South Africa & Botswana Safari

Hello and welcome to Africa! Your safari adventure starts right here - with some sumptuous scenery (yup, tonight’s hotel is within arm’s reach of the V&A Waterfront). Once you’ve taken your pics, dropped off your bags and heard all about what to expect from your Trip Manager, we’ll kick things off in style with a walkabout dinner.

Our time in Cape Town is dedicated to sightseeing and today is no exception! We'll start at the very top with a cable car ride up Table Mountain, followed by a city tour of Cape Town’s key sights and historical attractions. After that, the rest of the day is yours. We recommend the V&A Waterfront (SA’s most visited attraction). You’ll also have the option to join our Township Tour & Amy Foundation Lunch, which gives you a locally guided insight into life during Apartheid. Tonight, you can get to know your new pals in the best way possible – an optional MasterChef-style cooking class with food, drinks and music.

• Visit the V&A Waterfront
• Take a Cable Car up Table Mountain
• Tour the City of Cape Town

This is your day to take advantage of Cape Town’s myriad local excursions – after breakfast of course. Our fav is a scenic drive along the cliffs of Chapman's Peak and down to Cape Point – the South-Western tip of Africa. In the afternoon, we’ll stop off at Boulders Beach to admire a colony of adorable African penguins - with a chance to go kayaking with them too! What next? Well, you can't go wrong with wine tasting (and a view) to round off an incredible day touring the "fairest Cape in all the world." So, join us if you like!

Rise and shine. Today, we have a (very early) flight to Johannesburg, the city of Gold, where our first port of call will be the Kruger National Park. The Savannah is calling. We've got no time to waste! We'll hop straight onto our coach and begin our journey through South Africa's country side to Kruger. Yup, it’s safari time! We arrive at the gates to Kruger National Park this afternoon with binoculars at the ready. Rolling through this wildlife haven (the size of a small country) for a sunset game drive as we make our way to our exclusive Contiki Safari Camp. Set on the banks of the Sabie River, in the middle of Kruger, this Special Stay has us camping in canvas tents (the kind with mattresses and linen). All dotted around a roaring bonfire, listening to lions off in the distance, and under the African stars. That's right, its not 5 star accommodation...its 5000 star camping.

• Stay at Contiki Safari Camp
• Take a Sunset Game Drive in Kruger

Today we're up bright and early for our first taste of the fresh morning air. We'll start with an optional sunrise safari – just in time to catch Africa’s elusive predators finishing off their nocturnal hunt. At midday, you’ll have the chance to relax back at the camp: you can visit the local shop, take a dip in the pool or visit the nearby restaurant where you can look out over the Sabie River and watch as the animals come to quench their thirst (yup, it's preddy special.) This afternoon, it’s back to the safari vehicles for an optional sunset game drive and another chance to see the Big Five and more. Tonight back at camp, you can choose to join us for a traditional South African braai or BBQ, complete with local sides and desserts.

• Join an Anti-Poaching Talk MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience

Rise & shine, explorers! Especially if you wanna choose to take the sunrise game drive (more game drives = more chances of ticking everything off that list). Or you could always choose to sleep in and catch a late brekkie. The game of hide and seek then continues one last time as we head back into the park, keeping our eyes open for any wildlife that's evaded us so far (come on cheetah... where are you) and bid farewell to Kruger. We’ll head off to Johannesburg this afternoon. Order of business? Crash at the hotel before we fly to Victoria Falls in the morning!

• Take a Morning Game Drive at Kruger

This morning we'll drive to the airport to catch our flight up to Victoria Falls. We start off with the number one attraction around - the Falls themselves! Hike along the Victoria Falls, one of the Seven Natural Wonders and the largest waterfall in the world. You might want to pack your raincoat, as during certain times of the year you can get drenched from the rising spray, giving the falls its local name: 'The smoke that thunders'. This afternoon, you'll have the option to jump, zipline or swing off the famous bridge connecting Zimbabwe and Zambia over the Zambezi River. Please note: From January to June this trip puts you in the Victoria Falls Waterfront Hotel, Zambia, with a riverside deck and bar that overlooks the spray of the thunderous falls. Travelling from July to December? Don't worry, you're not missing out: we'll put you up in the Shearwater Explorers Village, Zimbabwe, just 400m from the falls - with bohemian cafes, curios markets and swimming pools to explore. It's a win win, basically.

• Marvel at Victoria Falls

Today you have the choice to try white water rafting along the Zambezi river. There's also a locally guided village tour - if you wanna get to know the locals and experience their way of life. And then, end the evening with a magnificent sunset cruise including drinks (optional but highly recommended!).

We start today on foot, to literally ‘walk on the wild side’ with an optional guided walking safari along the Zambezi’s National Park. This is a unique way to track wildlife on foot while learning about some of the smaller animals – plus plants and just generally anything we come across. Wanna go from foot mode to flight mode? Then you've got the option to take a helicopter ride above the thunderous waters below (the best way to see the falls in all their glory!). Then it’s across the border to Botswana for more of what we love. i.e. safaris! This time, it’s the world-famous Chobe National Park, known for its huge elephant population. Tonight, you’ll truly experience the wilderness with a night out in the middle of the African bush. We have a private Contiki site just for us, with our own guides, cooks and a bonfire – all set under the stars. After dinner, you’ll get the chance to fall asleep to the sounds of Africa: a jackal calling in the distance, the loud whoop of a hyena, perhaps the roar of lions as they wake from a daytime slumber. Catch you later, city life! Please note: Overnight Camping in Chobe won't be available during the Summer from October to March. Instead, you'll spend two nights at our lodge with Chobe Sunset and Sunrise Game Drives still included plus a buffet dinner.

• Stay at Contiki Safari Camp
• Take an Afternoon Game Drive in Chobe

This morning we'll wake up to watch the sunrise over the African bush with a light breakfast, before departing on a morning game drive to hopefully see some of the wildlife we may have heard the night before. We will arrive late morning to check into our new lodge and spend the rest of the day relaxing around the pool and swapping stories from the night before. On our last evening together you can opt for a wildlife cruise on the Chobe river. Surrounded by pods of hippos, crocs basking on the banks and all forms of African animals coming down to drink, this is truly one African sunset you'll never forget followed by a buffet dinner tonight.

• Take a Morning Game Drive in Chobe

Dumela Botswana! We’ll head south today from Kasane to Gweta Lodge on the edge of the Makgadikgadi Salt pans. Opt to cruise the salt pans in open safari vehicles in search of a meerkat colony while getting some funky perspective photos in one of the largest salt flats in the world. Tonight's treat is sundower drinks under an icon of Botswana before retiring to the lodge for an optional dinner with the crew, and drinks at the bar.

We will say goodbye to the pans (for now) and head on to the wildlife haven that is the Okavango Delta Our minds already blown by this unique natural landscape, it's off to the Okavango Delta, where we'll take an awe-inspiring game drive before settling into our exclusive Contiki Safari Camp. We'll be greeted with luxe two person dome tents - pre-erected of course - with stretchers, mattresses and linen. Dinner? How about a campfire meal as we swap tales under a starswept sky?

• Stay at Contiki Safari Camp
• Take an afternoon Game Drive in the Okavango Delta

Get your David Attenborough voice on, we're in the heart of Africa's iconic wildlife filming paradise. This sprawling wetland is home to some of Africa's most incredible species and after a quick bite to eat we're off on an early morning game drive in the Okavango Delta in hopes of spotting elephants, hippos and (if we're lucky) some predators. We'll head back to camp for a tasty lunch and siesta. Chill in the camp or opt for a Mokoro boat trip along the gorgeous waterways of the delta. In the afternoon we're back on another jaw-dropping game drive before our traditional campfire dinner. This evening we've a once in a lifetime opportunity - a night drive in the bush with spotlights seeking out elusive nocturnal animals you can't find during the day.

• Take a morning Game Drive in the Okavango Delta
• Take an Afternoon Game Drive in the Okavango Delta
• Take a night Game Drive in the Okavango Delta

Another morning at the Delta (the struggle is real.) After coffee and breakfast at sunrise, it's time for another morning game drive – eyes peeled for elephants – as we make our way out of this wildlife paradise. Check into the lodge, chill by the pool and then take to the skies in an optional Okavango Delta helicopter flight. Hover just meters above the waterways or fly high for stunning views of this unique inland delta and of course, don’t forget your binocs for some wildlife spotting from the air. If you've got a head for heights, you won't find views more spectacular than this anywhere in the world. Tonight, you’ll polish off your last night in Botswana with a night in the town. The Okavango Delta Brewery calls, offering a tour, tasting and dinner for you to enjoy.

• Take a dawn Game Drive in the Okavango Delta

After a last breakfast together its time to say goodbye to new found friends and an incredible time in Botswana.