Yolanta Barnes of Sights and Soul Travel has been planning and hosting women-only trips in Europe since 2002, both "classic" tours to places like London or Italy and more "avant-garde" destinations like Poland, Portugal or Croatia.

In 2008 the company added a tour of the Amazon rainforest, and last year they added a tour of South Africa that includes six days at a luxury hotel in Cape Town and five days at a private game reserve in Sabi Sands near Kruger National Park. 

Barnes says she was surprised by the response to the South Africa trip.  

"Several people had been asking me about Africa for a while, so I decided to give it a try. I had no idea it would be such a hit, but the tour filled up within a couple of months and the 2011 tour [Jan. 30-Feb 9] is already one third full." 

Barnes says the group was able to see the 'Big Five' (elephant, rhino, lion, leopard and buffalo) on their first day of game watching near Krueger National Park, and travelers were very enthusiastic about the accomodations and the staff at the Djuma Bush Lodge where they stayed. 

"The experience was incredible -- not only true adventure, with the Big Five everywhere, but we traveled quite comfortably." 

"The South African trip was an adventure of a lifetime," says Joan Mangiaracina from California, who has taken S&S tours to Poland, Portugal, Croatia and Brazil. "I've enjoyed each one," she says, "but Africa was on my bucket list and this trip left me wanting more of that continent."One of the reasons Sights and Soul has an extensive repeat clientele is planning. Barnes worked with an extensive network of in-country contacts to select the right lodging, dining and attractions."Everything was really really well organized," says Gayle Gow from Oregon. "We saw and did more than I ever imagined we could in that amount of time. It was wonderful."
The tour begins with six days at a five-star hotel on the waterfront in Cape Town, with side trips to the Cape of Good Hope, where the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet, Boulder Beach, with its colonies of African penguins, the Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens and South Africa's world famous wine country.

Travelers also take the cable car to Table Mountain and take advantage of many shopping and sightseeing opportunities in Cape Town. Cape Town is known as a good place to find bargains on gold items and diamonds.
They also visit the Houses of Parliament, City Hall and the Slave Lodge, now a museum, the Castle of Good Hope, South Africa's oldest building, the District Six Museum, which documents the injustice and inhumanity of the apartheid era. 
There is also a visit to the Malay Quarter, known as the Bo-Kaap, and a diamond-cutting demonstration.
The tour then moves to the Djuma Private Game Reserve, part of the Sabi Sands and Kruger National Park ecosystem, which offers two daily game drives to view the Big Five as well as guided game walks and visits to local villages, where travelers have a chance to learn about local culture and traditions.