Family Private Safari Whale Coast & Madikwe

Arriving at Cape Town International Airport, you will be met for the scenic drive to De Hoop, through mountain passes and rolling farmlands interspersed with glimpses of the Indian Ocean. Passing small towns and villages in the open countryside, you arrive at De Hoop and continue to Ocean House. Nestled on a slope richly vegetated with indigenous fynbos, this stone-clad villa stands overlooking the ocean just a short walk from the pristine beach.

With a private staff and chef to ensure that all your needs are met, your time is entirely yours to do with as you wish, where you can be as active or as relaxed as you like.

Your guide is at your disposal to take you on a variety of excursions, from a 4x4 trip to learn of the unique fynbos ecology of the area to birding and sightseeing and nature walks along the coastal zone. With 51 kilometres (32 miles) of beach, dunes and limestone cliffs to explore, there is a wealth of things to do! In the whale calving season (about July to October), southern right whales can be seen from the beaches and cliffs as they breach and display with their calves in the crystal-clear waters of the bay.

Landing in Johannesburg, you will be whisked to Athol Place in the quiet and leafy enclave of Sandton. Set on expansive grounds with an established garden, large trees and a beautiful swimming pool, the villa is a delightful blend of understated elegance and glamour. The friendly and welcoming staff include a host, manager and a private chef to ensure that your experience is relaxed and indulged in utterly tranquil surroundings. The upmarket shopping and dining precincts of Mandela Square and Sandton City are a stone's throw away for any last-minute shopping or to sample a variety of fantastic cuisines.

Once you are ready, a guide will collect you for a tour of Soweto's vibrant neighbourhood. This is where a large part of South African history was made. From colourful and bustling ‘shanty towns’ to the affluent suburbs of wealthier residents, which have included luminaries such as Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela. You will see the Hector Peterson Memorial and the Apartheid Museum, which stand as a testament to the triumph of the human spirit.

Returning to the airport, you will board a charter flight to Madikwe Private Game Reserve, where your guide from Morukuru Farm House will meet you.

The 5-suite Farm House is an oasis, set within a 100-hectare fenced-in safe area that is home to harmless game, so children can play and roam at will, and you have the freedom to walk and explore. This generously proportioned house is elegant yet unpretentious, giving a wonderful sense of a home away from home. The fenced area around the Farm House is the perfect place for kids to take a nature walk with your guide, learning of the many fascinating facets of the wilds, identifying antelope tracks, observing the smaller creatures like dung beetles or examining the complexity of a termite mound. Outside the fence, it is big game territory, and a walking safari out here is nothing short of exhilarating.

You are likely to encounter the Big 5, as well as a host of other large game, including the critically endangered African wild dog. Your guide and tracker’s expertise combine to show you the secrets of the wilderness, the freshness of spoor upon the ground, the flattened grass where a lion lay down, the warning call of a go-away bird. Taking these sensations to another level, you have the opportunity to sleep out under the stars at the Morukuru Hide, a raised platform overlooking a popular waterhole. Combined with a candlelit dinner at an impeccable linen-clad table, beds are made up below billowing mosquito nets where you lie in perfect safety beneath the stars, while the life of the African night surrounds you.

The time finally comes for you to depart: after a final morning game drive or walk, you enjoy a delicious brunch before setting off back to the airstrip. Full of happy memories and indelible experiences of the previous days, the flight back to Johannesburg drifts by as you reminisce on deserted sun-kissed beaches at De Hoop, whales frolicking in the azure water beyond the breakers; the sight of ochre-clad elephants drinking in a line on a riverbank…