Game Parks and Sites | Family Trip – Johannesburg to Nairobi

Kenya – Nairobi, Langata Giraffe Centre

Here you can hand feed giraffes while you stand head high with the giraffes. It’s a side trip in Nairobi with an entry fee of $7 plus a charge for giraffe food.

Tanzania – Serengeti National Park & Ngorongoro Crater

Arusha is Tanzania’s safari hub. From here, you can take a trip to the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater. The Serengeti plains are the Africa of the movies. Immense herds of zebra and wildebeest migrate here to and from Kenya’s Masai Mara. Leopards and lions are often spotted. All the big five can be found in the park. That’s if luck is with you. Your campsite is rustic offering the rare opportunity to fall asleep (or lay nervous and sleepless awake) to the sounds of lions or hyenas. Breakfast and box lunches are provided during the day and dinner is prepared for you by your cook at night. After game driving in the park, you’ll head out, past Masai villages and Olduvai Gorge, to the Ngorongoro Crater.T he next morning, you’ll wake up early and do a game drive in the unique ecosystem of the crater where there are plenty of lions, black rhino and elephant.

Kenya – Nairobi, Sheldrick’s Elephant Orphanage

Stand with baby elephants and rhinos which have been rescued from the wild; normally their mothers have been poached or died naturaly, so are now fed from the bottle. It’s a side trip in Nairobi with a donation entry fee – open daily at 11 am.

Zambia – South Luangwa National Park

A lightly forested park on the Luangwa River in the south east of Zambia.  Animals normally seen are; hippos, elephants, crocodiles, antelopes, water and bushbuck, wild dogs, lions, and buffalo. We camp on the river bank beside the park. You can do both day and night game drives into the park. Leopards can sometimes be spotted on the night drives as the park has one of the highest concentrations of them in Africa. The road up to the park is dirt and the park is part of vast swamp system.

Zimbabwe & Zambia – Victoria Falls

The Zambezi River drops 100 metres over a mile wide chasm creating one of the most incredible natural wonders of the world. When the river is in full flow, the water roars and sends a cloud of spray 500 metres into the air. Victoria Falls is on the border of Zimbabwe (Victoria Town) and Zambia (Livingstone).  Adventure activities here are; bungee jumping, white water rafting, game-viewing on horseback, canoeing, light aircraft or helicopter flights over the falls and the sunset cruise on the Zambezi, walk with lion cubs.

Malawi – Kande Beach

Lake Malawi; it’s is a special beach resort orientated to budget beach activities. Snorkel around Kande Island. If you’re feeling fit, swim the 800 meters out. If you want to take it a bit easier, rent a paddle boat or canoe. If you’re up for an all day cooking job, bargain with the locals for a pig and spit roast it. SCUBA Dive in the freshwater lake. Lake Malawi is home to countless beautiful, endemic fishes. PADI certifications also available here. Horseback ride through forests and villages with Kande Horses. All skill levels are catered to. Take your horse for a swim in the lake with you after a 2 to 4 hour ride. Have a drum circle with the local boys and get exposed to a little Malawian culture. Shop the wood carvings market or take a village tour

South Africa – Blyde River Canyon

South Africa Blyde River Canyon is the 3rd largest canyon in the world, after the Grand Canyon in USA & Fish River Canyon in Namibia, unlike the other two it’s a green canyon due to its lush subtropical foliage, and has highest cliffs of any canyon in the world. It’s 26 kilometres long and some 800m deep

South Africa – Kruger National Park

Kruger National Park is one of the largest parks in Africa; you should see the big 5 here. On the border of Mozambique. Great for day and night game drives. Lots of; elephants, lions, hippos, buffalo and still rhino.

Tanzania – Zanzibar

You can take two hour ferry from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar Islands for a few days
Stone Town a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the old slave market, the spice growing areas, Jozani Forest with Red Colobus Monkeys and in the evening visit the seafood cafes and have dinner on the wharf.
Africa House – Enjoy cocktails and maybe a water pipe as you watch the sunset over the Indian Ocean from the balcony of this historic hotel. Zanzibar Stone Town!
Night Market – Browse the stalls for seafood and sugar cane juice. Definitely have a Zanzibar Pizza made while you wait.
Spice Tour – Tour historic Stone Town and the slave chambers. Visit the local market as well as spice plantations. Have a traditional meal in a local’s home. Add the Jozani Forest to the day’s activities and see the endemic Zanzibar Red Colobus Monkeys.
Night Market – Browse the stalls for seafood and sugar cane juice. Definitely have a Zanzibar Pizza made while you wait.
Snorkeling – Take a dhow out to the reef that lies off a private island. Snorkel the reef and then sail back to a secluded beach for a fresh fish meal before returning to Nungwe.
SCUBA Diving – If you’re a certified diver, visit one of the dive centres and check out the dive sites. If you’re interested in learning, start your dive course here
Deep Sea or Reef Fishing – Hire local to take you reef fishing in a dhow or go with a professional outfit for deep sea fishing.
Visit one of two natural aquariums. Feed the resident sea turtles and even swim with them during high tide.
Sunbathe and relax on the beach. Catch up on your diary or book. Swim in the warm waters. 
Beach Bars –  Start early or spend a late night at one of the beach bars.

Zimbabwe – Matobo National Park

Matobo National Park (originally Rhodes Matopos) is outside of Bulawayo town. It’s a series of granite hills; like islands surrounded by wooded valleys. The park has an unusual air about it with distant views combined with a close valley. Many religious activities and rituals were held here in pre-colonial times. Cecil Rhodes is buried in a granite hill in the park is a place known as world view.

Botswana – Chobe Park

All our Southern Africa regional trips include a boat cruise on the Chobe River with an optional game drive. Chobe National Park is the second largest national park in Botswana covering 10,500 square kilometres, with the greatest concentrations of game found in African. The park is divided into four distinctly different ecosystems: Serondela with its lush plains and dense forests in the Chobe River area in the extreme north-east; the Savuti Marsh in the west about fifty kilometres north of Mababe gate; the Linyanti Swamps in the north-west and the hot dry hinterland in between. Chobe’s elephants are the largest surviving continuous elephant population which range over northern Botswana and the northwest of  Zimbabwe, over 120,000 strong. The Chobe elephant are migratory, making seasonal movements of up to 200 kilometres from the Chobe and Linyanti rivers, where they concentrate in the dry season, to the pans in the southeast of the park, to which they disperse in the rains.

Tanzania – Karatu

Karatu is a colourful bustling town and the gateway to the Ngorongoro Highlands. It’s a fun place to visit to practice your bartering for souvenirs.

Dusty but absolutely delightful, the main street is wide and always vibrant with people in brightly coloured clothes chatting, laughing and going about their daily activities.

Outside Karatu, rolling hills merge into the Ngorongoro Highlands. Here, mountainsides are covered in thick forest and cultivated areas are filled with farms and coffee plantations with villages scattered in between. Waterfalls tumble over rocks, sunbirds flit from flower to flower and elephant and buffalo follow ancient paths through the vegetation to rivers to drink and to mineral rich caves to extract salt.

Zimbabwe – Great Zimbabwe Monument

An ancient city built of stone, consructuted by the Shona people. The name Zimbabwe means ‘stone houses’ in Shona. Built almost a thousand years ago over a period of 300 years, the ruins are unique in the region as few stone building were built in the early era.

The city  was an important trading centre from the Middle Ages onwards, at its peak was home to 20,000 people. The country of Zimbabwe is named after this monument.

Zimbabwe – Hwange Park

This large park in Matabeleland was for 13 years the home of Cecil a rare black-maned lion who had lived in the park was legally hunted , with a bow and arrow  by a dentist from Minnesota, in 2015. The killing of this popular lion promoted the conservation of commercially hunted animals in Africa. Though sadly, in 2015, Cecil’s son Xanda was also killed by hunters.

The park is covered in light woodland and is on the edge of the Kalahari Desert. in the park you will find; elephants, leopard, hyenas, cape wild dogs, cheetah and gemsbok.