In the Footsteps of Nelson Mandela

Upon your arrival at the Cape, your local English-speaking representative welcomes you before your transfer to your hotel. Depending on your arrival time, you can explore the city center or enjoy the rooftop pool at your hotel. You will appreciate a 360-degree view of the sea, the Sea Point neighborhood and Table Mountain.

For this first evening, a walk can take you to Grand Parade. It was here that, on February 11, 1990, just hours after his release from prison, Nelson Mandela delivered his first public speech since the balcony of Cape Town's city hall. Built in 1905, this building deserves a visit for its history, its Victorian architecture and the national library it houses.

This first stop opens your four days at the Cape, following the traces of Nelson Mandela's life and struggle.

This morning, you set out to discover a township of Cape Town, an opportunity to connect with different communities and better understand their cultures. This visit immerses you in a daily life marked by difficult living conditions, but also by the struggles, hopes and achievements of its residents.

In Langa, the oldest officially established Black township in Cape Town, you discover the local market, then an arts and crafts center, before visiting a traditional healer. You also visit a daycare center that offers recreational activities and provides a refuge for children in the neighborhood.

After the morning visits, your guide takes you to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, from where you continue your journey in the footsteps of Nelson Mandela with a visit to Robben Island. Listed as a World Heritage Site, this location is home to the prison where he spent eighteen years of his life.

Your guide leaves you at the Waterfront; the visit to Robben Island is self-guided.

Upon your return, you enjoy the V&A Waterfront, its liveliness, its many shops and restaurants, before heading to the Nobel Square. You discover four bronze statues representing South African recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize: Albert Luthuli, Desmond Tutu, FW de Klerk and Nelson Mandela. These last two received this distinction in 1993.

On Madiba's statue, an inscription recalls his words: "Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another."

Accompanied by your English-speaking guide, you start the day with a discovery of Cape Town before taking the cable car up Table Mountain, the symbol of the city that dominates its landscape.

You continue with a visit to the District Six Museum. This neighborhood once welcomed thousands of people from different cultures. In the 1970s, more than 60,000 residents were displaced by the apartheid regime. The museum allows you to discover this history and the memory of the neighborhood.

Your tour then takes you to Company's Garden, then to the South African Parliament, located on Parliament Street. Nelson Mandela, nicknamed Madiba, who was President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, exercised an important part of his mandate there. It was during this period that the 1996 Constitution was drafted, forming the foundation of the country's democratic framework.

Parliament offers free public tours, with the opportunity to discover the floor where Mandela delivered several historic speeches. A walking tour of the grounds allows you to reflect on South Africa's turbulent political past and Mandela's role in its transition to peaceful democracy.

As an optional activity during your stay, you can also visit the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. Created in 1913, this vast estate of 528 hectares is part of the Cape Floral Region, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Departing from Cape Town, you dedicate this day to discovering the Cape Peninsula and the Cape of Good Hope, accompanied by your English-speaking guide-driver. Along the way, the many sites of interest offer plenty of opportunities to stop and discover the peninsula.

Entrance fees to the Cape Peninsula and Boulders Beach are included.

At the end of the day, you head back to Cape Town. A stop at Camps Bay is recommended to have a drink on a terrace or rooftop while admiring the sunset.

This day is dedicated to the theme of "Journey to Freedom". You begin with the visit to the Apartheid Museum, whose interactive exhibition traces the history of the segregation regime, from privileges reserved for Whites to the liberation of Nelson Mandela. Documentary excerpts, texts, sound sequences and testimonies make up a multimedia experience where stories of courage, sadness and joy intertwine.

You then head to Soweto to discover the Hector Pieterson Museum, which helps you understand the causes of the devastating riots. You continue with the Mandela House, a small museum located in Nelson Mandela's former home. Vilakazi Street is known for having been home to two Nobel Peace Prize laureates: former president Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.

Your next stop takes you to the Regina Mundi Church, where many clandestine meetings of banned political parties were held. This place bears witness to the tensions of that period and the courage of those who committed themselves to transforming South African society.

Accompanied by your English-speaking guide, you set off to discover the Cradle of Humankind, a UNESCO World Heritage site. This site invites you to explore the origins of our species and the evolution of humans and their ancestors over the past millions of years. Visits alternate between archaeological excavation sites and exhibitions, in a journey designed as a passage from past to future. The Cradle of Humankind brings together fifteen major archaeological sites, including the famous Sterkfontein Caves.

From past to present, you continue to the Lesedi Cultural Village, where you discover five African cultures. Families from different communities live there in traditional farms. This stop allows you to appreciate the welcome and hospitality of the Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele, Sotho and Pedi peoples, while discovering the Ubuntu spirit.

The day ends with the tasting of a traditional African meal, which extends this discovery of local cultures.

Possibility of spending the night at Lesedi African Lodge, within the cultural village.

You enjoy a free morning in Johannesburg until the time of your transfer to the airport for your next flight.