Southern Africa Exploration
Summary
The one that delivers a spectacular safari adventure through Africa featuring Cape Town, Victoria Falls and the breath-taking landscapes of Botswana and Namibia.
Start: Cape Town, South Africa
Finish: Windhoek, Nambia
Destination: Southern Africa
Theme: Exploration
Details
Looking for the ultimate safari adventure through Africa? This one doesn’t just explore the gorgeous city of Cape Town and thundering might of Victoria Falls – it also takes a wild safari through iconic Kruger, before exploring the breathtaking landscapes of Botswana and Namibia, with heaps of included game drives, luxe lodges with swimming pools, opportunities for helicopter wildlife spotting and interactions with indigenous communities. This is the ultimate African adventure, unfiltered, and once you’ve made memories like these under African skies, your life will never be the same.
Gallery
Summary
Day 1: Cape Town
The adventure begins. Drop off your bags at the hotel and meet your Trip Manager in the lobby. We’ll all share a meal tonight along with some drinks to get to know each other.
Included Meals:
Dinner
Day 2: Cape Town
Our time in Cape Town is dedicated to sightseeing, and today is no exception! We start at the very top with a cable car ride up Table Mountain, followed by a city tour of Cape Town’s key sights and historical attractions. After that, the rest of the day is yours. We recommend the V&A Waterfront (SA’s most visited attraction). You’ll also have the option to join our Township Tour & Amy Foundation Lunch, which gives you a locally guided insight into life during Apartheid. Tonight, you’ll get to know your new fam in the best way possible – with food, drinks and music in our MasterChef-style cooking class.
Included Meals:
Breakfast
Day 3: Cape Town
This is your day to take advantage of Cape Town’s myriad local excursions – after breakfast of course. Our fav is a scenic drive along the cliffs of Chapman’s Peak and down to Cape Point – the South-western tip of Africa. In the afternoon, we’ll stop off at Boulders Beach to admire a colony of adorable African penguins. What next? Well, you can’t go wrong with wine tasting (and a view) to round off an incredible day touring the “fairest Cape in all the world.”
Included Meals:
Breakfast
Day 4: Cape Town to Kruger National Park
Cape Town
Kruger
Yup, it’s safari time! And better still, our accommodation for the night is right on the border of this famous wildlife haven. Expect to see the famous Big Five (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant, buffalo) plus hundreds of native bird species, ancient trees and meandering rivers. Our epic 2-day exploration includes an anti-poaching experience, where you’ll learn all about the dangers posed to Africa’s wildlife and the rangers that protect them.
Day 5: Kruger National Park
Kruger
We’re up early for our first taste of the African bush’s fresh morning air. We’ll venture to the park gate and enter at sunrise, just the right time to catch elusive predators as they finish their nocturnal hunts. We’ll discover who in the group has the ‘Luck of the bush’ and best spotting eyes. For lunch you’ll dine with locals and visit their Eco Village which ensures a better future for this impoverished but hopeful community. In the afternoon, we’re off for another game drive as the temperatures start to cool and the wildlife become more active. Then we’ll round off the night with a dinner at the lodge.
Day 6: Kruger National Park to Johannesburg
Kruger
The game of hide and seek continues as we traverse back into the park, keeping our eyes open for any wildlife we missed yesterday. We’re talking giraffes, hyenas, antelope or even the elusive cheetah… lurking deep in the bush.
In the late morning, we wave goodbye to the park and make our way back to Johannesburg.
Johannesburg
Day 7: Johannesburg to Victoria Falls
Johannesburg
Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe)
Day 8: Victoria Falls
Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe)
Today’s all about one thing: adrenaline-fuelled adventure. In the morning you’ll raft down the Zambezi River, one of the world’s best white-water rafting experiences that boasts up to 20 rapids, with cool names like “the Devil’s Toilet Bowl”, “Terminator 1 & 2” and the famous “Oblivion”. In the afternoon, it’s plunge time – jump, zip line or swing off the famous bridge connecting Zimbabwe and Zambia over the Zambezi River. With the sunset before you, the mighty Victoria Falls behind, Zambia on your left, Zimbabwe on your right and the gushing Zambezi below, you won’t be able to resist falling in love with Africa again and again and again…
Day 9: Victoria Falls to Chobe
Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe)
Chobe National Park
Please note: due to the rainy season, overnight camping in Chobe is not available from October to March. Instead, you’ll spend two nights in Chobe at a lodge with afternoon and morning game drives still included, plus a buffet dinner.
Day 10: Chobe
Chobe National Park
This morning we’ll wake up to watch the sunrise over the African bush with a light breakfast, before departing on a morning game drive to hopefully see some of the wildlife we may have heard the night before. We will arrive late morning to check into our new lodge and spend the rest of the day relaxing around the pool and swapping stories from the night before. On our last evening together you can opt for a wildlife cruise on the Chobe river. Surrounded by pods of hippos, crocs basking on the banks and all forms of African animals coming down to drink, this is truly one African sunset you’ll never forget followed by a buffet dinner tonight.
Day 11: Chobe to Makgadikgadi Salt Pans
Chobe
Dumela Botswana! We’ll head south today from Kasane to Gweta Lodge on the edge of the Makgadikgadi Salt pans.
Makgadikgadi Salt Pans
Opt to cruise the salt pans in open safari vehicles in search of a meerkat colony while getting some funky perspective photos in one of the largest salt flats in the world. Tonights treat is sundower drinks under an icon of Botswana before retiring to the lodge for dinner and drinks at the bar.
Day 12: Makgadikgadi Salt Pans to Okavango Delta
Makgadikgadi Salt Pans
We will say goodbye to the pans (for now) and head on to the wildlife haven that is the Okavango Delta
Okavango Delta
Day 13: Okavango Delta
Okavango Delta
Day 14: Okavango Delta to Maun
Okavango Delta
Another morning at the Delta (the struggle is real.) After coffee and breakfast at sunrise, it’s time for another morning game drive – eyes peeled for elephants – as we make our way out of this wildlife paradise.
Maun
Check into the lodge, chill by the pool and then take to the skies in an optional Okavango Delta helicopter flight. Hover just meters above the waterways or fly high for stunning views of this unique inland delta and of course, don’t forget your binocs for some wildlife spotting from the air. If you’ve got a head for heights, you won’t find views more spectacular than this anywhere in the world. Tonight, you’ll polish off your last night in Botswana with a night in the town. The Okavango Delta Brewery calls, offering a tour, tasting and dinner for you to enjoy.
Day 15: Maun to Windhoek
Maun
Windhoek
Day 16: Windhoek to Sossusvlei
Windhoek
After a hearty breakfast, we’ll get back on the road together to see this beautiful country and hear all about its history – stopping off for a scenic lunch at the Nauklauft mountain range.
Sossusvlei
This evening, we arrive at one of Namibia’s most iconic attractions: Sossusvlei, a huge salt and clay pan framed by enormous dunes (some of the highest in the world). We’ll check in to our lodge and then get ready for a morning’s exploration with a big ol’ buffet dinner.
Day 17: Sossusvlei to Swakopmund
Sossusvlei
We’re up early today – let’s get exploring the desert before it’s too hot!
We start out at the Namib-Naukluft National Park, keeping our eyes open for Oyrx and other desert-dwelling wildlife. Wandering along Big Daddy sand dune and down into Deadvlei, admiring the views, you’ll finally realise where your desktop background images come from.
Swakopmund
We’ll hit the road again, admiring more scenery on our way to the German coastal town of Swakopmund. After checking into our hotel, it’s off to town for a German-inspired feast and plenty of beer at the local beer garden.
Day 18: Swakopmund
Swakopmund
Swakopmund is our adventurer’s paradise as we explore the ocean and surrounding desert. We start with a seal kayaking experience at Pelican point near Walvis Bay, where we’ll be on lookout for dolphins, whales and other marine life. This afternoon, we’ll hit Namib Desert for quad biking and sand boarding in the world’s oldest dunes. We’ll round off our day with a dinner in town (plus lots of reminiscing).
Day 19: Swakopmund to Etosha
Swakopmund
Today we head back inland for our Namibian safari destination of choice – Etosha. Before we arrive, we’ll stop off in the Erongo Mountains to visit the San Bushmen of Omandumba. Here, we’ll learn some of their language and gawp at their skills and crafts as they educate us on how to survive and thrive in harsh desert conditions.
Etosha National Park
Day 20: Etosha
Etosha National Park
We’re up early for our first Namibian game drive in Etosha! From big cats to desert-savvy antelope, the wildlife viewing experience here is like nowhere else on Earth. During the daytime heat, you’ll sit at the waterhole watching wildlife come and go before heading out for another game drive in the afternoon. Tonight, on our last night together, we’ll treat ourselves to one last buffet dinner.
Day 21: Etosha to Windhoek
Etosha National Park
Windhoek
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