Five South Africa safari packages from 5 to 11 nights — the Kruger on foot, malaria-free Big Five reserves, Cape Town, the Winelands and the Garden Route.
Our South Africa safari packages pair a Big Five safari with the Cape. Walk with rhino on a private concession in the Kruger, stay in malaria-free reserves in the Waterberg, the Kalahari and near Addo, then drive the Garden Route or base yourself in Cape Town and the Winelands. Five itineraries run from five to eleven nights, three of them self-drive with car hire included. Every one is priced on request for your dates.
South Africa covers the southern tip of the continent between two oceans, and packs a remarkable range into one country. The northeast holds the Kruger National Park, around 19,000 km2 of bushveld, with private concessions along its western edge. The Waterberg and the Kalahari offer Big Five country without malaria. In the southwest, Cape Town sits beneath Table Mountain, an hour from the vineyards of Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl, and the Garden Route runs east along the coast through Knysna and Plettenberg Bay.
English is widely spoken, the currency is the rand, and the time zone is UTC+2 — the same as Zimbabwe — so there is no jet lag between the two. Johannesburg and Cape Town are the main international gateways, and domestic flights and good roads make it easy to combine regions in one trip.
From Victoria Falls, Johannesburg is a short direct flight away, which makes South Africa the natural extension to a falls or Zimbabwe safari — or the other way round.
Four reasons it earns a place on a Southern Africa itinerary.
On a 12,000 hectare private concession bordering Sabi Sands and MalaMala, Rhino Walking Safaris takes guests on foot through Big Five country that is closed to the public — a four-hour walk each morning, a shorter one in the afternoon, and the option of a night on an open sleep-out deck.
Welgevonden in the Waterberg, the Tswalu Kalahari Reserve and the Greater Addo area of the Eastern Cape all offer the Big Five without malaria — which matters for families with young children and anyone who would rather not take prophylaxis.
Table Mountain, the Atlantic beaches of Camps Bay and Clifton, the penguins at Boulders Beach and Cape Point are all within a day of each other, and the historic wine farms of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek are an hour inland. No other safari country has a city like it.
Between Mossel Bay and the Tsitsikamma forests, the Garden Route strings together lagoons, beaches and small towns about 45 minutes apart. It is made for self-drive, and our itineraries include the car hire, the route and every night’s accommodation.
Five itineraries from 5 to 11 nights. Rates depend on travel dates and room availability, so each is quoted on request.
Two nights on Boschendal wine farm, three in a sea-view room in Green Point.
Soweto and Johannesburg, then a private Kruger concession by vehicle and on foot.
Cape Town, Robertson, Route 62 to Oudtshoorn and three nights on the Knysna lagoon.
Ellerman House, Babylonstoren by helicopter, Tswalu and malaria-free Welgevonden.
A malaria-free Big Five safari near Addo, the Garden Route, Stellenbosch and Cape Town.
Five nights is enough for either Cape Town and the Winelands or Johannesburg and a Kruger safari, but not both. Nine to eleven nights lets you combine a Big Five reserve with the Garden Route and Cape Town. Our South Africa itineraries run from five to eleven nights.
Yes. The Kruger is a malaria area, but several Big Five reserves are malaria-free, including Welgevonden in the Waterberg, the Greater Addo area of the Eastern Cape and the Tswalu Kalahari Reserve. Exclusive South Africa uses Tswalu and Welgevonden, and the Safari, Garden Route & Cape Town self-drive starts at Kuzuko Lodge near Addo.
Yes, and the Western and Eastern Cape suit it well. Three of our itineraries are self-drive with car hire included — a Group B car such as a VW Polo, with unlimited kilometres, maximum insurance and one additional driver. South Africa drives on the left, and one-way drop-off fees and GPS are extra.
For Cape Town and the Winelands, November to March is warm and dry; winter from June to August brings rain to the Cape. For the Kruger, the dry winter months from May to September give the best game viewing as the bush thins out. Southern right whales visit the Cape coast in roughly the second half of the year.
Many nationalities, including UK, EU, US, Canadian and Australian passport holders, can visit South Africa without a visa for up to 90 days. Your passport needs blank pages and sufficient validity. Rules change, so verify against your own passport before you travel.
Tell us your dates and how you like to travel. We quote the itinerary for your season, and add Victoria Falls to either end if you want it.
