21 Day Highlights of Southern Africa (Accommodated)

Day 1:  Cape Town, South Africa

Your tour begins today. Feel free to arrive whenever you like. Transfers are included upon arrival.

Accommodation: The Portswood Hotel (or similar)

Day 2: Cape Town, South Africa

Explore the multicultural Bo-Kaap neighborhood of vibrant Cape Town to start the day. Afterwards, take a guided tour of Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, one of the world’s top ten gardens according to National Geographic Travel. Continue to the Cape of Good Hope, the southwesternmost point in Africa, and Boulders Beach to see the resident population of African penguins.

Accommodation: The Portswood Hotel (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast
Included Highlight: Kirstenbosch Entrance fees, Guided Cape Town Orientation Tour and Excursion to Cape Point

Day 3: Cape Town, South Africa

Choosing from a variety of optional activities, enjoy a day of leisure in Cape Town. Enjoy the incredible views of the city and the Atlantic coastline from the summit of the mountain by taking the cable car. Indulge in a variety of tastings and pairings in the Cape Winelands, taking a tour of wine estates with an expert guide and visiting the historical city of Stellenbosch.

It is impossible to find something that does not appeal to everyone in Cape Town. Experiencing a wine tour around Stellenbosch or climbing Table Mountain is just a few of the things to do in and around Cape Town. You can go abseiling if you are adventurous. Take a stroll through the city centre, which is home to some of South Africa’s oldest buildings and gardens. There are many museums and theatres in the city, including the Cultural Historical Museum and Planetarium.

Accommodation: The Portswood Hotel (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast
Optional Activities: Table Mountain Cable Car 300-390ZAR per person, Two Oceans Aquarium 220ZAR per person, Cape Winelands Tour 1295ZAR per person, Whale and Bird Watching at Dyer Island 1450ZAR per person

Day 4: Cape Town –  Johannesburg, South Africa

Visit the Soweto township after flying to Johannesburg. Nelson Mandela was born in Soweto, a center of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. You can find out more about this painful chapter in the history of the country at the Mandela House Museum. During your evening meal, join your fellow travellers for a traditional South African braai (barbeque)

Accommodation: The Portswood Hotel (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Included Highlights: Plane flight to Johannesburg , Soweto Tour, Traditional South Africa Braai (Barbecue)
Optional Activities: Welcome Meeting for Travellers on Combos
Route: Cape Town to Johannesburg

Day 5: Johannesburg – Greater Kruger Area, South Africa

Take a scenic drive along the Panorama Route to Kruger National Park. Enjoy panoramic views of the forest-covered valley from the God’s Window viewpoint and stops at the dramatic Blyde River Canyon and Bourke’s Luck Potholes. Enjoy a delicious South African dinner at our lodge near Kruger National Park.

It’s a long drive today, but we’ll stop at many sites along the Panorama Route along the way.

Accommodation: Umbhaba Eco Lodge (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Included Highlights: Panorama Route Scenic Drive
Route: Johannesburg – Nelspruit

Day 6: Kruger National Park, South Africa

Get up early and board an open jeep for a full-day safari in Kruger National Park. Enjoy this breathtaking wilderness of savanna and scrubland as we search for elephants, lions, giraffes, and perhaps even elusive leopards. Enjoy the nocturnal sounds of the bush in the evening at our lodge.

One of the world’s largest and most impressive animal reserves, Kruger National Park covers over 19,000 square kilometers (7,500 square miles). More large mammals are found in Kruger than anywhere else on earth, with 147 species.

Accommodation: Umbhaba Eco Lodge (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Included Highlights: Kruger National Park Open Vehicle Wildlife Safari Drive – Full day

Day 7:Greater Kruger Area – Karongwe Private Game Reserve, South Africa

In the Greater Kruger area, visit the Karongwe Private Game Reserve, a pristine wildlife sanctuary. Find out how National Geographic’s Big Cats Initiative is helping to protect the region’s cheetahs and other carnivores by meeting a researcher from the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s Cheetah Metapopulation Project. Afterward, we take the researcher on a tour of the reserve to view wildlife.

In Karongwe Nature Reserve, enjoy ranger-led morning and evening safari drives in open safari vehicles in search of Africa’s fabled Big Five. Karongwe Private Game Reserve offers many opportunities for wildlife viewing, with over 9,000 hectares of African bushveld.

We use a variety of accommodations within the reserve (depending on availability). Your stay here will either take place in lodge rooms or in very comfortable permanent tents (both of which are of similar quality).

Accommodation: Karongwe Private Game Reserve – Lodges (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Included Highlights: Carnivore Conservation Experience
Route: Nelspruit – Karongwe Private Game Reserve

Day 8: Karongwe Private Game Reserve, South Africa

Take a morning or afternoon safari with one of our local guides to explore Karongwe. Drive through the bushveld of Africa in search of Africa’s renowned “big five”. Upon returning to camp, you may enjoy relaxing on the deck or taking a stroll around the grounds.

Sip your morning coffee as you wake up before the sun (around 5am) and embark on a wildlife safari drive in the morning. In the afternoon, return to the lodge for brunch and a leisurely afternoon. Take a walk in the gardens and grounds, converse on the deck, and enjoy high tea. We will take a safari drive in the late afternoon following tea. The time has come to return to camp and freshen up before dinner after viewing so much wildlife.

Accommodation: Karongwe Private Game Reserve – Lodges (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Included Highlights: Karongwe Private Reserve Open Vehicle Wildlife Safari Drive

Day 9: Karongwe Private Game Reserve –  Johannesburg, South Africa

Keep an eye out for Karongwe’s iconic inhabitants on your last safari this morning. Return to our family-run lodge for dinner in the city.

Accommodation: Kopanong Hotel (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Included Highlights: Karongwe Private Reserve Open Vehicle Wildlife Safari Drive
Route: Karongwe Private Game Reserve – Johannesburg

Day 10: Johannesburg –  Windhoek, Namibia

Take a flight to Windhoek and get a hotel transfer.. Spend the afternoon exploring Namibia’s capital.

Accommodation: Windhoek Country Club Resort (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast
Route: Oliver Reginald Tambo International – Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport (Plane

Day 11: Windhoek – Sesriem, Namibia

The Namib-Naukluft National Park is just a short drive away from the Namibian capital, Sesriem. While driving past red-hued desert landscapes, stark camel thorn trees, and dramatic curved dunes, watch out for the creatures that call these arid lands home, including oryx, springbok, jackal, and hyena. Watch a fiery crimson sunset over the desert from our lodge as you relax poolside.

Sesriem and Sossusvlei offer postcard-perfect desert scenery – vast expanses of reds and oranges, solitary camel thorn trees and towering dunes with dramatic curves. There is also a surprising amount of wildlife that can be found in this area.

Accommodation: Sossusvlei Lodge (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Route: Windhoek – Sesriem

Day 12: Sesriem, Namibia

Discover one of Africa’s largest national parks on a thrilling excursion. Take a trip to the Namib desert, the oldest desert on earth, and explore sand dunes at Sossusvlei and white clay pans at Deadvlei. With a crisp blue sky and orange dunes as a backdrop, capture dramatic images of dead camel thorn trees. A natural gorge carved out over millions of years by the Tsauchab River awaits you in Sesriem Canyon.

Accommodation: Sossusvlei Lodge (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Route: Sesriem – Namib Desert
Included Activities: Sossusvlei Dunes Visit, Sesriem Canyon Visit

Day 13: Sesriem – Swakopmund, Namibia

Travel along the coastal road to Swakopmund as the desert landscape changes. Take a break in Solitaire before heading into the countryside, and see roaming zebra, kudu, springbok, and oryx along the way. On a 4×4 drive through the desert, we meet a local and learn how bushmen survived in this inhospitable region thousands of years ago. Snakes, geckos, spiders, and a variety of insects are also found here, as well as smaller wildlife that has survived.

Accommodation: Hansa Hotel (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Route: Sesriem – Swakopmund
Included Activities: Living Desert Tour

Day 14: Swakopmund,  Namibia

Swakopmund’s unique Afro-German culture can be explored on a free morning, or you can sandboard in the Namib desert. Learn about the people and history of Mondesa township with a local guide this afternoon. Explore traditional foods available at the local market, such as wild spinach, mopane worms, and dried sardines. A cozy family-run restaurant offers dinner and a performance after you stop by an arts and crafts shop and chat with the locals.

Enjoy curio shops, museums, and restaurants in this town that combines German and African culture. Sandboarding is an optional activity

Accommodation: Hansa Hotel (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Route: Swakopmund
Included Activities: Mondesa Township Walk
Optional Activities: Fat Tire Bike Tours 450 NAD per person, Sandboarding in the Namib Desert 700 NAD per person, Sea Kayaking 800 NAD per person

Day 15: Swakopmund –  Damaraland, Namibia

Discover some of Africa’s largest concentrations of petroglyphs at Twyfelfontein, Namibia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site. Among the engravings are rhinos, elephants, ostriches, and human footprints, carved by prehistoric hunter-gatherers. Our lodge is located in the heart of the Damaraland area. Swimming in the pool or watching a colourful sunset from the deck are some of the things you can do during your free time

Accommodation: Damara Mopane Lodge (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Route: Swakopmund – Twyfelfontein – Damaraland
Included Activities: Prehistoric Rock Engravings Guided Tour

Day 16: Damaraland –  Etosha National Park, Namibia

Visit the rich sandstone treasure of Damaraland in the morning and enjoy a relaxing morning at our lodge. The afternoon is ideal for exploring Namibia’s most impressive wildlife sanctuary, Etosha National Park. Located outside the park, our lodge is a great place to relax.

Accommodation: Taleni Etosha Village (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Route: Damaraland – Etosha National Park

Day 17: Etosha National Park, Namibia

Explore Etosha National Park, where vast grasslands converge on a gigantic salt pan. In your open vehicle, explore Etosha in search of endangered wildlife such as lions, elephants, and rhinos. Sit back and watch all manner of wildlife flock to a nearby watering hole as you enjoy lunch at one of the park’s rest areas. You can also swim there and take a dip.

Its vast open grasslands, massive salt pans that cover 4731km2 and huge camel thorn trees juxtaposed with Mopani trees provide a contrast after the vast desert of Etosha National Park. There are many natural waterholes in the park, along with diverse vegetation, which attract wildlife. Elephants and leopards thrive in thicker vegetation, as do some of the largest elephants in Africa. While birders can enjoy the salt pans that attract flamingos in the rainy season, lions, giraffes, ostriches, and many antelope species can be found in the grasslands. Many migratory birds and more than 340 bird species have been recorded in Etosha National Park, including the European bee-eater and the kori bustard.

Accommodation: Taleni Etosha Village (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Route: Etosha National Park
Included Activities: Etosha Open Vehicle Wildlife Safari Drive

Day 18: Etosha National Park –  Windhoek, Namibia

Dr Laurie Marker, a National Geographic Grantee, founded the Cheetah Conservation Fund after breakfast. Take a tour of the facility and hear a talk by one of the researchers to learn more about the company’s conservation and community outreach efforts. You can then drive through the center’s grounds and meet some of the cheetahs that have been rescued and rehabilitated. Our final evening will be spent in Windhoek.

Accommodation: Windhoek Country Club Resort (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Route: Etosha National Park – Windhoek
Included Activities: Cheetah Conservation Experience

Day 19: Windhoek, Namibia

You may want to consider taking a flight to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, which is named in honor of one of the most powerful waterfalls on the planet. Shop for groceries in the bustling market of a nearby village. You will then have the opportunity to participate in a traditional Zimbabwean meal with a local family, where you will help your hosts prepare the meal using the ingredients you selected, as well as hear stories about the local culture and lifestyle.

Victoria Falls can generate mist as high as 400 meters (1312 feet). After seeing the falls for the first time in 1855, the explorer and missionary David Livingstone renamed them after Queen Victoria.

Accommodation:Explorers Village Lodge – Deluxe (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Included Activities: Zimbabwean Family Dinner

Day 20: Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

Discover the magnificent Victoria Falls on a tour. There are two different names for these waterfalls: one is Mosi-oa-Tunya, which means “the smoke that thunders,” while the other is Mosi-oa-Tunya, which means “the smoke that thunders.” Take a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River; or visit the Chobe National Park for a day trip filled with wildlife.

Accommodation:Explorers Village Lodge – Deluxe (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Included Activities: Victoria Falls Guided Tour
Optional Activities: Canoeing the Zambezi (160 USD per person), Full Day Excursion to Chobe National Park, Victoria Falls Historic Bridge Tour (68 USD person), River Song Sunset Cruise (75 USD person)

Day 21: Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

Depart at any time.

Onward Travel Plans

Due to circumstances beyond our control while on tour (such as border crossings, traffic, breakdowns and delays, etc), the end time on the last day cannot be guaranteed. Therefore we strongly recommend you stay the night and fly out the next day. Please consult with your booking consultant.