Southern Africa Safari: Kruger & Coast

Begin your adventure on the Dolphin Coast in KwaZulu Natal. Around 6pm, say howzit to your tour leader and fellow travellers, when we gather as a group for the first time to get to know each other and learn more about the adventures ahead. Your tour leader then ensures a big South African welcome by arranging dinner at a local restaurant. Want to explore further? Secure pre-tour hotel nights through your sales representative.

This morning, we head to Lake St Lucia, a World Heritage site in iSimangaliso Wetland Park. The uniqueness of the park lies in a remarkable combination of estuarine lakes, subtropical coastline, forests and wildlife. On arrival, we drive into the park and picnic at Mission Rocks, where there is an excellent chance of seeing turtles. We then explore the park, looking for buffalos and rhinos on our way to Cape Vidal Beach. We drive to St Lucia in the late afternoon.

Starting early, we have a two-hour boat cruise on Lake St Lucia, known for its large hippo population. We may also spot crocodiles and fish eagles. After breakfast at our accommodation, we have a short drive inland to Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, the oldest proclaimed reserve in Africa. We drive through the park in our tour vehicle (our first chance to spot the incredible animals here) until we reach camp. We have some time to relax in the afternoon and then in the evening we head out in safari vehicles with a park ranger where have a good chance of seeing white and black rhinos along with plenty of key species: lions, elephants, buffalos and leopards. Back at camp, we enjoy our first braai (South African barbecue) of the holiday.

We begin with an early morning game walk with a park ranger. The walk is limited to eight people so for larger groups we split into two, with one group walking today and the other group tomorrow. The group not joining will go on a game drive in one of the camp’s safari vehicles. We return to camp for breakfast and then have most of the day to relax or go on an additional game drive in the tour vehicle. In the late afternoon, we head out in the camp safari vehicles again in search of the park wildlife, including lions, rhinos (both black and white), giraffes and leopards.

Any group members who didn’t join the game walk yesterday will do it today. After breakfast, we drive out of the park in our tour vehicle enjoying more animal watching as we go. The journey will take approximately two hours and we exit from the Memorial Gate. Our next destination is Ponta Do Ouro, Mozambique, where golden sands meet the Indian Ocean. The natural beauty combined with excellent diving and snorkelling opportunities has made this small town a favourite with in-the-know travellers. After border formalities, we have a drive of approximately 20 minutes to our accommodation for the next two nights. We typically arrive in the late afternoon with time to unwind before dinner.

Today we enjoy an experience you’ll be talking about for years to come: swimming with dolphins. We include one boat launch in the morning, and there is a second boat launch available to join as an optional extra if you want to increase your chances of swimming with these playful, curious mammals. From July to November, it is also possible to see migrating humpback whales visiting the Mozambique coast. From December to May, whale sharks and occasionally manta rays can be seen in these waters.

Our destination today is Kruger National Park, justifiably one of the most famous safari destinations in the world. The drive to South Africa is approximately three hours and takes us through Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. Once we cross the border at Ressano Garcia, we have a short drive to the Crocodile Bridge entrance into Kruger. The national park is bigger than many countries and home to all the iconic safari species, so look for lions, leopards, elephants, rhino, buffalo, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, zebras and plenty of antelope. We hope for several wildlife encounters on the drive to our camp on the Sabie River, which we should reach by late afternoon.