mountain to the Karoo, by way of the vineyards and the whale coast.
This is the corner of Africa I come from, and the journey is built around the places I know because I grew up in them.
The group walks the gravel roads between the Constantia estates that I ran as a boy, blends a wine of its own on the farm my great-grandfather named in 1928, swims with penguins on a beach the coaches never reach, and rides bareback through the Atlantic surf at Pearly Beach. Then north over the mountains into the Karoo, for game drives and an astronomer under one of the darkest skies in Southern Africa.
February is harvest in the Cape, and the calmest, most settled weather of the year. Our sample departure lands in Cape Town on Saturday 6 February 2027.
Four places
45 nights
Cape Town
The mountain, the Peninsula, Constantia and the Atlantic seaboard.
2 nights
Walker Bay
The whale coast, the fynbos and the horses at Pearly Beach.
Three ways to travel
The journey can be made at three levels, and the difference between them is not what the guests do. It is where they sleep, how they move, and who pays for dinner. The horses, Constantia on foot, the summit table, the penguin beach, the wine, the astronomer and I are there at every level.
| Privately | Hosted | Essential | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cape Town | 21 Nettleton, Clifton: a six-suite house taken whole, with its own chef. Five nights. | Tintswalo Atlantic, a small lodge on the rocks at Hout Bay. Four nights. | Radisson Collection, on the water beside the V&A. Three nights. |
| The Winelands | Day trips by helicopter from Clifton | Lanzerac, Stellenbosch. One night. | Lanzerac, Stellenbosch. One night. |
| Walker Bay | The Grootbos private villa, sole use, with Klipgat cave and the dune drive. Two nights. | The Marine, on the cliff at Hermanus. Two nights. | The Marine, on the cliff at Hermanus. Two nights. |
| The Karoo | Sanbona, with private vehicles. Two nights, full board, at every level. | ||
| Getting about | By helicopter throughout, including Cape Agulhas | By road, with the flight over both oceans kept | By road, with the flight over both oceans kept |
| Meals | All meals and drinks, including La Colombe, Creation and Beau Constantia | All meals, including La Colombe, Creation and Beau Constantia | Breakfast daily and full board at Sanbona; other meals chosen by the guests |
| Guides | Three Russian speakers, four guests to a vehicle | One Russian guide, one vehicle and driver | One Russian guide, one vehicle and driver |
| Length | 10 days | 10 days | 9 days |
| From, per person sharing | $19,100 | $9,700 | $5,700 |
| The days | See the ten days → | See the ten days → | See the nine days → |
From Privately to Hosted, the private houses and the helicopters give way to a five-star lodge and the road, and Grootbos, Klipgat and Cape Agulhas drop out. From Hosted to Essential, the hotel in Cape Town changes, lunches and dinners are left to the guests, and the journey is a day shorter. At no point does it lose the reason for coming.
What every level keeps
| Swimming the horses | Bareback through the Atlantic surf at Pearly Beach, with handlers for anyone who has never ridden. |
|---|---|
| Constantia on foot | Three great estates linked by the gravel roads I ran as a boy, and the private track up the mountainside. |
| The farm my family named | A wine blended and bottled under the group’s own label, on the land my great-grandfather renamed in 1928. |
| Swimming with penguins | A quiet beach away from the boardwalks the coaches visit, where guests swim and the birds come and go around them. |
| The summit at sundown | Up Table Mountain ahead of the queue, the walk along the top, and a table set privately for sunset. |
| A sky with nobody in it | An astronomer brought out to the reserve, under some of the darkest skies in Southern Africa. |
| The book | I write it afterwards, as I wrote September Tides, and send a copy to each guest. |
| Russian, throughout | From the aircraft door on arrival to check-in on departure. |
The rate, by group size
| Guests | Privately | Hosted | Essential |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twelve | $19,100 | $9,700 | $5,700 |
| Ten | $20,500 | $10,600 | $6,100 |
| Eight | $24,100 | $11,800 | $6,800 |
| Six | $30,900 | $13,900 | $7,800 |
Net per person for February 2027, sharing twin or double rooms, with single supplements quoted on request. International flights are excluded. The private houses cost the same whether six people sleep in them or twelve, which is why Privately rises as the group thins; Hosted and Essential hold their shape much better, and below six they are quoted on request.
Every rate includes my hosting throughout, Russian-speaking guiding, a place for your own representative, and a photographer and film-maker who travels with the group, so that each journey comes home with its own film. He speaks to every guest beforehand about how they would like to be filmed, or whether they would rather not appear at all.
These are working figures, built on current supplier pricing and our best estimate of 2027 rates. They will be confirmed in writing before anything is sold.
On request, a day round the Peninsula in a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, from about $1,200 to $1,300 a car, or in a car with a private driver for anyone who would rather enjoy the wine. South Africa has zero tolerance for drinking and driving, so whoever is at the wheel stays sober.
What runs through every day
| Hosted personally | I travel with the group from the first arrival until they are settled in the Karoo. From there the Russian-speaking guide and the Sanbona rangers take them through the reserve and onto the aircraft. |
|---|---|
| In Russian throughout | Guides who came to South Africa and qualified here, with the group from arrival to departure. |
| Their own wine | Blended, bottled and labelled by the group, and sent on to them afterwards. |
| Guests | Up to 12 |
|---|---|
| Duration | 9 or 10 days, depending on the level |
| Sample departure | Fly out Friday 5 February 2027, land in Cape Town on Saturday 6 February |
| Arrival and departure | Cape Town International |
| Best month | February: harvest, and the calmest weather of the year |
| Afterwards | A printed book of the journey, and a film |