Southern Africa Safari

Mhoro! Welcome to Zimbabwe. Your adventure begins in Victoria Falls, known traditionally as Mosi-oa-Tunya or ‘The Smoke that Thunders’. When you arrive, you’ll be met by a local representative and transferred to your hotel. You’ll then have a welcome meeting at the hotel at 6 pm. If you arrive early, maybe check out this incredible natural wonder your own way or visit the Shearwater Adventures activity centre to book an optional activity. You could even book a scenic helicopter flight over the falls! After the meeting, maybe get to know your group better over an optional welcome dinner.

Depart Victoria Falls and travel to Hwange National Park. This afternoon, head out on a game drive in 4WDs to explore the park’s diverse landscapes and wildlife. Hwange is the largest national park in Zimbabwe and was designated as such in 1929, after previously serving as the royal hunting grounds of Ndebele warrior-king Mzilikazi in the early 19th century. The park is renowned for its elephants—one of the largest populations in the world—as well as an impressive variety of wildlife, including over 100 mammal species and nearly 400 types of birds.

Leave Hwange as you make tracks for Matobo National Park. Along the way, you’ll stop at the Painted Dog Conservation Centre. Learn how the loss of quality habitats and poaching are driving the painted dogs towards extinction, and how the centre protects painted dogs and the Hwange ecosystem. After, it's onto Bulawayo – Zimbabwe's second-largest city. Take a stroll through the streets and stop in at a local restaurant for lunch. Continue to Matobo, where you'll spend the next two nights. The rocks balanced in Matobo Hills are thought to be the seats of God and ancestral spirits. The park is home to the grave of Cecil John Rhodes, founder of Rhodesia and the De Beers diamond company, and is especially known for its rhino population.

Enjoy an unforgettable day of tracking rhinos on foot with your local guides. You'll learn about the local plants and trees and their traditional uses, and there'll be plenty of chances to spot wildlife other than rhinos. The park is home to leopards, hippos, antelope and more! Learn about the San people who have called this area home for thousands of years and visit their rock paintings in the hills. In the afternoon, continue to Whovi Game Park, an intensive protection zone for rhinos where you'll have a chance to spot the endangered black rhino.

Say goodbye to Zimbabwe and cross the border into South Africa. Your bush lodge for tonight sits inside Mapesu Private Game Reserve – a 12,500 hectares property surrounded by unique sandstone formations, woodlands and wildlife. The reserve focuses on biodiversity, conservation and the protection and reintroduction of species including efforts specifically on endangered animals. When you arrive, have dinner here with your group and watch the night sky come alive with stars.

Today, you’ll explore Mapungubwe National Park and World Heritage Site – home to South Africa’s most significant Iron Age site. Visit the 13th-century grave site on Mapungubwe Hill, which contains ornaments, jewellery, bowls and amulets covered in gold foil. The most spectacular of these pieces is a small, gold-covered rhinoceros. Apartheid kept this discovery a secret as the regime attempted to suppress any historical information that proved black cultural sophistication. Later, you have free time to relax at the lodge or you can take an optional game drive in through the park. Tonight, you’ll head out on a night safari in Mapesu Private Game Reserve. Look out for bush babies (galagos), bushpigs, hyenas, genets and tiny chameleons – all of which don’t come out much during the day. Maybe you’ll even get lucky and encounter a leopard!

Wake up early this morning and drive to Greater Kruger National Park, stopping at the Black Mambas headquarters along the way - the world’s first all-female anti-poaching unit made up of courageous African women. With support from the Intrepid Foundation, the Black Mambas are challenging the norms of a male-dominated field and taking an unconventional approach to protecting Kruger National Park’s wildlife. Learn how they patrol the park’s boundaries, run roadblocks, and dismantle snares left by poachers, before stepping inside their operations room for a special behind-the-scenes look.

Start the day early and head into Kruger National Park – one of the largest game reserves in Southern Africa and home to over 500 bird species, 100 species of reptile and 150 mammal species including all the big cats. Your wildlife experience begins as soon as you enter the park, as you're taken into prime viewing areas. Enjoy a picnic breakfast here before spending the rest of the day wildlife-spotting in the park, watching game, birds and stopping at various waterholes as you go. The group will leave the park in the late afternoon and return to the lodge for another relaxed evening.