KPM12J: Kruger Park + Drakensberg + Beach

Day 1

Arrive Johannesburg Airport and meet your Kruger Park safari host, who will introduce you to the beauty of the Eastern Transvaal on your scenic 3-hour drive to Sabie and Hazyview. Check in to your luxury guesthouse for dinner and overnight.

[Or 45-minute transfer from Mpumalanga Airport]

Day 2

This morning your host will share with you the splendour of the Drakensberg Panorama Route as you drive through Blyde River Canyon, the third largest canyon in the world.

View Mac Mac Falls, Bourke’s Luck Potholes and the panoramic views from God’s Window. If time permits, we also make a brief stop at the historic mining village of Pilgrim’s Rest.

Continue to Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, where you have the unique opportunity of viewing wild lion, leopard, cheetah, eagles and vultures at close quarters. Animals found injured, poisoned or orphaned are given a second chance and released back into the wilds.

Check in to your luxury guesthouse for dinner and overnight.

Day 3

Today we enter the world famous Kruger National Park. Game viewing opportunities should present themselves almost immediately in this vast 2-million hectare game sanctuary the size to Wales. Hopefully we will see several species of antelope, zebra, wildebeest and maybe even giraffe before we reach camp.

The Kruger Park offers a choice of seven camps, each situated in a different section of the park with its own unique flora and fauna: Skukuza, Letaba, Olifants, Lower Sabie, Pretoriuskop, Satara and Berg-en-Dal. Accommodation is in simple but comfortable thatched game park bungalows, with each camp having a restaurant and a small shop.

Check in, settle-in and relax in your outdoor bushveld surroundings before enjoying dinner (exact camp subject to availability at time of booking).

Days 4 & 5

As you will have the services of a private driver/guide throughout your safari, you will have the flexibility of discussing preferred routings and travelling times with him each day. However we recommend setting off early each morning as the camp gates open (05h30 to 06h00 depending on the season), to take advantage of the best game viewing conditions of the day.

Explore the vast Kruger Plains, which offer magnificent game viewing opportunities and the highest concentration of lion in the whole of Africa. Hopefully we will see at least one of the Big Five today - Lion, Elephant, Buffalo, Leopard and Rhino, before returning to camp at around 09h00 for breakfast.

The rest of the morning can be spent relaxing at camp, reading or bird watching, before setting out again at the time of your choice (usually the late afternoon) for another game drive.

One game drive per day will be in an open-top game viewing vehicle operated by the Kruger Park (either early morning, late afternoon or evening), with all other game drives taken with your host in an air-conditioned minibus, as this is more comfortable in the heat of the day.

In the evening, enjoy the balmy weather and pristine stars of the Southern Sky and Milky Way, as you have never seen them before – including the spectacular Southern Cross.

[Note: Children < 12 are not allowed on open top game drives. However they may enjoy unlimited game drives in your host’s vehicle]

Day 6

Today we reluctantly leave the Kruger Park and travel through the mountains and farmlands of the Eastern Transvaal towards the Drakensberg Mountains – a scenic drive of between 5 and 7-hours, depending upon what game viewing we do on the way.

We stop at the old mining town of Barberton and enjoy the hospitality of a local hotel or guest farm for dinner and overnight. If you stay in a country guest farm, you may not have en-suite facilities this evening, but your accommodation will be very comfortable.

Day 7

Today we complete our drive to the spectacular uKhahlamba Drakensberg Mountains, recognised as a World Heritage site for their unspoilt natural beauty and vast collection of San Bushmen rock paintings.

Known locally as the Barrier of Spears, this dramatic mountain range runs right down Southern Africa from the Great Rift Valley. Visit the Didima Rock Art Centre before checking in to your luxury mountain resort in the Champagne Valley.

Once you are settled in bid farewell to your safari host, who will leave you to enjoy the many facilities of your resort.

Days 8 & 9

The Drakensberg Mountains offer superlative 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.

They 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.

Your resort has a swimming pool and luxury spa. It also caters for the following activities:

• Swimming pool
• Fly Fishing
• Horse Riding
• Golf: own 9-hole course (also an 18-hole championship course nearby)
• Tennis on floodlit courts
• Lawn Bowls
• Badminton
• Mountain Biking
• Table Tennis
• Darts and Pool

Each evening enjoy socialising with other guests over dinner.

Day 10

This morning you will be transferred your beach resort on the shores of the warm Indian Ocean.

On the way we stop at the Valley of 1000 Hills to see authentic Zulu life and culture, including their intricate beadwork and wooden sculptures. We also stop at a local self-help project, to give you the opportunity of supporting the local community by purchasing one of their handmade products.

We pass through Pietermaritzburg, the former colonial capital with its charming architecture and famous public schools. We also make a short stop at Howick Falls, which at 365 feet are the tallest in the country, and visit the historic spot where Nelson Mandela was captured prior to his imprisonment on Robben Island.

Continue to the seaside resort of Ballito, 40-minutes north of Durban.

Days 11 & 12

KwaZulu Natal is South Africa’s most popular beach holiday destination, with its sweeping beaches and reliably good holiday weather all year round.

Ballito is a popular resort, with excellent restaurants and interesting craft shops. Everything you need for a sunshine beach holiday is within walking distance, including two magnificent Indian Ocean beaches linked by a wooden boardwalk. Restaurants are of an extremely high standard and beer and wine is relatively inexpensive.

Your hotel is splendidly situated right on the beach, with its own swimming pool.

Water sports are available as well as golf, horse riding, scuba diving and deep-sea fishing.

The casinos and nightlife of Durban are within easy reach, as well as several outstanding shopping malls. All you need for a wonderful beach holiday!

On one day, enjoy an included excursion to uShaka - South Africa’s newest and most exciting aquarium and entertainment complex situated in the old harbour area, which is being extensively re-developed. Here you have the opportunity of viewing the large indigenous sharks of the Indian Ocean and a wide variety of other sea creatures in a world-class aquarium setting. You also have the opportunity of interacting with dolphins, seals and penguins and the Water World offers fun for all ages. Interesting shops, numerous restaurants and a magnificent private beach with spectacular sweeping views will add more pleasure to your day.

Day 13

Enjoy some time on the beach, before your return transfer to Durban Airport.