Your Birthday Celebration in South Africa

For safari, we recommend layering your clothing. Game drives take place in the early morning and evenings and it is quite cold before sunrise and after sunset. Daytime temperatures can be warm and sunny and it can get quite hot. Light, natural fabrics like cotton and linen are recommended for during the day (shorts, t-shirts, summer dresses around the lodge) and in the evenings, layer up with long trousers, long sleeve vests and a warm jacket. Formal wear is not required at any of our lodges – you are free to come straight from a game drive into dinner.

• Long trousers or denim jeans
  
• Long sleeve vests/t-shirts
  
• Shorts, t-shirts, summer dresses
  
• A warm jacket, fleece or windbreaker
  
• Woolen hat/beanie, gloves and scarf for morning drives
  
• A good pair of walking shoes
  
• Longer socks to wear with walking shoes – especially if you plan on going on Bush Walks
  
• Sandals or flip-flops for during the day at the lodge and some closed shoes or sneakers for evenings
  
• Wide-brimmed sun hat, sunglasses and a good sunscreen
  
• Bathing suit
  
• Camera, video camera, binoculars, spare memory cards and charging equipment. Some lodges do provide spare sets of binoculars on game vehicles and at the lodges if you don’t have your own.
  
• A small flashlight or headlamp for walking around camp
  
• Anti-allergen medication such as Zyrtec
  
• Insect Repellent with DEET
  
• Lotions, tissues, moisturizers, chapstick
  
• Personal cosmetics, toiletries
  
• Money belt or fanny pack for cash and travel documents
  
• Power bank for charging of a phone on safari drives
  
• A good book to read during downtime at the safari lodge
  
• Passport
  
• Cash for personal expenses

Check-in is 1 1⁄2 hours prior to departure for domestic flights and 3 hours prior to departure for international flights.

Some scheduled regional and inter-lodge flights may involve multiple stops before reaching the final destination. Many flights are operated as air shuttle transfers and therefore departure times may vary by up to one hour.

When traveling on normal scheduled international or domestic flights, the luggage limit is usually 20kgs (approx. 44 lbs.) per person.

Tips are always appreciated and enthusiastically received. Tipping is only recommended if you are satisfied with the service you have received and is entirely at your discretion. Tipping guidelines are as follows:

• Airport or hotel porters: per bag
  
• Transfers: tips not expected
  
• Day Tours: per person for full day tour
  
• Restaurants: 10% - 15% of total value of bill depending on service
  
• Car guards and filling stations in South Africa: tip for fuelling attendant or ‘donation’ for car guard (in urban areas you’ll find formal and informal characters offering to watch your vehicle)

On Safari: For rangers between per person per day and trackers between per person per day. General lodge staff gratuity is between per day. All tips can be paid over by credit card as opposed to cash

Please let us know if you would like for Scenset to make dinner reservations on your behalf. Here are some of our favorite spots.

• Aubergine Restaurant: Aubergine has been featured as a top restaurant numerous times and has a loyal following. Owner and Chef Harald Bresselschmidt uses classical techniques, and both European and Asian influences appear through the degustation, à la carte and winter bistro menus. Menus change regularly, and you’re encouraged to mix and match items. This historic old house, which used to be the home of the first Chief Justice of the Cape, dates back to 1830 and is packed with character. Aubergine is sophisticated but not stuffy.
  
• Belly of the Beast: This online-bookings-only fine-dining restaurant sprang up rather quietly on Harrington Street in August 2018. Owner-chef Neil Swarts sold his wildly popular Arugula Bistro in Welgemoed to pursue dreams of unhindered culinary creativity, which he has done with co-owner and Anouchka Horn in their secret daily set menu. The industrio-mod eatery serves a maximum of 20 guests per service, which Neil explains: “Cooking dishes on a smaller scale enhances the depth of flavour of each element.” An entirely exposed kitchen lines one side of the small space, with a street-facing window on the other. The food is exceptional!
  
• Chefs Warehouse at Beau Constantina: In a sleek dining room overlooking the Constantia wine valley, this is laidback, refined dining at its best from one of Cape Town’s most influential chefs, Liam Tomlinson, in partnership with co-owner and head chef, Ivor Jones. The glass cube that houses the restaurant is a welcome dash of modernity in a suburb where most restaurants are houses in 100-year-old Cape Dutch buildings. The menu changes weekly and features nine plates to share, from local line-fish sashimi to venison, all with ingredients grown on the on-site farm - about which the staff know every last detail.
  
• Chefs Warehouse Tintswalo: Dining at the incredible seaside setting of Tintswalo Atlantic on Chapman’s Peak Drive, is unlike any other, with the Atlantic Ocean lapping below your table - and like with Liam Tomlinson’s other projects, this Chefs Warehouse (CW) is steered by a young and talented team of chefs. Head Chef, Braam Beyers from CW Beau Constantia has taken over the reins here under the guidance of Liam and Chef Patron Ivor Jones. The contemporary tapas is a set menu of small plates for sharing over 4 courses with an emphasis on fresh, local and sustainable that pays homage to its ocean setting. The restaurant and deck have been completely revamped to incorporate the Chefs Warehouse signature style and personality, ranging from furniture and décor to tableware.
  
• Foxcroft: The food at Glen Foxcroft Williams’ bustling fine-dining restaurant (which he co-owns with feted La Colombe chef, Scot Kirton) is inspired and utterly sensational. Scot is known for his rigorous attention to detail, immaculate plating and boundary-pushing dishes, while Glen - who is behind the restaurant’s name and inspiration - is a patisserie whiz. The menu, remarkably simple at first glance, delivers bold, thoughtfully put-together dishes and the wine list is comprehensive but not overwhelming.
  
• La Colombe: Perched atop the Silvermist Estate against the slopes of Constantia Nek, La Colombe is one of the country’s exemplary beacons of culinary mastery. Long likened to a treehouse, due to its unique eye-level views of the tree canopies, the restaurant is an inviting, airy and superb designer dining room with an adjacent al fresco seating area. Executive chef Scot Kirton’s philosophy and approach lies in the fusion of Asian and French cuisine and the pursuit of excellence and perfection on each plate, resulting in numerous local and international awards. The freshest seasonal produce, uncomplicated clean flavours and classical elegance are the essence of his inspiration and passion for food. Impeccable service and an award-winning wine list.
  
• Salsify at The Roundhouse: Salsify burst onto the Cape Town scene with its exciting, juxtaposed décor, elegant food and sensational Camps Bay views. Perched on the lower slopes of Lion’s Head, the Roundhouse building looks out over Camps Bay’s leafy glen to the ocean and Twelve Apostles mountains. The space overlooking the incredible view has been kept beautifully classic - featuring white tablecloths and Persian rugs - but the entrance room and back lounge have been given an electric shock with some more modern graffiti.
  
• Bouchon Wine Bar & Bistro:The ever-changing seasonal tapas has the same Mediterranean-inspired flavours as sister restaurant La Boheme, only at Bouchon the dishes are more elegantly plated and are served in smaller, refined portions. Owner Faisal Khakoo and co-owner and winemaker Christophe Durand are a hands-on duo, often present and happy to chat about the food and wine offering. This inner-city restaurant capitalises on the earthy, industrial charm of its urban wine cellar setting. A glass wall that separates the working cellar from the restaurant space lends the feeling of being in a quaint winery in the heart of the winelands. If you’re looking for an intimate venue for a truly special occasion, reserve the exclusive cellar table - between the wine tanks and barrels!
  
• Kloof Street House: Buzzing Kloof Street House is often packed to the rafters over weekends with locals setting in for long social gatherings and the menu here can best be described as a bistro-style eatery, with a showcase of Mediterranean and Moroccan-style dishes. The wine list is impressive, and the service is friendly and swift, even during the busier periods. The interior oozes glamour with a dark colour palette, chandeliers and beaded lamp shades, combined with a touch of Moroccan mystery. Attracting both beautiful young things and well-to-do middle-aged patrons, the space is divided into several dining areas, including a busy bar.