Activities in Africa
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FEATURED
Scuba Dive or Snorkel with Great White Sharks
11 hours (Departs Cape Town, South Africa)
by Viator
Join this tour for the underwater experience of a lifetime as you scuba dive or snorkel with the Great White Sharks of South Africa! Take the opportunity during…Not LP reviewed
from USD$199.48 - All activities
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Felucca Cruises
For Felucca cruises, stand on the corniche and wait for the captains to approach.
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Aquila Microlight Safaris
Trygve Skorge is the enthusiast who offers tours in his motor-powered microlight at Wintervogel Fram, about 40km north of the city. For a 30-minute/one-hour flight it's R850/R1250.
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Hammam Ziani
Sparkling clean and decidedly modern, Hammam Ziani is an upmarket hammam offering the traditional steam room and gommage (scrub) and massage, as well as a Jacuzzi and gym. Its off Rue Verdin.
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Pôle Linguistique de l'Institut Français
If you intend to spend more than just a brief holiday in Senegal, a Wolof course is definitely a good investment. The linguistic branch of the Institut Français, Pôle Linguistique de l'Institut Français runs recommended courses. It's also a good place to brush up on your French.
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Grand Baie Gym & Hydro Spa
The Grand Baie Gym & Hydro Spa has a fabulous pool and gym, and you can indulge in a huge range of spa treatments, steam yourself in the hammam (Turkish bath) or enjoy low-fat dishes at the cafe across the street.
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Serengeti Balloon Safaris
Balloon trips – about an hour floating over the plains at dawn, followed by a champagne breakfast in the bush under the acacia trees, complete with linen tablecloths – are offered by Serengeti Balloon Safaris for US$479 per person. The flight route varies depending on the winds, but often follows a stretch of the Grumeti River. The captains try to stay between 500m and 1000m above ground, weather and wind permitting, which means that if animals are there, you’ll be able to see them. Bookings can be made directly, or through any of the central Serengeti lodges.
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MauriTours
Grand Baie's numerous tour agents can provide information on things to do in the area with the aim, naturally, of signing you up for this cruise package or that coach trip. While prices tend to be similar, the details may vary, so make sure you know exactly what is included. All agents sell tickets for glass-bottomed boat trips, undersea walks, Le Nessee and the Blue Safari Submarine. Many also offer car-hire services and airport transfers and can organise accommodation.
MauriTours has a reliable reputation as an upmarket all-round travel agency selling air tickets, excursions, accommodation, island tours and cruises.
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Famadihana
Famadihana (literally, the 'turning of the bones') is the name given to the traditional exhumations of dead ancestors by the Betsileo and Merina people. Famadihana are joyous and intense occasions, which occur in each family roughly every seven years. Amid feasting, drinking, music and dancing, the bodies of the dead are disinterred from the family tomb, wrapped in bamboo mats, and carried and danced around the tomb. The bodies are then re-shrouded and reburied.
Famadihana ceremonies occur in the region around Antsirabe between July and September only. Local tour operators or pousse-pousse men can help you find one and arrange an invitation. If you receive an invite, it's…
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Jozi Experience
Offers a one-on-one, personalised way to see the city. A private guide can, for example, take you on an orientation walk through downtown Jo’burg, on a night out at the city’s coolest bars, or on a trip to the city’s most obscure shopping spots. It can also set you up with digs in private houses throughout the city.
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Parktown & Westcliff Heritage Trust
Leads several historical walking tours through the swankier areas of town.
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Walks Tours
Offers regular weekend walking tours around parts of Jo’burg as diverse as the city centre, Sandton, Troyeville, Parktown and Alexandra township. The walks go for between three and six hours and are led by well-informed guides. The only downside is that unless you can get enough people together for a private tour, you might have to wait weeks for the walk you want.
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Cape of Good Hope Trail
You’ll need to book to walk the two-day/one-night Cape of Good Hope Trail, which traces a spectacular 33.8km circular route through the reserve.
The cost is R150 (not including the reserve entry fee) with accommodation at the basic Erica, Protea and Restio huts, each sleeping six, at the southern end of the reserve. You will need to bring your own food and a sleeping bag. Contact the reserve’s Buffelsfontein Visitor Centre for further information.
There are plenty of other great walks in the reserve if you don’t have time for the two-day trail. On the False Bay side, try the straightforward 3.5km walk from Buffels Bay to the spectacular Paulsberg peak, whose sheer…
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Christine Revell Children’s Home
This Athlone-based kids’ home needs volunteers and donations of babies’ and children’s clothes and toys.
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Grassroot Soccer
Organisation training township kids in the field of soccer as well as teaching them about AIDS and HIV infection.
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Habitat for Humanity
Helps build homes in poor communities around the world and has several projects going in Cape Town.
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Hoerikwaggo Trail
Seasoned hikers will relish the challenge of the spectacular six-day, five-night Hoerikwaggo Trail, which, when it’s fully up and running (hopefully in 2010), will stretch around 80km or so from Cape Point to the upper cable-car station on Table Mountain. The trail, for which you need to self-cater, can be tackled in full (R2100) or in two-day, one-night sections (R420). Accommodation is in permanent tented camps with comfy beds in sturdy canvas tents protected by wooden shelters. If you don’t have your own sleeping bag your can hire bedding for an extra R75 per night. A maximum of 12 people are on each hike.
At the time of research three of the camps were…
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Jikeleza
The organisation, whose name means ‘turnaround’, teaches life skills and contemporary dance to street kids, focusing on Green Point and Hout Bay.
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Kay Mason Foundation
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Lion’s Head
The 45-minute, 2.2km hike from Kloof Nek to the peak of Lion’s Head is deservedly popular. A lot of people do it as an early-morning constitutional and it’s a ritual to go up and watch the sun go down on a full-moon night. The moonlight aids the walk back down, although you should always bring a torch (flashlight) and go with company. The track is easy to follow and its start is clearly marked at the top of Kloof Nek Rd, where you’ll also find a national park information hut; it involves a little climbing but there are chains on the rocks to help.
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Nazareth House
Takes care of AIDS orphans.
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Ons Plek
Provides a shelter for girls living on the streets.
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Streetsmart
Check the website for a list of Cape Town restaurants signed up to this program that applies a donation of R5 to every bill to the street kids’ charity.
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Table Mountain Trail
Those looking for a short, comfortable hike can opt for the fully catered three-day, two-night Table Mountain Trail, starting at the Waterfront and proceeding through the City Bowl. The first night is spent at a well-appointed lodge at the historic Platteklip Wash House in Vredehoek, on the lower northern slopes of the mountain. On day two the hike continues up to the cableway and then to the summit and across the mountaintop. The night is spent at the Overseers Cottage on the mountain’s Back Table. On the final day hikers explore the Back Table and descend via the eastern slopes of the mountain to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.
The trail costs R1900 per person…
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The Homestead
Going since in 1982, when it set up Cape Town’s first shelter for street children, it runs several programs in the region, including job-creation schemes.
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Tourism Community Development Trust
Started in 1999 by key people in the local backpacker travel industry who wanted to help build a crèche in the Cape Flats townships, this has been achieved and the trust has since grown and become a major organisation taking on other education projects. Leave your old clothes so they can be sold to raise money for the trust at Ashanti Lodge.
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