Day - Panorama Route
You will be collected from the airport or your hotel in Johannesburg by your guide. Head straight for the Panorama Route, best known for its cultural heritage and dramatic landscapes. We reach the small forestry town of Graskop, perched on the edge of the Drakensberg escarpment. Visit viewpoints along the edge of the escarpment, including God’s Window, Lisbon Falls and the Pinnacle. The afternoon is at leisure, allowing you time to stroll through some of the many unique and interesting shops – including an elephant dung paper shop and a shop specializing in silk from the African Mopane worm!
Overnight: Mogodi Lodge
Meals: None
Included: Entry fees to viewpoints
Day 2 : Kruger National Park
Continue exploring the Panorama Route. Our first stop is Bourke’s Luck Potholes, a remarkable record of an erosion process that started thousands of years ago. We also view the Blyde River Canyon, the third deepest and only green canyon in the world. Continue on to the world-renowned Kruger National Park. This park offers a wildlife experience that ranks with the best in Africa and the world and is unrivalled in the diversity of its life forms. While we are in the park you will enjoy at least 2 three hour game drives per day. A typical day is up at 05h30 for a game drive until brunch (normally around 10h30). After brunch relax in camp. The afternoon drive normally begins at about 15h00, and continues until 18h00 when we return to camp for supper. You also have the option of joining the park rangers in their open safari vehicles for a night drive (R210-00 pp) or going on a Morning Bush Walk, accompanied by a park ranger (R400-00 pp).
Overnight: Kruger NP
Meals: Breakfast
Included : Kruger NP Daily conservation fee
Excluded : Optional Night Drive and Morning Bush Walk activities
Day 3 - Kruger National Park
Continue exploring the vastness and diversity of Kruger Park with a morning and afternoon game drive.
Overnight : Kruger NP
Meals : Breakfast
Included : Kruger NP Daily conservation fee
Day 4 - Timbavati
Enter the Timbavati. The Timbavati Private Nature Reserve comprises 53,392 hectares of private land adjoining the Kruger National Park. The beauty of the Timbavati is that it allows you to go off road to view game – ensuring the best possible opportunities for sightings of the Big 5. We arrive at our lodge in time for lunch and some time at leisure before joining the rangers on the evening game drive.
Overnight : Gomo Gomo Game Lodge
Meals : Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Included : Entry into the Timbavati Conservation area
Day 5 - Timbvati
Game viewing is done in open safari vehicles and the camp size is so small, it feels more like home than a rest camp. Nothing is fenced off so it is not uncommon to have Hyena coming into camp to try and wash the dishes after supper!
Sightings are close, as the 4x4 game viewers go off road to view animals like Lion, Leopard, Buffalo, Rhino, Elephant, Cheetah and Wild Dog. You also have the option of joining your ranger on a bush walk, to get up close and personal with many aspects of the bush that often pass you by on a game viewing vehicle.
A highlight is the sunset drives, where we depart from camp at about 15h00 and stop for drinks and some snacks before sunset. The drive resumes as soon as the sun is down and you have the opportunity to seek out the nocturnal inhabitants of the bush.
Overnight : Gomo Gomo Game Lodge
Meals : Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day - Pongola
Travel through Swaziland to Pongola Private Game Reserve, surrounded by bushveld savannah and the Lebombo mountains. In the afternoon enjoy a game cruise on Pongola dam (a great way to see animals as they come to drink).
Overnight : Mvubu Lodge
Meals : Breakfast , Dinner:
Included : Afternoon Game Cruise
Excluded : Visa if required (Swaziland)
Day 7 - Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve
You have a choice of either an early morning game drive in an open safari vehicle, or going Rhino tracking (join your ranger on a game walk and track these prehistoric beasts on foot).
Continue on to Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve. This reserve is the oldest game reserve in the world and is responsible for single-handedly saving the White and Black Rhino. This park is a must as it is very different from the others we have visited and offers a whole new range of animals and experiences.
Overnight : Hilltop Camp
Meals : Breakfast, Dinner
Included : Morning Game Drive OR Rhino, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve Daily conservation fee
Day 8 - St Lucia
We enter The Greater St Lucia Wetland Park World Heritage Site. Here we embark on a Hippo & Crocodile Estuary Cruise, a leisurely boat trip down the St Lucia Estuary, where you can watch fish eagles, hippos, crocodiles and goliath herons against a backdrop of mangrove swamps.
Overnight : Avalone Guest House
Meals : Breakfast: Hilltop Camp
Included : Estuary cruise
Day 9 - St Lucia
St Lucia lies on The Elephant Coast of KwaZulu-Natal. Elephants, Rhino and Lion, Whales, Turtles and Marlin, Warm Indian Ocean, Pristine Beaches, Sub-Tropical Climate are some of the terms associated with this area… Today you have the option to book some of the activities below.
Option 1 (morning): WHALE WATCHING: Early morning departure. 2 Hours at sea with a specialized Marine Mammal Guide. See Humpback whales from as close as 50m's! Seasonal: June, July, August, September, October, November only *R300 Cash refund if you have not seen a whale after 2 hours on the ocean R930-00 pp
Option 2 (morning): OCEAN ADVENTURE: Early morning departure. 2 Hours at sea. Experience the thrill of surf launching with the possibility of seeing turtles, sharks, dolphins, pelagic sea birds & flying fish Year Round R530-00 pp
Option 3 (full day):DEEP SEA GAME FISHING: Departs at 06h00. A full day of game, bill and bottom fishing. All bait and tackle supplied. Year RoundR770-00 pp
Option 4 (full day): HLUHLUWE/IMFOLOZI GAME RESERVE: Departs at 05h00. A full day of game viewing the Big 5 in the oldest Game Reserves in Africa. Includes a full lunch ,tea/coffee/juice & rusks at breakfast time, soft drinks throughout the day, entrance fees and a qualified guide.Year Round R1 020-00 pp
Option 5 (full day): CAPE VIDAL SNORKEL SAFARI: Departs at 08h00. A full day of guiding and driving within the Eastern Shores. Stop to snorkel and have lunch at one of the most beautiful beaches on the North Coast - view points en route - walking trails etc. Includes tea/coffee & rusks at breakfast time, soft drinks throughout the day, a full lunch, snorkel equipment, a qualified guide, gate entry fees. Year Round
R660-00 pp
Option 6 (evening):NIGHT DRIVE: Departs at 20h00. 3 Hours within the Eastern Shores to view nocturnal animals with a qualified guide. Year Round R400-00 pp
Option 7 (evening): TURTLE TOUR: Departs at 21h00. Depart St Lucia and spend the next 6 hours over midnight to search for turtles that come out to nest. Includes a picnic dinner at Cape Vidal close to midnight and refreshments.Seasonal: November, December, January, February, March only R935-00 pp
Option 8 (afternoon): KHULA CULTURAL TOUR: 3 Hours to enjoy the Zulu Culture and way of life within the Cultural Village 3km's outside of St Lucia.Year Round R265-00 pp
Option 9 (afternoon): HORSE RIDING: Enjoy the beach on horseback, or a Game Ride within the Eastern Shores to see species of wildlife, accompanied by a qualified guide and rider. Year Round1 Hour: R250-00 pp 2 Hour: R500-00 pp *Beach Ride subject to tides
Option 10 (afternoon): BIRD WATCHING WALKING TRAIL: 3 Hours Year Round R150-00 pp
Overnight : Avalone Guest House
Meals : Breakfast: Avalone Guest House
Excluded : Activities in Option 1 - 10
Day 10 - Shakaland
We head down the coast to visit a Zulu Cultural village - ShakaLand. Here you will come to understand many of the customs of the Zulu people, see how they made their weapons and taste the traditional beer. After supper we will join the villagers for a bit of Zulu Dancing. Don’t knock it - its great fun!
Overnight : ShakaLand
Meals : Breakfast, Dinners
Included : Zulu cultural experience
Day 11 - Durban
After breakfast and a morning cultural program, we bid the Zulu’s farewell and continue down the coast to Umdloti, where we book into Fairlight Beach House.
The rest of the afternoon is spent at leisure. Umdloti’s beach is regarded as one of South Africa’s best kept secrets and Fairlight is right on the finest bathing and surfing beach in the area. Enjoy the warmth of the Indian Ocean or just relax and do some dolphin and whale spotting from the Fairlight’s expansive deck overlooking the ocean.
Overnight : Fairlight Beach House
Meals: Breakfast
DAY 12 - End
We bid you farewell and drop you off at Durban airport.
Price
Discounts for 4+ persons.
Exclusions
Airfares to/from South Africa
Accommodation in Johannesburg
Drinks and curios
Required Inoculations and Malaria medications
Travel Insurance
Multi Entry Visas (if required)
