Africa Wild Safaris
Day 1
All guests meet up at the Johannesburg airport where your guides will greet you and everyone will board the minibus for transfer to the game lodge in Limpopo Province. After a few short rest stops along the way, you arrive at the tree house game lodge. Now is the time to unwind and unpack the photo gear. Depending on arrival time, you will be served an afternoon tea (a light meal) and given an orientation by the lodge staff and your guides. If possible, you will have your first afternoon game drive on the lodge’s reserve followed by dinner.
Day 2
We rise early and you are greeted with coffee and tea. We then depart on a morning game drive on a private reserve and catch the animals and the sun rising. We return to a full English breakfast. Following the meal you will have the mid day to relax or explore the walking trails. We meet up again at afternoon tea then depart for an afternoon game drive on a nearby private reserve. Our animal encounters keep us busy until sunset when we pull over to enjoy a cocktail or refreshment while watching the sky change color and listening to the lions roar at the start of their evening of hunting. It is getting dark now and we return to the lodge slowly using a spotlight to carefully watch for leopards, lions, and other nocturnal creatures that may be just emerging.
Day 3
We need an early start today because we are heading out to Kruger National Park and arrive just as the gates open at sunrise. Many exciting encounters await us today. Our experienced drivers work with the guides to choose the most promising areas of the park given the weather and movement of the animals in the previous days. We will spend the whole day in the park and not return until the park closes at dusk.
Day 4
Today we leave the lodge in the morning to visit the Maholoholo Wildlife rehabilitation center. They have many birds of prey to observe up close as well as big cats and other animal ambassadors. In the afternoon we will relax on a cruise of the Blythe Canyon. The carved red rock formations are impressive but no less impressive are the hippopotamus and Nile crocodiles that coexist in this waterway.
Day 5
After the past few days of experience on safari you are ready to leave the vehicle on the trail and bushwalk up close to rhinos or elephants. But first we have to find them in the thousands of hecteracres of private reserves around the lodge. You will help us spot them from air while taking a flight in a microlight airplane flown by one of the lodge owners. Up in the air you will see the mountain range in the distance and herds of animals congregating or on the move below. One at a time you enjoy this experience while the rest of the group relaxes with morning tea. When everyone has had a turn, we head off in the vehicles. When we get close, we leave the vehicles and quietly track the herd through the bush. There is no comparison to the feeling of seeing these large herbivores up close. Our guides will see to our safety as we get once in a lifetime photographs of these great animals. Exhilarated, we return to the lodge for a meal and some free time for reviewing the morning’s photos. This afternoon we will explore another private game reserve in the safari vehicles and return at sunset or after dark .
Day 6
This morning we will have morning tea in the bush as we watch the sun rise and catch the animals as they begin their day. The afternoon will be open for guests to enjoy some of the many optional activities such as a hot air balloon ride, elephant ride, or horseback riding. Guests not choosing to do an optional activity can take advantage of the nature walking trails around the lodge or just rest after the busy week. It is also possible that the guides will arrange for a second whole day in Kruger National Park.
Day 7
Today we depart the lodge and return to Johannesburg for the return home or onward travel
