Best of South Africa With Cape Town Extension

Crackling with energy, dynamic Johannesburg embodies much of the hope -- and some of the growing pains -- of the new South Africa. Street vendors hawking herbal medicine and African crafts have moved in among the towering skyscrapers and traditional Dutch buildings of the Central Business District, and down the street the once-feared Rand Supreme Court continues to uphold and expand the country’s new constitution, one of the most liberal in the world. Get a sense of the spirit of “Jo’burg” with a local licensed guide.

Find a new meaning for the term "gold rush" as you descend 500 feet below ground. Johannesburg grew up as a gold-mining city in the 1880s, and this past is recreated at Gold Reef City in everything from the period-perfect streets to the ragtime soundtrack to an actual quarter-mile-deep gold mine.

“The Lion King,” up close and personal (and a bit less animated). Kruger National Park, South Africa’s largest wildlife refuge, is unbeatable for sighting “The Big Five”: lions, rhinos, buffalos, leopards, and elephants. See giraffes stretching up to grab the last leaf from an acacia tree and antelope leaping toward the horizon, or photograph zebras contemplating their striped reflections as they drink from pools of water. A licensed ranger will help you spot these magnificent animals, as well as a few lesser-known creatures. Watch out for the roadrunner-like kori bustard—at over forty pounds, it’s the heaviest flying bird in the world, and it looks ready to fall out of the sky at any minute.

“The Lion King,” up close and personal (and a bit less animated). Kruger National Park, South Africa’s largest wildlife refuge, is unbeatable for sighting “The Big Five”: lions, rhinos, buffalos, leopards, and elephants. See giraffes stretching up to grab the last leaf from an acacia tree and antelope leaping toward the horizon, or photograph zebras contemplating their striped reflections as they drink from pools of water. A licensed ranger will help you spot these magnificent animals, as well as a few lesser-known creatures. Watch out for the roadrunner-like kori bustard—at over forty pounds, it’s the heaviest flying bird in the world, and it looks ready to fall out of the sky at any minute.

Journey into the kingdom of Swaziland, almost entirely surrounded by South Africa. For such a tiny country (about the size of New Jersey), Swaziland has some large inhabitants—its five wildlife reserves hold elephants, rhinos, giraffes, zebras, lions, and more. The county is also famous for its annual Reed Dance, when the king may choose a bride from among the young Swazi girls who perform the ritual dance.

Decorative glass beads brought in by Venetian merchants became currency in South Africa, and soon locals were creating their own versions of the intricate designs. Much of that work has survived in Swaziland's candle making, where swirling, colorful millefiore designs range from traditional European stained-glass patterns to more contemporary African motifs.

Take a break to shop till you drop. Mbabne's market is the best in Swaziland, with crafts, fabrics, fruits and vegetables, and household goods all up for sale.

Watch skilled workers craft wineglasses, figurines, and other impressive samples of Swaziland's best-known export. Much of the raw material for the pieces is gathered by school children in glass-bottle recycling programs.

It's impossible not to fall in love with Cape Town. South Africa’s most beautiful city (and frequently called the most beautiful city in the world), Cape Town mixes stunning scenery and unique architecture with a laidback vibe and fun-loving attitude. Experience its delights with a licensed local guide as you roam from the brightly colored houses of the Bo-Kaap neighborhood, where descendents of slaves and dissidents brought here by the Dutch form the city's largest Muslim community, to the Castle of Good Hope, once the center of the colony's administration. At the South African Museum, exhibits cover the traditional arts of the country's native populations, the constellations of the southern hemisphere, and more.

Robben Island, the former prison island where Nelson Mandela was held from 1964 to 1982, stands in Cape Town’s harbor. The island was first used as a dumping ground for prisoners in the 1600s, with the Dutch and then the British rulers indiscriminately sending criminals, protestors, racial minorities, lepers, and the insane to its shores. When Mandela arrived it had become a maximum-security prison, and the all-black prison population was forced into tiny cells with no more than a mat on the floor and only shorts and t-shirts to protect them from the cold winds blowing up from the South Pole. Through protest, lawsuits, and perseverance the prisoners slowly improved their conditions. The last prisoner was released in 1996, and the island is now a museum.

Rising above Cape Town is the distinctive Table Mountain, whose flat top often serves as a base for the city’s hang-gliding and abseiling residents. Keep an eye out for the squirrel-like rock dassies basking in the sun -- despite their fur and small size, their foot structure and dental configuration mark them as the closest living relative to the African elephant. Just off the coast is Duiker, or Seal, Island, home to about 7,000 fuzzy cape fur seals. Watch them pose for pictures and laze about in the sunshine before you head farther south to Cape Point, where a funicular whisks you to the top of dramatic cliff-top promontory where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans are said to meet. Shipwrecks along the coast remind visitors of the treacherous navigation despite the lighthouses beaming into the ocean.

There may be no stranger spectacle than an ostrich race, and you’ll have front-row seats. Watch “cowboys” balance on the gangly birds by gripping their stumpy wings and urging them on, full speed ahead. The ostriches, once farmed for their now-unfashionable feathers, stand over six feet tall yet have brains no larger than those of chickens.