Anka, Unni and Tom Tour.

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15: 1st Night Johannesburg

16: 2nd Night, Kruger National Park

We start early this morning 6 am, and after we have had a good breakfast and packed up, we leave Johannesburg. It will take about a 6 hour drive to get to Kruger National Park. We will take our time and enjoy the drive and the scenic route so it could take u a little longer.

We will take a route known as the Panorama route. This will take us through some small towns such as Belfast and Dulstroom, where you can buy some unique farm products and crafts. We will also go to the first gold mining town in South Africa, Pilgrims rest, this town has been left as it was in the late 1800’s. We will then go to the Blyde river Canyon, one of the worlds biggest green canyons. We will visit a few view points along the canyon, stop to photograph some of the waterfalls and find a nice place to have a picnic lunch.

Kruger National Park is the most famous national park in Africa and the most successful effort of conservation on the planet. We will enter Kruger at the centre of the park. It will be the end of the rainy season and the wildlife movements at this time bring the animals to the southern section of the park.
Kruger National Park is currently 22 000 square km, Which is around the same size as some european countries. All the animals that are associated with Africa can be found in Kruger, including the big 5 (Lion , leopard, elephant, buffalo and Rhino) and many many other species.

We will arrive sometime in the afternoon and will be staying at Orpen camp on the western boundary of the park. If we have time before the sun sets the we will depart on your first game drive experience, a game drive is a drive through a park in search of wild animals. The facilities found here include a swimming pool, a hide that overlooks a waterhole and a small shop.  

The campsite does have power points and there are two ablution blocks with separate men’s and woman’s showers, toilets and washbasins. Tonight we will have dinner at camp and will sleep in our tents.

17: 3rd Night, Kruger National Park

At this time of the year it can be quite hot, this means that the animals are active in the cooler mornings and late afternoon. During the heat of the day the animals will be hiding in the shade of trees and bushes and be very hard to find. For this reason we start early in the morning, we start the morning at 5:30 am and enjoy a cup of coffee in the dark before we leave the camp on an early morning game drive. We will be in search of any nocturnal animals that are still moving around and if lucky we could spot a pride of lions or even a leopard! As the sun rises we will get a chance to see all the day time animals waking up and starting to find food and water. As it gets hotter we will return to our camp for breakfast.

We will the pack up our camp and head east to our next camp. On the way we will keep our eyes peeled for the animals to be found in this area.  Satara.
 Along the way we hope to find the big herds of animals the area is well known for, zebra, blue wildebeest, buffalo, giraffe, impala and elephant. It is a 67 km drive to Satara; which takes us through some excellent game viewing territory.
 
This camp is situated in the heart of lion territory and also offers great opportunity to find wild dog. The camp has a very long fence line, which will allow us to set up our camp so we can view game from our tents. The camp facilities include a well-stocked shop, a view of a waterhole and a swimming pool. We will have lunch at camp and some time to relax during the heat of midday by the swimming pool.

This afternoon we will go on a game drive along the N’wanetsi river road. The drive takes us along the river with dense vegetation on one side (great for leopard) and open plains on the other (good for cheetah) and is well known for lion sightings. The area is also very good for spotting white rhino and has large herds of buffalo, blue wildebeest, zebra, kudu and giraffe.

We then travel through an area known to be home to one of Kruger’s super prides, an enormous pride of 20 lions, back to camp. We will enjoy dinner at camp while listening to the roaring of the super pride. Tonight we will be sleeping in tents.

The campsite does have power points and there are two ablution blocks with separate men’s and woman’s showers, toilets and washbasins. We will be spending 1 night at this camp.

18: 4th Night Kruger

We will now be in the routine of early mornings and will be happy to start our day in the early morning before the sun rises. We will depart on an early morning drive and try to find any large predators that have been hunting in the area.

This morning you also have the option of going on a game walk, Here an armed ranger will take you on a walk through the wild bush and show you smaller things you may not have seen from a vehicle. If you are lucky you may see some of the large mammals from foot, an exceptional experience, this is an optional activity, so it is up to you whether you would like to go, for this reason it is not included in the tour price, it will be an extra R300 per person to participate in the guided walk.

We will have lunch at our camp and relax during the heat of the day.

This afternoon we will depart on another afternoon game drive and hopefully tick some more animals off your list. This evening you will have the opportunity to go on a night drive. Here you go on a drive in an open safari vehicle armed with high powered spot lights which a ranger will use to find some rare nocturnal animals. If you are lucky this can be a very rewarding experience, if you are unlucky it can be a drive in the dark. this is also an optional activity and is not included in the price, if you like to take the opportunity it will cost an extra R200.

Tonight dinner will be at camp and it is the same camp as the previous night.

19: 5th Night, Kruger National Park

This will be our last full day and night in Kruger National Park and we will leave the camp early and head futher south. On our way we pass through areas great for rhino and elephant.
 
There are also great scenic views on this route and it is a real feast for the eyes. We will stop for breakfast on route and have lunch when we arrive at camp. Our next camp is Lower Sabie, one of the best camp views can be found here, high above the Sabie river.
 
There are some view points where you can relax and enjoy the view and other facilities including a large curio shop, swimming pool, laundry and a restaurant. After lunch you will have some time to enjoy these facilities.

This afternoon we will will search the area for any animals still not checked off your wishlist. Lower Sabie is right in the middle of the best game viewing area in the south of the park.  The roads will take us through great lion territory and very good areas for cheetah, white rhino and leopard.

On the way back to camp we will stop at sunset dam a great place to watch hippo’s and crocodiles and the best sunset photos on offer.

Tonight we will enjoy our dinner at camp and then talk through our Kruger expierience. One last night in the park listening to the sounds of the african night.

20: 6th Night, Hluhluwe National Park

Today we are up and packed to go just after the sun rises. This morning we leave Kruger behind us and travel to Zululand. Our journey today will take us through the Kingdom of Swaziland. A small landlocked country inside south Africa’s border.We travel very close to the Mozambique border and travel through the rural areas of South Africa before we enter Swaziland. We travel by huge sugar cane plantations and through the Royal Hlane game reserve back toward South Africa.

We exit Swaziland into Zululand the cultural heartland of South africa and home of the Zulu’s. The area is lush, green and mountainous we will pass by many game reserves and the drive is beautiful. We will be heading towards the Royal hunting grounds of King Shaka Zulu, Hluhluwe. Hluhluwe National Park is the most beautiful park in the country, it is situated in the mountains and provides amazing photographic moments constantly. The views are great and many. We will get a chance to stop at crafts market today for any African gifts you may want to buy.

Once the shopping is done we will enter the park and drive up the winding hills to our lodge, Hilltop. We will be taking a rest from our tents tonight and will be sleeping in lodge huts right on the top of the mountain. The lodge we stay at is fantastic and you will have a chance to enjoy it this afternoon. There is a swimming pool, large shop, bar , restaurant and unparalleled view points. We will be having dinner at the restaurant tonight and take some time to recharge.  

21: 7th Night, Imfolozi National Park

This morning we will start the day at 6 am, then its off to explore the park. Hluhluwe national park is famous for it’s save the rhino campain in which they saved the black and white rhino from extinction. The park provides excellent opportunities to view these animals amid amazing backdrops.There are also many of the lesser seen antelope species like nyala and we will try to find some big herds of buffalo and elephant. We will spend the morning on a game drive to the next camp.

After lunch we cross through the park and will enter Imfolozi, this is the western section of the park it is lined with thick jungle like forests flowing over and surrounding the hills, hopefully we find a leopard in this area.

 Tonight we will stay at Mpila and enjoy another good night rest in the comfortable acomodation at the lodge. The lodge has beautiful facilities including a large swimming pool, shop with curios, bar and restaurant.
 
This will be our last night in the territory of the big five and we will take some time to reflect on our expirience over dinner around the fire.

22: 8th Night, Umdloti Beach

We will go on one last early morning game drive at sunrise today, this will be our last very early morning for a while. We will have one last game drive to try and find your special photograph. There is another big african craft market that we will stop at before we travel towards the west to the amazing beaches of the Dolphin coast.

It is a 4 hour drive to the beach side just north of Durban, we will be staying at a beach cottage a short walk from the beach. We will have lunch when we arrive and then go to the biggest shopping mall in the southern hemisphere, The Gateway.

Here we will restock all our supplies and you will have some time to do some shopping of your own. The afternoon will be spent soaking up the sun and enjoying the sound of the waves and warmth of the Indian ocean. The Indian ocean in this area has a year round temperature of around 20’C, which is comfortable to swim in or you can just take a leisurely walk along the beach at sunset.

Tonight we will be staying at Drifters Dolphin Coast Lodge

23: 9th Night, Highover Lodge, Drakensberg

Today we leave the coast behind us and head up into the Drakensberg Mountains. We will spend our first night in the southern Drakensberg.

On the way we will visit Durban and we will take you on a tour of the city and the harbour.

This afternoon we will enjoy a spectacular sunset from the top of the mountain behind our lodge.

We will be staying at Highover Lodge

24: 10th and 11th Night, Golden Gate N.P., Northern Drakensberg

Today we will travel further north and higher into the mountain range. We take the scenic route through the midlands and will stop at some of the attractions on route, including an old military fort, a very high waterfall, a small brewery, a small chocolate factory, a cheese factory, farming stall and some small art galleries as well as a picnic spot for lunch.

We will drive through the beautiful scenery and high up into the Drakensberg Mountains to our camp in the Drakensberg World Herritage Site. We will arrive at our camp and set up before the sun goes down. We will be spending the next 2 nights at this camp in the Golden Gate National Park. We will go to the top of the mountain by our camp and view some ancient rock art galleries. The view from the top of these mountains is breath taking and seemingly endless. The rolling hills and mountains just look to go on for ever.
 
 Our camp tonight has shared ablutions with hot showers and a swimming pool. We go back to the comfort of our tents tonight and enjoy another meal around an african camp fire.


This morning we will leave the camp after breakfast at around 8 am. Once we are packed and ready to go we will travel further  up the mountain range. We will take some time to explore all the small mountain towns and visit a vulture feeding site, where we may see huge vultures feeding on cattle carcasses.
We will pass the beautiful area known as Little Switzerland and stop at Sterkfontein dam. This park is high in the mountains and has many species of animals we would not have seen.

Black wildebeest and mountain zebra are found here and if we are lucky we could get close enough to take some photos of these amazing animals.
We will stop at a traditional Sotho village to give you an idea of how the rural people live in the mountains and to have a look at the African crafts made in this area. We will also be having lunch here.

Towards the afternoon we will drive between the towering sandstone cliffs of Golden Gate, these cliffs are astonshing and  the colours seem to change constantly between dark red and pale yellow, we plan to arrive back in time to climb to the top, enjoy a drink and view the sunset.

During the day we have many different options to enjoy, we can go for another hike in a different area, go fly fishing for trout, go horse riding, play a game of golf or tennis, enjoy some bird watching or just enjoy the camp facilities.

Tonight dinner will be at our camp and if the sky is clear we will have a look at the different star constellations and planets seen from South Africa.

25: 12th Night, Mountain Zebra National Park.

This morning we continue west. We will drive the gravel roads through the desert of South Africa, the Karoo, to Mountain Zebra National Park. On the way we will stop in the small quaint farm towns and visit the small farm stores to see what organic home made products are available here. We will also drive by the biggest man made dam in South Africa, the Gariep Dam.
 
We will arrive at Mountain zebra national park in the afternoon, the park  has healthy populations of the rare mountain zebra. There are also cheetah, rhino and if we are lucky we can spot some rare antelope, Eland and bontebok, in this park. Depending on our timing we will try to go for a game drive in the afternoon.

We will camp at the Mountain Zebra National Park for one night. The facilities here include swimming pool, bar, small shop and a waterhole to view animals. We will be camping in tents tonight and have dinner at our campsite.

26: 13th Night, Tsitsikama National Park, Garden Route

This morning we will pack up the camp early and leave on a sunrise game drive. Hopefully we can find some cheetah as they are waking up for the day. Once we reach the gate of the park we will stop for breakfast and then head back to the Indian Ocean.

It will be a 300km drive and we will travel through Nelson Mandela bay. This is the start to the world famous Garden Route, a beautiful scenic drive that hugs the coast and travels through lush green vegetation. It appears as though it is a garden designed by the gods.

 We will stop in the forest for a picnic lunch. Tsitsikama National Park is a coastal park that runs for 270 km along the Indian Ocean and is bordered by towering mountains, the seas here are rough and the coastline is rugged. The crashing of the waves on the rocks creates huge splashes of white water reaching about 15 metres into the air, and our camp is only a short distance from this symphony.

We will arrive at camp about 3 hours before sunset and as soon as we have finished setting up camp we will go for a hike along and across the Storms River mouth. This walk will take us over long suspension bridges and will provide us with excellent views up the gorge, if we are lucky we may see dolphins from the top of the gorge.
 
The camp facilities include hiking trails, small swimming beach, crafts shop, restaurant, bar, hot showers and a laundry. Tonight we will have dinner at camp whilst listening to the crashing waves.

27: 14th Night, Wilderness National Park, Garden route

This morning after an early breakfast at 6 am, we will leave Tsitsikama to explore the different animal sanctuaries along the garden route. We will take you to Tenikwa cat sanctuary, where you will get close to caracal, serval, leopard, african wild cat and cheetah.

 After this we will go to Monkey Land, here there is a 100 hectare sanctuary that has monkeys, lemurs and apes. We go for a walk through their jungle and watch them up close playing and feeding in the trees.

 We will then have a picnic lunch before visting Birds of Eden. This is the worlds biggest bird aivary and has exotic birds, from all over the world, flying free around us.

Then we will visit the wolf and wild dog sanctuary, here we get to see packs of wolves and wild dogs up close.

The last sanctuary is the Knysna Elephant Sanctaury, where we will get very close to the biggest land mammals in the world. We plan to go to all of these sanctuaries but it will depend on time, we have included the elephant sanctuary in the price for your tour the other sanctuaries are all optional and its up to you if you would like to go, it is about R150, per sanctuary.

Tonight we will be staying in a forest lodge deep in the Knysna forest. We will take you to the Knysna waterfront this afternoon for some sunset cocktails and oysters.

28: 15th Night, Bonnievale Wine Farm

We continue west today and we will leave the garden route for the day. We will be using route 62, this is a very popular route in south Africa and it is in the heart of the western cape fruit area. It is also the ostrich capital of the world and we will take you on a very special ostrich safari, you can ride an ostrich if you weigh under 70kg.

We will also have a chance to swim with crocodiles if you are brave enough this will be own expense and will cost around R300. In this area we have the biggest caves in the country and we will take you on a tour of this.

Tonight we will be staying on a 112 hectare wine farm situated along the Breede River. The wine farm, is surrounded by the Oteniqwa  mountains and is perfect for sipping wine while watching the sunset over the vinyards. Dinner will be at the wine farm.

29: 16th, 17th 18th 19th night Cape Town

This morning we will take you on a short walk around the vinyards and show you the different vines that are grown and learn a little bit about wine farming.
When we return its time for breakfast and then we continue west to Cape Town. It is a beautiful 200km drive to Cape Town and we will continue on the Garden Route, hugging the coastline.

We will stop in the small town Hermanus, which boasts the best land based whale watching in the world.  Unfortunately whale season is from May till October, but we could be lucky and see a vagrant whale.
 
We will then continue along the coast through the many pleasant towns all the way to Cape Town.

We Will be staying in a bed & breakfast here for 4 nights.

Once we have dropped off our trailor and luggage at the b&b we will go to Table Mountain, here we get the best view of the city, the harbour, Robben Island and the coastline. We will try to watch the sunset before taking the cable car back down the mountain.

Tonight we will go out for dinner at the Cape Town Waterfront before returning to our b&b. All the meals in Cape Town are for your own expense except for breakfast.