New Hampshire Friendship Chorus
NEW HAMPSHIRE FRIENDSHIP CHORUS
SOUTH AFRICA CONCERT TOUR
Music Director, Dr. Dan Perkins -- Accompanist, Charlie Blood
The NHFC strives for collaborations that will result in meaningful exchanges with other singers. Our repertoire will include American folksongs, African American spirituals, and South African songs.
Thursday, 4 July 2024 - Boston/Meals inflight
NHFC travelers enrolled in the optional group flights, will depart on a transatlantic flight to Johannesburg (group flight details are published on the NHFC website.).
Friday, 5 July 2024 (Dinner included at the hotel) - JOHANNESBURG
We arrive at OR Tambo International Airport, clear Immigration and Customs and meet our tour director. We transfer to our hotel and check in. Dinner is included at the hotel tonight. (Dinner)
Overnight: ANEW Hotel Roodepoort
Saturday, 6 July 2024 (Breakfast, Dinner) - JOHANNESBURG
After breakfast we visit and tour the Apartheid Museum. (Activity Level 2: walking a few steps).
"Apartheid" was an official social and political ideology that was enforced in South Africa from the 1940's to the 1990's. It legalized and enforced racial segregation based on racial appearances such as skin color, width of nose, curly hair and size of lips. Visitors' entrance tickets classify them as "white" and "non-white" to allow them to experience this racial segregation first-hand. It is an audio-visual museum of pictures and video clips that shows the development, implementation, resistance and eventual overthrow of the regime. Apartheid is where it belongs at last - in a museum. Visitors should see this to ensure that it never happens again. Only by facing atrocities of the past and dealing with them can South Africa and the world face a free future confidently.
Lunch is on your own at Mandela Square.
In the afternoon there is a rehearsal for the 5pm joint concert with the Wits University Choir.
This evening, enjoy a special eating experience at the well-known Carnivore Restaurant.
Overnight: Anew Hotel Roodepoort
Sunday, 7 July 2024 (Breakfast, Dinner) - JOHANNESBURG
This morning, we will participate at morning services at Holy Cross Anglican Church in Soweto.
Soweto is the most populous black urban residential area in the country, putting its 2021 population at 1.6 million. Thanks to its proximity to Johannesburg, the economic hub of the country, it is also the most prosperous metropolitan township in the country - setting trends in politics, fashion, music, dance and language. After a guided tour (Activity Level 2: walking a few steps) Enjoy lunch on your own at Maponya Mall.
In the afternoon we will have an outreach with the Klipton Youth Program including an informal performance.
Dinner tonight is included at Robby’s Place.
Overnight: ANEW Hotel Roodepoort
Monday, 8 July 2024 (Breakfast, Dinner) - PILANESBERG
We enjoy breakfast before departing for Pilanesberg National Park (3 hour drive) Among Southern Africa’s fascinating game reserves, Pilanesberg National Park is one of the most accessible. Situated in the ecologically rich transition zone between the Kalahari and the Lowveld, this vast area promises thrilling big game viewing in a malaria-free environment.
Lunch is on your own enroute. We will also have an opportunity to visit a local Craft Market. We arrive in Pilanesberg National Park and check in to the lodge, before an included dinner at the lodge.
Overnight: Bakubung Lodge
Tuesday, 9 July 2024 (Breakfast, Dinner) - PILANESBERG
An early wake-up and breakfast before our first 3-hour open vehicle game drive. (Activity Level 1: requires flexibility to climb into safari vehicle) Step back into nature! Open vehicle safaris are only done in game reserves where there is the possibility to see the "Big 5" (Rhinoceros, Elephant, Buffalo, Leopard, and Lion) roaming freely, and fending for themselves. Experienced and knowledgeable guides know the animals and terrain intimately and with their trained eyesight maximize your chances of seeing something special! Lunch independently at the lodge. In the afternoon we enjoy another open vehicle game drive, followed by a special barbeque dinner in the bush.
Overnight: Bakubung Lodge
Wednesday, 10 July 2024 (Breakfast, Dinner) - GEORGE
After breakfast we check out at 10:00am and transfer by coach to Johannesburg airport for our 2:00pm flight to George. Lunch independently at the airport.
Located on the Garden Route, George is surrounded by the Outeniqua Mountains, forests, rivers, and prosperous farmlands. It is also regarded as the administrative capital of the Southern Cape. The moderate climate makes George ideal for outdoor adventure all year round and it has become a major tourist Mecca.
Dinner at a seaside restaurant.
Overnight: Protea Hotel King George
Thursday, 11 July 2024 (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner) - GEORGE
Today we travel over the Outeniqua Mountains to Oudtshoorn where we will visit the Cango Caves and an Ostrich Farm. (Activity Level 2: walking a few steps). A guided tour of the impressive caves lasts an hour. Here, we may have an impromptu opportunity to sing. Ostrich farming started in South Africa in the early 1860’s when ostriches were farmed only for their feathers Lunch at the farm is included.
We return to George for our rehearsal and Joint Concert with the Uniting Reformed Church and George Chorale.
A light dinner is served at the venue, where you can mingle with the hosting choirs.
Overnight: Protea Hotel King George
Friday, 12 July 2024 (Breakfast) - GEORGE
After breakfast in the hotel, we depart for a visit to a local Primary School in Thembalethu, where we meet the School Principal and students of this underprivileged community. Thereafter we drive along the coast to the quaint village of Knysna. Lunch independently on the waterfront in Knysna. Our excursion of Featherbed Nature Reserve (Activity Level 3-4: hiking through the forest and along the beach) starts with a short ferry ride across the Knysna Lagoon. This privately-owned reserve primarily focusses on the protection of the flora of the Garden Route. Visitors can enjoy a scenic walk in the forest and breathtaking views of the beautiful town by the ocean.
Dinner is on your own in the village of Wilderness.
Overnight: Protea Hotel King George
Saturday, 13 July 2024 (Breakfast, Dinner) - CAPETOWN
Today we depart for Cape Town. Our enchanting drive from the Garden Route has a romantic history and takes us along the scenic town of Hermanus where we will stop for lunch and some free time. Striking topography, exquisite architecture and glorious year-round weather make Cape Town one of the world’s most beautiful, awe-inspiring cities. Understandably, it has become South Africa’s artistic and cultural hub. Dominated by the famous Table Mountain, (Activity Level 2: walking a few steps), the city is home to many of the country’s artists, actors, and musicians, who flock to Cape Town for its vibrant and free-spirited lifestyle. Our visit of Table Mountain starts with a cable car ride (weather permitting) Table Mountain is one of the world’s best-known landmarks, named by Jan van Riebeeck on April 6, 1652, as he sailed towards what was to become Cape Town. The mountain is now a national monument, one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature and provides visitors with great entertainment and unforgettable rides to the top. We check into our hotel. Dinner is included at the hotel tonight.
Overnight: Peninsula All Suite Hotel
Sunday, 14 July 2024 (Breakfast) - CAPETOWN
After breakfast we take an excursion by ferry to Robben Island, (Activity Level 2: walking a few steps), including a guided tour. The excursion entails a 30-45-minute ferry ride to the island, followed by a bus tour and commentary about Robben Island’s history. Thereafter a tour of the prison (a national monument) is often led by a former prisoner of Robben Island. One gets to see the prison cell of the iconic former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, which was where he was imprisoned for 18 years. Lunch is on your own.
This afternoon we have a rehearsal before our Joint Concert with the Cape Town Camerata at Hugo Lambrecht Auditorium.
Dinner is on your own tonight on the V&A waterfront.
Overnight: Peninsula All Suite Hotel
Monday, 15 July 2024 (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
Our scenic excursion to Cape Point (Activity Level 2: walking a few steps) includes entrance to the Penguin Colony and Cape Point Nature Reserve. Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope is said to be the romantic meeting place of the two mighty oceans, the Atlantic and the Indian. Sir Francis Drake called it “the fairest cape that he had seen in the whole circumference of the globe.”
Lunch is included at a seaside restaurant. In the afternoon we visit one of the oldest private Wine estates of the Cape, for a cellar tour and wine-tasting. Our Farewell dinner is at Gold’s restaurant.
Overnight: Peninsula All Suite Hotel
Tuesday, 16 July 2024 (Breakfast) - IN FLIGHT
For those returning home tonight after the main tour, we’ll have lunch on your own at the Mojo Food Market, followed by a visit to the Iziko South African Museum, National Arts Museum and Company Gardens before we arrive at Cape Town International Airport for our flight home.
Wednesday, 17 July 2024
Main Group arrives in Boston.
This itinerary is subject to change.
Tour arrangements are being secured by Rick & Wanda Bogin, Plymouth Travel Tours