Join me as we visit an incredible country by way of Private Small Group Touring. This trip is a National Geographic Journey and will be fairly active with a blend of fast-past activities and personal downtime. We'll have a private guide for the entire trip, so we will be well taken care of. The itinerary is below, and please reach out if you have questions. I'm always available.
The map on the left shows our proposed route.
You'll have most of the day to yourself, and the tour starts in the evening with a welcome meeting at the hotel.
During the evening meeting, we will meet our Chief Experience Officer (our local guide) and fellow travelers, and we'll learn more about the tour. It will last about one hour. After the meeting, the group will go out to dinner together.
We'll start the day exploring Cape Town, wandering through the multicultural Bo-Kaap neighborhood. Then we'll have an exclusive guided tour of Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, named by National Geographic Travel as one of the world’s 10 most magnificent gardens. We'll stop by Boulders Beach to see the resident population of African penguins and continue to the Cape Point lighthouse and the Cape of Good Hope, the southwestern most point in Africa.
Meals included: Breakfast
Today you're free to explore Cape Town as you'd like. There are several activities I can book for you or an optional excursion. For example:
- Two Oceans Aquarium (1-2 hours)
- South African Wine Tour and Tasting (5-7 hours)
- Table Mountain Cable Car
- Whale & Bird/Penguin Watching at Dyer Island (all day)
Meals included: Breakfast
We'll fly from Cape Town to Johannesburg and step into South Africa’s past with a guided tour of Soweto. The residential area was created under apartheid and played a significant role in bringing the issues of segregation to the forefront. We'll visit the iconic Mandela House Museum and learn about the community’s role in the struggle against apartheid.
Meals included: Breakfast | Dinner
We'll take a scenic drive towards Kruger National Park via the magnificent Panorama Route, one of the world’s most picturesque drives. We'll make stops at the dramatic Blyde River Canyon and Bourke's Luck Potholes, and take in panoramic views of the forest-covered valley from the God's Window viewpoint. We'll continue on to our lodge near Kruger National park, and enjoy a delicious South African Dinner in this picturesque location.
(Today is a very long driving day; however, we will make many stops along the way at sites along the Panorama Route.)
Meals included: Breakfast | Dinner
We'll wake up early and climb aboard an open jeep for a full-day safari in Kruger National Park - home to an extraordinary array of large mammals. Spot elephants, lions, giraffes, and perhaps elusive leopards as we explore this breathtaking wilderness of savanna and scrubland. Return to our lodge in the evening, where you can take some time to relax and enjoy the nocturnal sounds of the bush.
At over 7,500 square miles, South Africa’s Kruger National Park is one of the largest and most impressive animal reserves in the world. With 147 species, Kruger has more species of large mammals than any other park on the continent.
Meals included: Breakfast | Dinner
We'll travel to the Karongwe Private Game Reserve, a wildlife sanctuary located in the Greater Kruger area. We'll meet with a researcher from the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s Cheetah Range Expansion Project, a program funded in part by National Geographic’s Big Cats Initiative. We'll learn of the efforts to protect the region’s cheetahs and other carnivores. After, the researcher will escort us on a wildlife-viewing excursion through the reserve.
For the next two days, we'll go on ranger-led morning and evening wildlife safari drives in an open safari vehicle in Karongwe Nature Reserve, searching for Africa's famed Big Five. With over 9,000 hectares (22,240 acres), Karongwe Private Game Reserve is home to many creatures, and our safari drives provide several opportunities for wildlife viewing.
Meals included: Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner
We'll wake up before the sun (around 5am) and sip our morning coffee before heading out on a morning wildlife safari drive. We'll return to the lodge for brunch and some leisure time. Hang out on the deck, walk the grounds and gardens, and enjoy high tea. Following tea, it's time for a late afternoon safari drive. After spotting tons of wildlife, it’s time to return to camp and freshen up before dinner, a traditional braai.
Meals included: Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner
We'll go on one last safari this morning, keeping a lookout for Karongwe’s wildlife. Then we'll head back to the city, where we'll enjoy dinner in our lodge.
Meals included: Breakfast | Dinner
We'll board a flight to the town of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, named after one of the most powerful waterfalls on Earth. We'll visit a nearby village and go grocery shopping in the bustling market. We'll sit down with a local family for dinner, helping our hosts prepare a traditional Zimbabwean meal using the ingredients we picked out, and hear stories about local life and culture.
Zimbabwean Family Dinner
Flatter Ncube is the head of her family which includes two sisters and numerous children. She’s the youngest of a family of 10 and, now in her early 40s, lives in the village she was raised in near Victoria Falls. There she takes care of her extended family on their homestead, which they have been proudly building by hand, brick by brick, for years.
We'll visit Flatter’s homestead in her rural village, meet her and some of her family, and walk with some of them throughout the property, among the fruit and vegetable plants the family grows for consumption. (They even plant hot chillies among the vegetables to discourage nosy elephants.)
Meals included: Breakfast | Dinner
We'll set out for a tour of magnificent Victoria Falls (a UNESCO World Heritage site) exploring the rainforest and learning about the geology, history, and local legends of this world wonder. Scottish explorer David Livingstone named them after Britain’s Queen Victoria, while their older, indigenous name is Mosi-oa-Tunya - “the smoke that thunders.”
There is an option to do a full-day excursion to Chobe National Park in Botswana today instead. If people opt for that, then your visit to Victoria Falls will happen tomorrow on the final morning of tour. More details:
$209 per person: Depart Victoria Falls in the morning for a full-day guided tour of Chobe National Park in Botswana - a wildlife-abundant region covering about 11,700km² of the Northern Kalahari. Begin your adventure with a cruise down the Chobe River, taking in the sweeping views and witnessing the wildlife grazing along the riverbank. Enjoy an included lunch on land before boarding 4x4 safari vehicles for an afternoon wildlife safari drive with an expert guide. Keep an eye out for lions, elephants, and buffalos. Transfer back to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, arriving in the early evening. Please note that this activity includes two border crossings between Zimbabwe and Botswana. The ordering of activities is susceptible to change. ** Please note that you need to get a double-entry visa or a Univisa when arriving in Zimbabwe to ensure you can return again without needing to pay an extra visa fee. (I'll help you with this.)
Meals included: Breakfast
The tour ends this morning and you can depart at any time. If you opted to go on the Chobe National Park Full Day Excursion then your visit to Victoria Falls will happen on the final morning of tour. Please talk to me about the timing for your outbound travel.
Meals included: Breakfast
- Your Journeys Highlight Moment: Kirstenbosch Guided Walk, Cape Town
- Your Journeys Highlight Moment: Carnivore Conservation Experience,
- Karongwe Private Game Reserve
- Your Journeys Highlight Moment: Zimbabwean Family Dinner
- Tour of Victoria Falls
- Your Foodie Moment: Boma Braai
- Karongwe Private Game Reserve
- Orientation tour of Cape Town
- Cape Point including the penguins at Boulders Beach
- Soweto tour
- Kruger National Park wildlife safari drive in open vehicle
- Private nature reserve wildlife safari drive in open safari vehicles
- Free time in some of the cities
- Incredible experiences with great people
- Internal flights
- All transport between destinations and to/from included activities
- All accommodations
Accommodations
Hotels (5 nts), Lodge (4 nts), Comfortable chalets (2 nts)
Meals
11 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 7 dinners
Transportation
Air-conditioned touring vehicle, open safari vehicle, walking, plane.
Staff & experts
Professional guide for the entire trip, local guides, rangers.
Please Note: I'm inviting people on this trip that will be good travel companions. We'll be spending 12 days together so flexibility in attitude and a "go-with-the-flow" mindset is crucial. We'll be on the move everyday and some of our days will be long. My ideal scene is that we're a supportive group that can have fun together.
Click here to schedule a consult with me about the trip after you've read through the information below:
Tour dates:
Jul 16-27, 2027 - very limited space
July 30-Aug 10, 2027 - Sold Out
$6,249 per person, not including flights to/from Africa.
This is based on double occupancy. The tour company will pair you with another solo traveler of the same gender if you're traveling alone.
If you must have your own room, the single traveler supplement is $979/per person. There are 2 single spaces available.
Deposit is $350 to hold your space is due now. It is non-refundable, but it is transferrable or you can apply it towards another tour.
Final payment is due on or before May 21, 2027. Monthly payments are available.
We need at least 8 people for the trip to go, so please do not purchase flights until you hear from me. This trip is for people 18 years old and over only.
Optional Pre-trip and Post-trip hotel nights to add in Cape Town and/or Victoria Falls are available.
Travel Insurance is required for this trip. I have 2 companies that I can recommend or you can purchase on your own.
A U.S. Passport with at least 6 months validity is required for this trip. If you don't have a passport, please start the process now. The passport office is receiving record numbers of applications, and your application can take longer than anticipated.
Please talk to your doctor about any possible medical considerations or vaccines needed for traveling to Africa. It may be required to show a Yellow Fever certificate if you are traveling to South Africa from a Yellow Fever endemic country.
Fitness Level: 2 out of 5. Light walking and hiking suitable for most fitness levels. Nothing too challenging. If this is a concern at all, call me and we'll talk.
This is not a physically demanding journey; however, travelling can be difficult, with long drives and poor road conditions at times. Despite this, most clients feel that the diversity of the African landscape, countries, culture and wildlife are all well worth the experience. We use a comfortable and safe air-conditioned touring vehicle for the long drives.
Cancellation Policy
- Cancellation 60 days or more prior to departure = Deposit paid will become a Lifetime Deposit (LTD) and stay on file in your name to use on a G Adventures trip in the future.
- Cancellation between 30 and 59 days prior to departure = LTD + 50% loss of final payment.
- Cancellation within 30 days of departure = LTD + 100% loss of final payment.
While it is our intention to adhere to the route outlined here, there is a certain amount of flexibility built into the itinerary and on occasion it may be necessary, or desirable to make alterations. The itinerary is brief, as we never know exactly where our journey will take us. Due to our style of travel and the regions we visit, travel can be unpredictable. The Trip Details document, which I will email you upon registration, is a general guide to the tour and region and any mention of specific destinations or wildlife is by no means a guarantee that they will be visited or encountered.
Additionally, any travel times listed are approximations only and subject to vary due to local circumstances.
I'm partnering with G Adventures for this trip and they support Planeterra International Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to turning travel into impact by helping local communities earn an income from tourism. Planeterra connects underserved local communities to the benefits of tourism by developing and supporting small community-owned businesses. These businesses support Indigenous people, empower women, grant youth access to employment opportunities, and protect the environment. Planeterra also works to ensure these businesses have a thriving customer base by integrating their projects into G Adventures’ itineraries globally.
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