South Africa & Beyond: Your Guide to Cruising Southern Africa

Many will choose the classic Mount Nelson hotel in downtown Cape Town, but we think the waterside options at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront are excellent, for the views, and the active and safe night life, with loads of dining options.

Choose from the Table Bay, Victoria and Alfred, Cape Grace or Radisson Red. Because of the very favourable exchange rate, wining and dining is great value, and we recommend you check out the local wines from Franschhoek and Stellenbosch.

For days out, we recommend wine land tours with an excellent lunch and tasting of the various local wines - in fact there are some great properties here, so an overnight is another excellent option. Set forth down the coastal road for the Cape itself, stopping off on the way in Simons Town to visit the penguins at Boulders Beach, before progressing to the southernmost point of South Africa for spectacular scenery and extraordinary biodiversity - you might get to see ostriches and baboons while you are there.

A trip to Robben Island is in my opinion a must, and do pre-book your tickets as this gets booked up. The ferry leaves from the V&A waterfront, and your ticket includes the ferry crossing and guided tour on arrival. The knowledgeable guides have lived through apartheid, and many are former political prisoners, with extraordinary stories to tell about their life on the island.

The standard southern Africa cruise itinerary takes you first up the Atlantic coast to Namibia - we spent three days there, one in Luderitz and an additional two in Walvis Bay. The cold current travelling from Antarctica meeting the hot air coming southwards from Angola creates foggy and often chilly conditions, and the desert conditions up the coast. This is your opportunity to visit the Namib Desert, considered to be the oldest on Earth.

Your itinerary will now take you southwards, back the way you came, around Cape Horn to explore the Eastern Cape region which is your gateway to the game parks of South Africa, where you can expect to see the Big Five and more.

Shore excursions include safari days, and the opportunity to learn more about the local cultures. Most cruise lines will facilitate an overnight safari experience staying at a lodge in one of the major game parks. The reason to choose such a tour (which will be expensive) is to enable you to enjoy game drives at the beginning and end of the day, when the animals are far more likely to be visible and active.

During our amazing overnight at Lalibela (from Port Elizabeth) we enjoyed late afternoon and dawn game drives, and saw an extraordinary array of wildlife including cheetahs, giraffe, a whole variety of antelope, wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, elephant, hippos and lions. Other excursions from PE included an excellent township visit with insight into the chequered history of the rainbow nation.

Most itineraries then continue on to Richards Bay, access to the parks of KwaZulu-Natal, and in particular Hluhluwe game reserve boasting spectacular scenery. If you have a particular interest (bird life for example) a variety of tour options are available. Of particular interest from Richards Bay is the Zulu village Dumazulu, the only Zulu village to be opened up to tourism by King Goodwill Zwelithini, and the only authentic example of Zulu traditions that foreigners are allowed into.

Heading south again, a stop in Durban gives you the opportunity to explore this thriving city, learn more about the Zulu culture and traditions, and Nelson Mandela's capture here.

It is then a two-day sail back to Cape Town, so overall these fascinating itineraries are heavy on sea days, but interspersed with a packed and busy programme shoreside to give you a great balance. Look out for itineraries that include a stop at Mossel Bay on the Garden Route.

These South Africa itineraries can easily be packaged with the excellent Rovos Rail, a visit to Victoria Falls, the Okavango Delta, or in short, whatever takes your fancy. In fact, if you want to finish off with a bit of indulgent R&R there are direct flights from both Cape Town and Johannesburg to Mauritius. Our knowledgeable cruise consultants will work with you and our local experts to create the perfect bespoke trip for you.