Sunday 15th February 2026
Departure from Oslo on Sunday 15 February at 14.00 with Emirates to Dubai. It takes about seven hours. Then there are four hours in Dubai in the middle of the night 🥺, so there is plenty of time to find the exit for the next flight. From Dubai to Cape Town it takes just under ten hours to arrive at 11.40 where Pernille is meeting the group. If you have your own travel arrangements the above will not apply.
Monday 16th February
Arrival Cape Town approx. 11.40. After passport control and baggage collection, which normally takes about an hour, there is a transfer to The Hyde Hotel in the popular district of Sea Point. Three nights in a de luxe room, with breakfast included. Large rooms of 57 m². King size bed or twin beds. It also features a rooftop swimming pool, a restaurant and views of the landmark Lion’s head. The rooms have a kitchenette if you want to cook on your own. Caroline’s Fine Wine Cellar is a quarter of an hour’s walk from the hotel and can be good to visit since it is a lunch where you have to bring your own alcoholic drink if you wish. There are several deli’s in the area as well.
Check-in at the hotel and then off to Minimalist wines to taste their Syrah wines that have received rave reviews. Sam Lambson is one of the young and “upcoming” winemakers in South Africa. Located in Hope Street, in the middle of down town Cape Town and referred to as the Urban wine cellar. There will be some cheese and charcuterie with the tasting. Joint dinner at Culture Wine Bar/Grub and Vine, Bree Street, the culinary street of Cape Town. The bus will take us there and back.
Tuesday 17th February 2026
We drive towards Noordhoek Beach along the coast and via the famous Chapman’s Peak Drive. Noordhoek Beach is one of the most beautiful beaches in South Africa. Anyone who wants to some varefott wading and the extra daring can take a swim if suitable gear is brought. We will also pay a visit to the township of Masiphumelele which is only a few minutes drive away. Return to town via Silvermine Nature Reserve. It will thus be a round trip around Table Mountain. Straight to lunch at ATE in Kloof street to eat traditional Karoo food, which “only” Tania can prepare. ATE does not have the right to serve alcohol, so here you have to bring your own drink (BYO) or drink her homemade lemonade, which is very good. Some sights are just a must in Cape Town, so after lunch it will be a trip to Table Mountain. Must make the reservation that the cable car actually runs, in that case the cable car both up and down. If it doesn’t work, it’s mostly because of the weather conditions, and then it’s no fun to be up there anyway. If all the participants have been to Table Mountain before, we might skip this. Then return to the hotel. A hectic day and dinner at your own expense this day.
Wednesday 18th February 2026
Breakfast at the hotel and then a guided walk in Bo Kaap that ends in the home of a local host/hostess to eat real Cape Malay food such as curry, roti, samosa, koesisters, sambal, and maybe even more, all accompanied by delicious cardamom tea. This lunch is non-alcoholic. After lunch, about 2 pm, there will be transport to the V&A Waterfront where you have your own time for sight-seeing, shopping or whatever you want. Volunteer trip to Roben Island at 15.00 – 18.30. Recommended for those who have not been there before. Robben Island requires registration and additional cost applies. In the evening, there will be a joint dinner at The Urban Playground in Maitland, also called The Maitland Experience.
Thursday 19th February 2026
Check out from the hotel and departure for Tulbagh, South Africa’s fourth oldest town, founded in the early 1700s. On the way there, we make a stop in Wellington for a Fynbos Tapas Masterclass. This is a taste of South Africa’s new culinary identity from “the largest garden on earth”, a sensory connection to the origins of modern man. We get to taste eleven Fynbos edibles in a variety of different infusions and are served a tapas-style lunch accompanied by the selection of gourmet herbs, teas, vinegars, syrups and spices. The visit also includes a walk among the critically endangered Swartland-renosterveld area.
After this indulgence we continue to the idyllic small town of Tulbagh located in the Upper Breede River Valley, flanked by mountains on all sides. This area is completely unique in its topography and natural beauty are known as the Valley of Abundance. It was this special character that attracted the first settlers more than three hundred years ago.
We stay four nights at Rijk’s Wine Estate and Hotel, breakfast included. Rijk’s is a family-owned farm and hotel where wine, food, family and friends come together. The estate is run sustainably with a vision for the future, continuously producing award-winning wines. The focus is exclusively on Chenin Blanc and Pinotage. Dinner together at the hotel.
Friday 20th February 2026
We go to Swartland, an incredibly beautiful and trendy wine region. We will have two wine tastings this day, at David & Nadia Wines and Porseleinberg. We had an appointment with David & Nadia, but then they came back and said unfortunately it didn’t work out because of the harvest. Of course, there is a certain risk at this time of year. But they came back and said they would like to make an exception for us. Nothing less. David & Nadia make superb wines that are also well available abroad. They have been (and are) part of the driving forces for the Swartland Revolution that started about 15 years ago together with, among others, Adi Badenhorst, Eben Sadie, Mullineux, Callie Louw at Porseleinberg and Craig Hawkins at Testalonga. We will visit Porseleinberg and Testalonga in addition to David & Nadia. Something to look forward to. The Swartland is very hot, literally, certainly thanks to said “revolution”. In the past, it was an area with extensive cultivation of grapes for bulk wine production. Not so these days. In the Swartland, you will also get to know the bush wines that are so typical of this area.
Porseleinberg is known for its high-quality Syrah wine. The farm’s name translates to “Porcelain Mountain” and is the reason for its unique terroir. Callie Louw is the winemaker and farmer, producing a distinctive Syrah that reflects the rugged and dry shale-rich mountain. We have lunch at Au Bochon Rouge in the charming little town of Riebeek-Kasteel. Parisian chef Julien Debray serves French comfort food made with fresh, local, seasonal and organic ingredients. The evening is at your own free disposal.
Saturday 21st February 2026
Guided tour of Tulbagh and museum visit in Church Street. Church Street is famous for being the street with the most Cape Dutch, Edwardian and Victorian buildings in South Africa. We get a guided tour and visit a museum in this peaceful and beautiful street. Wine tasting at Saronsberg: https://www.saronsberg.com/ It is believed that viticulture on Saronsberg started around 1710, after the governor of the Cape colony and founder of Tulbagh, Willem Adriaan van der Stel, gave the land to its first owners. Saronsberg manages a unique artistic heritage from South Africa. The art collection is constantly expanding to reflect a changing society. The collection has three unique characteristics: it contains a diverse South African art historical overview, it displays artworks in a unique and intimate way, and contains a significant sculptural component.
From Saronsberg, we head to Montpellier for a wine tasting and lunch. Montpellier was founded in 1714 by Jean Imbert and Jacques Theron, Huguenot refugees who arrived in Table Bay in 1688. The name Montpellier alludes to the historic city in the south of France, where the two men came from. The first vines were planted in the 1820s, mainly for private use. It was not until Hendrik Theron took over in 1884 that they began to invest in wine in earnest. The farm has received many awards for various cultivars: Shiraz, Red Blend, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, White Blend, Chenin Blanc and MCC Pinot Noir (sparkling). The evening at your own disposal and dinner at your own expense.
Sunday 22nd February 2026
Excursion to the beautiful and idyllic farm Bosjes. Apart from wine, Bosjes is one of the major attractions in the Swartland area. This idyllic destination is known for its award-winning architecture and the remarkable chapel with an undulating white roof, designed by Steyn Studio. The farm is located in the Breedekloof Valley, at the foot of the Waaihoek and Slanghoek mountains, surrounded by vines, orchards and fynbos. Lunch at Bosjes Kombuis. The evening free at your own disposal and dinner at your own expense.
Monday 23rd February 2026
Check-out from the hotel and departure towards Langebaan. On the way there, there will be a visit to the San people at !Khwa ttu cultural center. The San people were the first inhabitants of southern Africa and are a hunter-gatherer people. The visit includes lunch. Then we take a small afternoon safari. Only 10 – 15 minutes to drive from Khwa ttu for a two and a half to three hour safari. No, no Big Five here, but giraffe, zebra, ostrich and various antelopes should be good opportunities to see. Then, after an eventful day, we head to Langebaan and The Farmhouse Hotel where we will stay for three nights. This is at the Langebaan lagoon so it is possible to take both one and several refreshing baths. Unlike many other lagoons, this is a pure saltwater lagoon. Humans have probably lived in this area for 500,000 years and they have found footprint fossils that are dated to be 117,000 years old and are the oldest footprints (that are known) of “modern” humans. The town of Langebaan itself was established in 1922 as a whaling station and today has around 8,000 inhabitants. Dinner together at the hotel this evening.
Tuesday 24th February 2026
We start the day with a bus trip to the Testalonga winery where we have a wine tasting before we go to Paternoster which is a charming village on the coast, one of the oldest fishing villages up along the west coast of South Africa. The name, which means “Our Father” in Latin, is a little unclear how came about. Pernille will probably have an answer to that when we get there. We stroll around the town and have lunch together at Restaurant Gaaitjie. If you’re still hungry when the evening comes, then there will be dinner at your own expense.
Wednesday 25th February
Today’s one and big happening is lunch at Die Strandloper. Very popular seafood restaurant that people flock to. Langebaan and the surrounding areas are in the middle of what is referred to as “the Foodie route”. Many dishes, so this will be a long and nice lunch. So long that the restaurant recommends a liter of wine per person. Well, that’s up to the individual. It is otherwise allowed to bring your own drink, but expect you to have to pay a little corkage for it. Simple surroundings and delicious food. If you have the capacity to eat more that day, it will be at your own expense.
Thursday 26th February 2026
Check-out and departure after a relaxed breakfast. One last bath in the South Atlantic, perhaps? Back home the same way as the outbound flight, departing at 18.25 from Cape Town International. The bus ride from Langebaan to the airport takes about an hour and a half, but we make a final stop at the winery Groote Post for a wine tasting and lunch before we bid farwell to Africa and head on to the airport where we arrive at about 16.00. The airport in Cape Town has good shops, both African artifacts and more.
We fly all evening/night, about nine and a half hours to Dubai, where we will land at 05.55. One hour and thirty minutes of transit before the flight departs for Oslo at 07.35 with arrival on Friday 27 February at 12.10 according to the timetable. Then it’s about a month until Easter. Large aircraft, the Airbus A350 to and from Oslo and the Boeing 777 between Dubai and Cape Town. At least that’s what the airline says now.
If you have your own travel arrangements, those will apply to you of course. Referring to the programme for the day above, it is adviced you do not have an early departure. If you are staying on for a day or so, the bus will take you to Cape Town after letting off the rest at the airport. Transport to the airport at a later stage at your own cost. Pernille is happy to arrange if so needed.