Family Garden Route & Safari Holiday

Your family adventure begins today as you arrive at Cape Town International Airport and pick up your rental car. Drive to Cape Town's Atlantic Ocean suburb of Sea Point and head to The Mouille Point Apartments - your home for the following four nights.

Comfortably hosting a family, these apartments are the perfect base from which to explore the many sights and attractions of Cape Town. Settle in, get your bearings and maybe end the day off with an ice cream and a walk along the ever-popular Sea Point Promenade to watch the ocean sunset.

The next three full days will be filled with fun and adventure as Cape Town is the perfect holiday destination for active families. Sea Point is close to the classic city beaches of Camps bay and Clifton, and it's not far into the centre of town either.

Drive down the scenic Cape Peninsula to Boulders Beach to visit the penguin colony and follow this with a tour of dramatic Cape Point. You could also take a boat ride to Robben Island and tour the prison in which Nelson Mandela was once held, or take the cable car up Table Mountain for huge city views.

A visit to the Two Oceans Aquarium is always a hit with the children and while you're there, you can enjoy all the attractions and amenities of the V&A Waterfront and enjoy a delicious lunch looking out over a working harbour. A short drive will also take you to Ratanga Junction, a holiday adventure park with a wide range of different rides and thrills.

Leave Cape Town behind today and embark on a short but scenic drive to the Whale Coast and the relaxed seaside town of Hermanus.

Check in to The Abalone Guest Lodge where you'll spend the following two nights. Ideal for both parents and kids, this elegant and luxurious lodge offers great activities in order to enjoy this dramatic part of the coast.

Set high above the Indian Ocean on Siever's Point, The Abalone Guest Lodge is perfectly located between the town centre and the Blue Flag beaches of Hermanus, giving you plenty to choose from for the day's excursions.

During whale watching season (June to November, peaking in September), you can book a boat cruise out into the ocean (optional), or simply walk the scenic Cliff Path and keep an eye out below - Hermanus has a name for delivering the best land-based whale watching in the world. Listen for the calls of the local 'Whale Crier' to find out when these majestic creatures have ventured into Walker Bay.

The more adventurous might enjoy a thrilling shark-cage dive in nearby Gansbaai while others will love visiting surrounding wine farms, going on a horseback ride or hiking in spectacular Fernkloof Nature Reserve. Alternatively, hours can be spent building sand castles on the beach and swimming in the cold, but refreshing, sea.

Wave goodbye to the coast this morning as you head inland and into the semi-arid Little Karoo and the town of Oudtshoorn, most well known for its ostrich industry. Arrive at Mooi Plaas, a working ostrich farm, where you'll spend the night in the elegant family suite.

Spend the afternoon on a tour of the farm where you and the children can get up close to thousands of ostriches and hold a fluffy chick or two. If you arrive early enough, you could also visit the nearby Cango Caves, a definite highlight of the region.

Drive back toward the coast today as you head for the Garden Route to wind your way along its scenic roads that are wedged between mountains and the Indian Ocean.

Arrive at Fynbos Ridge Country House, situated between Plettenberg Bay and Knysna - two of the Garden Route's most popular towns. Located in a private nature reserve, this warm and comfortable family home overlooks the dramatic Tsitsikamma Mountains and is the ideal base from which to explore this magnificent region.

At Fynbos Ridge you can head out on a number of hiking trails and shorter nature walks to explore this unique environment - birders and botanists will be in for a treat as the area has good bird watching with several local endemics and of course plenty of the famous fynbos vegetation.

A short drive will take you to some of the many attractions in the area such as Monkeyland, Birds of Eden and the Elephant Sanctuary. Take a walk through Knysna Forest and hug some of the country's oldest trees or head out to sea for a fun and enlightening Marine Encounters Tour in search of marine life.

With fantastic golf courses nearby, you might even get the chance to practice your swing before the family regroups for a relaxed dinner at one of the many restaurants in the area.

Leave the forests behind today as you drive to River Bend Country Lodge in Addo Elephant National Park. This child-friendly, luxury country lodge is situated in the scenic Sundays River Valley, just outside Port Elizabeth.

You'll spend the next three days enjoying game drives in search of elephants and other big game species such as lion, rhino and giraffe. Addo is a Big 5 conservation area and as it's malaria-free, it offers safe and rewarding game viewing for the whole family.

River Bend Country Lodge is set on a gracious property run by dedicated staff who are also committed to the conservation and rehabilitation of local wildlife.

Morning and afternoon game drives are an absolute must, but you can also go on cultural and historical excursions and learn about astronomy during night drives. Children have their own tailored safari programmes to look forward to: be sure to enrol your kids on the lodge's special tracking courses and let them have their own fun in the bush under expert supervision.

Your family Garden Route safari comes to an end today as you drive to the city of Port Elizabeth and return your rental car at the airport before connecting with your ongoing travel arrangements.