Johannesburg - Kruger Park - Swaziland - Durban
10 days
DAY 1: ORIENTATION
Met on arrival at Johannesburg
airport by Talana Tours. After clearing customs etc. we board our transport for an
orientation tour of Johannesburg the “Powerhouse of Southern Africa”
en-route to our overnight accommodation. The itinerary for this day will
be determined by the flight schedule however the objective would be
orientation in terms of the incredible mixture of history, cultural and
economic diversity that exists in Johannesburg. The rest of the day will
be spent at leisure recovering from the flight and settling in.
Distance: 75km
Accommodation: Irene Country Lodge
Meals: Own
account
DAY 2: JOHANNESBURG AND SOWETO
After breakfast we
visit Gold Reef City, which recaptures much of the spirit of old
Johannesburg with its Victorian style buildings, horse-drawn cars and
steam train. One can enjoy quality local craft and other speciality
shopping opportunities, as well as an excellent underground tour of the
original mining tunnels built by the Chinese labourers on the
Witwatersrand in 1904. There is also the possibility of seeing how molten
gold is poured and visit an early mint in perfect working order.
A
visit to the Apartheid Museum will give a back ground to the oppression
that the black people experienced during the dark days and their struggle
for freedom. We then proceed into Soweto, the largest ‘black city' is
Southern Africa. Our tour will include the Hector Peterson Memorial, the
former homes of Nelson Mandela, Bishop Desmond Tutu as well as the opulent
mansions of some of Soweto's millionaires and other high profile people.
We will enjoy a lunch in a well-known traditional Tavern (own account)
before heading out to our overnight accommodation.
Distance:
150km
Accommodation: Irene Country Lodge
Meals: B
DAY 3:
PILGRIM'S REST
After breakfast we head out of Johannesburg for the
eastern escarpment where the highveld drops dramatically to the lowveld
area around Kruger National Park. The day's trip takes us through the
largest grassland area in South Africa, which is of agricultural and
mining importance. We will break the journey with a lunch stop, which will
be a light affair in a small county restaurant (for own account). After
lunch there will be an opportunity to explore the interesting arts and
craft shops before we leave.
The last part of the day's trip takes
us via either the scenic “Robbers Pass”, which earned its reputation
during the gold rush years of the late 1870's or via Long Tom Pass which
gets its name from the long barrelled Guns the Boers used in the
Anglo-Boer war. We arrive at our final destination with time to explore
the lovely setting before dinner.
Distance: 340
km
Accommodation: Royal Hotel Pilgrim's Rest
Meals: B &
D
DAY 4: BLYDE RIVER CANYON
A full day of exploring the
Panorama Route starting off with the Gold Rush town of Pilgrim's Rest, the
site of the largest Gold Rush in history at the time. Today the whole town
in a national monument persevered as it was in at its peak in the 1870's.
Here we take a short walking tour and learn about some of the fascinating
and hardy characters that moulded our early pioneering history. There will
be time explore the quaint shops and museums before moving on. The
Panorama Route winds along the edge of the Blyde River Canyon, the 3rd
Largest in the World. Our day's travels will take us to beautiful places
with interesting names such as God's Window, Burke's Luck Potholes and the
Three Rondavels. At each place we will spend time exploring on foot to get
to the best views. The Drakensberg Mountain range descends dramatically
onto the low lying plains, creating magnificent formations and interesting
mountain passes to drive through to get to our next stop at Hazyview just
outside the Kruger National Park.
Distance: 230 km
Accommodation:
Kruger National Park
Meals: Picnic Breakfast
DAYS 5: KRUGER
NATIONAL PARK
The Kruger Park is over 2 million ha in extent
(roughly the size of Wales or Belgium) with no restriction on the animal's
movement one must appreciate that game viewing requires some ‘work'.
However using local knowledge and experienced guides who know the Kruger Park and
the movement of the game, our chances of seeing the ‘Big 5' as well as the
other animals are greatly improved. Never-the-less we will need the full
day to explore and search them out, whilst the guide makes it as
interesting as possible by providing interesting information about the
vegetation and ecology of the Park and answering your questions.
Distance: 150 km
Accommodation: Kruger National Park
Meals:
Picnic Breakfast
DAY 6: SWAZILAND
After breakfast we drive
the first 3 hours through the Kruger National Park as we head south, out
the Park and on to Swaziland. At the border control into Swaziland will
visit Matsamo Cultural village where we will enjoy a tour of a traditional
Swazi village and have lunch. The Swazi people are related to the other
Nguni tribes (Zulu, Ndebele & Xhosa) of Southern Africa, however, due
to early trade with the Arabs and later Portuguese via Mozambique, they
assimilated colourful fabrics into their traditional dress.
Swaziland is one of the few remaining true Monarchies of the world
and King Mswati III still holds all political power. Once we are in
Swaziland the scenery is spectacular and travelling is slow because the
road is windy and terrain mountainous. We will stop at a large roadside
craft market for an opportunity to browse, buy and watch crafters at work.
Our route goes via the capital, Mbabane, and then into the mountainous
countryside where our country hotel is set in an extensive
forest.
Distance: 350 km
Accommodation: Foresters Arms
Hotel
Meals: B & D
DAY 7: ZULULAND
Today we continue
on out of Swaziland and into Zululand (South Africa) where we find
ourselves travelling through some of the most game rich country in South
Africa. Our destination is the Hluhluwe / Umfolozi Park which is the
oldest game reserve in Africa and famous for saving the white rhino from
extinction. Today the park is home to the largest populations of both
white and black rhino in the world as well as all the other “Big 5”.
We will stop for a light lunch at Ilala Weavers, which started as
a project where Zulu women were encouraged to work from home producing
traditional baskets and beadwork. These were then brought to a central
market. Today Ilala Weavers supports over 300 families and is the largest
exporter of traditional woven baskets and beadwork. We continue on to
Hluhluwe / Umfolozi Park arriving in time for an afternoon game
drive.
Distance: 325 km
Accommodation: Mpila Camp
Meals: B
& D (guide catering)
DAY 8: ZULULAND
We start the day
off with an early morning game drive returning to the lodge for breakfast.
Once again our guides are experienced and knowledgeable which makes the
drives interesting and to improves your chances of seeing the ‘Big 5'. The
local people are an integral park of this park as the land that it
occupies is theirs, so after breakfast we take a 3-hour tour into the
tribal lands surrounding the Park. This tour is an authentic cultural
experience where we get an opportunity of experiencing a very enlightening
and interesting insight into how the rural Zulu folk live and practice
their traditional customs today. We return to our lodge for lunch followed
by some free time an early dinner and a night safari. With the aid of
powerful spotlights we head out with a ranger on open vehicles searching
for those animals, which we would normally not see during the
day.
Distance: 100 km
Accommodation: Mpila Camp
Meals: B
& D (guide catering)
DAY 9: ST. LUCIA AND
SHAKALAND
After breakfast we pack up and drive to the Greater St.
Lucia Wetland Park (a World Heritage Site) where on arrival we enjoy a
2-hour boat cruise up the estuary of the largest lake system in South
Africa. The lake is home to the largest populations and concentrations of
hippo and crocodile in South Africa, which we usually can get up close to,
as well as large variety of water birds. We enjoy some free time to do
some shopping and a grab a bit to eat in one of the many restaurants.
Back in the vehicle we continue on to the highlands of KwaZulu
Natal in the heart of the Zulu Kingdom. Our destination is Shakaland.
Originally the set for the feature film Shaka Zulu, today it is an
international standard Zulu Cultural Village. The action packed programme
takes you through the history of the Zulu nation, many of the traditional
customs and beliefs. This is followed by a feast of deliciously prepared
traditional dishes, to suit all diets, followed by a display of
traditional dancing in the great hut.
Distance: 200
km
Accommodation: Shakaland
Meals: B & D
DAY 10:
DURBAN
Our programme on this day depends on what time we have to be
at the airport. Usually international flights leave JNB from about 19h00
so to prevent a long layover in JNB airport we should plan for a 15h00
flight out of Durban which means a drop off of 13h00. This will give us
time to do a brief tour of the highlights of Durban and spend a few hours
on the ‘Golden Mile' where we will have lunch and folk can do some
shopping and put their feet in the Indian Ocean.
Distance: 155
km
Meals: B
QUOTE BASED ON 4 PAX:
NETT COST PER PERSON
SHARING: R12 740.00
SINGLE SUPPLEMENT: R1 640.00
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