Combine a Tour of the Zulu Kingdom and the Cape. Experience the amazing Drakensburg, Zulu Battlefields, Big 5 Safari, Whale Watching, Robben Island, Table Mountain and more...
Craft Tours, Cultural Tours, Game Drives, Game Viewing, Hiking, Historical Tours, River Cruise, Rock Paintings, Whale Watching, Wildlife Viewing, Wine Tasting
• 4 nights luxury game lodge accommodation at Hluhluwe River Lodge, with en-suite facilities • Game Drive in the Hluhluwe iMfolozi Game Reserve • Scheduled Tours: Sundowner boat trip; Duma Zulu Cultural Village Tour; Cape Vidal Day Tour • Breakfasts & Dinners daily
Drakensberg Mountain Range:
• 2 nights luxury accommodation in the Drakensberg at Didima Restcamp, with en-suite facilities • Scheduled Tours: Spioenkop Battlefield tour; Didima Rock Art Centre; Howick Falls • Breakfasts & Dinners daily
Zulu Battlefields
• 2 nights luxury accommodation in Zululand at Isandlwana Lodge, with en suite facilities • Scheduled Tours: Isandhlwana Battlefield tour; Rorkes Drift Battlefield tour • Breakfasts & Dinners daily
Cape Town:
• 4 nights luxury accommodation at the Bay Hotel, with en-suite facilities • Scheduled Tours: Tour of Robben Island; Cape Town City Tour; Cape Peninsula Tour; Tour of the Wineland; Choice of Whale Watching tour or Cape Township Tour • Breakfasts daily ________________________________________________________________________________________
What Is Included:
• All airport and ground transfers in air-conditioned vehicles • Accommodation on a Dinner, bed and breakfast basis (except in Cape Town where it will Bed & Breakfast only) • Activities specified in itinerary, including transfers • Guide/Host as per itinerary • Guided Activities as per itinerary – weather permitting • Access to 24 hour Travel Expert
What Is Not Included:
• International & domestic flights • Lunches & dinners (unless specified) • Optional Activity Fees (Table Mountain Cable Car, Hout Bay Boat Trip, and Boulders Penguin Sanctuary) • Drinks & refreshments • Tips for porters and restaurants • Telephone calls, laundry & other incidental personal expenditure • Visa fees, in countries where these apply • Airport departure taxes, in countries where these apply
Please Note:
• All Activities are dependant on prevailing weather conditions • All Cape Town Tours can be interchanged to fit your needs ________________________________________________________________________________________
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1: Arrive, transfer to Hluhluwe Lodge on the border of the Hluhluwe iMfolozi Game Reserve
Arrive at Durban International Airport and meet your host, who will assist and guide you throughout your holiday experience. we continue on our journey and head to the Hluhluwe River Lodge in northern Zululand.
Your host will then check you into your luxury lodge in Hluhluwe, before returning to Durban. You will get a chance to settle down and relax before enjoying a late afternoon game drive in an open-top vehicle hosted by a local ranger in the vast Hluhluwe iMfolozi National Park. This is one of South Africa’s most beautiful game parks and home to all of the Big Five while it is also home to the subcontinent’s largest population of endangered white and black rhino. The Game viewing opportunities should be plentiful.
After returning to the Lodge, you will be able to enjoy drinks around the campfire while your host entertains while preparing a mouth-watering dinner, which is likely to include several interesting local game dishes.
Day 2, 3 & 4: Hluhluwe River Lodge
You will spend the next 3 days exploring both the Hluhluwe iMfolozi Game Reserve and the World renowned Greater St Lucia Wetlands Reserve.
We will be up early everyday for a predawn game drive with a local ranger. Your guide will introduce you to the wonders of the bush, where he will impart his knowledge on Big Game animals, medicinal and edible plants, as well as pointing out a number of endemic bird species. We also hope to see lion, buffalo, rhino, elephant, giraffe and many other interesting species. You will also have an option to venture to the Hluhluwe iMfolozi Rehabilitation Centre where you will get an opportunity to see conservation work in progress.
The first afternoon will be spent on a sun downer boat trip to view hippos and crocodiles, and more importantly to toast the African sun as sets over this spectacular setting. The second afternoon you will travel to Duma Zulu Cultural Village, where you will get the opportunity learn about the warrior culture of the Zulu Kingdom.
And on the 4th day you will depart on a full day tour of Cape Vidal in the Greater St. Lucia Wetlands Reserve. You will spend the day lazing on the beach, snorkelling and swimming in the sea and taking part in several optional activities including scuba diving, dune boarding and horse riding.
Whilst the sun sets over the park, enjoy sundowners in the scenic hills and in the evening dine in the atmosphere that only the African bushveld can provide.
Day 5: Isandhlwana, the Battlefields
After a leisurely breakfast, we reluctantly leave Hluhluwe iMfolozi and we continue to the remote battlefields at Isandhlwana, a scenic 3-hour drive through rural Zululand. On the way we visit a Zulu Village to experience Zulu life and culture and stop at a self-help project to give you the opportunity of supporting the local community by purchasing one of their handmade products.
Check into your luxury Zulu accommodation, settle in an enjoy dinner whilst absorbing some of the fascinating history of this great conflict between Britain and the proud Zulu Kingdom. Then take time to view the pristine stars of the southern sky, including the distinctive Southern Cross.
Day 6: Isandhlwana, the Battlefields
This morning we visit the poignant battlefield at Isandhlwana, where in 1879 the mighty British army suffered the greatest defeat in its history following the controversial invasion of Zululand. See for yourself the events portrayed so passionately in the film Zulu Dawn, as the regiment was wiped out almost to a single man by 25,000 Zulu warriors.
We continue to Fugitives Drift, where a handful of survivors fought valiantly to save the Queen’s colours and Rorkes Drift, where the following morning honour was restored as a small contingent of 100 British soldiers (many of them sick) held off over 4,000 Zulus earning no fewer than 11 Victoria Crosses – unforgettably brought to life by Michael Caine in the film Zulu.
Day 7: uKhahlamba Drakensberg Mountains
This morning we drive 3-hours to the spectacular uKhahlamba Drakensberg Mountains, recognised as a World Heritage Site for their unspoilt natural beauty and vast collection of San Bushmen rock art paintings.
On the way we stop at Spioenkop Battlefield to hear some of the key events of the Anglo Boer War of 1899, which followed shortly after the conquest of Zululand as the British Empire turned its attentions to the lucrative Transvaal goldfields.
At Spioenkop the most futile and bloodiest of four battles took place, in vain efforts to relieve a besieged Ladysmith. We visit Mount Alice, site of General Buller’s camp, and consider the preliminary action at the Rangeworthy Hills, the Battle of Ntabamnyama, as we ponder the utter futility of war.
We continue to the Drakensberg Mountains. known locally as the Barrier of Spears, the dramatic Drakensberg Mountain range runs right down Southern Africa from the Great Rift Valley. Visit the Didima Rock Art Centre before checking into your luxury mountain resort.
Once you are settled in bid farewell to your host, who will leave you to enjoy the many facilities of your resort.
Days 8: uKhahlamba Drakensberg Mountains
The Drakensberg Mountains offer superb scenery and fresh mountain air, making it ideal for walking holidays at any level of fitness. Your hotel will organise guided walks each day – typically one short walk and one long walk, plus a walk to a San Bushmen painting site. You resort also has a swimming pool and caters for several other activities including Tennis, Golf, Fly-fishing and Horse Riding.
The mountains also offer an outstanding location for bird watching holidays – particularly raptors, but also sunbirds, waxbills and the numerous other species found in the grasslands, riverine scrub and natural forests.
Each evening enjoy socialising with other guests over dinner.
Day 9: Cape Town via Durban
Today you will be transferred to Durban International Airport for your 2 hour flight to Cape Town. On our return trip we will pass through Pietermaritzburg, with its charming colonial architecture and famous public schools, while taking a quick pit stop at Howick Falls, which at 365 feet, are the tallest in the country, while we also visit the historic spot where Nelson Mandela was captured prior to his imprisonment on Robben Island.
Arrive at Cape Town International Airport and meet your Cape Town holiday host, who will transfer you to your luxury accommodation conveniently situated on the foot of Table Mountain overlooking the famous Camps Bay.
Check in and relax in your magnificent surroundings.
Day 10: Cape Town
You day begins with a scrumptious buffet breakfast while overlooking Camps Bay and all its beauty. You will then be transferred to the V & A Waterfront, where you will partake in a 4 hour tour of Robben Island. This touching experience will be led by an ex-inmate who will immerse you in the history of this island, which once held the great Nelson Mandela.
After Lunch, you will be collected by your guide for a sightseeing city tour of Cape Town. This tour will includes historical highlights of the area including the Castle of Good Hope and Signal Hill, with the tour coming to culmination on the top of Table Mountain.
Day 11: Cape Town
This morning your host will collect you for a full day tour of the Fairest Cape. You will travel along the spectacular coastline of the Peninsula through charming historical villages.
We start with a short boat trip from Hout Bay to view cape fur seals at Seal Island. We continue via spectacular Chapman’s Peak Drive to Cape Point where we hope to see ostrich, baboons and perhaps even dolphins. On the return journey we pass through naval Simons Town, and stop to see its resident penguin colony at Boulders Beach.
We also make a short stop at the Living Hope HIV/AIDs craft centre, your opportunity to support this self-help scheme by purchasing some of their hand-made products, before returning to your hotel in the late afternoon.
Day 12: Cape Town
Today, you will embark on a tour of the renowned Cape Winelands, travelling through the scenic Franschhoek Valley where a handful of French Huguenot refugees started South Africa’s now famous wine industry.
Visit the historic towns of Stellenbosch and Paarl, while visiting several different wine estates of your choice – sampling as you go!
The rest of the afternoon is yours to relax and enjoy the area with several fantastic shops and restaurants; the V & A Waterfront is not to be missed while you may just opt to laze around the pool or on the beautiful white sands of Camps Bay.
Day 13: Cape Town
Today, you may choose between taking part in either a half day Township Tour of the Cape or embark on a thrilling whale watching coastal trip to Hermanus.
The Township Tour will introduce you to the multicultural side of Cape Town and a chance to interact with the locals. From District Six, where forced removals changed the lives of many people, to informal settlements where traditional healers and shebeens add to the rich culture of township life, you’ll see it all
If you opt for the Whale Watching tour (only available from August to November), you are in for an early start to the day. You will be transferred directly to Hermanus, a scenic 2hour drive, where you will board a specifically modified Whale Watching Boat. This 3 – 4 hour boat trip will give you the opportunity to get close and personal with some of the largest mammals on earth, providing you with fantastic photographic opportunities. When the whale watching tour is not operating, we will take part in a Sea Safari to view dolphins, seals and other fantastic sea creatures.
In the Afternoon, we return to Cape Town, travelling via Gordon’s Bay and False Bay, a scenic coastal drive of just under 3-hours which will provide us with further opportunities for land-based whale watching.
Once in Cape Town, if time allows, you will be able to do some final curio shopping before you are transferred to Cape Town International Airport for your onward flight.
