African Insight (South)

This safari starts in Livingstone, Zambia at the Waterfront Resort camp, situated on the banks of the Zambezi River a few kilometres from Livingstone. It’s an ideal spot to relax – have coffee on the deck watching one of Africa’s great rivers glide past or take the opportunity if you wish to enjoy the various activities and excursions typically available in the Victoria Falls area. Please plan to spend a day or so here before the tour begins. Optional activities include white water rafting, bungee jumping, abseiling, gorge swinging, canoeing, horse riding, scenic flights (by microlight, helicopter or small plane) and – a definite ‘must!’ – A visit to the Victoria Falls themselves. A visit to the national park is included in your tour – be sure not to miss it – at over a mile wide and some 100 metres deep the Falls at high water form the largest curtain of falling water in the world with spray visible from 20 kilometres away (hence the local name Mosi oa Tunya, or ‘Smoke that Thunders’). At low water the Zambezi dries so much that it is possible to walk out onto the river bed itself!

N.B: For the sake of practicality, meals in Livingstone/Victoria Falls area are restricted to breakfasts. This allows you to take on half day or full day activities (some of which include lunch) without having to be back for group mealtimes. The Waterfront camp restaurant overlooks the Zambezi River and offers a good selection of reasonably priced meals and snacks throughout the day (allow US$15-$30 per meal). Relax and enjoy at your own leisure. Alternatively, take a taxi into Livingstone to try local fare.

• Accommodation: Victoria Falls Waterfront – Camping in twin share tents with shared facilities
• Meals included  No
• WIFI: Yes
• Optional Activities: Bungee Jumping US$160, Full Day Abseil US$190, Mosi Oa Tunya National Park Game Walk US$110, Chief Mukumi Village Tour US$50, Gorge Swing US$95, Zambezi Jet Boat & Cable Car from US$120, Half Day Canoe US$110, Zambezi Sunset Cruise US$75, Full Day White-water Rafting US$160, Helicopter/Microlight Flights from US$185, Half Day Fishing US$145, Bridge Tour US$65.

Departing Livingstone, we cross the border to Zimbabwe and pass through Victoria Falls town and head to Bulawayo, a pleasant city with broad tree lined avenues and wide-open spaces. Our campsite is located just outside the city centre. Once we settle in and camp is set, the rest of the afternoon is yours to explore the surrounds at leisure

• Accommodation: Burke’s Paradise – Camping in twin share tents with shared facilities
• Meals included  Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• WIFI: No
• Optional Activities: No

Matobo National Park is located a short distance outside Bulawayo and knowledgeable guides will take us to this very impressive park. The wind-sculptured Matobo Hills are the site of numerous Bushman paintings and the area holds a special cultural and spiritual importance to the indigenous people here. The reserve has the largest concentration of Black and White Rhino in Africa and, provided conditions are right, our guides will lead us on foot to some of the more concealed places in search of these magnificent animals. The park also has the densest population of leopard and black eagle in the world and we keep our eyes peeled high and low for these creatures. The hills are also home to the grave site of Cecil John Rhodes who chose this as his burial place owing to the intense natural beauty and startling views from the hills. His grave can be visited at World’s View – a place of continual debate owing to his involvement in claiming the land and its people for Queen & Country in colonial times.

• Accommodation: Burke’s Paradise – Camping in twin share tents with shared facilities
• Meals included  Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• WIFI: No
• Optional Activities: Upgrade to full day tour including historical tour and village tour US$45

Leaving Bulawayo, we continue south to the border at Beitbridge. Completing formalities, we cross the Limpopo River -the second largest in South Africa and an important water source for this arid region. The Limpopo also acts as a natural boundary between South Africa and its neighbours Botswana and Zimbabwe, before it flows through Mozambique to the Indian Ocean. We continue to Tshipise, a town situated in the northern Limpopo province. Our campsite is located at Forever Resorts at the foot of one of Limpopo’s rolling koppies set adjacent the Honnet Nature Reserve. There is hot springs in the area which are surrounded by dense woodland comprising of Mopani, Red Bushwillow, Jakkalsbessie trees – and the third largest Baobab tree in South Africa.

• Accommodation: Forever Resorts – Camping in twin share tents with shared facilities
• Meals included  Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• WIFI: No
• Optional Activities: No

From Tshipise, we head for southern Africa’s premier game reserve, the Kruger National Park. Fences between the National Park and surrounding private reserves were removed several years ago to form the Greater Kruger, an area of some 24,000 sq km. Wildlife is free to roam the whole enormous area and it has become incredibly diverse in both fauna and flora. From the dwarf mongoose to the ‘Big Five’, almost every major African mammal (148 species) is present. There is also prolific birdlife (over 505 species) and over 330 varieties of trees.
We spend two nights within the Kruger area, enjoy Shangaan tribal dancing and singing on our first night and take a full day game drive in the National Park itself to spot as many animals as possible the next day!

• Accommodation: Hotel Numbi – Camping in twin share tents with shared facilities
• Meals included  Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• WIFI: No
• Optional Activities: No

Waking early, we board our 4×4 game viewing vehicles with a resident guide for an intense but rewarding day in Kruger National Park. The impressive atmosphere of the park enables you to see why it is held in such high esteem amongst visitors from all over the world. We game drive in the morning and afternoon in search for the abundance of wildlife including the ‘Big 5’ – Rhino, elephant, buffalo, leopard and lion together with a high density of other mammals and diverse bird species such as eagles, hornbills, vultures and bee eaters. We break during the middle of the day to enjoy the peace of the rest camp and wait out the hottest part of the day (when wildlife is usually less active). We then continue our game drive through the park exiting in the late afternoon and continue to our accommodation for the night.

• Accommodation: Hotel Numbi – Camping in twin share tents with shared facilities
• Meals included  Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• WIFI: No
• Optional Activities: Kruger Night Game Drive US$75

We leave the Kruger behind and make our way to South Africa’s administrative hub of Pretoria, where our tour ends late afternoon / early evening on Day 7 (we recommend that you plan to stay that evening in Pretoria)

• Accommodation: No
• Meals included  Breakfast
• WIFI: No
• Optional Activities: No