Sample - Southern Africa Exploration V2

Day notes

Self Drive - 29 miles (40 min)

On Arrival in Windhoek, when you have gone through immigration control, collected your luggage and gone through customs to the arrivals hall, you need to make your way to the car rental counter where a representative will provide you with a short transfer to the rental offices on the other side of the airport parking, where you collect your vehicle.

a 40 min drive from the airport into town, where you have the rest of the day at leisure to explore.

Day notes

Self Drive - 205 miles (5 hours)

An early morning departure, driving south west to Sossusvlei, the scenic route goes via Gamsberg Pass, which is truly spectacular. Roadside landscapes are amazing and a major part of any Namibian self drive journey.

It is not only about the destination, but the journey itself!

Kulala Desert Lodge is situated at the foot of the majestic Sossusvlei Dunes and is the closest quality  accommodation option to Sossusvlei (via a private gate exclusive to Wilderness Safaris vehicles). Scenic nature drives and walks are available, while electric ‘fat bikes’ are a fun way to explore the spectacular open plains. Top off an extraordinary desert experience with a soaring hot air balloon flight over the dune field.

After relaxing for a the afternoon, you set out in the late afternoon for a nature drive and complete your excursion in a remote and dramatic spot on the reserve, sipping a gin and tonic while watching the sun set over the distant mountains or dunes.

Day notes

A guided morning safari into the red dunes of the neighbouring Namib Naukluft National Park is included .

Day notes

Self Drive - 226 miles (5 hours)

After breakfast you make your way to the charming coastal town of Swakopmund,  where you have the rest of the day to explore the town at leisure

Day notes

Self Drive - 22 miles (30 min)

Today you need to make your way down the coast to the industrial town of Walvis Baai where you will meet your guide fro your half day 4x4 tour across the dunes into Sandwich harbor where giant sand dunes run straight into the ocean, creating breathtaking sceneries and unique landscapes, just waiting to be discovered!

After a short break at the Walvis Bay Lagoon to see masses of flamingoes,  you proceed to the Kuiseb river delta, a dry riverbed where the odd springbok may be seen.  Beautiful dunes have to be crossed to get to Sandwich Harbour.  If weather and tides allow, we will drive right to the Sandwich Harbour Lagoon, one of Southern Africa’s richest and unique wetlands.  Wedged between the sea and the Namib Dunes, potable water seeping from the underground aquifer sustains the freshwater vegetation at the base of the dunes.  If our vehicles cannot drive all along the beach to get to Sandwich Harbour because of the tides, you will get a chance to see the lagoon area from one of our many beautiful lookout spots and will have the time to walk and explore.  We have lots of time to stop along the way for photography.

When it becomes time to enjoy something to eat, your guide simply finds a suitable place to stop and serve a selection of savoury and sweet snacks, sparkling wine, oysters and drinks.  We usually do this on top of a high dune overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, or on the beach.  

The route homewards will take us past the area’s typical fauna and flora.  Animals which have developed ways to adapt to the desert include the black-backed jackal, fog-basking beetle, dancing spider (‘white lady of the Namib’), golden mole, shovel-snouted lizard, palmato gecko, springbok, oryx, brown hyaena and ostrich.  Endemic to the central Namib Desert, the !Nara plant has adapted well to the desert: Its tap root can reach more than 15m into the ground to reach water resources and they have no leaves to lower loss of water by transpiration. The !Nara can live to over a 100 years and is a member of the cucumber family. 

Day notes

Self Drive - 112 miles (3 hours)

We recommend taking the C34 to Hentiesbaai, the last bit of civilisation before you cut inland on the C35 and make your way to Spitzkoppe.

Forget lush forests with bird song, if you are a climber, a geologist, a rock hound, or a star gazer, Spitzkoppe is Eden. The diverse and breath-taking landscapes will force your mind to think in vast stretches of time. The Sociable weaver birds build tenement style nests that are occupied for up to a century. The Welwitschia mirabilis plants of the Namib Desert can survive for two thousand years. The Spitzkoppe ("Matterhorn of Namibia") is nearly 700 million years old.

It is a group of bald granite peaks or bornhardts located between Usakos and Swakopmund in the Namib desert of Namibia. The highest outcrop rises about 1784 meters (5857 feet) above sea level. The peaks stand out dramatically from the flat surrounding plains. The highest peak is about 700m above the floor of the desert below. A minor peak – the Little Spitzkoppe – lies nearby at an elevation of 1584 metres above sea level. Other prominences stretch out into a range known as the Pontok Mountains.

Day notes

Self Drive - 195 miles, 3,5 hrs

From Spitzkoppe, head back to Windhoek and on the airport to check in for your flight to Johannesburg. Connect onwards to Nelspruit, where on arrival, you will be met and transferred to your hotel. Relax and enjoy fine food at your lodge this evening.

Day notes

Today you will be collected from the lodge by your guide at around 09:00 for your full day tour of the Panorama Route.

Please click on the link below for more details of the day tour

Following the tour, you will be dropped back at the hotel in the late afternoon

Day notes

After a morning at leisure, you will be collected from the lodge and road transferred to the lodge situated in the famous Sabi Sands Private Nature reserve, part of the Greater Kruger National Park.

MalaMala Game Reserve is the Safari Industry’s blueprint to the luxury photographic safari. In existence since 1927, this massive thriving tract of land produces the most exciting wildlife experience this side of the equator. MalaMala Game Reserve is the largest private Big Five game reserve in South Africa. Comprising 13 300 ha (33 000 acres), MalaMala shares a 19 km (12 mile) unfenced border with the world-renowned Kruger National Park, and lies strategically sandwiched between the National Park and the Sabi Sand Reserve.

For nearly nine decades, the custodians of this land have remained focused to preserve and protect this special piece of Africa. Allowing nature to move to its innate rhythm, guests experience today what the forefathers of the African Safari would have experienced at the turn of the century. This philosophy has paid off, as experienced by a veritable collection of photojournalists and film-makers who have made MalaMala their destination of choice to capture footage of wildlife viewing that would rival any Hollywood production for thrilling and breathtaking animal encounters.

Day notes

Transfer to Skukuza and fly to Plettenberg Bay
 

From MalaMala you will be transferred to the airport and you fly via Cape Town to George, the heart of the Garden Route. Collect your hire car and drive to Knysna - 50 minutes away. Spend the next few days exploring this beautiful region.

Day notes

Self Drive - 264 miles (5h30min)

After leaving Cape Town, head east on the N1 to Worcester, take the R60 to Montagu and you’re there, at the start of  famed Route 62.

Apart from being billed as the ‘longest wine route in the world’, which is pretty cool, Route 62 takes you into the beating heart of the Little Karoo, where the mountains are craggy and the ostriches greet you with a crooked smile, this is the Garden Route!

The mountain passes and the landscape between Cape Town and Oudtshoorn are awe-inspiring  The sights from your window are nothing short of wondrous.

Day notes

Self drive 265 miles, 5hrs

From Oudtshoorn you drive south and towards Cape Town, through the farming heartland of South Africa, easy driving through beautiful mountainous regions before descending the coastal plateau with Table Mountain marking the city ahead. Stop for lunch in Robertson or Worcester.

The Hire Car will be collected this evening or the following morning - for Cape Town you will have day tours and easy access to public transport. This is advantageous as there is very little parking in the city.

Day notes

Today you will be collected from the hotel by your guide at around 09:00 for your half day tour of one of Cape Towns iconic townships. 

Please click on the link below for more details of the day tour

Following the tour, you will be dropped back at the hotel, ideally, ask your guide to drop you at the cableway station and spend a few hours up top this amazing mountain.

Day notes

Today you will be collected from the hotel by your guide at around 09:00 for your full day tour of the Cape Peninsula.

Please click on the link below for more details of the day tour

Following the tour, you will be dropped back at the airport where you will collect your hire car for the next couple of days.

Day notes

Fly to Zimbabwe

You will be collected from your hotel and transferred to the airport in time to check in for your flight to Vic Falls.

On arrival in Zimbabwe, you will be met and road transferred into the Zambezi National Park and to your lodge.

Upstream of the iconic Victoria Falls, on the banks of the Zambezi River, lies Old Drift Lodge. The lodge boasts luxury accommodation overlooking the pristine Zambezi National Park, a mere 7 kilometers from the mighty Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Old Drift Lodge is nestled within a wild paradise frequented by elephant, buffalo, herds of sable, eland, zebra, giraffe, kudu, waterbuck and impala.

The main lodge area has 360 degree views, North facing onto the Zambezi & South facing onto a water hole. A 7 kilometre stretch of river flows between the camp and the town of Victoria Falls, making Old Drift Lodge the closest lodge within the National Park to Victoria Falls.

Day notes

After a morning at leisure or perhaps a guided walking safari, you will be road transferred to the falls for a small group guided tour.

Please click on the link below for more details.

At the end of the day, you will depart from the lodge and sail upstream to celebrate the setting African sun. Share in the end-of-day ritual which sees wild herds streaming to the river banks for their last drink. Flocks of birds skim the waterline as the sun sets behind the African skyline.

A fitting end to your African adventure!

Day notes

After a morning at leisure, you will be collected from the hotel and road transferred across the border into  neighbouring Botswana and on the Kasane airport in time for your light aircraft flight into the heart of the Okavango Delta.

Day notes

Today you will transfer back to the airport for your outward flights.

Alternatively, if you choose to go on to Botswana, you will be transferred across the border into Botswana, to the town of Kasane and from there fly into your lodge in the Okavango Delta.