Accompanying Persons Programme

Sunday 25th April 2009

Guests will accompany delegates to the Opening Ceremony at the University of Cape Town. 

After lunch, they will embark on a Table Mountain and City Tour. Travel by coach via Heerengracht, Adderley and Wale Street to the lower cable way station at Table Mountain. Ascend Table Mountain by aerial cable car (weather permitting). View a breathtaking panorama of the city, Table Bay, Robben Island, and the Atlantic seaboard.  The upper cable car station is situated at 1067 m. The journey by cable car (revolving - making sure that your trip up and down gives you a good look in all directions) is approximately 3 – 5 minutes one way.

Afterwards, return to town and visit Greenmarket Square where a wide selection of African curios can be found, before taking a walk to the National Gallery and the Houses of Parliament in the Company Gardens.

Please note should Table Mountain be cancelled due to weather conditions, the group will enjoy an additional museum visit.

Monday 26th April

Cape Peninsula Tour

Drive via the exclusive suburbs of Bantry Bay and Camps Bay to scenic Hout Bay. Here, if calm seas prevail, cruise to Duiker Island to view the seals and cormorants.  Continue to the Cape Peninsula National Park via a scenic drive over Chapman’s Peak (providing the road is open).

The Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point form part of the Cape Peninsula National Park, and are managed by the South African National Parks. Visitors can enjoy the 7 750 hectares reserve of indigenous flora and fauna and over 150 species of bird. You can also travel to the viewing platform, 678 metres above the sea.

Lunch will be at a local seafood restaurant.

After lunch, travel onto Boulders Beach Penguin Colony and the Naval hamlet of Simon’s Town. The African Penguin has found a safe haven at Boulders Beach Penguin Colony. Visitors have access to well-placed wooden walkways, allowing guests the opportunity to view the penguins in their natural habitat.

The group is transferred back to the hotel in the late afternoon and will join the conference delegates in the evening at Spier Conference Centre for dinner.

Tuesday 27th April

Half Day Robben Island* and Shopping Excursion

Depart the hotel and travel to the V&A Waterfront for some shopping time before enjoying a Robben Island Excursion.

The V&A Waterfront boasts more than 470 restaurants and shops, a range of cultural landmarks, a number of historical buildings and museums.

Robben Island Excursion*
Catch the ferry from in front of the Clock Tower to do a tour of Robben Island which has been declared a World Heritage Site. The island has been a place of banishment and imprisonment for more than 350 years. It became infamous as the place of imprisonment of Nelson Mandela for 20 years during the apartheid era. Today, the island has become a symbol of the triumph of the human spirit over enormous hardship and adversity.  The tour involves a ferry across, a bus ride around the island and a tour of the prison by a former prisoner.

On return to the V&A Waterfront, guests will enjoy lunch at Belthazar Restaurant, with spectacular views of Table Bay.

Guests are transferred back to the hotel in the afternoon.

* NOTE Should the Robben Island trip not be possible due to bad weather conditions, guests will enjoy a tour at The Diamond Works followed by a visit to The Gold of Africa Museum where they will enjoy a museum tour, interactive drumming and scrumptious lunch.

The Diamond Works Sparkling Tour:
The tour starts with a fully operational diamond-cutting workshop, staffed by diamond cutters from previously disadvantaged communities who are all graduates from the Harry Oppenheimer Diamond Cutting School in Johannesburg.

This is followed by the jewellery-manufacturing workshop where one can see the goldsmiths at work. A Tanzanite boutique portrays a large selection of this exquisite but rare violet-blue precious gemstone. Showcases of beautifully crafted pieces of jewellery adorn the showroom along with loose stones should a personal design be preferred.

The Gold of Africa Museum
GOLD is an exciting new food and live music venue in the covered leafy courtyards of the Gold of Africa Museum in the heart of the city.  This is a high energy, interactive venue serving a fusion of South African and Malay food as a banquet to the table. Interactive drumming and a Gold Museum excursion will be enjoyed before lunch.

Guests are transferred back to the hotel after lunch