If personalized service is a must for your family's South African tour, consider these three companies. Each offers flexibility and a different array of options for a more thoroughly unconventional approach to guided travel.
Visitors to South Africa seeking a vacation off the beaten path can look to small independent tour guide companies that specialize in showing their guests, including individual families, a side of the country not always seen by larger touring groups. Whether you’re bringing the kids, grandkids, parents or an entire family reunion, there is much to choose from in terms of a more personalized approach to tour arrangement.
Wild Coast Holiday Reservations: The Hidden Eastern Cape
William Ross of Wild Coast Holiday Reservations (27/43-743-6181) offers fascinating excursions around the Eastern Cape in southeast South Africa. The Eastern Cape is the birthplace of some of the country’s most prominent politicians, including former president Nelson Mandela and current president Thabo Mbeki.
A Wild Coast Holiday Reservations tour offers many options along their flagship trail, the Wild Coast Meander. Your journey might begin with a stay at the ultra-modern Sun International Hemingways Hotel and Casino or the company’s own Meander Inn in East London, the second biggest port city in this region. The next day should include a drive, mostly on a dirt road, toward the cliffs of Morgan Bay. Ross will guide you on a leisurely hike to Kei River Mouth to see a lighthouse, followed by a relaxing boat cruise on the river.
There are a number of fine cultural villages set up for tourists throughout South Africa, but in the Eastern Cape, Ross takes his clients to an actual Xhosa village. After traveling by ferry to the Transkei, you will visit a Xhosa family still living much like their ancestors hundreds of years ago. The Xhosa people were some of the first inhabitants of the region, and Nelson Mandela is a Xhosa. Your visit will include an invitation into a thatched-roof home called a kraal, owned by the tribe’s healer. This lively woman will demonstrate her holistic rituals and primitive chores while her friends and family sing in perfect harmony and keep a rhythmic beat. Not too many tourists make it to these parts. Television host Oprah Winfrey’s Angel Network donated a tremendous amount of funds for the children of this improvised area.
In addition to the Wild Coast Meander, Wild Coast Holiday Reservations offers excursions on five other trails, each with unique rural attractions, family-friendly lodging, guides, and porters.
Bophelo Tours & Safaris: Variety, Luxury, History
Marius Barnard of Bophelo Tours and Safaris (27/83-957-5010) offers guided and self-guided tours throughout South Africa, catering to a variety of groups, including the disabled. His tours are great for multi-generational families traveling together. You can include the ultra-luxurious Rovos Rail for a safari by train. From Johannesburg in the Gauteng Province, Barnard can take you 15 kilometers away to Soweto, which is comprised of 22 townships. In 1976, the first riots against apartheid began in Soweto. The Hector Petersen Memorial, named for a thirteen-year-old boy killed by a policeman’s bullet, stands as a tribute to those who lost their lives. Other places of interest include the former home of Nelson Mandela, now a museum, and the current compound of Winnie Mandela, his very controversial former wife.
Africa Classic Encounters: The Family Safari
For families seeking the more safari-oriented South African experience, African Classic Encounters (212/972-0031) offers a variety of smaller guided tours in South Africa. With offices in both Africa and the United States, this company doesn’t even accept online bookings–they prefer to offer consultations on the phone or in-house to best personalize the travel experience. Custom South African safaris, designed for a variety of price ranges, are each led by personal rangers and a Shangaan tracker. Special family-oriented programs include a walk with baboons and whale watching.
Award-winning South African Airways (27/11-978-5313) flies from New York’s JFK Airport to Johannesburg. An SAA domestic connection brings you to Durban or East London.
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A destiny I will never forget.
This was by far, the best vacation I have ever been on. I hope be awarded the scholarship so that I can go on to college, graduate with honors, and get a great job so that one day I can show my family what a great place Yellowstone National Park is. Thank you for considering my application!
I hope you enjoy my essay. Thank you for your time.
My favorite city so far!
It's such a beautiful place!
my trip.
Hey Everyone,
Thanks for checking out my blog. 🙂 I hope you enjoy.
With Much Appreciation,
– Zoe McDowell
hello
I have run short on space, yet I managed to squeeze in about 3/4ths of my trip.
Lordsburg and Demming are in New Mexico (I guess I should have edited that), and there are numerous other details I would have liked to have included….
If you're interested in traveling in my footsteps, I highly recommend the Togwotee Lodge and Resort, which is where we stayed during our trip.
While visiting Paris the summer I was fourteen, I was captivated my by its beauty. The city's rich culture, diverse people, and turbulent history fascinated me and captured my imagination. It was there that I discovered the wonder of adventure, and my never-ending love of Paris.
this is my actual scholarship submission. PLEASE DO NOT JUDGE THE PREVIOUS ENTRY. THIS IS MY SUBMISSION. THANK YOU.
This was the most incredible vacation ever! All my classmates who attended agreed and have remembered every memory from Washington D.C. Thank you School Tours of America and my special sponsors Mrs. Nobel and Mr. Fitch.
My trip to new york was wonderful. I even c reated a website to prove it.
http://nothinglikenewyork.shutterfly.com/
I almost did not go on this trip, worrying about what could go wrong, that summer would nearly be over when I returned, and how much it cost. But, I decided to take this trip to see a few of my German friends and their families, not knowing when, otherwise, I would see them again if I didn't take this opportunity. Now that I have returned home, I am very happy to have taken this trip.
My name is Inemesit Effiong.I am an avid reader and an ardent Colin Firth fan. I love outdoor activities, writing poetry, and volunteering. I have had the privilege of volunteering with several clubs like National Honor Society, Rotary Club, Interact Volunteer Club, and The Bridge Run. I enjoy watching Jeopardy with my father (mostly because of Alex Trebek) and I hope to pursue Nursing as a major. I entered this contest because I love exploring and I fell that my experience is very relatable, especially to teenagers my age, who would like to travel abroad, but lack the means or opportunity to do so.
This is a blog about my trip with my mother to New York City
I encourage you, go on a mission trip! You will never regret it. If anything it can help you to figure out your place in this world.
I raised money for this trip during the course of my Freshman year, first by a Bake Sale, which raised over $700, then by giving out poetry that I had written in exchange for donations. They expereince broadened me as a leader and created lasting friendships with other cultures.
This was my Italian experience. It was extremely fun and I can’t wait for the time when I get the chance to return.
Hope you enjoyed my essay! Just wanted to share my beliefs and personal experience. 🙂
Hopefully you can enjoy my post! It's what I believe and is my own personal experience. 🙂
My scholarship entry!
Im glad to share my families trip with you. I hope this inspires you to go on a trip with your family to Hawaii.
My vacation to Spain in general was one of the most enjoyable things I have ever done. The culture was rich and the archetecture was far more ornate than anything I've ever seen in the United States. I will defenately go back there some day if I am fortunate enough.
This particular blog was submitted as a scholarship essay to myfamilytravels.com, enjoy!
I truly am grateful for the wonderful opportunity I had to travel to Hong Kong for a month! I'll definitely think about living in Hong Kong in the future!
I hope people can read this travel blog and see for themselves how great the aftermath of war is. Because of war, these children have to suffer every single day. ):
This blog was very fun to write, it let me reevaluate what had happened during the trip and laugh about it once again. Maybe it will inspire someone else to do what what my family did and go through the indescribable little horrors that we all went through. Happy traveling!
If you have ever wondered what a BIG city is, than New York City is the place for you to go! i had a blast there! Check it out!!
I had alot of fun writing this essay.
Europe is a great place to visit!
it looks cool!
Here is my scholarship for the Teen Travel Writing Scholarship of my journey to Alaska!
My trip to London.
I discovered that I was a pretty good photographer while on this trip. I now take all the family vacation pictures!
My trip to Yellowstone was truly amazing! Yellowstone is a must-see for all nature lovers and hikers!
The wedding took place on August 6, 2011.
this was a wonerful trip with friends & family
My experience was amazing here!
My essay describes the emotional connection to the effects of a storm which would seemingly ruins a trip to Lake Michigan.
I wish I could have written more about Germany, but summing up a vacation such as that in only 600 words seemed impossible to me. I would have never guessed I would have learned so much about myself there. We did activitivities I would never seen myself doing in a million years. Many of the students that went on the trip I would not normally be friends with, but at the end of the day no matter how different we were from one another, we were all friends and family to eachother and still keep in touch till this day. I don't know when I will be able to go on such an amazing adventure again, but my advice to whoever comes across this is, if you have the oppritunity, take it. Even if you are apprehensive, take the risk because I'm willing to bet you will learn so much more.
Thank you all for reading this and best of luck to everyone who entered this contest!
We love going to the Hawaiian Islands. Maui was one of our favorites. Molokini Crater is just off of the Maui coast. I couldn't believe at the variety of fish we snorkeled with–we even glimpsed a reef shark! Snorkeling at Molokini Crater was a great experience and was the inspiration for this short essay.
This is my scholarship essay, please confirm that it has been entered. Thank you!
The reason for my visit to Nigeria was because of a death in my family. In the attatched picture, I am in the middle, surrounded by my family members as we walked toward the area where the ceremony was to be held. The whole experience of visiting Nigeria a third time (but as a teenager) opened my eyes and made me realize that there are things in the world bigger than just me and my problems, and it's my job to find a way to give back before time runs out.
This was my family trip to Missouri…never forget how important learning and family is.
I am a young international traveler interested in seeing the dynamics between different cultures acted out out not only through travel but through international relations on a global stage. Trips to Belize and across the world have cemented my belief that nations working together is for the good of everyone on earth.
I wrote this for the Scholarship writing contest.
This is my entry for the FTF Teen Travel Writing Scholorship!
I hope that everyone can learn a little about this unique country from my blog. There are so many more things I wish I could say, but space is limited!