Quintessential Kruger Safari

Suggested Itinerary

1. Day 1: Depart UK

   Depart the UK on an overnight flight to Johannesburg.

2. Day 2: Arrive in the Greater Kruger area & transfer to your lodge

   Following your international flight and subsequent domestic flight to the Greater Kruger, you're greeted on arrival at either Skukuza or Hoedspruit Eastgate Airport before being transferred to the first of your chosen lodges. Make sure you have your cameras ready as you enter the park gate, as opportunities could arise at any moment as you traverse the sand roads.

   Upon arrival at the lodge, there's likely to be some time to settle into your new surroundings and enjoy lunch/high tea before embarking on your first game drive in the late afternoon. You meet your guide and depending on your chosen camp, you may meet your tracker too, who will provide a safety briefing and short overview of what to expect over the coming safaris before taking you out into the African bush in a shared open safari vehicle. During your drives, they search for tracks and signs, identify species, interpret and explain behaviours, along with answering any questions you may have to enhance your understanding of this ecosystem and its residents.

   As you traverse this landscape, listen for the wails of grey go-away-birds and the iconic call of the African fish eagle while surrounded by a plethora of plains game. Midway through your drive, just as the sun begins to set, your guide will choose a suitable spot to stop and stretch your legs whilst enjoying the African tradition of a ‘sundowner’, which involves sipping a refreshing beverage and watching as captivating orange hues fill the sky as day turns into night over the lowveld. As the darkness descends, one world falls asleep and another comes alive, the sounds of brown-headed parrot and black-headed oriole give way to the bellows of toads, frogs and hippos. Your guide will pull out a spotlight as you search for active predators and nocturnal species such as African civet, honey badger and the elusive aardvark on your journey back to camp.

   Upon returning to camp, you're treated to dinner before retiring to bed, ready for the safaris to come, listening to the sounds of the bush as you drift off to sleep.

   Accommodation: Shindzela Tented Safari Camp, 3-nights

3. Days 3-4 : Explore the Timbavati

   The next two days are spent waking before sunrise with a coffee and some rusks before venturing out into the bush on a morning safari as the soft orange glow on the horizon transcends into an awe-inspiring scene and the grasses glisten in the day's new light. Grazing species such as zebra and blue wildebeest can be seen enjoying these grasses as they collectively feed through the process of facilitation, whereby different species feed on different lengths of grass. This is a vital element of their coexistence, as it eliminates competition and utilises every ounce of nutrition in an environment where food can be hard to come by during the dry season.

   The early mornings are the perfect time to be out exploring your surroundings, as the cooler temperatures and cover of low light provides predators with enhanced hunting opportunities. Lion, leopard, cheetah and African wild dog are all possible with each demonstrating their own strategies when it comes to finding a meal, through both teamwork and solitary methods. To see a hunt requires a great deal of luck, however it's an experience that will leave you breathless at the immeasurable tension gifted to us by the timeless interaction between predator and prey.

   As the mid-morning rolls around to the sound of the cape turtle dove telling you to ‘work harder and drink lager’, your guide will find a safe place to stop and enjoy a morning tea or coffee surrounded by the sights, sounds and smells of the Greater Kruger before beginning the journey back to camp for breakfast.

   The middle of the day is often spent relaxing around the lodge with binoculars overlooking a riverbed or watering hole, with a good book curled up in a comfy corner, catching up on sleep between safaris or embarking on a bush walk (lodge dependent) to find tracks, signs, plants and understand more about the minutiae that exists within this environment. Vervet monkeys, crested barbets and glossy starlings often patrol camp during lunch times, hoping to pinch some leftovers, and elephants may be seen around water bodies from the dining area as they come to quench their thirst during the heat of the day.

   Late afternoons are once again spent traversing the area around your lodge as you search for giant herds of buffalo, towering giraffes and hopefully a predator or two. Listen for the sounds of lion contact calls in the hope of stumbling across a pride. Perhaps these calls will take you to females with cubs, nomadic males searching for a pride, or even a whole pride together. Watching young cubs at play is one of the most unforgettable sights on safari, as they chase their mother's swishing tail as she tries to rest and their mischief unsettles the rest of the pride. It’s almost impossible not to laugh at these cheeky little cats.

   The drives begin to wind down after another sundowner with the African sky captivating as always, prior to your return to camp under the dark of night. Species such as flap-necked chameleons can be observed under spotlight, slowly manoeuvring across branches with their zygodactyl grip. Genets, porcupines, springhares, owls and endearing bushbabies all emerge into their nocturnal realm, increasing your chances of sighting these elusive creatures.

   As previously, dinner is served once you have returned to camp, perhaps with a drink around the campfire as an apéritif whilst you marvel at the immeasurable vastness of the Milky Way and search for dazzling constellations such as the Southern Cross. Returning to your room with a belly full of delicious food and a day of remarkable sightings behind you, drift off with the sounds of roaring lions, laughing hyenas and cicada song all around you.

4. Day 5: Transfer to your next camp

   The final day at your first lodge begins with a morning game drive, before you return for breakfast and finish packing your bags prior to meeting your transfer driver. Depending on your next destination, the journey is either a game drive or a mix of game drive and tarmac road transfer through small local towns and villages in close-sided vehicles. You arrive at your next accommodation with time to enjoy lunch and check into your room, allowing you to prepare for the afternoon game drive.

   Accommodation: Elephant Plains Game Lodge, 3-nights

5. Days 6-7 : Explore the Sabi Sands

   Your stay here follows the same format as the previous property, waking to the sounds of the dawn chorus before venturing into the Greater Kruger on your morning game drive. As you explore, make sure to take particular note of the subtle nuances of animal behaviour. Keep an eye on the throat of a giraffe as it devours leaves from the tree top, because these ruminants will swallow their food passing it to one of their stomach chambers for partial digestion before it returns to the mouth to be chewed and mixed with saliva, aiding in the extraction of nutrients. If you watch closely you can see a lump pass down the neck as the giraffe stops chewing and a few seconds later the lump ascends back to the mouth where chewing recommences. Oxpeckers dance across the ears, head and body of herbivores as they search for ticks and parasites to indulge on, playing their part in the mutual relationship they have with larger mammals.

   Return to the lodge for breakfast and take time to enjoy your new surroundings during the middle of the day, scouting out waterholes and viewing points, as you never know what could wander into view at any time. Following the conclusion of a delightful lunch, there's time to relax around the property prior to your afternoon drives.

   Setting off to search for more unforgettable encounters, watch as browsers and mixed feeders such as kudu, nyala and bushbuck effortlessly glide through the dense bush. These are stunningly majestic antelope, the former in particular has beautiful horns and wanders the park with remarkable grace and pride. Intriguing looking secretary birds stomp across the grasslands as they hunt snakes, and bateleur eagles soar overhead. Vultures can act as a giveaway of a predator's presence, as they circle and dive towards the ground. One particular species that's often followed by these aerial scavengers along with their terrestrial counterparts, spotted hyenas, is the African wild dog. The most successful hunters in Africa, dogs can often be seen fending off both the vultures and hyenas, with these interspecies behaviours always creating fantastic memories, not to mention the incredible greeting ritual wild dogs exhibit when they wake prior to a hunt or once they reunite after becoming separated. These canines skulk down low as they approach each other, often sneezing, before entering into a cheeping vocalisation as they dash around and bound over each other, sometimes rising to their hind legs with paws on another dog's shoulders. This experience never gets old and is such a fascinating insight into the tight-knit bond these dogs share with the members of their pack, a key component of their astonishing hunting success.

   As has now become the norm, you stop for a sundowner before returning to the lodge on a night drive, prior to a delicious dinner. Take time to make the most of riveting conversation around the campfire, such a quintessential part of the safari experience, trading stories with your guides and fellow guests, listening to the gentle crackles of the fire and sounds of the bush all around.

6. Day 8: Fly to Johannesburg & depart

   The final morning provides one last game drive, so savour every moment as you traverse the area once more. Perhaps you may have an amazing farewell sighting or the most eventful drive of your trip, there's no telling what awaits you each time you venture into the wild. Make sure to monitor the trees for the swinging tail of a leopard or more obvious signs of these rosetted felines such as an impala carcass hoisted onto a branch. Those with a keen sense of smell may notice an aroma somewhat similar to popcorn, this is often an indicator that a leopard has been scent marking in the vicinity. Hopefully these signs will lead you to one of these elusive cats, as they rest in a tree or patrol their territory.

   Both southern white rhino and black rhino are present within the Greater Kruger and could be spotted at any time. Despite their perilous plight at the hands of poachers across Africa, this is still one of the best places to see these remarkable creatures, and sightings of these megafauna are immensely rewarding.

   Following your return to the lodge, you have time to enjoy breakfast and prepare your bags for the journey ahead. Your transfer driver collects and transports you to the relevant airport prior to your onward flight to Johannesburg or Cape Town.

7. Day 9: Arrive UK