Kruger Park & Victoria Falls

We depart at 07h00, just after breakfast, heading to Mpumalanga province. (Mpumalanga means a place where the sun rises.) From the Gauteng province, the high plateau grasslands of Mpumalanga stretch eastwards for hundreds of kilometres, offering outstanding attractions especially for those who seek tranquillity or very scenic landscapes with panoramic views. We will spend our next two days exploring and hiking this beautiful area. We will visit Pilgrim’s rest, Mac Mac falls, God’s Window, Bourke’s Luck Potholes and Blyde River Canyon (Three Rondavels). 

We leave Mpumalanga heading to the northern part of the Kruger National Park. The Kruger National Park is one of the most famous national parks in the world and the second oldest in Africa following Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park. We will spend two days in the park enjoying game drives. Our first short game drive starts late afternoon and the following day, we will spend the whole day in the park exploring nature in our vehicle. Kruger offers optional sunset and night game drives in open vehicles, which can be booked at the reception, or organised with the guide. 

Today is our last day in the park. We start the day early with a slow drive (for animal spotting) and we depart from the park in the late afternoon. We have a long but fascinating drive inside the park heading up to Pafuri gate, the most northern entrance or exit of the park, where we will exit in order to get to our next destination. Tshipise Forever resort will be our stop-over before we cross into Zimbabwe on the following day. 

Crossing out of South Africa, we enter Zimbabwe, formerly known as Southern Rhodesia. It is one of the most beautiful countries in Africa, rich in history and agriculture. Our first stop is in Bulawayo, Matebeleland. We will spend the following day visiting the Big Cave (San rock painting) and the Chief Pondo homestead to learn a bit about their culture. Finally, we will enter Matopos for rhino tracking in the late afternoon, before we head back to the lodge. 

With a leisurely start, after enjoying the beautiful sunrise over the rocks and breakfast, we pack our vehicle and leave for Hwange National Park. Hwange is famous for its big herds of elephant and packs of wild dogs; they roam freely in and out of Zimbabwe to Botswana or the other way round. This will be our last opportunity to see some of the Big 5 in the wild before our tour ends in Victoria Falls. We will spend our afternoon and the following morning spotting animals in the park. 

Today we have a short drive to Victoria town, which was named after Queen Victoria by the explorer David Livingstone. The local people call it Mosi-ao-Tunya (the smoke that thunders). After we arrive at the lodge, we will check in, go to the activity centre to book optional activities for the following day and visit the Victoria Falls, spending our time there until the sun goes down. Day 11 is a free day for optional activities.

Tour ends after breakfast 08h30