Kruger and Coast Safari Escape

Arrive on the Dolphin Coast in KwaZulu–Natal. Around 6pm, we meet the tour leader and fellow travellers to get to know one another and hear about the journey ahead. A warm South African welcome follows – your tour leader arranges dinner at a local restaurant. If you’d like more time to explore, you can book extra nights before the tour through your sales representative.

This morning, we travel to Lake St Lucia in iSimangaliso Wetland Park, a World Heritage site of estuarine lakes, subtropical coastline, forests and wildlife. On arrival, we drive into the park and picnic at Mission Rocks – an excellent spot for turtles – then continue to explore, scanning for buffalos and rhinos en route to Cape Vidal Beach. We reach St Lucia in the late afternoon.

We start early with a two hour boat cruise on Lake St Lucia, known for its large hippo population, and we may also spot crocodiles and fish eagles. After breakfast at our accommodation, we take a short drive inland to Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park, the oldest proclaimed reserve in Africa. We travel through the park in our tour vehicle to camp, enjoy some time to relax, then head out in the evening in safari vehicles with a park ranger – a prime chance to see white and black rhinos along with lions, elephants, buffalos and leopards. Back at camp, we enjoy our first braai – a South African barbecue.

We begin with an early morning game walk with a park ranger, limited to eight people. For larger groups, we split – one group walks today and the other tomorrow – while those not walking join a game drive in one of the camp’s safari vehicles. We return to camp for breakfast and have much of the day free – you can relax or join an additional game drive in the tour vehicle. In the late afternoon, we head out again in the camp’s safari vehicles in search of lions, rhinos (black and white), giraffes and leopards.

Anyone who didn’t join the game walk yesterday does so today. After breakfast, we drive out of the park, enjoying more wildlife watching on a journey of approximately two hours, exiting via Memorial Gate. Our next destination is Ponta do Ouro in Mozambique, where golden sands meet the Indian Ocean and excellent diving and snorkelling have made this small town a favourite with travellers in the know. After border formalities, it is about 20 minutes to our accommodation for the next two nights, and we typically arrive in the late afternoon with time to unwind before dinner.

Today we enjoy an experience you’ll talk about for years – swimming with dolphins. We include one boat launch in the morning, and you can opt to join a second launch as an extra to increase your chances of swimming with these playful, curious mammals. From July to November, migrating humpback whales visit the Mozambique coast, while from December to May whale sharks and occasionally manta rays may be seen.

Our journey continues to Kruger National Park – one of the world’s most celebrated safari destinations. The drive to South Africa takes approximately three hours via Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. After crossing the border at Ressano Garcia, we have a short drive to the Crocodile Bridge entrance into Kruger. This vast park is home to lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos, buffalos, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, zebras and plentiful antelope, and we look for wildlife on the way to our camp on the Sabie River, aiming to arrive by late afternoon.

Today is the first of two full days in Kruger, focusing on the south of the park. Game drives are in safari vehicles with local guides, and we set out at sunrise when wildlife is most active. We return to camp for breakfast, then spend the rest of the day exploring the park as we make our way to our camp in central Kruger.

We dedicate our second day to central Kruger, concentrating on species we have not yet encountered – or have seen less of – over the course of the trip.

This morning, we enjoy a final game drive in the safari vehicles to Orpen Gate. Exiting the park, we change vehicles and continue to our lunch stop before moving on to a superb viewpoint over Blyde River Canyon – one of the largest canyons in the world. In the afternoon, we explore Bourke’s Luck Potholes and the God’s Window viewpoint en route to our accommodation on the edge of Graskop Gorge.

On our final morning, we ride the glass Graskop Gorge Lift for a lofty view over the gorge and enjoy a walk through indigenous Afromontane forest. From here, it is a four to five hour drive to Johannesburg International Airport, where the trip ends. Please speak to your sales representative to confirm transfer timings before booking flights, or if you would like to discuss options for extending your stay.