Study Abroad in Stellenbosch: Travel
3-day London stopover (Included in fee)
Every semester begins with a 3-day stopover in London en route to Stellenbosch. Students have the opportunity to visit London, recover from jet lag and meet and travel with fellow AIFS students to campus.
Friday, July 11 or January 23 Morning arrival in London where the flight will be met by an AIFS representative. Transfer by bus to a centrally located hotel. Balance of the day free for rest and relaxation.
Saturday, July 12 or January 24 Morning sightseeing tour with a professional guide who will point out some of London’s most famous landmarks including Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and the Tower of London. Afternoon and evening free.
Sunday, July 13 or January 25 Transfer to airport for overnight flight to Cape Town.
The stopover includes hotel, breakfasts, airport transfers, sightseeing tour and local guide. Lunch and dinner are not included.
3-day visit to the Cederberg Mountains (Included in fee)
Friday, August 22 to Sunday, August 24 or Friday, April 24 to Sunday, April 26 Discover nature at close quarters in a weekend of adventure in the Cederberg Wilderness Area. This wild and unspoiled land, two hours north of Cape Town, has lots to offer, namely the beauty of the mountains, rock art, bird-watching, historical buildings and the scenic beauty of wild flowers. Cederberg, proclaimed a wilderness area in 1973, is also ideal for hiking and rock climbing. Accommodations in mountain cabins at a local farm. Meals will be cooked the South African way, on an open fire called a “braai.” Vegetarian food will also be provided. Included meals: Friday dinner; Saturday breakfast, lunch and dinner; Sunday breakfast and lunch.
Garden Route tour (Included in fee)
Every semester the AIFS Resident Director organizes a trip to the famous Garden Route during the break. There is much to experience on the Garden Route, including kayaking with seals and dolphins, visiting a crocodile farm or an ostrich farm (if you like speed, try riding one of these). The Garden Route boasts unspoiled stretches of rocky coast, mountains covered by indigenous forests, beaches, amber-colored rivers and chains of lakes. At the Knysna Elephant Park you can join the elephants that live in a free-range environment, and for a unique and exclusive early morning or late afternoon walk, touch them and even feed them. If you have time left, there are always the game reserves and safaris elsewhere in South Africa and neighboring countries.
Friday, September 5 or March 27 Leave Cape Town via the Winelands area and Du Toits Kloof, heading for Worcester. Visit the Kleinplasie Open Air Museum for an insight into the lifestyle of an early Cape farming family. Continue via Robertson to Swellendam and from there through the Little Karoo via Barrydale and Calitzdorp to Oudtshoorn, the Ostrich capital of South Africa. After a visit to the limestone caverns at the famous Cango Caves, check into a country lodge.
Saturday, September 6 or March 28 Morning visits to the Crocodile and Cheetah farm and to one of the many area Ostrich farms. Travel by bus across the Outeniqua Mountains to George and along the coast to Wilderness. Board the old steam train, the Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe, at Wilderness station for a scenic two hour ride through the lake districts of Wilderness and Sedgefield to Knysna.
Sunday, September 7 or March 29 After breakfast, enjoy a cruise across the Knysna Lagoon to the Featherbed Nature Reserve. A guided trailer ride to the top of the reserve reveals marvelous views of the area. Join the guide for a walk back or jump on the trailer for a slow drive back to the lagoon. Lunch will be served under the Milkwood trees before cruising back to Knysna in the late afternoon.
Monday, September 8 or March 30 Leave Knysna and head east towards Plettenberg Bay, stopping at the Knysna Elephant Park to see, feed and touch these amazing animals. Stop next at Monkey Land to “meet” the different species of monkeys and apes living in the reserve. Continue to the indigenous forests of Tsitsikamma and the Tsitsikamma National Park. Enjoy an afternoon walk to the suspension bridge at Storm’s River Mouth.
Tuesday, September 9 or March 31 Morning visit to the Big Tree and Nature’s Valley while making the way back to Knysna. Continue along the N2 highway through Sedgefield and Wilderness to Mossel Bay, the site of the first landfall made by the Portuguese explorer Bartholomeu Dias in 1488.
Wednesday, September 10 or April 1 Visit the Bartholomeu Dias Museum and the Old Post Office Tree after breakfast. Leave Mossel Bay on the N2 highway past Swellendam, Caledon and across Sir Lowry’s Pass back to Stellenbosch.
Includes accommodations, transportation, breakfasts, dinners, sightseeing
and entrance fees.
