Safari Quick Facts

From Lake Naivasha we head into the Masai Mara, one of Africa’s premier game parks. The Masai Mara has large herds of plains game (gazelle, antelope, and giraffe) which in turn attract large numbers of carnivores (lion, cheetah, hyena and the ever elusive leopard). In the Masai Mara we do two game drives, one evening drive and one early the following morning. In most national parks it is forbidden to drive at night so all game viewing is done as early and as late as possible to get the best conditions. Looking for game in a National park is not always easy. This is one of the advantages of using a truck, which gives us superior height, making it easier to see over the surrounding terrain.

From the Masai Mara we pass back through Nairobi for an overnight stop.

We depart Nairobi and enter Tanzania and the town of Arusha. Our route to Arusha takes us through more Masai tribal lands and along the western slope of Mt Meru. On this route it is also possible to see Mt Kilimanjaro. Be warned, Kilimanjaro is regularly covered by cloud.
Arusha is situated on the southern slopes of Mt Meru and was originally a coffee town. Safaris have now taken over as the town’s big earner. We will camp in Arusha for the night to prepare for our 4 day excursion off the truck into the Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater.
NOTE: PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU CHARGE YOUR CAMERA BATTERIES TONIGHT AS THERE WILL NOT BE FACILITIES TO DO THIS OVER THE NEXT 3 NIGHTS.

Early this morning you will be collected from the campsite by our local operator to begin the 4 day excursion into the Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater. You will need to take any personal items you require with you as the truck stays behind in Arusha.
Leaving Arusha behind us, you will journey through the Tanzanian countryside to the Serengeti National Park, crossing vast plains in search of the Big 5 on our way to our bushcamp in the heart of the National Park where we will spend two nights listening to the sounds of Africa.

Enjoy morning and afternoon game drives in the Serengeti National park. Expect an early rise in the mornings which give us the best opportunity to view game as they start their day, an unforgettable experience to watch Africa wake up! Afternoon game drives offer their own beauty and give you some amazing photo opportunities.

One last early morning game drive in the Serengeti before returning to camp for brunch after which you will head for the Ngorongoro Crater escarpment where you will set up camp and prepare for an early start tomorrow morning.

We descend onto the Crater floor for an early morning game drive in one of the most stunning natural wonders of the world. At 19Kms across and 600m deep this is the 5th largest crater in the world. It is a world heritage site and boasts a unique ecosystem. The crater itself reflects a mini rift valley. It has a soda lake with flamingos, fresh water, open plains, and a forest area. There is a high concentration of animals here, and it is also a home to a small population of black rhino. We spend around 4½ hours game driving around the crater.
After the excitement of the morning, settle back for the drive to Arusha where you will meet up with the truck and prepare for some well earned R&R on Zanzibar over the coming days.

From Arusha our journey takes us to Dar es Salaam (Swahili for "haven of peace") on the Indian Ocean. The trip will either be one big day on the truck or broken down into 2 shorter drives. Whichever way it is done, we get another chance to see Kilimanjaro and will also see a changing landscape en-route to the coast

We travel to Zanzibar by ferry from Dar es Salaam and this journey can take up to 3 or 4 hours. Conditions are usually smooth but beware the occasional day with rolling seas.
Zanzibar is known as the Spice Island, which comes from the many different spices that were grown there by the original Omani settlers. A lot of spices are still grown on the island and make up a large part of the economy of the island. The island does have a more sordid past in that it was once a major slave trading port; and it is still possible to visit the site of the old slave trading markets. The town centre still shows a lot of its Arabic origins in its architecture. It’s fascinating to walk around the labyrinth of old buildings and walled streets. For the beach lovers you can go out of the town and spend some relaxing time on the isolated beaches. There are spice tours that take in all manners of exotic fruits and spices and you can sample many of the tastes and smells first hand. Just off the coast of the old town is Prison Island, where there is a population of giant land tortoises who are happy to share their stretch of beach. We will spend 4 days on the island, generally split between 1 night in Stone Town and 3 nights on the Coast where accommodation with breakfast is included however all other meals will be at your own expense during this time.
We recommend that you budget around U$200-$300 for your stay on Zanzibar to cover food, transport around the island, optional tours, accommodation upgrades, drinks and souvenirs. Please note that this is a recommendation only as different passengers have widely differing spending patterns

See day 11 for Itinerary

See day 11 for Itinerary

See day 11 for Itinerary

Today the group will travel by ferry back to Dar es Salaam and rejoin the truck which will transfer you to the campsite on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam

From Dar es Salaam we cross southern Tanzania into Malawi. The route takes us through the Mikumi National Park. This is not an excursion, but, fortunately for us, the road actually passes right through the centre of the park, and it is possible to see numbers of giraffe, antelope and elephants. It is interesting to note that these elephants are very small in stature, which is attributed to the decimation of their gene pool due to poaching.

Malawi is a small country in central southern Africa and is dominated by water and mountainous regions. More than 30% of the country’s landmass comprises of Lake Malawi. On our trip through Malawi we visit a number of the small bays along the lakeshore. Snorkelling and diving are available or people can just swim and laze about on the beaches. There is also ample time to visit local villages and the local markets which abound with woodcarvings, the most famous of these being large carved chairs. These chairs have proved very popular with our clients over the years, only to become a problematic purchase when the time comes to send such a large object home.

See day 17 for Itinerary

See day 17 for Itinerary

See day 17 for Itinerary

See day 17 for Itinerary

Leaving the beautiful beaches of Malawi behind we will head towards the Zambia border camping for the night before crossing into Zambia tomorrow. This is a driving day with no activities planned.

This period is spent travelling to Livingstone, stopping off in Lusaka, Zambia, en-route.
Livingstone is a small town on the Zambian side and not surprisingly was named after David Livingstone, the man who discovered Victoria Falls, known locally as "Mosi oa Tunya", "the smoke that thunders", is one of the world’s natural wonders, though they are neither the highest nor the widest of the world’s waterfalls. They do, however, create a visual spectacle as they cut a massive gorge in the earth and crash 111 metres to the river below. This gorge actually forms the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia and the initial part of our stay we spend on the Zambian side.

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Today is yours free to partake in many of the activities available from the Zambian side of Victoria Falls. It is highly recommended that you take the time to view the "Falls" from this side of the border to gain a different perspective

Today the truck will cross into Zimbabwean side of Victoria Falls where we will be based for the next few days.

Time at leisure to enjoy the many activities available including the option to do an evening river cruise on the Upper (above the falls) Zambezi River, which takes about 3 hrs with drinks included.
On the Zimbabwe side there are a wide variety of optional activities, the most famous being White Water rafting on the Lower Zambezi. This excursion takes a full day and has 14 plus rapids none below grade 4 (rapids are graded from 1 to 6). Please note that at certain times of the year the rafting may be restricted or even closed due to high water levels (March – May). Bungy jumping is also an option for all those who wish to throw themselves 111 metres head first off a perfectly good bridge. Another optional activity is Jet Boating, imported and improved on from New Zealand. Various flights are on offer, including light fixed wing aircraft, helicopter, microlight and ultralight, all offering wonderful viewing of the falls. As well as these, there is horse riding, elephant riding and canoeing, not to mention a walk to the falls themselves. Videos and still photographs are available for purchase of most activities, and are a great reminder of your adrenaline filled visit to the mighty Victoria Falls and Zambezi River
At Victoria Falls some members of the group may be transferring to other tours. There may also be new members joining and a change of truck/crew for the last weeks of the tour to Johannesburg.
NB Please note that entrance (approximately 20 USD) to Mosi oa Tunya (Victoria Falls) National Park is not included in your tour price

See day 27 for Itinerary

See day 27 for Itinerary

Leaving the falls we go into Botswana and visit the Chobe National Park on the Chobe River. Here we do a morning game drive (3hrs) and an afternoon boat cruise on the river, this river cruise is very good for seeing all the aquatic animals that are not normally seen during a game drive. Both the boat cruise and the game drive give us great game viewing opportunities in one of the largest parks in southern Africa.

From Chobe we head to the Okavango Delta.

See day 30 for Itinerary

From Chobe we will drive along the edge of the Makgadikgadi pans to the town of Maun. We will stop in town to restock and prepare for our trip into the Okavango Delta.
The Okavango Delta is formed by the Okavango River, which flows into the desert and disappears as it fans out to form the Delta. We go into the ‘the Delta’ for 3 days (2 nights) and camp in the bush usually on the banks of one of the many fresh water channels that give life to the flora and fauna. Our method of transport is 4 wheel drive vehicles and Makoro (meaning ‘dug out canoe’ in Setswana). The Makoros are traditionally made of wood but as they come to the end of their serviceable life, fibreglass canoes are now replacing them. These are not quite as authentic but building the old canoes uses a whole tree and the environment is beginning to suffer. Each makoro is piloted by a ‘poler’, who helps set up camp & take guided bush walks…he/she will also always be ready for a chat and a cup of tea with you around the fire. We take all our own equipment and food and bring it all back out (including the rubbish), showing our understanding of the fragility of the Delta. The Okavango Delta region is one of the world’s last remaining true wilderness areas and is home to a vast amount of animals. It is possible to take some walks to try to see them or, if you are lucky, they will wander pass close to camp. As you retire to your tent for the night, the sounds and smells of the African bush will leave an indelible mark on your senses like no other.
From the Delta we continue to Kasane and the adjoining Chobe National Park in northern Botswana. At Chobe we usually go on a 3 hour sunrise game drive in open sided 4x4’s and a 3 hour sunset boat cruise. Both the boat cruise and the game drive (and the resident 50000+ elephants) give us great game viewing opportunities in one of the largest parks in southern Africa.

See day 32 for Itinerary

See day 32 for Itinerary

See day 32 for Itinerary

Leaving the delta we head for Namibia and Etosha National Park. This Park is one of Africa’s largest (roughly the size of Wales). It has some very good facilities, very good roads and waterholes which enable good game viewing. One of the more famous features of Etosha is that the campsites also have waterholes. This means that once the days game driving is over and parks laws restrict us to the camping areas it is still possible to view animals. The holes are floodlit and people can sit and watch all night if they wish, the only restriction being noise. We use two areas Namutoni and Okaukeujo with the latter being the more established so it gets the most animals using it. Photography is permitted and using fast film, good results can be achieved. Okaukeujo is famous for attracting Black Rhino, although nothing is guaranteed with animals; they are frequent visitors to this waterhole. The park itself has a wide variety of game and they are different to the animals seen in East Africa, there are different types of Zebra (it’s all in the stripes) Impala (black faced) and the Wildebeest (blue). Aside from these different types of animals there are elephant, giraffe (the park has been referred to at times as “Giraffic Park”), lion, bird life and gazelle.

See day 36 for Itinerary

See day 36 for Itinerary

About 150 km's south of Etosha we spend the night at the Otjitotongwe Cheetah Park. What makes this farm unique from other farms in the region is that this farmer has allocated 2,000 acres of the family property to be used for breeding cheetah. This has not really endeared them to all their neighbours who are predominately livestock farmers hence the area is fenced off. Although it’s not the ideal way to view these animals (through a fence) they do have 2,000 acres and it is rare to get so close to them. Highlights include his over excitable son feeding them by hand (something that shouldn’t be missed, while he still has a hand) and sitting amongst the few that are hand reared and therefore tame. These young tame cheetahs have been abandoned when they were young and consequently cannot be let to run with the other cheetah. They usually allow us 30 minutes with these animals and it is quite an experience to have cheetah walking amongst us.
From the cheetah farm we go to the small coastal town of Swakopmund. Our route to this town takes us to the Cape Cross seal colony. This colony varies in number from 20,000 to 100,000 in breeding season. Regardless of the season it is always possible to get a close look at lots of seals. A seal eat a lot of fish and so getting close to so many of them does mean that the smell is quite strong. Stench withstanding it is well worth a visit, but we do lunch further down the road.
The town of Swakopmund is situated on the Atlantic Ocean and is a German colonial town in the middle of a desert. It has some wonderful old German buildings of which one of the most beautiful is the prison (it is still used as a prison). The town itself is generally cool as a mist created by the cold air off the Atlantic mixing with the hot air of the desert, which is why the Germans chose this area to build the town, covers it.
There are lots of optional excursions to do in Swakopmund. Dune biking on quad bikes over the sand dunes, sand boarding, scenic flights, and game fishing. The town itself proves popular on our tours as it has lots of clubs, restaurants, casino and even an authentic German bakery.

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See day 39 for Itinerary

See day 39 for Itinerary

From Swakopmund we go to the Naukluft National Park. This park has one main feature, which is sand, large mountains of sand. These dunes are the highest in the world reputed to be as high as 300 metres. The ones we will see have been measured by altimeter on our previous trips and are about 200 metres high, which is still very large. The day here begins before sunrise as the best times to photograph the dunes is when the sun is low on the horizon and the shadows define the contours clearly. The other reason for the early start is that it is too hot to walk up the dunes once the sun fully rises and the hot sand burns people’s feet. There is also the chance to go on a desert tour for about 3 hours. The guide is a local wildlife specialist.
Our next stop is Fish River Canyon, which is the world’s second largest canyon. There is a spectacular viewpoint over the canyon and short walks are available in the region.

See day 43 for Itinerary

See day 43 for Itinerary

The next stop is the Orange River on the South African border where we have an opportunity to do some canoeing on the river. This is done in 2 person canoes with a guide and takes about 4 hours. Our journey then takes us to Stellenbosch via Cederburg. Stellenbosch is the heart of South Africa’s wine growing region and it’s here that we visit some wineries to sample the local flavours. From Stellenbosch we take a short drive to Capetown where our trip finishes.
The tour will end at approx 15.00pm on the last day. NO accommodation is included on Day 49.

See day 46 for Itinerary

See day 46 for Itinerary

The tour will end at approx 15.00pm on the last day. NO accommodation is included on Day 49.