Cape Town on $35, $100 or $300 a day

Table Mountain cable car (R420 return, book online - the cable car rotates during ascent for 360-degree views; the flat-topped summit is a biome of fynbos plants found nowhere else on earth). Walk the summit (1-2 hours, free on top). Alternatively hike up (free, 2h, the Platteklip Gorge route is well-marked).

Company's Garden (free). The South African Museum (R100 - the whale skeletons, the San rock paintings, the natural history collection). Lunch at a City Bowl cafe (R80-120 for a good lunch). The Bo-Kaap walk (free - photograph the painted houses, the mosque, the narrow lanes).

Waterfront evening: the Two Oceans sunset from the harbor walkway (free). Dinner at a Waterfront restaurant (R150-200pp for a full meal - more expensive than the city but the harbor views justify the premium once). A drink at the Bascule Whisky Bar in the Cape Grace Hotel (the finest whisky selection in Africa, R80-200 per pour).

Rent a car (R400/day) or join an organized tour (R400-600pp). Cape Point (R353 entry to Table Mountain National Park, includes Cape of Good Hope): the southwestern tip of Africa, the lighthouse, the baboons (do not feed them), and the two-ocean myth (the actual southernmost meeting point of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans is further east at Cape Agulhas, but Cape Point is far more dramatic).

Drive back via Boulders Beach (R220 - the African penguin colony on the beach; 3,000 penguins, you can swim alongside them from the designated area). Simon's Town village for fish and chips (R90-120).

Return to Cape Town. Observatory for dinner: an Indian curry on Lower Main Road (R80-100pp for an excellent bunny chow or biryani). A craft beer at a local Obs bar (R40-60/pint).

Robben Island ferry (R900 including entry - the 3-hour tour is led by former political prisoners who were imprisoned here alongside Nelson Mandela; the island where Mandela spent 18 of his 27 prison years, and where he was able to see Table Mountain daily but could not leave). Book weeks ahead - it sells out.

Woodstock: the Old Biscuit Mill on a Saturday (free entry - the finest food market in South Africa, the farms of the Western Cape distilled into 50 stalls: Karoo lamb, Overberg wheat bread, Stellenbosch wine, the finest cheese in Africa). Or the Neighbourgoods Market (also Saturday).

Farewell dinner in the City Bowl: Societi Bistro or a Long Street restaurant (R150-200pp). A final South African craft beer (Devil's Peak King's Blockhouse IPA is the local benchmark, R60/pint). Long Street nightlife if the energy remains.

Table Mountain cable car (R420 return). At the summit: the 360-degree panorama, the fynbos walk, and the cafe. Return by cable car. Then the Zeitz MOCAA (R200 - the Jochen Zeitz collection of contemporary African art in the converted grain silo; the conversion itself, by architect Thomas Heatherwick, is extraordinary).

Camps Bay afternoon: the beach (free), lunch at a Camps Bay restaurant (R200-250pp), and a walk along the Atlantic Seaboard. Clifton 4th Beach (the most protected cove, popular with locals).

Dinner at The Test Kitchen (R800-1,000pp for the tasting menu - Luke Dale-Roberts's flagship, consistently on the World's 50 Best list; the finest restaurant in Africa; book 6-8 weeks ahead). Or: the more accessible The Shortmarket Club (R400-600pp).

Drive to Stellenbosch (45 min): the oak-lined university town, the finest Cape Dutch architecture in the country, and the Dorp Street restaurants. Tasting at Tokara (the hilltop estate with Stellenbosch valley views, the best setting in the Winelands, R250 for 5 wines). Then Franschhoek (30 min further): the most beautiful wine village in South Africa.

Franschhoek lunch at a winery estate (the Grande Provence estate restaurant, R200-300pp for a full lunch with wine pairing). Tasting at Rupert and Rothschild or Chamonix. Return to Cape Town via the R44 coastal route.

Dinner at a Constantia estate restaurant (La Colombe at Silvermist, R700-900pp for the tasting menu - the finest tasting menu in South Africa not at The Test Kitchen; the mountain fynbos setting is extraordinary).

Self-drive Cape Peninsula: the Chapman's Peak Drive (R55 toll - the 9km coastal road carved into the cliff face above the Atlantic, one of the finest coastal drives in the world), then Noordhoek Beach (the long white sand beach, free), then Cape Point (R353 entry).

Boulders Beach penguins (R220). Simon's Town for lunch (fresh fish at the Quarterdeck, R180-250pp). Return via the False Bay coast road (the warm-water side of the peninsula) and Kalk Bay (the fishing village with the best antique shops in Cape Town).

Farewell dinner at the Waterfront: Harbour House (R300-400pp, fresh snoek, rock lobster, and linefish from the boats in the harbor below the restaurant). A nightcap at the Zeitz MOCAA rooftop if there is an event.

Private helicopter flight over the Cape Peninsula (from R4,500pp for 30 min: Table Mountain, the Cape Flats, Chapman's Peak, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Atlantic coastline from the air - the geography of Cape Town explained in 30 minutes). Breakfast at the One&Only Cape Town or the Silo Hotel (the finest hotel in Africa, in the converted grain silo; the rooms look out over the Waterfront and Table Mountain).

Lunch at The Test Kitchen (reserve 8 weeks ahead for lunch or dinner). Private afternoon: a private wine tasting with the winemaker at Beau Constantia (the finest caldera-view estate in the Constantia valley, arranged through the hotel, R500-1,000pp for a private vertical).

Dinner at La Colombe (R1,200-1,500pp for the full tasting menu with wine pairing - the finest wine-and-food pairing experience in South Africa; the views over Constantia valley into False Bay). A private sunset on the Silo Hotel rooftop.

Private chauffeured day to the Winelands: Tokara (private barrel tasting with the winemaker), then Rupert and Rothschild (the finest Cabernet Sauvignon in South Africa, private tour of the cellar), then Franschhoek for lunch at Haute Cabriere (the cliff-side winery restaurant, R400-600pp for the tasting lunch).

Continue to Babylonstoren (the most beautiful farm estate in South Africa - the 3-hectare garden, the farm-to-table Babel restaurant, and the historic Cape Dutch homestead). Afternoon tea in the garden (R250pp including garden entry).

Return to Cape Town. Private chef dinner at a Camps Bay villa arranged through the hotel: a braai (the South African barbecue ritual - fire-cooked Karoo lamb, boerewors sausage, potjiekos) with a sommelier-selected South African wine flight.

Shark cage diving at Gansbaai (2.5h from Cape Town - R2,500-3,500pp including transport; the great white sharks of Dyer Island, in the "shark alley" between the island and Geyser Rock with its 60,000-strong Cape fur seal colony; no scuba certification required). The most extraordinary wildlife experience in South Africa.

Return to Cape Town for lunch. Final Table Mountain hike (the Skeleton Gorge trail through the Kirstenbosch gardens, 2h each way, R220 Kirstenbosch entry - the most beautiful approach to the summit through indigenous forest). Or: a Kirstenbosch summer concert (November-April, R250 - outdoor concerts in the finest botanical garden in the world, the mountain behind and the Cape Flats below).

Farewell dinner at Pier restaurant in the Cape Grace Hotel (R600-800pp - the finest hotel restaurant at the Waterfront, the harbor views at night, and the West Coast rock lobster tails). A final South African single-vineyard Pinotage or a Vin de Constance dessert wine (the most famous wine in South African history, once Napoleon's favorite).