Kruger & Botswana Explorer Reverse

After arrival into Victoria Falls and transfer to your lodge, the afternoon is free for you to enjoy some of the many activities that the region is known for. Optional activities include canoeing, whitewater rafting, game drives or walks in the Zambezi National Park. Other might choose to enjoy a helicopter flight over the Falls and the Zambezi Gorges. If you would like to enjoy the best of what Victoria Falls has to offer, we highly recommend you consider spending a couple of extra days in this beautiful region. Tonight we kick off our adventure with a superb African feast at the Boma Restaurant. The mouthwatering main course is a buffet of local meats, which may include warthog, buffalo, crocodile, impala and more. Throughout the meal we'll be entertained with local song and dance, where everyone is given an African drum and encouraged to join the party. A fun way for you get to know your fellow travellers!

This morning we'll get the chance to see (and hear!) the spectacular Victoria Falls on a guided tour. Measuring 1.7 kilometres in width and with a drop of around 105 metres, an immense volume of water passes over the cataract sending a huge plume of spray into the sky, visible for miles and providing a stunning spectacle. Crossing the border into Botswana, we embark on our first game-viewing experience in Chobe National Park. Animal lovers rejoice. Chobe National Park is the place of your dreams, with everything from elephants, buffaloes, zebras, kudus, rare pukus, hippos, lions and leopards coming out to play. As Botswana's third largest reserve, Chobe is as famous for its wildlife as it is for spectacular sunsets and scenery.Over two days we enjoy morning and afternoon game drives, giving us a chance to spot some of Africa’s famed inhabitants including, if we’re lucky, the resident pack of African wild dogs. A breathtaking sunset cruise is ideal for spotting birdlife such as saddle-billed storks, malachite kingfishers, fish eagles and beautiful bee-eaters as well as hippos, crocodiles and families of elephants drinking at the river’s edge. Chobe is host to some of Africa’s most spectacular sunsets and a fitting start to our time in Botswana.

Heading south, we'll drive to our lodge in Nata, which sits among the Mokolwane palms on the edge of the pans.On day 5, we have no activities planned for the morning. So you can use this time to read, write in diaries, chat with fellow travellers or catch up on sleep. Once we've recharged the batteries, we'll head out to the Makgadikgadi Pans for an afternoon excursion. This is one of the largest salt flats in the world, and is all that remains of the formerly enormous Lake Makgadikgadi. To put it in perspective, before it dried up several thousand years ago the lake once covered an area larger than Switzerland.

Today we begin one of the highlights of our trip. Upon arrival in Maun, we take a scenic flight to our tented camp, situated deep in the Okavango Delta.For the next two days we'll go on game drives, walking safaris and mokoro (traditional dugout canoe) excursions to explore the tranquil waterways of the Delta. There is a fair amount of animal movement throughout this area, so keep your eyes peeled for elephant, buffalo, the rare Cape hunting dog and the elusive sitatunga antelope.At the end of each exciting day, we'll come home to our comfortable tented camp in Moremi Game Reserve, overlooking Chief's Island.Note that our crew will not accompany us on our 2 night excursion into the Delta, we will meet them again on the morning of Day 8 in Maun. Specialist lodge guides will conduct the wildlife activities in the Okavango Delta.

After the short flight back to Maun we meet with our safari crew and spend the night in Maun, the safari capital of Botswana. From here we journey towards South Africa visiting the 4300 hectare Khama Rhino Sanctuary at Serowe, which is run by the local community and provides prime habitat for white rhinos. Trained rangers will take us on the early morning Rhino Trail, where we might also see the elusive leopard, several varieties of smaller cats and a host of bird species.

Today we leave Botswana, crossing the Limpopo River to enter South Africa.From majestic mountains to deep valley, Marakele National Park is a wonderful example of South Africa's changing landscapes. Set in the heart of the Waterberg Mountains, it is home to large game species including elephant, rhino and the graceful big cats. We'll enjoy a sunset game drive here.Bird lovers take note: Marakele National Park plays host to probably the world's largest colony of endangered Cape vultures, with more than 800 breeding pairs settled here. Close encounters with these enormous birds will leave you breathless.

Leaving the wilderness behind, we enjoy a two night stop in the vibrant city of Johannesburg. Our accommodation is in the affluent suburb of Sandton. Nelson Mandela Square is just nearby which is home to fantastic shopping as well as a 6 metre tall bronze statue of ‘Madiba’. The square has a huge range of restaurants to choose from including seafood, Thai, Indian and the famed Butcher Shop & Grill. The following morning, we embark on a full day tour to two of South Africa’s profoundly important sites. Soweto is a cluster of townships on the south-western flank of Johannesburg and was created in the 1930s with Orlando the first township established. On the tour we learn about the 1976 student uprising which started as a protest by students in Soweto, which quickly spread to the rest of the country and as a result many thousands of people were killed in the years leading up to the 1994 election. We visit the Hector Pietersen Museum in Orlando which was built in memory of the people who died in the uprising. We also visit former president Nelson Mandela’s humble little house in Orlando West which is now a small museum housing memorabilia, photographs and some of Mandela’s artwork. Also in this area we see the former houses of anti-apartheid leaders Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Walter Sisulu.In the afternoon we visit the Apartheid Museum which was opened in 2001 and is acknowledged as the pre-eminent museum in the world dealing with 20th Century South Africa, at the heart of which is the apartheid story. Here we learn about what Apartheid in South Africa was really like through means of provocative film footage, photographs, text panels and artifacts which illustrate the events and human stories that are part of the epic saga.

(Driving time: approx 6 hours) We are met by our safari guide and fellow travellers between 7.00am and 7.30am and are soon off on our journey to Kruger National Park. Upon reaching Timbavati Game Reserve, which is part of Greater Kruger National Park, we are served a late lunch at the delightful bush camp. After settling into our accommodation we depart on a late afternoon/early evening game drive for our first chance to glimpse the resident wildlife. Upon our return to camp, a pre-dinner drink is served around a blazing fire under the stars, in an open-air boma. Following this, a sumptuous South African dinner awaits us in the intimate dining area of the camp. This is a private camp and our overnight accommodation is in comfortable chalets, complete with ensuite facilities.

(Driving time: two safaris per day - times variable) Two full days in the reserve allows for morning and afternoon wildlife activities, with time for relaxing back at camp during the middle hours of the day. In addition to game drives, walking safaris are offered. Accompanied by a highly experienced, armed guide; this is a fascinating and very different way of experiencing the African bush. We depart with our local resident guides on morning and afternoon drives in open 4WD vehicles, searching for zebra, giraffe, wildebeest and a variety of antelope. We may also see elephant, buffalo and, hopefully, some of the predators. There is a good chance of seeing all of the 'Big Five', including the endangered rhinoceros. On the afternoon game drive, a sundowner drink is usually served before our return to camp. On the drive back to camp we use spotlights, which may enable sightings of some of the many nocturnal animals of the bush that are seldom sighted during the day. A very special feature of this camp is the tree house, which is set approximately two kilometres away from the main camp and overlooks a dam. The camp staff can set up bedding for you in the tree house so that you can spend a night sleeping there (please note there are no bathroom facilities). You are dropped off at the tree house after dinner and collected in the morning, before the game drive. A two-way radio is provided so that you may contact the camp staff at any time should you wish to return to the main camp. A spotlight is also provided to allow you to watch for any animals coming to drink at the waterhole during the night. This tree house experience is offered at no extra cost, but needs to be booked in advance. It is also dependent on weather and is therefore not guaranteed.

(Driving time: approx 8 hours including sightseeing excursions) This morning we leave Timbavati behind and travel to the nearby Blyde River Canyon area. This canyon is the largest green canyon in the world and our drive around this region offers us spectacular views of this breathtaking gorge from different angles. We stop at the Three Rondavels viewpoint, explore Bourke's Luck Potholes and peer out through God's Window, before checking into our cosy private guesthouse near Hazyview where we relax and enjoy dinner that evening while watching the sunset.

(Driving time: approx 4½ hours) After checking out of our guesthouse we make our way back to Johannesburg, stopping for lunch en-route (at own expense) for our final night in Johannesburg. Your tour ends after breakfast on Day 18.