Chobe Victoria Falls Adventure – 3 nights Sabi Sand | 2 nights Hazyview | 3 nights Chobe | 2 nights Victoria Falls
Overview
We contacted Heidi at Pembury Tours to help us organize a select part of our South African Journey. We arranged to Skype Heidi at a time that would work for both parties, not easy with a 9 hour time difference. She quickly understood what we required for our safari bookings and made many helpful suggestions. Heidi arranged all our safaris accommodations and transfers, we did our own flight bookings. Everything went without a single glitch! We were very happy with the companies she chose for our transfers, they were always on time, extremely pleasant and we always felt safe! Her recommendations for accommodations for our safari’s were excellent, we loved everything about our experience! We would not hesitate to recommend Pembury Tours to our friends and after them seeing our pictures and hearing our stories, I’m sure Heidi will be kept busy! Thank you again for your excellent service!
Upon arrival in Hoedspruit, you are met by our representative and transferred to your safari lodge in the Sabi Sand Reserve, part of the Greater Kruger National Park. You arrive in time to freshen up before embarking on your first game drive.
Forming part of the Greater Kruger National Park, the Sabi Sand Reserve has no fences and the wildlife is able to cross freely between the Sabi Sands and the rest of the Greater Kruger National Park. The safari experience in the Sabi Sand is highly personalised because game drive vehicles have exclusive traversing rights in their area.
The Sabi Sand Reserve is a remarkable natural sanctuary known for its exceptionally high concentration of animal and bird life. Close contact encounters are guaranteed as the animals are not threatened by the presence of vehicles thanks to sound conservation management policies. Safaris are led by experienced rangers coupled with local Shangaan trackers. With exceptional sightings of leopard (usually the most elusive of cats), lion, rhino, elephant and buffalo during game drives – visitors are never lacking in exciting photographic content. You will head out on dawn and late afternoon game drives in the company of dedicated and highly knowledgeable rangers and trackers.
The fact that the Sabi Sand is a private Kruger reserve means that guests can enjoy activities not normally permitted in the Kruger Park itself. Your ranger will go off road for close-up views of special sightings and once darkness falls, you’ll be treated to thrilling spot-lit night drives in search of rare nocturnal creatures and big cats on the move. Guided nature walks complete the spectrum of safari activities.
After your morning game drive, you bid farewell to this African wonderland. You are transferred to a country lodge in the Mpumalanga Lowveld. The rest of the day is at leisure to relax in the beautiful gardens of the lodge or lounge around the pool. The next morning you are met and taken on a full day Panorama Tour.
This morning you are transferred to Nelspruit Airport for your direct flight to Livingstone. Upon arrival in Livingstone, you are transferred by road to your lodge in Chobe National Park.
Chobe National Park on Botswana’s north-west border is a pristine wilderness of open plains, baobab trees, ancient woodland, swamps and flood plains and is home to the greatest concentration of game in the entire southern African subcontinent. One of Africa’s most beautiful rivers, the Chobe River forms the Park’s northern boundary.
The Chobe riverfront area is most famous for its large herds of elephants and buffalo, which come down to the river in huge herds to drink during the dry winter months. During this season, one may see hundreds of elephants at one time. Other species include waterbuck, lechwe, puku (this is the only part of Botswana where they can be seen), giraffe, kudu, roan and sable, impala, warthog, bushbuck, monkeys and baboons, along with the accompanying predators lion, leopard, hyena and jackal. Over 460 bird species have been recorded in the park, making it one of Africa’s premier venues for bird Safaris. A highlight of Chobe is taking a river cruise, which allows you to get up close with hippo, crocodile and a mind-boggling array of water birds. You also get really close to animals that come down to the river.
This morning you bid farewell to this African Wonderland as you are transferred by ferry and road to your hotel in Victoria Falls. You have time to settle into your new hotel and perhaps view the falls this afternoon.
Besides being one of the seven natural wonders of the world and a World Heritage Site, Victoria Falls is the unchallenged adventure capital of Africa with more than 50 activities available. At 1708 metres wide, Victoria Falls is the most expansive curtain of water in the world and drops more than 100 metres into the sheer Zambezi Gorge.
Straddling the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, these Falls and the Zambezi River are the central points in an area of spectacular scenic beauty: from the Falls themselves to the broad, picturesque course of the Zambezi River upstream, the rainforest adjacent and the stark jagged gorge downstream, the power and timelessness of nature’s forces are evident throughout. The Falls’ local name, Mosi-Oa-Tunya – “the Smoke that Thunders” – more accurately defines the essence of the place: the rising, shining spray that can be seen 30km away. This vapour has the effect of adding moisture in the form of humidity to the air in the “splash zone”, so that a unique, small rainforest ecosystem clings to the edge of the Falls, providing a toehold for no less than 70 shrub and 150 herbaceous species, as well as trees such as pod and Natal mahogany, ebony, Cape and strangler fig and Transvaal red milkwood. There are two National Parks in the vicinity: the Zambezi National Park in Zimbabwe and the Mosi-oa-Tunya Zoological Park in Zambia, which means that herds of big game such as elephant and buffalo, as well as smaller species and even predators such as lion persist in the area.
This morning is at leisure to catch a last glimpse of the Falls, until you are transferred from the hotel to Livingstone or Victoria Falls Airport to catch your flight to Johannesburg.