September in Africa: The Cape in Spring

September is the short window when the Cape does everything at once. The winter rain is tapering, the south-easter has not started, and the fynbos comes into flower across the mountains and up the West Coast. Days sit between eighteen and twenty-two degrees, the sea is cold and clear, and the southern right whales are still in the bays at Hermanus and De Kelders.

Ten to twelve nights, split three ways. Four in Cape Town itself, four in the Winelands around Franschhoek and Stellenbosch, and three in the Cederberg, which is where the trip actually slows down. The vines are only just budding, which means the cellars are empty and the winemakers have time to sit down with you. That does not happen in February.

Mornings are for the mountain. Table Mountain and Lion's Head before the crowds, or the contour paths above Kirstenbosch. Afternoons go to the coast road, the Cape Point road or a tasting. In the Cederberg there is rock art, cold river swimming and no phone signal to speak of.

Cape Town International handles long-range aircraft comfortably and sits twenty-five minutes from the city. The one thing to plan for is wind: the airport is exposed and September can still produce a hard south-easter, so we build slack into departure timings rather than into arrivals.

September is also the strongest month in the northern Serengeti, so a great many members add five nights there before or after the Cape. It is a straightforward reposition to Kilimanjaro or a private strip in the Lamai, and it turns a Cape trip into a proper African fortnight.

Among our preferred hotel partners, One&Only Cape Town on the Waterfront is the city base, and Four Seasons Safari Lodge in the central Seronera covers the Tanzanian leg.

Ask your advisor about a private cellar lunch in Franschhoek, boat-based whale watching out of Gansbaai rather than the cliff path, and putting the Serengeti and the Cape on one routing.