"We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right"
...Nelson Mandela
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10N Church Group:South Africa/Victoria Falls |
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Arrival Date: 11th September 2006. Upon arrival at Johannesburg International Airport at 655am on the 11september, you will be met by our representative. Due to the early morning arrival of the flight, the rooms may not be ready until later that morning. If they are available, we should be able to check in early.
If not, then there are 2 options: 1) The group can store there bag’s at the hotel, eat breakfast in the area, and walk around the Sandton area, getting over jet lag, and getting a feel of the area. 2) We can add in a half day tour, then return to the hotel at midday or there about..we can take the group to some place local for them to eat breakfast if they would like that. As far what tour, I would recommend we add do the Half Day Johannesburg City tour that morning, and add in the Apartheid Museum with Soweto the next morning. Park Plaza Sandton Standard Hotel situated in Sandton on the Gold Reef.With 138 stylishly furnished rooms and suites, all offering luxury and comfort to suit your specific needs, guests have a choice of standard, superior and superior deluxe rooms as well as one and two bedroom suites. Furthermore all our rooms feature a television with satellite channels, digital safe for valuables, minibar fridge that can be stocked on request, tea/coffee making facilities and direct dial telephones. At Sandton Park Plaza guests can choose to enjoy a superb meal in our a la carte restaurant or take advantage of our bar area and terrace which has an equally superb light lunch menu. With our four executive boardrooms accommodating 12-16 people and a main conference room large enough to accommodate 60 delegates, Sandton Park Plaza offers a superb venue for all business functions. Together with our excellent and fully equipped banqueting facilities we offer a superb working environment. 12th SeptemberPrivate Full Day Johannesburg City tour and Soweto (Incl: entrance fees and lunch)(Excl: drinks) 09h00 pick-up from hotel for private Johannesburg City tour and Soweto (Incl: entrance fees and lunch)(Excl: drinks) 15h00 return to your hotel Visit the City of Gold - South Africa's main financial centre - with all its contrasts: From a building in the shape of a diamond and the gold mining company head offices, to a muti shop for traditional healers, the Market Theatre Complex and the Nelson Mandela bridge. Proceed through historic Parktown, making our way via upmarket Rosebank to Sandton, where Africa's most expensive commercial real estate is to be found. Lunch included, drinks are for own account. Duration of tour is 3,5 hours and includes the following: o Drive through contrasting settlements whilst being told the historyo Stop over at the Baragwanath taxi rank for an aerial view of Sowetoo Visit to a squatter camp for a short guided touro Pass the Walter Sissulu Square of Dedicationo Visit to Regina Mundi, the mecca of Sowetoo Pass the former bishop Desmond Tutu's and Winnie Mandela's homeso Visit the Mandela Museumo Visit the Hector Peterson Museum and Memorialo Sit for a sumptuous lunch at one of the local shebeens Return to your hotel 15h00 .
13th SeptemberPrivate Full day Pretoria City tour and visit to the Cullinan Diamond mine (Incl: entrance fees)(Excl: lunch & drinks) We retrace the steps of history: From Voortrekker Monument which commemorates the Great Trek and Pres Paul Kruger's House who was president when the South African War broke out in 1899, to Church Square and Melrose House where the peace treaty was signed in 1902. Our last stop is the Union Buildings, which houses the president’s office. Continue to the active producing Premier Diamond Mine where the magnificent Cullinan diamond of 3106 carats was found in 1905. The tour includes a tour of the surface of the mine and viewing the big hole. Return to your hotel in the afternoon. 14th SeptemberThis morning you will be collected by your local English-speaking guide and will be transferred from your hotel to Johannesburg International Airport for your regional flight to Livingstone airport Flight to Livingstone YOU MUST ASK FOR A DOUBLE ENTRY VISA FOR ZAMBIA. 3 Nights at Zamebzi Sun On arrival at Livingstone Airport the group will be met by our Representative for their road transfer to Zambezi Sun Hotel . Day at Leisure Overnight at the Zambezi Sun Hotel in a standard twin bedded rooms with en-suite facilities. Accommodation is on a bed and breakfast basis. 15 September 06Day at Leisure 16 September 06This morning the group will be met by our Representative for their road transfer over the boarder to Zimbabwe. The group will enjoy a morning Tour of the Falls on the Zimbabwean Side followed by an excursion to the African Craft Market. The group will then enjoy lunch at the Victoria Falls Hotel. Drinks not included. The Group will be met and transferred to the Jetty for departure on their sundowner cruise on the Mighty Zamabezi river including canapés and drinks. After the cruise the group will continue by road over the boarder to their hotel. Overnight at the Zamebzi Sun Hotel in a standard twin / single room with en-suite bathroom. Accommodation is on a bed and breakfast basis. 17 September 06This morning the group will depart Zambezi Sun Hotel by road to Livingstone airport for departure on their scheduled flight to Johannesburg. Nationwide Flight # 203 240pm departure, arriving at 420pm into Johannesburg. Upon arrival at Johannesburg International Airport , and proceeding through customs, you proceed to the Domestic Departure Terminal for the scheduled local flight to Cape Town. Leave Johannesburg arrive Cape Town
On arrival at Cape Town International Airport you will be met by representative and en-route to your hotel you will enjoy a lovely traditional home-cooking Malay dinner – a great introduction to the history of Cape Town. Dinner at No.3 Morris Street in the Bo-Kaap at one of the local Malay folks and entertainment by the Sunshine Entertainers, a group of local minstrels. (drinks for own account) Late check-in has been arranged..
Park Inn Spend four overnights at the hotel of your choice in a standard room with en-suite facilities, on a bed and breakfast basis The Park InnHistoric buildings, continental cafes and interesting shops, surround this attractive hotel. Enjoy breakfast, lunch or dinner in the hotel's restaurant or reminisce about the day's activities while you enjoy a quiet drink in the bar. The warm smiles and friendly service of the staff will ensure that your stay is a pleasant one. The popular V&A Waterfront and Table Mountain are only a short drive away. Each of the 170 comfortable and spacious bedrooms has en-suite bathrooms and has air-conditioning, a hairdryer, and television with pay movies, telephone, hairdryer, tea and coffee making facilities. Park Inn, formerly known as Greenmarket Square Hotel is situated on the historic Greenmarket Square and forms part of the Central Business District of Cape Town. Over centuries this hotel has earned the distinction of being the meeting place for Capetonians and distant travelers alike. The Park Inn is just around the corner from a variety of fascinating Museums, Arts & Crafts and other places of interest. Even the V&A Waterfront with its fabulous choice of shopping and restaurants is just a walk away. The Hotel’s traditional Irish pub will certainly help make one’s stay a pleasant one. Our Restaurant, Famous Butchers Grill, with its alfresco terrace, overlooks the vibrant Greenmarket Square and is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Special Welcome Dinner:Dinner transfer to the Malay Quarter for a walking tour of the Bo-Kaap, and entertainment by some of the local minstrels singing groups and dinner at one of the local Malay folks house. (drinks for own account) Very personal, cultural, and a wonderful locally cooked dinner awaits you. Return to your hotel in the evening. 18th SeptemberThis morning you will be taken on a full day Winelands tour. (Incl: entrance fees and lunch) (Excl: drinks) This classic tour takes the visitor through spectacular vineyard-covered valleys and along scenic country roads. During the course of the day you will visit Franschhoek, a thriving town first settled by the French Huguenots in 1688. You then continue to the town of Stellenbosch - This historic town, founded in 1679, is renowned for the gracious Cape Dutch thatched and gabled buildings and stately oaks, which line the streets. It is considered one of the best-preserved towns from the era of the Dutch East India Company and it is the second oldest town in the country.
Oom Samie se Winkel - a Victorian dealer’s store dating from 1904 & the Stellenbosch Village Museum (a complex of historic homes furnished in period style) are both worthwhile stops. The scenery combined with 2 winetastings, a cellar tour, lunch on a wine farm and the opportunity to purchase the local wines make this tour the ideal introduction to Cape Winelands. Return to the hotel in the late afternoon 19th SeptemberToday you will be taken on a full Cultural tour. (Incl. entrance fees) (Excl: lunch and drinks) We begin the tour at The Bo-Kaap, where you have a look at the picturesque "Malay Quarter", it's dynamic museum and the oldest mosque in the Southern Hemisphere. We discover the unique culture, lifestyle and personality of the Cape Muslim community and their contribution to South Africa's development.
The tour then moves on to District Six. District Six is as a result of the Group Areas Act, where 60 000 Capetonian families were forcibly removed from this once vibrant area between 1966 and 1982. The District Six issue remains crucial. We examine the now desolate area, Zonnebloem, which was District Six and visit the living museum which attempts to represent and recapture District Six in various ways - as a fine-spun tapestry of communal life torn apart but not forgotten.
Thereafter a visit to the townships follows. Seeking Racial segregation, apartheid policies disrupted all non-white population groups, distorted both rural and urban development and ensured hopeless overcrowding. Few houses were built. Sprawling satellite camps of seemingly endless shanties - makeshift structures of various materials - provide little more than a roof and some shelter. As we shall see, squatter settlements are seeking their own solutions as an economic necessity. Against all odds, township life prevails, in all its nuances. As hosts of local community workers, we take a walk through vibrant black community with all it's different social strata.
Langa is Cape Town's oldest formal black township. You will have the opportunity to talk to people and try the traditional African sorghum beer and ginger beer at a small township shop ("spaza") or a tavern ("shebeen"). Lunch will be enjoyed in the Waterfront (your own account) After lunch you will board the ferry that will take you to Robben Island. For nearly 400 years, Robben Island, 12 kilometres from Cape Town, was a place of banishment, exile, isolation and imp During the apartheid years Robben Island became internationally known for its institutional brutality. The duty of those who ran the Island and its prison was to isolate opponents of apartheid and to crush their morale. Some freedom fighters spent more than a quarter of a century in prison for their beliefs.
Those imprisoned on the Island succeeded on a psychological and political level in turning a prison 'hell-hole' into a symbol of freedom and personal liberation. Robben Island came to symbolize, not only for South Africa and the African continent, but also for the entire world, the triumph of the human spirit over enormous hardship and adversity. Imagine a place, where one could see the reflection of triumph of the human spirit against evil forces. As quoted by Ahmed Kathrada," While we will not forget the brutality of apartheid, we will not want Robben Island to be a monument to our hardship and suffering. We would want Robben Island to be a monument...reflecting the triumph of the human spirit against the forces of evil." Robben Island is a place, where people can learn from and acknowledge the history. One could pay respect, to people of our time that fought for freedom, in this case for human rights. Life for a prisoner on Robben Island was not easy, but life in the old South Africa was not so pleasant either. People of colour were treated inhumanly, not permitted on the beaches, in pools, in movies or to practice own traditions by order of law. These are only a few consequences of petty apartheid. The beautiful country of Africa was segregated by classifications of skin and cultural background and only censored activities were permitted. To go to this Island is still an experience of immense power. It is similar to that of the Nazi concentration camps and hideouts, a cold, damp, barren and lonely place. Fresh water and trees were completely absent, and very little communication could be achieved between the outside world and islanders. The waters surrounding the island were infested with hungry sharks patrolling. The stormy weather conditions characteristic to the southern tip of Africa became known as the Cape Of Storms. Very few places in the world exemplify and symbolize the struggle for freedom against oppression of basic human rights, as Robben Island does. After the tour, you will be returned to the hotel. 20st SeptemberDay at leisure. (we have arranged for full day coach hire (8-hrs), but all other expenses are for client’s own account) Which means we have the bus free to take folks shopping, possibly Table Mountain, etc… 21cnd September Breakfast and check-out at 11h00. Your luggage will be stored at reception until road transfer at 15h00 to Cape Town International Airport.. Suggest you do the local Cape Town shopping on this day, keeping close to the hotel.
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