Highlights of South Africa & Victoria Falls

Day 1 to 3 - Cape Town

Feel the excitement build as your flight arrives in Cape Town, where you will be met at the airport for the 25 minute drive to your hotel. You have three nights in the Mother City to explore at your own pace before joining your group for your escorted tour to the Garden Route and Kruger National Park.

There is so much to see! You could take the cable car to the top of Table Mountain to see the iconic view over the city for yourself, join a thought provoking cruise to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, or head out to the Cape of Good Hope, stopping by the penguin colony at Boulders Beach. Your Travel Consultant can pre-book your chosen activities for you.

Hotel: Southern Sun Waterfront or similar
Meals: Breakfast

Day 4 - Cape Agulhas & Mossel Bay

This morning you will be met by your local tour guide and depart for the scenic Garden Route. Travel along Sir Lowry’s Pass, with its magnificent views, to Grabouw and Elgin, a lush landscape surrounded by majestic mountains. Stop en route at a farmstall packed with locally produced products from the area.

Our journey continues to Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa, where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. The area has largely been untouched and unexplored with its rugged coastline being the graveyard for many a ship. The historic Cape Agulhas Lighthouse is considered the icon that signifies the tip of Africa. After this thrilling experience, we continue via historic Swellendam, the third oldest town in South Africa, to Mossel Bay, from where the Garden Route extends to the Storms River in the east. Overnight in Mossel Bay.

2024 departures – Leaving Cape Town, travel along Sir Lowry’s Pass with its magnificent views to Grabouw and Elgin, a lush landscape surrounded by majestic mountains. Stop en route at a farmstall packed with locally produced products from the area. Continue to Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa, where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. The historic Cape Agulhas Lighthouse is considered the icon that signifies the tip of Africa. After this thrilling experience, we continue via historic Swellendam and the Tradouw Pass to Barrydale and the famous Route 62. Sample top quality port style wines in Calitzdorp, before continuing to Oudtshoorn, the ‘ostrich feather capital’ and centre of the world’s Ostrich farming industry. Overnight in Oudtshoorn. Enjoy dinner at an Ostrich Farm, dining on local specialities such
as Ostrich Steak.

Hotel: (2023) – Diaz Hotel & Resort or similar
(2024) Overnight in Oudtshoorn at La Plume
Meals: Breakfast

Day 5 - Oudtshoorn

After breakfast, we visit the Cape St Blaize Cave, site of one of South Africa’s oldest archaeological excavations, known as the Cradle of Human Culture.

We continue our journey to Oudtshoorn, the ostrich capital of the world and home to the spectacular limestone caverns of the Cango Caves. Visit an ostrich farm for a guided tour. Enjoy a wine tasting at a local wine estate in the scenic Schoemanshoek Valley, before setting off on a tour of the Cango Caves, one of the world’s great natural wonders, sculpted by nature through the ages. Overnight in Oudtshoorn with dinner at your boutique guest house, dining on local specialities such as Ostrich Steak.

2024 departures – After a leisurely breakfast take a tour of the spectacular limestone caverns of the Cango Caves, one of the world’s great natural wonders, sculpted by nature through the ages. Afterwards enjoy a wine tasting at a local wine estate in the scenic Schoemanshoek Valley. Return to Oudtshoorn for a fun filled interactive guided tour at a working Ostrich Farm.

Hotel: La Plume Guest House & Spa or similar
Meals: Breakfast and dinner

Day 6 - Knysna

After breakfast, travel over the Outeniqua Pass to George, the sixth oldest town in South Africa, with many historical landmarks like the Slave Tree and King Edward VII Library building; said to be the best example of Edwardian architecture in the town. The tour travels via Wilderness, an attractive holiday resort, to Knysna, known as the oyster box of South Africa, nestling on the banks of a beautiful lagoon in the heart of the Garden Route.

Journey into the magical Knysna Forests, the stamping ground of the elusive Knysna elephants. Discover the stories of the woodcutters who worked the forests, the elephants that were hunted to extinction and the discovery of gold. Visit the Dalene Matthee Big Tree Memorial. The enormous Yellowwood tree of over 880 years was named after Matthee, best known author of four books on the Knysna Forest. Enjoy a delicious lunch, in the forest, of traditional cuisine and local treats at Totties Farm Kitchen.

Hotels: Rex Hotel or similar
Meals: Breakfast and lunch

Day 7 - Knysna

Today you’ll have the opportunity to further explore the natural beauty of the Knysna area. Visit the Forest Legends Museum, that exhibits tools and household items used by the woodcutters, the colourful Old Suzie steam engine, that was used to generate power, and the stately Old Forester’s House, home of forester David Ernest Hutchins, who was the first person to manage the indigenous forest in a sustainable manner. Afterwards you’ll have the opportunity to visit Monkeyland Primate Sanctuary, where you will be able to see a variety of primates, roaming free in the forest. This award-winning sanctuary is well known for its efforts to rehabilitate and free previously caged primates.

The tour continues to the famous Eastern Head, where you will enjoy spectacular views of the Knysna Heads (weather permitting). Afterwards you’ll travel to Brenton on Sea, a breath-taking holiday location and a nature lover’s paradise with its unspoilt beaches and peaceful surroundings. The remainder of the afternoon will be at leisure.

Hotel: Rex Hotel or similar
Meals: Breakfast

Day 8 - Plettenberg Bay & Tsitsikamma

Travel to Plettenberg Bay, considered the jewel of the Garden Route, for a visit to the Birds of Eden sanctuary, the biggest single free flight aviary in the world. The sanctuary was developed to create a safe environment in which to release a large collection of free-flight African birds.

Our journey continues to Bloukrans Bridge, the highest single span arch bridge in the world, currently offering the highest commercially operated Bungy Jump in the world. Visit the Tsitsikamma National Park and Storms River Mouth (weather permitting). The Tsitsikamma National Park incorporates 80km of rocky coastline with spectacular sea and landscapes, a remote mountainous region with secluded valleys covered in mountain Fynbos and temperate high forests with deep river gorges leading down to the sea.

Hotel: Tsitsikamma Village Inn or similar
Meals: Breakfast

Day 9 - Johannesburg

Head eastwards along the Tsitsikamma Forest to Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), affectionately known as the “friendly city”. Travel to Chief Dawid Stuurman Airport for an onward flight to Johannesburg, where you’ll be met and transferred to your hotel. The remainder of the day is yours to relax (unescorted).

Hotel: Holiday Inn Sandton or similar
Meals: Breakfast

Day 10 - Johannesburg

Spend a full day exploring Soweto and surrounds, where some of the watershed events in the struggle against apartheid occurred. The tour starts with a drive past the FNB Stadium, also known as Soccer City and the venue for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final. It was the site of Nelson Mandela’s first speech in Johannesburg after his release from prison in 1990.

The drive continues through Diepkloof, home to Soweto’s richest and then to Kliptown, where the Freedom Charter was officially adopted in 1955. Drive past the Regina Mundi Church that played a pivotal role in the township’s history of resistance against apartheid. Then onto Vilakazi Street, the most famous street in Soweto, where two Nobel Prize winners once lived, Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu.

The afternoon will conclude with visits to the Hector Pieterson Memorial & Museum that commemorate the role of the country’s students in the struggle against apartheid and the prestigious Apartheid Museum, that covers the full history of the Apartheid era in South Africa.

Hotel: Holiday Inn Sandton or similar
Meals: Breakfast

Day 11 - Johannesburg

Enjoy a full day at leisure. Perhaps visit the Cradle of Mankind or enjoy some shopping at Nelson Mandela Square, home to a variety of shops and boutiques catering for all tastes and budgets.

Hotel: Holiday Inn Sandton or similar
Meals: Breakfast

Day 12 - Kruger National Park

This morning you will be collected from your hotel, heading east to the Mpumalanga region. After freshening up at your lodge enter the world-famous Kruger National Park and spend the afternoon game viewing in your closed touring vehicle.

The Park offers some of the best game viewing and wildlife opportunities in the world – and you’ll soon appreciate the challenges of managing this unique reserve. After an action-packed afternoon in the Kruger Park, enjoy authentic cuisine from the region, around a cosy campfire at your lodge.

Hotel: (2023) Kruger Gate Hotel or similar
(2024) Hazyview Sun or similar
Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

Day 13 - Kruger National Park

The day begins with early morning coffee or tea, followed by a thrilling open vehicle game drive (with English speaking game ranger) through the Kruger National Park with pre-packed breakfast. Your guide will endeavour to spoil you with sightings of the ‘Big 5’, general game and prolific bird life. There is an option (for own account and subject to availability) to learn more about the Kruger Park Anti-Poaching Dog Unit. This specialist unit trains dogs to track poachers in the field, detect firearms, ammunition and wildlife products that enter and exit through the Kruger National Park gates.

Return to the lodge for lunch (own account) and a short siesta. In the afternoon we will journey once again through the magnificent expanses of the Kruger National Park, unrivalled in its diversity of flora and fauna. Enjoy an afternoon of game viewing in your closed touring vehicle pursuing the Big Five and other rare and endangered species. Return to the lodge for dinner served outdoors by the light of a campfire.

Hotel: (2023) Kruger Gate Hotel or similar
(2024) Hazyview Sun or similar
Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

Day 14 - Mpumalanga

Enjoy breakfast before setting out to explore the magnificent Panorama Route, one of the most scenic routes in the region, offering glorious views, spectacular landscapes, and exquisite waterfalls. Visit majestic sights including God’s Window, the Three Rondavels and Blyde River Canyon – the third largest canyon of its kind in the world, Bourke’s Luck Potholes, and the charming village of Graskop, one of the first gold mining camps in the country.

Return to your lodge for a delectable buffet Boma Dinner, served under the light of the stars.

Hotel: (2023) Kruger Gate Hotel or similar
(2024) Hazyview Sun or similar
Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

Day 15 - Johannesburg

Enjoy breakfast before starting the return journey to Johannesburg. Arrive at your hotel close to OR Tambo International Airport where you will stay the night and be conveniently placed for your flight the next day.

Hotel: Southern Sun OR Tambo or similar
Meals: Breakfast

Day 16 - Victoria Falls

Enjoy breakfast, before the short transfer to the terminal building ready for your flight to Victoria Falls.

On arrival, you will be met and transferred to Bayete Guest Lodge with the remainder of the day free to relax and get your bearings.

Hotel: Bayete Guest Lodge or similar
Meals: Breakfast

Day 17 - Victoria Falls

This morning, after a hearty breakfast, you will be taken on a tour of Victoria Falls by a qualified guide. Get as close as you dare for some amazing photographs that can be taken from along the walkway. You will be amazed at the sheer power of the water as it cascades over the edge of the plateau to the valley floor below.

Later in the afternoon enjoy a sunset cruise along the mighty Zambezi River. Selected drinks and snacks are included, making this the perfect way to watch the sun go down. Keep your eye out for hippos, crocodiles and the various birdlife that call the river home.

Hotel: Bayete Guest Lodge or similar
Meals: Breakfast

Day 18 - Farewell

After a relaxed breakfast, enjoy the hotel facilities or explore Victoria Falls town before your return transfer to the airport and  flight home.