South Africa and Botswana Adventure Safari

Prices for - South African Safaris and Adventures

Kruger, Okavango Delta and Victoria Falls

Departure: Saturday

Departs from: Johannesburg, Pretoria, Nelspruit Any Backpackers hostel, hotel, guest house

Ends in: Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) Any Backpackers hostel, hotel or campsite

Bedded accommodation: The only included bedded accommodation on our tours, is while visiting Kruger National Park, where clients who booked bedded accommodation will stay in a private lodge. All tours visiting Botswana & Zimbabwe are camping tours. Clients have the option of upgrading to bedded accommodation when they arrive at a campsite. W will pay the camping rate, and the clients will have to pay the balance between camping and the accommodation that they want to upgrade to. These accommodation upgrades (if available) must be arranged with the guides while on tour.

Day 1: Panoramic route - Blyde river canyon (South Africa)
The tour departs early morning from Johannesburg and Pretoria, heading east towards Nelspruit where we also pick clients up. We will stop en-route for breakfast (own cost). From Nelspruit we drive further north where we stop for lunch (own cost) & banks in Graskop.
After lunch we drive through the panoramic route where we stop at God's Window, Bourke Luck Potholes and the 3rd largest canyon in the world - the Blyde River Canyon.
Clients doing the camping option, will stay this night at a tribal village.
Clients doing the bedded option, will stay this night at a private lodge.
See the above links for more information & photos of each night's accommodation.
Dinner included

Day 2: Kruger National Park (South Africa)
A very short drive takes us to Kruger National Park (arrive as the gates open) that is home to 147 mammal (incl. the Big 5), 114 reptile, & 502 bird species. You will be transferred to open sided 4 x 4 game viewing vehicles (on arrival at the park) in which we will do game drives for the rest of the day. Breakfast and lunch will be enjoyed at one of the picnic sites inside Kruger National Park. At sunset you will start with a 3 hour night drive, done in a Kruger Park open sided game viewing vehicle with a Kruger National Park guide. This is a great opportunity to see nocturnal animals not normally seen during the day game drives.
Clients who booked the bedded accommodation will be dropped off at the private lodge, after the night drive.
Clients who booked the camping accommodation option will stay in our camp inside Kruger National Park.
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner included

Day 3: Kruger National Park (South Africa)
We start the day with a cup of coffee / tea, before heading out on a game drive as the gates open (in open 4x4 game viewing vehicles). You will be on a game drive for the majority of the day, searching for as many animals as possible. Breakfast and lunch will be enjoyed at picnic sites inside Kruger national park.
Clients who booked the bedded accommodation will be dropped off at the private lodge, after the night drive.
Clients who booked the camping accommodation option will stay in our camp inside Kruger National Park.
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner included

Day 4: Hartbeespoort (South Africa)
We start our final game drive as soon as the gates open, in search of the animals that we have not seen. We then head to Hartbeespoort where we stay in the valley below the Magalisberg mountains.
Breakfast included

Day 5: Nata (Botswana)
We depart early morning from Hartbeespoort. Your guide will stop en-route for breakfast (own cost) and last minute shopping, before reaching the Botswana border. You will get an opportunity to change money, after crossing the border, from where we head further north to Nata, where we camp the night.
Dinner included

Day 6: Maun (Botswana)
The day starts with an early morning breakfast, before heading west along the northern border of the Kalahari Desert to Maun. We stay the night at a great campsite outside Maun, where you can visit the crocodile farm, and relax by the swimming pool.
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner included

Days 7, 8, 9: Okavango Delta (Botswana)
The Okavango Delta must be one of the best experiences offered in southern Africa, and offers a large variety of mammal, reptile and bird species.
We start the day with a large breakfast, before heading into the Okavango Delta with 4x4 open-sided game viewing vehicles. The local guides (polers) will be waiting for us in the park at the waterline, where we transfer all the equipment and our personal belongings into mokoros (traditional dug out canoes). From here we glide down the water channels deeper into the Okavango Delta, searching for the ideal place to set up camp. There will be no fences, no running water, no showers, no buildings and no electricity. We camp in the wild with only what we take with us. After lunch you cool off in a natural swim hole in the rivers.
Every day we will do early morning and late afternoon game walks, searching for as many different animal species as possible. The guides will explain more about all the animals, tracks and the Delta during these walks. You will have the opportunity to get as close as possible (safety first) to the wildlife of the Okavango Delta.
After dinners you can relax with the guides around a campfire, while listening to their stories about the bush, animals, their cultures and of course listening to the sounds of animals at night in Africa.
You start your last morning in the Okavango delta with a cup of coffee before doing your final game walk. After the walk you will enjoy breakfast, break down camp, and then return by mokoros to the place where the 4x4 vehicles will meet you.
Your guide will prepare a light lunch on return to camp in Maun. This afternoon you have the opportunity to do an optional one hour flight over the Okavango Delta, during which you are guaranteed to see many large herds of animals, as well as many single or smaller groups of animals.
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner included

Day 10: Nata (Botswana)
This morning we head back to Nata, where you can relax by the pool or do an optional quad bike excursion, or an open vehicle Magadigadi Pans game drive.
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner included

Day 11: Chobe National Park (Botswana)
We head further north through the Kasane forest where we always see herds of elephants, rare antelopes and sometimes lion, hyena and wild dog. We arrive mid morning in Kasane where we will be staying on the shores of the Chobe River at Chobe Safari Lodge that is at the gate of Chobe National Park. Here you can relax at the swimming pool overlooking the river where you stand a good chance to see animals like elephant, buffalo and hippo, as well as a large variety of bird species. This afternoon we do an open vehicle game drive inside Chobe National Park, which is well known for its large variety and numbers of wildlife.
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner included

Days 12, 13, 14: Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe)
A short drive takes us across the border and on to the adventure capital of the world, Victoria Falls, which is considered to be one of the safest tourist destinations in southern Africa. On arrival the guide will assist you with the changing of money and booking of your optional activities, before going to one of the seven natural wonders of the world - the magnificent Victoria Falls. The waterfall is 1700 meters (1.1 mile) wide, of which 1300 meters is on the Zimbabwean side, including the main falls. Late afternoon we do a sunset cruise on the 4^th largest river in Africa (Zambezi River), which has national parks on both the Zambian and Zimbabwean side of the river. We normally see a wide variety of wildlife such as hippo, elephant, antelopes, giraffe and much more while on the cruise, during which all soft drinks, wine, beer and finger snacks are included.
You will have plenty of free time to explore the town, meet the local, visit the African arts and craft markets, or to relax by the pool in the heat of the day.
Victoria Falls is well known for offering great activities (optional excursions) such as the best 1 day white water rafting, the 2^nd highest bungi jump in the world, elephant back safaris, flights over the waterfall, canoe safaris, day trips to Hwange National Park, fishing, game walks, horse back safaris and much more. The last night is dinner out at a local restaurants (own cost).
Days 12 & 13: Breakfast, Dinner included
Day 14: Breakfast included

Day 15: End of tour
Tour ends after an early morning cup of coffee or tea.

Included:

All transport
All accommodation
Qualified and registered guide
Meals as specified below
God's Window
Bourke Luck Potholes
Blyde River Canyon
Tribal village for clients doing the camping tour
Night drive inside Kruger National Park
Okavango Delta
Polers & mokoros
Chobe National Park
Entrance to Victoria Falls waterfall
Sunset cruise on Zambezi River

Excluded:

All drinks (except coffee & tea with meals)
Meals not specified below
Optional game walk inside Kruger Park
Optional flight over the Okavango Delta
Optional activities in Victoria Falls (Book on tour)
Visas if needed

Camping Information

Tribal village (Kruger Park tours)

Please note: The tribal village requires a minimum of 4 people. We normally normally have more than 4 clients on tour, and therefore will stay 95% of the time at the tribal village. You will stay at a private lodge if we do not have enough people to stay at the tribal village, or if the tribal village is fully booked.

A local African teacher from the local rural community realised that the children of his community do not know their culture, as there are too many modern influences. He then got a piece of land on a nearby game farm, where he started the village to teach the children about their traditional culture. His family lives at the village, to maintain and look after the village. The local culture is "Shangaan". This village is built the same as what it would have been a long time ago. Livingstone Trails and one or two other budget tour operators now stay at the village, which generates almost all the income of the village. The nice thing about this particular village is that it is for education and not as commercial as the other villages around South Africa. Obviously there is some form of "commercial" like a shower and toilet, to make it convenient for our clients. Be warned - cold showers.

A short tour: On arrival you will do a short tour of the village, during which you will learn about the different tasks in a village, how they make ropes and carpets from plants and reeds, the layout of the village, the culture and traditions as well as traditional believes.

Dinner will be served in the boma (place of eating) where the woman prepare a traditional meal cooked in large pots on an open fire. You will enjoy dinner the traditional way, which means that you have to wash your hands, men dish up before woman and then eating without any knifes, forks or spoons. Yes, with your hands.

After dinner the young men and boys will entertain us with traditional dancing while the woman entertain us with African singing. You are more than welcome to join in on the dancing.

Accommodation: You will sleep in a traditional clay hut as the locals do, except that you will have a mattress and sleep in a sleeping bag. The huts do not have windows and only an opening as a door that is covered at night with a panel made from river reeds.

Kruger Park Camp

We are fortunate enough for our local operator to have their own campsite within one of the Kruger Park camps. This camp is in the central region of Kruger national park that is well known for it's huge number and variety of animals, especially Big 5.

Our tents are permanently erected on wooden platforms along the fence. The tents that we use are 2.4 x 2.4 (meters) and 3.0 x 3.0 (meters) with built in floor and mosquito nets over the windows and door. Each tent has two proper single bed mattresses (same as what many hotels in South Africa use) with fitted sheets.

We have also erected a 6.0 x 6.0 (meters) army tent where we have a fridge, gas stove and electricity where you can recharge your camera batteries. This tent is perfect for those nights that it is raining, as it is big enough for the group to pull their chairs in and gather around without getting wet.

We also have an open fireplace along the fence where your guide will prepare food and you can relax around a campfire. Eating from your lap is never comfortable. That is why we have two large tables next to the fireplace where you can sit down and enjoy meals, write your post cards / letters, play cards or just relax.

The campsite ablutions (bathrooms) are of an extremely high standard. You will always walk into a very clean bathroom with hot water. Separate bathrooms for males and females, and the bathrooms is right next to our camp.

The camp is totally fenced to keep the animals out, or is it to keep the people in. Almost every night we have hyenas walking along the fences (only meters away). Other regular visitors are elephants, honey badgers, impala and buffalo. Many nights you will hear jackals calling, lions roaring or hyenas crying in the night.

Camping

Camping is pretty much camping throughout the world. The tents that we use are: 2.4 x 2.4 meters in size with built in mosquito nets over the door and windows. All camping equipment is provided by us. The mattresses used are proper sponge mattresses with covers that are washed after each tour.

Clients must have a sleeping bag, but can rent one from us at R50 per person per tour, if they do not have a sleeping bag of their own.

Hartbeespoort : Moonlight Backpackers Lodge is a 8 hectares (20 football fields) property in the valley below the Magiesberg Mountains. The closest town is Hartbeespoort. Accommodation for single people will be in small dormitories, single room, or twin room (2 single beds) that share a bathroom, depending on availability. Couples will be in a twin room or double room with or without bathroom, depending on availability.

Okavango Delta free camping

We enter the Okavango Delta with traditional transport used by the locals for a very long time. This form of transport (left) is called mokoros and the guy at the back with the long stick is called a poler. It is an awesome experience and very relaxing. More often than not, we will see animals such as elephant while travelling deeper and deeper into the Okavango Delta.

The area that we visit while in the Okavango Delta is totally untouched. No power boats or planes and landing strips, no fancy lodges or villages. Just us and mother nature. Probably one of the most untouched areas in southern Africa, with an enormous variety of wildlife.

This also means that you will not be staying in a fancy lodge or camp ground, will be doing free camping.

What is free camping? Well, any one of our guides will tell you that it is the best way of camping. We find an ideal patch of trees along the waterways that is suitable for us to camp. This means that there are no fences, electricity, buildings or bathrooms. All that it is, is us plus what we are able to carry with us in the mokoros.

The polers will dig a hole and build a toilet seat from palm tree leaves. Unfortunately we do not have a shower for these days, but we do have many natural swim holes in the rivers. These swim holes has crystal clear water and are extremely welcome when the temperatures reaches Africa style maximums during the afternoons.

Bedded Accommodation

Private Lodge (Kruger Park tours)

Please note: The below mentioned lodge is our first choice of lodge accommodation. It does happen from time to time (not often) that this lodge is fully booked, and we have to stay in alternative lodge (with same standards) accommodation in the area. The lodge that we stay at, is just outside Kruger National Park, so that we can enter the park as the gates open in the morning.

The accommodation: The first choice of accommodation is a well decorated rondawel (left) with en-suite bathroom. Some rondawels have a double bed (bottom left) and others two single beds (below). We do our best to ensure that couples get a rondawel with a double bed, but can not guarantee it. The lodge also has chalets with two rooms (two single beds) that share a bathroom, and another room (double bed) with en-suite bathroom. These chalets are perfect for families, or a small group travelling together.

Also keep in mind that we do our best to let single people stay in their own rondawel, but it might happen that a single person might have to share a rondawel (with 2 single beds) with another person of the same sex, if the lodge is fully booked.

Other facilities: Swimming pool for the hot evenings Pool bar with great atmosphere

Local kids dancing for you: There are a number of local villages in the rural community close to the lodge. The children from these villages started their own dance and song routine and asked the lodge if they can dance for their guests. The lodge assisted the kids by making uniforms for them and allowing them to dance and sing for their guests. The children do not work for the lodge, but for themselves, by earning tips from the guests. Please note that the kids perform when they want to, which means that you may not see them.

Nata: Clients who book bedded or lodge accommodation will normally stay in safari tents with bathrooms, built on platforms. Please note that two people from the same sex might have to share a safari tent. We will pay for the next upgrade available, if there are no safari tents available. It might happen during the high tourist season that the lodge is full, and that you will be staying in a 4 bed chalet with bathroom.

Maun: The camp that we stay at in Maun, is an overland campsite with a few wooden rooms. You will be using shared ablutions (bathrooms). No further accommodation upgrades available. There are crocodile farm with hundreds of small, medium and very large crocodiles. Make sure to do a guided tour for only a few dollars. Maun is one of those places where it gets extremely hot, like most of Botswana. Cool off in the pool or have a refreshing cold drink at the bar. Other services is hand washed (super clean) laundry. This camp is definitely a great place to stay over, where you will meet many other travellers, and have a great relaxing time after coming out of the Okavango Delta.

Okavango Delta free camping: We enter the Okavango Delta with traditional transport used by the locals for a very long time. This form of transport (left) is called mokoros and the guy at the back with the long stick is called a poler. It is an awesome experience and very relaxing. More often than not, we will see animals such as elephant while travelling deeper and deeper into the Okavango Delta.

This also means that you will not be staying in a fancy lodge or camp ground, will be doing free camping.

Chobe national park: Please note that we stay over in Kasane, and not inside the park, although the game drives are done inside Chobe National Park. The accommodation booked is safari tents with two single beds (similar to photo) or rondawels with two single beds, some with en-suite bathroom and some without, if safari tents are fully booked. Please note that it might happen that a single person might have to share a safari tent or rondawel (with 2 single beds) with another person of the same sex.

Victoria Falls: The accommodation booked is chalets with two single beds, without bathroom. Please note that it might happen that a single person might have to share a rondawel (with 2 single beds) with another person of the same sex. It might also happen that you can be booked in a chalet with two bedrooms (each with two single beds) and a joined bathroom.

Palapye: The accommodation in Palapye is in safari tents with two single beds, and without bathroom.

Important tour / safari information

Participation tours: All tours are participation tours. This means that the clients are responsible for pitching their own tents (except inside Kruger Park), and washing up after every meal, which is social event where people chat and get to know each other. Some guides may ask the clients to assist with the chopping and cleaning of vegetables, while the guide prepares the meals.

Group sizes: We operate a variety of different vehicles. Our largest vehicles seats a maximum of 14 clients. Therefore , except for our open vehicles inside Kruger National Park which are not allowed to seat more than 10 clients. It occasionally happen that we will have two vehicles on the same tour.

What to take on tour: Clothing and personal effects Comfortable shoes for walking Warm clothing for the evenings Basic first aid kit Insect repellent Anti-Malaria medicine Sunblock and cap or hat Comfortable shoes for walking Slip slops or trainers Camera with extra film & batteries Torch with extra batteries

Tent, sleeping bag and roll matt: We provides all the camping equipment including a roll matt with cover that is washed after every tour, and a 2.2 x 2.2 (meters) or 2.4 x 2.4 (meters) tent with built in mosquito netting over the door and windows, as well as a built in floor. You must have a sleeping bag on all of the camping tours, which you can rent from us at R50 per person per tour, if you do not have one of your own. Inside Kruger National Park we have a permanent camp. We do not use roll matts on these tours, but have single bed mattresses with fitted sheets that are washed after tour.

Malaria areas: Many of the areas and destinations in southern and east Africa are malaria areas. It is the responsibility of the client to ensure that you have insect repellent and a course of anti-malaria tablets. Consult your local doctor or pharmacist.

Water: All drinks (except coffee & tea with meals) are excluded from the tour price. All tap water in areas where we do tours to, are 100% safe to drink, and tastes very good. Bottled water is freely available (every day), for those who prefer bottled water.

Laws and clients: We expect our clients to uphold the laws of each country that we visit while on tour. We do not accept any responsibility for any client on our tours, who breaks the laws of any country visited during a tour.

Be considered: Sometimes our guides are asked to stop at local villages along the road, so that clients can take photos. Nothing wrong with that, but then we often see the people just walking into a village taking photos, instead of doing it from the road. Keep in mind that a village will normally be a family living together. How would you feel if a stranger just walks into your yard or home and start taking photos?

Our clients: All our clients are international travellers from different countries. The ages of our clients range from 18 to 60, with the majority being between 20 and 40. All that we require from our clients is that they must enjoy travelling and be fun-loving people. You do not need to be super fit to participate in any of our included activities or adventures.

Our crew (guides & drivers): All our guides and drivers are registered with the authorities as per government regulations.

Our vehicles: All game drives inside Kruger National Park will be done in open sided game viewing vehicles.

Kruger optional game walks: The maximum group size on a game walk is 8, and our groups are most of the time more people than eight. Kruger national park often do not have enough guides to do all the game walks. The game walks are cancelled if it is raining. The game walks inside Kruger national park is three hours in duration. These bush walks are operated by Kruger national park with two armed Kruger park guides conducting the walks. The walks are 3 hours in duration, and starts at sunrise.

Our tours: We offer a variety of tours and safaris to a variety of destinations, from 3 days to 16 days. You have the option of camping or lodge (bedded) accommodation, while on any of our tours / safaris.

Important: Before you travel please check your Tour Voucher and Arrival Information for the latest joining instructions. This will be sent to you upon receipt of final payment.

All itineraries are subject to change without prior notice.

Prices for - South African Safaris and Adventures