Garden Route Tours | South Africa Tours | Garden Route South Africa Tours

DEPARTURES: Daily from Johannesburg or Cape Town. Cape Town departure is just a reversal of the one below. Contact us and we will gladly provide you with an itinerary of the reversal tour!

The Kruger National Park is one of South Africa's main landmarks and offers an exciting wilderness experience. The sight of elephant, lion, rhino, leopard, buffalo, etc. in their natural habitat is always a thrill. The park is the second largest in Southern Africa with a south to north span of more than 380 kilometres and has a vast selection of animal species. The evenings are particularly rewarding when you hear the sounds of Africa from the camps. We spend the first four days in and around the park , return to Johannesburg and fly to Port Elizabeth from where we spend the next four days touring through the famous Garden Route en-route to Cape Town.

Routing:
Depart from Johannesburg - Mpumalanga - Kruger National Park - Port Elizabeth - Garden Route - Oudtshoorn - end in Cape Town.

Day 1. Pretoria – Kruger National Park
We drive eastwards via Witbank and Middelburg to Nelspruit and enter the Kruger National Park in the south. Our encounter with the wild life starts here. Tonight we enter our camp for dinner and overnight
Overnight Skukuza Camp.

Day 2. Kruger National Park
Today is completely devoted to game viewing as we search for the 'Big Five' amongst other animals. We reach our camp at sunset for dinner and overnight. Some may want to do a night drive in an open game viewing vehicle utilising high powered spotlights to find the nocturnal animals (optional).
Overnight Satara Camp.

Day 3. Kruger National Park – Panoramic Route – Hazyview
After a final game drive and breakfast, we leave the park and drive via Klaserie and the Abel Erasmus Pass to the Escarpment and visit Blyde River Canyon, Bourke's Luck Potholes, God's Window and the Pinnacle Rock. Travel via Graskop to our hotel.
Overnight Lone Creek Hotel.

Day 4. Pilgrim’s Rest – JNB - Port Elizabeth
Visit the Lone Creek Falls and then the national heritage town of Pilgrim’s Rest. Take a walk through the main street and get carried away to the late nineteenth century when this little village was bustling with activity as a result of the alluvial gold found here. From here we return via Robber's Pass to reach O R Tambo International Airport (Johannesburg) late afternoon for your flight to Port Elizabeth where we overnight at Fifth Avenue Beach House.

Day 5. Port Elizabeth – Garden Route
This morning we join the Garden Route tour. Our first stop is Storms River with the impressive Paul Sauer Bridge across the valley towering some 139 m above the river. We visit the Tsitsikamma National Park (Khoisan for 'The place of much water') stretching over 100 km of wild and rocky coastline characterised by massive cliffs, narrow isolated beaches and shady indigenous forests along the river valleys. Then we traverse through magnificently scenic river valley passes to Plettenberg Bay for a short visit. Continue to Knysna. We join a sundowner cruise on the lagoon. Overnight at Fish Eagle Lodge or similar.

Day 6. Garden Route - Oudtshoorn
Spend the morning in Knysna visiting the “Heads” etc. Knysna also offers shopping opportunities of unusual locally made art and craft, etc. This afternoon we experience some of the most magical views on the Garden Route and Wilderness National Park and scenic viewpoints along the way. We travel over the Outeniqua Mountains to the Little Karoo where we visit the Cango Wildlife Ranch and Valley of Ancients, an endangered species breeding facility extraordinaire. Then travel to our hotel. Overnight at La Plume Guest House.

Day 7. Oudtshoorn - Mossel Bay
After breakfast we visit an Ostrich Show Farm for some unique experiences including ostrich racing. A ride on a back of an ostrich is not for the fainthearted. We visit the Cango Caves, regarded as one of South Africa's foremost natural wonders. The fascinating calcite caves comprises an underground wonderland of stalactites and stalagmites. Visit Oudtshoorn, also called the "Feather capital" of the world, as over ninety percent of the world's ostrich farms are found here. Continue to Mossel Bay for overnight.

Day 8. Mossel Bay – Hermanus – Cape Town
We visit arguably the oldest post office in Africa, the Post Office Tree and the site of the first landfall, made by the Portuguese explorer Bartholomew Dias in 1488. Continue to Hermanus, the best place in the World to spot Whales from land – (July to Dec). After lunch depart for Cape Town via the beautiful coastal route between Hermanus and Gordon’s Bay, arriving late afternoon.

From our experience, we have compiled the above mentioned itineraries. These are merely suggestions. Please feel free to talk to us about adjusting, changing or personalising the tour for you.
We specialize in smaller, personalized tours with groups of 2 - 8 persons in luxury, air-conditioned vehicles.

Make sure to have a look at our other Garden Route Tour Options, which might be of help to you:
- Choose from 3 - 6 Day Garden Route Tours
- One-way tours from Port Elizabeth
- Bottelierskop - Game Farm
- Knysna Elephant Park - Touch an African Elephant!
- Monkeyland and Bird Sanctuary
- Tented Accommodation with Horse Riding
- Pay-as-you-please Tours : My vehicle - your program