KPU16J: Kruger Park + Battlefields + Garden Route

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 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 lodge for dinner after enjoying seeing the wonderful conservation work done here, followed by an open-top game drive on their property and dinner under the stars! 

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.

Day 4

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 several of the Big 5 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.

With nearly 150 different species of mammals and over 100 species of reptiles in the Kruger Park, we hope to see giraffe, kudu, sable antelope, waterbuck, warthogs, baboons, wild dogs and many other interesting animals.

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 5

This morning we leave the Kruger National Park and travel through the mountains and farmlands of the Eastern Transvaal towards the Zulu Battlefields – a scenic drive of 5 to 7-hours, depending upon how much game viewing you do whilst travelling through the park.

We stop at the old mining town of Barberton and enjoy the hospitality of a local Transvaal 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 6

Today your host will share with you the beauty of rural Zululand as you drive to the remote battlefields at Isandhlwana, a scenic 3-hour drive.

Check in to your luxury Zulu accommodation, settle in and enjoy dinner whilst absorbing some of the fascinating history of this great conflict between Britain and the proud Zulu Kingdom.

Day 7

This morning we visit the poignant battlefield at Isandhlwana, where in 1879 the mighty British army suffered the greatest defeat in its history following its 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 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.

Recommended Reading:
Brave Men’s Blood – Ian Knight

Day 8

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 key events of the Anglo Boer War of 1899, which followed shortly after the 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.

If you have a deep interest in military history, time permitting it is also possible to stop at one or more of the following Boer War sites and museums:

• Ladysmith & Wagon Hill – site of one of the worst sieges in history of the British army
• Talana Hill, Dundee – the first battle of the war, where khaki was worn for the first time
• Elandslaagte – site of an infamous cavalry charge
• Lombardskop & Vaalkrans battlefields

Recommended Reading:
Boer War – Thomas Pakenham

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 Bushman Rock Art Centre before checking in to your luxury mountain resort.

Day 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.

The mountains also offer an outstanding location for bird watching – particularly raptors, but also sunbirds, waxbills and the numerous other species found in the grasslands, riverine scrub and natural forests.

Resorts in the Central Drakensberg have access to a 9-hole golf course, with an 18-hole championship course nearby. Your resort also has a swimming pool and caters for the following activities:

• Fly Fishing
• Horse Riding
• 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 transfer 3-hours to Durban for your 1-hour flight to Port Elizabeth.  Your host will bid you farewell at Durban Airport.

You will be met at Port Elizabeth Airport by your new host who will introduce you to the scenic beauty of the Garden Route on your 3-hour transfer to Knysna. We cross the dramatic Storm’s River Gorge and view the giant yellowwoods of Tsitsikamma Forest.

We also pass through Plettenberg Bay, South Africa’s playground for the rich and famous. Schools of dolphins are regularly seen here in the warm Indian Ocean and whales may be seen in season (July to November). Check in to your luxury hotel in Knysna and settle in to your beautiful surroundings.

Day 11

This morning we visit Featherbed Nature Reserve, situated on the Western Head – one of two magnificent sandstone cliffs guarding the entrance to the vast Knysna lagoon. This spectacular nature reserve is only accessible by ferry, followed by a short trailer ride to the top of the reserve, which offers panoramic views. Most visitors choose to return on foot via a 1-mile Guided Nature Walk through natural coastal forest onto the cliffs, through caves and along a scenic coastal path. A seafood buffet lunch is then served under the old Milkwood trees.

The remainder of the day is free to explore Knysna on foot. This lively town is famous for its oysters, which are grown in the lagoon. It also offers good shopping opportunities and many interesting craft shops in the town.

Day 12

Today we follow the spectacular coastal route from Knysna via the Goukamma Nature Reserve and Sedgefield Lakes to Wilderness.

We continue through the Outeniqua Pass into the arid Little Karoo to Oudtshoorn, where we visit the world-renowned Cango Caves – a vast series of underground halls and caverns formed over 20 million years ago in the foothills of the Swartberg Mountains. The caves, which extend for over 3 miles, contain spectacular stalagmites and stalactites and offer relatively easy access.

We also visit Cango Wildlife Ranch to see wild animals up close.

Check in to your luxury guesthouse for overnight and dinner.

Day 13

This morning we visit an Ostrich Farm to view these huge flightless birds in their natural surroundings.

Your host will then introduce you to the dramatic and contrasting beauty of South Africa on your scenic 5-hour drive to Cape Town via spectacular Route 62. During our journey we enjoy some wine tasting at two Wine Estates, one renowned for its port and the other for its wine.

Arrive Cape Town and check in to your hotel conveniently situated near Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. Check in and relax in your magnificent surroundings.

Day 14

Today is free for independent sightseeing in Cape Town.

You will be given a day pass for the convenient red Hop-On Hop-Off Bus, which stops at all Cape Town’s key sights and beaches. Start by ascending Table Mountain by cable car to enjoy one of the world’s most famous views.

Continue to Camps Bay beach and then explore the shops and many other attractions of the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, which is also the centre of Cape Town’s nightlife.

Day 15

This morning your host will collect you for a full day tour to the beautiful Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve.

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 16

Enjoy a full day tour to the Stellenbosch Winelands today, travelling through the scenic Franschhoek Valley where a handful of French Huguenot refugees started South Africa’s now famous wine industry.

Visit the historic town of Stellenbosch and several different Wine Estates of your choice – sampling as you go! Enjoy a picnic lunch at a wine estate, before visiting a cheetah breeding project and another Wine Estate on the way home.

Day 17

Return transfer to Cape Town Airport for your flight home.