Bespoke. Authentic. Unforgettable. Africa.
I never knew of a morning in Africa when I woke up that I was not happy.
-Hemingway-
Discover our story
At The Cape & Africa Discovered, we believe travel is more than just moving from place to place — it’s about meaningful immersion, authentic connections, and unforgettable memories. Whether you're in search of thrilling safaris, indulgent escapes, or lesser-known gems off the beaten path, we’re here to turn your travel vision into reality.
We are an owner-operated boutique travel company based on South Africa’s West Coast, just outside Cape Town. Specialising in bespoke itinerary design and full-service destination management, we curate exceptional travel experiences across South Africa, Southern and East Africa, and the Indian Ocean Islands.
From the moment you reach out, you’ll work with a dedicated destination manager who takes the worry and hassle out of planning — offering creative, personalised itineraries tailored to your interests and pace.
We take pride in our strong network of trusted service and accommodation partners — professionals who, like us, go the extra mile to deliver warm, reliable, and memorable experiences.
What sets us apart is not just our attention to detail, but our unwavering commitment to understanding you. Whether you're planning a romantic honeymoon, a family holiday, or a solo adventure, we craft journeys that are deeply personal and thoughtfully executed.
At The Cape & Africa Discovered, every itinerary is tailor-made. Every detail, carefully considered.
Because you're not just booking a trip - you're embarking on a story worth telling.
Our dedicated Destination Managers are true specialists with a deep passion for Africa - its landscapes, cultures, wildlife, and hidden treasures.
Based on the rugged West Coast of South Africa, with the iconic Table Mountain as our backdrop, we bring local insight and first-hand experience to every itinerary we create. From world-renowned landmarks to lesser-known gems only locals know, we provide expert guidance on the most exceptional places to visit and the best accommodation options tailored to your needs.
We believe that every journey should be as unique as the traveler taking it. That’s why we don’t offer one-size-fits-all packages. Instead, we take the time to understand your values, interests, schedule, and budget to design a journey that’s truly yours.
For us, it’s not about ticking boxes—it’s all about you.
Safaris & Tours for Discerning Travellers
We specialise in high-quality, tailor-made safaris and tours across Southern and East Africa, designed for travellers who seek authenticity, comfort, and a deeper connection to the places they visit.
Whether you're embarking on your first African safari or are a seasoned traveller looking for something new, we take the time to understand your vision and preferences. Even if you’re in the earliest stages of planning, we’re here to offer expert advice and inspiration.
From the initial consultation to your return home, we offer comprehensive, end-to-end travel services - delivered with passion, precision, and personal care.
Our Services Include, but are not limited to:
Handpicked Accommodation Recommendations & Bookings
Carefully selected lodges, camps, hotels, and unique stays to suit your style and budget.
Coordinated Transport Solutions
Seamless arrangements from flights and private transfers to charter flights and 4x4 safari vehicles.
Accredited Local Guides
Knowledgeable, engaging guides who bring destinations to life with insight and storytelling.
Tailored Activity & Dining Planning
Thoughtfully curated experiences and restaurant bookings aligned with your itinerary.
Personalised Travel Support
Local insight, detailed logistics, and those special touches that make your journey effortless and unforgettable.
Personalised Itineraries Start with You
To better understand your travel goals, we’ve developed a bespoke Planning Questionnaire. This helps us craft an itinerary that reflects your interests—whether that’s wildlife viewing, cultural immersion, culinary exploration, or relaxation.
We tailor every experience to you, combining destinations from bush to beach, and everything in between.
Your Journey, Tailored by Experts
Personalised Itineraries & Professional Destination Management
Planning the perfect African safari can feel overwhelming.
Which destination suits your interests?
Is East Africa or Southern Africa a better fit?
Private or group safari?
Luxury lodges or mobile camps?
Which game reserve or park offers the best wildlife viewing?
When is the best time to go?
And what about malaria?
There are countless questions—and no single right answer.
That’s because every location in Africa is unique, each offering its own incredible highlights, wildlife encounters, and travel experiences. Understanding how to match those with your expectations, preferences, and travel goals is where we come in.
Your Journey, Tailored by Experts
Our passionate team of experienced Destination Specialists is here to guide you through every step. With years of first-hand knowledge across Africa’s diverse landscapes, we design custom itineraries that often include multiple countries or regions—carefully tailored to your timeline, interests, budget, and pace.
Whether you’re dreaming of a luxury safari through iconic game reserves, an off-the-grid camping adventure, a riverboat journey, or even a luxury train expedition across the continent—we’ll help you make it happen.
Why Travel with Us?
Expert Knowledge
In-depth, first-hand experience of Africa’s top destinations and hidden gems.
Truly Personalised
No pre-set packages—each itinerary is crafted uniquely for you.
Authentic Experiences
Go beyond the expected with meaningful cultural encounters and unique accommodations.
All the Details, Handled
From transfers to luxury stays to special requests—we manage everything seamlessly.
From your very first enquiry, you’ll be matched with a dedicated Destination Manager—your personal travel adviser and on-call expert. Think of them as your Travel Butler, ready to answer your questions, refine your itinerary, and ensure every detail is perfect.
Africa, just as you imagined - only better
Personalised Adventures, Crafted Just for You
Discover the magic of Africa through customised safaris and tours designed to reflect your unique interests, pace, and budget. Whether you're planning a romantic getaway, a family holiday, or an adventurous escape, we’ll help you experience Africa your way.
We offer bespoke itineraries to some of the continent’s most breathtaking destinations:
South Africa | Botswana | Zimbabwe | Zambia | Namibia | Kenya | Mozambique | Madagascar | Tanzania | Zanzibar
Want to explore more than one country? No problem. We specialise in multi-destination journeys, expertly combining locations to create a seamless and enriching experience tailored entirely to you.
Africa has captivated the hearts of explorers for generations—from early pioneers to today’s curious travellers. Whether you're drawn by wildlife, diverse cultures, or breathtaking landscapes, there is something here for everyone.
Authentic Africa, just as you imagined - only better.
Your Journey, Our Passion
We take great pride in crafting the perfect custom itinerary and managing every detail of your African safari experience. But what we love most is hearing about your adventures and the memories you’ve made along the way.
Your feedback means the world to us — and helps others discover the magic of travelling with us.
We warmly invite you to share your experience or leave a review at any time.
Click here to leave us a Google Review
If we could give 6 stars we would!
Mel created the perfect 3 week trip for our first adventure in South Africa.
Sitting on the plane on our way home we reflect on what an amazing trip we had. We want to thank you so much for your wonderful care and planning of our once-in-a-liefetime trip to South Africa.
It was an unforgettable experience and we believe it could not have been organized as well by any other than yourself. From our first zoom meeting to our final goodbye at the Table Baby hotel, we appreciated your flexibility, knowledge, experience and professionalism.
Your attention to detail, ongoing support of the journey and constant anticipation of our needs made the trip feel like a smooth flow of one wonderful experience after another.
Thank you so much!!
A number of you have asked who our Travel Manager was from our recent trip to South Africa - managed by The Cape & Africa Discovered.
Mel Woodhead was the mastermind behind it all!
Please reach out to mel@thecapeandafricadiscovered.com if you are also thinking about having the trip of a lifetime!
We can’t say enough of her meticulous attention to detail and creativity, based on what was important to us. The entire process was bespoke and we were made to feel like royalty!
Paying attention to every detail, wonderful varied accommodations, spectacular local cuisine. A few statements we endorse after our wonderful trip to Namibia and South Africa organised by Melinda Woodhead of The Cape & Africa Discovered . Our guide was very knowledgeable and met our every need. Our hotel rooms were glorious, food deliciously prepared (paying special attention to my husband who is gluten free).
Every excursion was a fine adventure, from sampling delicious wines from around the Cape, to the beauty of the wild animals roaming the vast countryside of Namibia. We always felt safe and extremely well taken care of."
We highly recommend any trip to Southern Africa, under Mel's guidance, planning and management with The Cape & Africa Discovered.
A trip to be remembered! We will be back!
What an incredible experience our family had touring the Cape and Garden Route thanks to the extensive planning and thoughtfulness that Mel put into making this the trip if a lifetime!
I'm sure it wasn't easy to accommodate the diverse needs and requests of our family, but we are so grateful to Mel and it felt like she became part of our family during our time with her.
So a huge THANK YOU, Mel, for sharing your country with us and teaching us so much about the wildlife, geography, flora, and history as well as taking such good care of us along the way.
Your passion for South Africa and enthusiasm is contagious and we simply would not have been able to do a fraction of what we saw and experienced without you at the helm. I cannot imagine not returning to South Africa now and hope that upon returning our paths will cross again.
If we are ever lucky enough to make it back to Southern Africa, we will definitely have Mel and company orchestrate our travel plans again.
A trip to South Africa warrants an enormous amount of research time and precise planning. Our family consists of my husband, our three children aged 12, 10 and 8 and myself. We are a very busy family, with lots of activities, and little time to spare for planning a trip of this magnitude.
Mel's extensive knowledge of her homeland allowed her to design us a highly customised itinerary, in a very short time frame. Mel also ensured that there was flexibility in her master plan, in anticipation that weather or personal needs might cause changes. Our trip started with a Safari experience, and ended with a tour of the West Coast region.
Mel did the planning for our entire trip, finding us a high quality Safari adventure that was less expensive that the Safari we had preliminary sourced by ourselves. She knew the recommended safari lodge would be ideal for our family and it exceeded all of our expectations.
Mel personally met us at the airport and her meticulous attention to detail carried through, as she brought drinks, snacks and blankets for the children. As we toured the West Coast of South Africa with Mel as our guide, she offered many tidbits of knowledge, including historical, geographical and environmental. Her love of South Africa and passion for its beauty and people shone through as she led us from one breathtaking scene and experience to another.
Her custom planning of activities tailored to our family's interests was very much appreciated. We are very interested in nature, wildlife and beaches, and Mel ensured that we covered as many sites as reasonably possible give our short stay and in consideration of the needs of the children.
We really enjoyed our two days with you and despite the weather we left Cape Town feeling like we had seen a fair amount of the important sites.
Unfortunately the winds delayed our departure cruise from Cape Town until the following morning and in turn delayed our arrival in Walvis Bay, which meant we missed one of the two planned tours we had.
We did get to the sand dunes in Sandwich Harbour which was amazing with a good tour guide so all was not lost. The port of Port Elizabeth was also closed due to winds so we completely missed the Addo Elephant park. All other ports went as planned and we did get to a Zulu village and also saw a bit of Maputo
We loved our trip to South Africa and while it was originally a bucket list item we don’t want to tick it off the list as it deserves a repeat visit hopefully in a couple of years!"
Melinda introduced me to her wonderful birth country in 2003 with an itinerary that could not be beat.
I still have dreams about the people, wildlife and vistas. Can't wait to go back and see more amazing sights and make memories that cannot ever fade!
Thank you so much Mel Woodhead and The Cape & Africa Discovered...what an awesome experience we had today on our West Coast Flower Tour!
You are a charming and knowledgeable hostess and guide! Thank you for all the interesting knowledge that you shared with us, the attention to detail, the wonderful eats and your fabulous company guiding us!
We had a wonderful experience and will not hesitate to highly recommend your service to all our friends, both local and international.
Truly a Five Star experience!
Two weeks of tasting, sipping and savouring the wines of famed the Cape Winelands, all accommodations arranged, transportation, extra activities made for us, guided by a wine enthusiast and specialist.
We were introduced to hidden gems, went on cellar tours, met winemakers, made our own wine and learnt so much more about the South African wine industry than what we thought possible.
We could not get enough of South African wine, and loved the custom designed tour - we will be visiting again to explore more!
Thank you for everything!
We loved the door-to-door personal service and the hand selected wine estates we visited; the day went by too quickly!
Such great experiences, great value for money, great service!
It was fantastic not to have to be concerned about anything; we particularly loved the local connections Mel has - we feel as if we have experienced the full smorgasbord of unique activities and met the most wonderful people.
It has been 6 weeks of a second honeymoon with so much spoiling; it's going to be hard to go back to normal.