Zululand safari holiday, South Africa
| country: | South Africa |
| location: | KwaZulu Natal, Swaziland |
| departures: | This trip can be arranged at any time to suit you and can be adapted to suit your requirements |
| price: | From £1980 (13 days) excluding flights, based on twin share accommodation. Single supplements apply |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
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introduction to Zululand safari holiday, South Africa
KwaZulu Natal has so much variety to offer visitors, and this trip shows you much of the best of the area, from the beaches to the wetlands and the wildlife reserves to the Zulu culture. It is easy to self-drive here, yet in the game reserves you still benefit from the local guides. Including Swaziland adds to the variety to be experienced on this excellent holiday.
Kwa Zulu Natal province contains a variety of landscapes and attractions as diverse as the Drakkensburg Mountains and the St Lucia Wetlands and is probably best know for it's Zulu culture and fantastic Indian Ocean beaches. There is a long coast of sub-tropical surf beaches, remote lowveld savanna, mountains and the historic battlefields of the Anglo-Boer and Anglo-Zulu wars. The Natal Parks Board has many excellent parks with a huge range of wildlife, both self drive and guided.
Featured highlights:Wildlife viewing Trekking Bird watching Boat cruise Swimming Cultural tours
Best time to go: This trip can be taken at any time of year. From October to March, KwaZulu Natal, Mpumalanga and Swaziland are hot and rainy. From April to September it is warm and dry. Also, at the moment, South Africa is good value for money as the pound is favourably strong against the rand, making South Africa a good choice.
Kwa Zulu Natal province contains a variety of landscapes and attractions as diverse as the Drakkensburg Mountains and the St Lucia Wetlands and is probably best know for it's Zulu culture and fantastic Indian Ocean beaches. There is a long coast of sub-tropical surf beaches, remote lowveld savanna, mountains and the historic battlefields of the Anglo-Boer and Anglo-Zulu wars. The Natal Parks Board has many excellent parks with a huge range of wildlife, both self drive and guided.
Featured highlights:
Best time to go: This trip can be taken at any time of year. From October to March, KwaZulu Natal, Mpumalanga and Swaziland are hot and rainy. From April to September it is warm and dry. Also, at the moment, South Africa is good value for money as the pound is favourably strong against the rand, making South Africa a good choice.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | On arrival in Durban you will be met and assisted with collecting your hire car. Travel to St Lucia Wetland Park (about 2½ hours) and check in to the Avalone Guest House in St Lucia village for a 2 night stay. There are lots of activities here, such as game drives in the park, boat rides on the lake and other guided tours. (B) |
| Day 2: | Explore St Lucia Wetland Park. Another full day to explore St Lucia Wetland Park, South Africa's first World Heritage Site. This is also an excellent area for bird watching. Turtle tours and whale watching (seasonal) are other possible activities. A Santa Lucia boat cruise is included in today's activities, too.(B) |
| Day 3: | Depart St Lucia and drive towards Hluhluwe/Umfolozi Game Reserve. You have a 2 night stay at Hilltop Camp. (B, D). |
| Day 4: | Full day at Hluhluwe where available activities include self drive safaris, walking trails and night drives. This park is known for its rhinos, both black and white, and is a good place to see the 'Big 5'. You may also see cheetah and wild dog here. (B, D) |
| Day 5: | Leave Hilltop Camp and head from the coast via Hluhluwe. Follow a dirt road signed 'Coastal Forest Reserve' and park at the Coastal Cashew Factory. You will be collected and transferred to Thonga Beach Lodge in one of their own vehicles. There are two transfers a day, at 12:00 and 15:00. You will stay here for 3 nights. (FB) |
| Day 6-7: | Two days in which to explore this area. Your trip includes all standard lodge activities such as wilderness walks, swimming with dolphins, snorkelling, fishing, bird watching and turtle tracking. Alternatively, relax on the balcony of your own bush suite enjoying views of the sea or forest. (FB) |
| Day 8-10: | Tembe Elephant Park. After breakfast, travel north to Tembe Elephant Park on the Mozambique border. You are based here for 3 nights. Enjoy daily game drives, plus optional cultural tours to the nearby village, and we also recommend taking one day to visit Ndumo Game Reserve. (FB) |
| Day 11: | Set off for Swaziland and the gorgeous Mkhaya Game Reserve. You will stay at Mkhaya Stone Cottages for 2 nights. (B,D) |
| Day 12: | Full day at Mkhaya including game drives and guided walks. Animals you may see here are elephant, hippo, giraffe and zebra, however this reserve is best known for its black rhino. (FB) |
| Day 13: | After breakfast, drive to Johannesburg (about 4 hours direct), perhaps taking in some of Swaziland's excellent craft markets on the way. (B) |
tailor made holidays
This trip can be tailor made to create a unique holiday for your individual requirements by travel experts with intimate knowledge of the destination. It is a more luxurious trip that will suit those who enjoy immersing themselves in new cultures and environments before relaxing in comfort. As this trip can be tailor made it would be helpful if you could you provide the following information: rough budget per person (stating with or without flights), your address and postcode, contact phone number, preferred date of travel, length of trip, number of passengers, preferred countries and areas within those countries, specific interests & type of accommodation.how this holiday makes a difference
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Environment
At Hluhluwe, Hilltop Camp rates as one of the most environmentally and culturally aware accommodations you can find. They are very involved in conservation and have brought the white rhino back from the brink of extinction here. Add to that the recycling, waste prevention schemes and so on, and this really is a place that takes responsibility for the environment, wildlife and community seriously. Mkhaya Game Reserve: Mkhaya is Swaziland's Refuge for Endangered Species. It is staffed and patrolled entirely by Swazis from neighbouring communities and currently boasts what is arguably Africa's most effective anti-poaching unit. Mkhaya is totally self financing through visitor revenues. The tour operator is a multi-award winning responsible travel company, and for each person travelling with them they plant 10 indigenous trees in a degraded area of northern Tanzania. Community Hilltop Camp is government-owned but they run a Community Trust fund for the local community, and 98% of the staff are local. At Thonga Beach Lodge the local community are involved as shareholders in the development company (in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund and the Wildlands Trust). The company is heavily involved with conservation, community and ecotourism projects in the areas they work. Tembe Elephant Park is a community-owned camp, and provides work and income for an otherwise fairly remote community. Built on Tembe Community land, in north Maputaland, there is a training programme to help local people gain work here. The community is hopeful that tourism here will increase to bring them a chance of more income. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |
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