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Africa

South Africa – Botswana – Zimbabwe – Namibia Option

Overview
pdf Download Sample Itinerary
Cost Estimate:
  • $9000 per person sharing (Based on a minimum of 6 people traveling. Cost Subject to change with currency values.)
  • Single Supplement $2,000pp
  • Namibia Add On: $2,500 pp additional.
  • Balloon Ride over the dunes $400pp additional.
Deposit: $500
Includes:
  • Cost includes all accommodation, transport [air, bus, etc] in Southern Africa.
  • All tours, guides, entrance fees, etc. as per program.
  • Includes all meals EXCEPT
    ALL LUNCHES IN BOTSWANA AND ZIMBABWE and 3 lunches and 2 dinners in South Africa and drinks at meals [wine, alcoholic, and soft drinks, etc.]
Excludes: 
  • International flights USA/SOUTH AFRICA/USA
  • Gratuities $300pp
  • Zimbabwe Taxes $80pp
  • All expenses of a personal nature

 

Sample Itinerary

19 or 23 Day Africa Trip - Designed & Guided by Leslie Edwin

“You are never too old to have a happy childhood”

NOTE FROM OUR GUIDE:  Itinerary changes may occur but will not impact the quality of the tour. Africa is an amazing tourist area but a challenging one organizationally where the ability to be flexible is key. Things can go a bit awry now and then,  but I believe that with fun, humor and your sense of being on holiday adventure we’ll have a brilliant time. Best regards, Leslie

Day 1 - Arrive Cape Town
 
  • Transfer to your hotel in the foothills of Table Mountain.
  • After a few hours rest, or immediately if you feel up to it – visit one of the world’s true Landmarks, Table Mountain.
  • Four spectacular days and nights in what might be dubbed “a British/Dutch/African San Francisco”
  • Check in to the historic Vineyard Hotel. Slow down. Enjoy a heated pool and a well-equipped athletic facility or go shopping or browse local galleries.
Day 2
 
  • Visit the Cape of Good Hope. Full day tour. (Cape of Good Hope should really be on one of the seven natural wonders of the world.) Today we will enjoy beautiful mountain and seascapes. We tour Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet (you may see the two colors of the oceans on a good day).
  • Traveling southward along the Atlantic coast, we drive through Constantia Valley to Groot Constantia, famed for its Cape Dutch homestead architecture.
  • Continue on to Chapman’s Peak and the fishing villages of Hout Bay and finally arrive at the Cape of Good Hope.
  • We return along the Indian Ocean coastline. Return to hotel or head downtown if time permits.
Day 3
 
  • Cape Wine Region tour. Today we enjoy some of the beautiful Winelands and mountains north of Cape Town. Tour wineries around famous town of Stellenbosch.
  • Lunch at renowned Spier Vineyard. Sample and purchase from over 200 local and 30 international wines (which you can ship home)!
Day 4
 
  • Cape Town City Tour with free time at the Waterfront. Enjoy some time at the Cape Town waterfront, which is similar to San Francisco, but more beautiful. Relax over coffee and “Koeksisters”, a delicious local delicacy.
  • See highlights of the city and visit Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. This floral kingdom boasts some 6,000 species of the indigenous plants of southern Africa.
  • Return to hotel for dinner.
Day 5
 
  • Fly to Johannesburg (+-7am flight)
  • Drive to the famous "Sabi Sands Reserve"  Overnight at a wonderful African Inn on the way.
Day 6 - 7
 
  • Sabi Sands Reserve (possibly Idube Camp). Guests have exclusive access to 45,000 acres of Sabi sand, by far the largest block. It includes 22 miles of sand frontage, a definite plus for wildlife viewing. Certainly why, there is nowhere else in Southern Africa where you are most likely to have close encounters with the Big 5. (Especially in October, when the bush thins out).

Day 8
 
  • Sabi Sands Reserve. Best Leopard viewing in the world.

Day 9
 
  • Sabi Sands Reserve.
Day 10
 
  • After a morning game drive, we will say goodbye to the staff at Sabi Sands Reserve and fly to Johannesburg and check into the Balalaika Hotel.
  • We will have the afternoon to ourselves, to lounge around the pool or explore the adjacent mall. There are many wonderful restaurants and shops.
Day 11
 
  • We will go to a church together in historic Soweto, the largest black community in South Africa. We’ll meet and have lunch with the people of the congregation. This is a never-to-be-forgotten experience (people on earlier trips have felt this to be one of the highlights).
  • In the afternoon we will visit Pretoria, the administrative capitol of South Africa.
Day 12 - Botswana
 
  • Victoria Falls-Chobe Botswana. Morning flight to Victoria Falls and evening flight to Chobe Botswana for 3 nights. We will be driven across the border (passport stamps for everyone) and arrive at Chobe Safari Lodge, in time for the Chobe River cruise.
  • On Botswana’s far Northern border lies the Kawanto Linyanti and Chobe River system, forming a series of lakes, islands and flood plains.
  • Overnight at Chobe Safari Lodge
Day 13
 
  • Chobe Safari Lodge.This area forms the Chobe National Park, famous for its large buffalo and elephant herds. In addition to a variety of predators, there is an abundance of wild game and wildlife which decorate the beautiful waterways.
  • Overnight at Chobe Safari Lodge
Day 14
 
  • Chobe Safari Lodge. Morning game drive, afternoon Namibian village tour (another passport stamp). See how 85% of the African continent lives!
Day 15
 
  • Continue by light aircraft to your camp in the heart of the Okavango Delta for two nights. The Okavango Delta is without doubt the crown of African Game viewing – especially at this time of year.
Day 16
 
  • Okavango Delta. A mix of huge savannah, flood plains forests and islands. It is fed by the Okavango River. The waters of this river are so pure, you can drink straight out of the river! A unique Eco System found nowhere else on earth. It is the uniqueness and remoteness of this area, that make it one of Africa’s last paradises. Huge concentrations of animals roam free and unbound by fences in an area in excess of 15 thousand square miles.

Day 17 - Zimbabwe
 
  • Fly and drive to Victoria Falls and overnight at the Victoria Falls Hotel. This hotel which opened in 1904, is the premier example of ultimate luxury in Sub-Saharan Africa. The hotel is long on atmosphere – a cup of tea on the terrace in the late afternoon, while watching the clouds of spray, sent up by the falls is truly memorable.
Day 18
 
  • Today we will view the Falls (One of the wonders of the world) and have an opportunity to explore the town of Victoria Falls, or just luxuriate at this magnificent hotel. The shopping is terrific, with many unique items ranging from “flea market to museum quality,” In the evening, you may elect to visit a local village in Zambia.

Day 19 - Option One
 
  • Fly to Johannesburg. TOUR ENDS 
Day 19 - Option Two (NAMIBIA ADD ON. Cost $2,500PP additional)
 
  • Bush flight to Etosha Pan. Etosha is Namibia’s premier wildlife park. It has great concentrations of game, there are wonderful views out onto the salt pans, which dominate the center of the park. On Ongava Lodge is situated on the private 30 000 hectre Ongava Game reserve and shares a common border with Etosha.
Day 20
 
  • Our pilot picks us up in Etosha today and we are whisked away to Damaraland. Damaraland camp is a rare venture which integrates communities, the environment and sustainable wildlife. It is rated as the most successful eco tourism venture in Namibia.Located on the north bank of the Huab river, 90 KM inland from Tora Bay on Namibia’s Skeleton Coast, the camp presents endless vista’s across stark plains, ancient valleys and soaring peaks.
  • Optional Balloon ride over the dunes $400pp.
Day 21
 
  • Soussesvlei. This is extreme luxury in perhaps one of the most captivating and remote areas on planet earth. The Namibian desert is an unique eco system. We will see the highest sand dunes in the world and at night, a blanket of starts that will amaze you. (we are 33 miles from light pollution.) Enter a world of vast space, far horizons, desert scapes and jagged mountain heights.
Day 22
 
  • We will visit the dunes this morning with brunch served at the foot of the most magnificent dunes in the world. In the afternoon, we will take individual dune buggies from the lodge and explore the dunes up close.
Day 23 - Tour Ends
 
  • Fly to Windhoek and onto Johannesburg for our flight home to the USA

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