Every tour is private, just your party, Silmon, and the vehicle. Prices are per vehicle,
not per person, for one to seven guests. Each trip below is a starting point;
Silmon reshapes it around your interests, the weather, and how long you want to linger.
№ 01
The Peninsula Day
The Cape's greatest hits in one unhurried arc. You'll leave the city along the
Atlantic Seaboard, cross Chapman's Peak Drive, one of the world's finest coastal
roads, and reach Boulders Beach to walk among its resident African penguin colony.
Then to the very tip of the peninsula at Cape Point, where two hundred metre cliffs
drop into the meeting of currents. Lunch in Kalk Bay or Simon's Town, and home along
the False Bay coast as the light turns gold.
Sea Point Promenade
Hout Bay
Chapman's Peak
Boulders Beach
Cape Point
Kalk Bay
№ 02
The Winelands Day
Stellenbosch's oak lined streets, the mountain amphitheatre of Franschhoek, and
three or four estates chosen for you, not from a brochure, but from what you tell
Silmon you enjoy drinking. Cellar tastings, a proper long lunch at a vineyard
restaurant, and no one in your party needing to stay sober behind the wheel.
Chocolate and wine or cheese pairings for the non drinkers; the scenery does not
require a glass in hand.
Stellenbosch
Helshoogte Pass
Franschhoek
3 to 4 estates, tastings arranged
№ 03
City & Table Mountain
Cape Town itself, read street by street. Silmon times the cableway for the clearest
window and the shortest queue, then walks you through the Bo Kaap's painted
terraces, the Company's Garden, and the layers of history between District Six
and the V&A Waterfront. Choose the half day, or extend into the afternoon with
Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden and sundowners on Signal Hill.
Table Mountain Cableway
Bo Kaap
Company's Garden
District Six
Kirstenbosch or Signal Hill
№ 04
Whale Coast & the Overberg June to November
In season, southern right whales calve metres from the cliffs of Hermanus, the
best land based whale watching on earth. The drive out is half the pleasure:
over Sir Lowry's Pass and along Clarence Drive, a coastal road that rivals
Chapman's Peak with a fraction of the traffic. Add a stop at a Bot River or
Hemel en Aarde wine farm on the way home, or a beach walk at Onrus.
Clarence Drive (R44)
Betty's Bay penguins
Hermanus cliff path
Hemel en Aarde Valley
№ 05
Big Five Safari
Lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino and leopard, a couple of hours from the city.
Silmon collects you before dawn and drives you door to door to a private Karoo
game reserve, where a reserve ranger takes over for open vehicle game drives
across the plains. Between drives there is a bush breakfast and time to settle
on a lodge veranda with the horizon to yourself. Go as a long full day, or stay
over for the golden early morning and late afternoon sightings the day trippers
miss.
Dawn hotel pickup
Private Karoo reserve
Open vehicle game drives
Bush breakfast
№ 06
The Garden Route 2 to 4 days
The coast east of Cape Town, taken slowly over several days rather than rushed in
one. The forests and lagoon of Knysna, the beaches of Plettenberg Bay, the
canopy walks and giddy heights of Tsitsikamma, and inland to the ostrich farms
and the vast Cango Caves at Oudtshoorn, with a mountain pass or two for the view.
Silmon plans the overnights, drives every kilometre, and shapes the pace around
you, whether that means whale watching and forest trails or simply long lunches
above the sea. An overnight safari can be folded into the route.
Mossel Bay
Knysna
Plettenberg Bay
Tsitsikamma
Oudtshoorn
№ 07
The Tailor Made Day
Some of Silmon's best days started with a guest saying "we're not sure, what would
you do?" Photography mornings chasing first light, West Coast wildflowers in
spring, township art studios, a food and market crawl, or simply a slow day
stitched together from everything above. Tell Silmon who's coming and what you
love; he'll send you a plan by the next morning.
Your interests
Silmon's route
One good day
Rates include Silmon as your guide and driver, the vehicle, fuel and tolls.
Park entries, cableway tickets, game drives, tastings, meals and overnight stays are
for your account. Silmon will give you an honest estimate before you book, with no marked up "packages".
Can't choose? Don't.
Send Silmon your dates and he'll suggest the right order of days for the season, the weather, and your party.