Primary Africa - in South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe or Zambia

 

... If you can afford the time, we recommend that you make a three-night stop at one of the destinations on your itinerary. Clients who have done so comment that the extra night at camp allowed them a respite from flying considerations, which otherwise can seem relentless. Every day, they’ve commented, you are either flying or planning for a flight the following day. In this itinerary we give you a 3 night stay in Johannesburg, but you must arrive by lunch time of Day 1 so that in the afternoon you can start your flight preparations. If you arrive a day earlier you can have one day to rest from the long haul flight, perhaps to recover from jet lag. There are many things to do in the Johannesburg area from visiting the Cradle of Humankind to learn about our earliest ancestors to touring SOWETO to hear about South Africa’s struggle through apartheid. All worthwhile tours.

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Price for two people sharing is approximately $25,100 per person assuming 1 pilot and 1 non-pilot sharing an aircraft and accommodation. Exact quote will be given when booking is placed with us subject to Rand/Dollar exchange rate and lodges chosen.

Price includes all accommodations; all meals, except only Bed and Breakfast where noted; local drinks except premium drinks at lodges, all road transfers from airports or airstrips; National Park entrance fees, where applicable.  It includes rental of a Cessna 182 dry for 26 hours (2 hrs per day for 13 days);  Dual flight time with instructor for your validation; Excess insurance (hull deductible); landing, parking, enroute, and approach fees, license validation fees; instructor briefings on ATC, local airspace, density altitude and differences from flying in your home country; Africa Aero briefing, flight following by African Aero and Cockpit Trip Kit and Advance Preparations Kit including charts, and airfields directory. 

 

The Cockpit Trip Kit™ is an extensive and detailed flight planning aid. Use it also in the cockpit, enroute. It contains information on the airports or strips including photographs, suggested routes to your destinations, nav logs tailored to your itinerary, alerts on significant airspace, communication and nav aid frequencies enroute, reporting points, and other notes which are useful aids for pilots who've never flown in southern Africa. Further, it details procedures for operating in Johannesburg's own airspace. We go over the entire Kit with you in our own briefings prior to your departure on safari. 

 

The Pilot’s Advance Preparation Kit includes audio tracks with ATC, tower and pilot transmissions to familiarize you with accents and phrases used. This is transcribed. Also in the Kit is airlaw notes applicable to your safari, and other preparatory material for your validation.

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Not included: Fuel for aircraft, which is approximately $7.50 per gallon, any aircraft fees away from Johannesburg, fuel for rental car, airfare to South Africa and return, curios, tips and laundry unless stated, items of a personal nature, and conservation or tourist levy fees charged at some of the lodges (about $1-$5 per person) and visas or exit fees from specific countries such as Zimbabwe and Zambia.

 

Day 1   - Arrive Johannesburg International Airport. You are transferred to the Pivot Hotel, on the outskirts of Johannesburg for 3 to 4 nights while completing pilot validations. Louis or Devin will give you an introductory briefing along with your Cockpit Trip Kit™. If you arrive in the morning you will have an afternoon instructor briefing. You’ll have the rest of the day to look over the material.  (Bed & breakfast, transfer)

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Day 2 – Instructor’s briefing;  handling check ride.  You’ll get a chance to focus on some of the differences of flying in  Africa.  Professionals do all the briefings. You’ll get the lay of the land and a taste of how ATC works (and sounds) in Africa’s busiest airspace.  Optional tours for non pilots can be arranged with the concierge desk to do various activities such as visit the Lesedi Cultural Village, Museum Africa, Origins Center or Apartheid Museum, Soweto, Sterkfontein Caves, Cradle of Human Kind,  Lion Park and Botanical Garden. Pivot Hotel (Bed & breakfast)

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Day 3 & 4 – Completion of validation exercises. Time on your own when completed. An extensive afternoon briefing on the day before departure.  Pivot Hotel (Bed & breakfast)

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Day 5 – Fly the African Bush – We'll meet you early at the airport to assist in your Self-Fly Safari departure. You'll sign out the aircraft, load it, check the fuel, top off the tanks, and take care of all the last-minute details.  Soon, you're away!

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Day 5 & 6 - MALA MALA, LONDOLOZI, SINGITA, GREATER KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, SOUTH AFRICA (207 nm east) Private  airstrip, 2 nights - all meals and local drinks,  activities, transfers. Your first flight out is at the  game-rich Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. It is about a two hour flight. You’ll fly over the Drakensburg Mountains and descend the Escarpment into the famous Kruger National Park area the country's rolling woodland bush and grassland savanna. The variety of game is extraordinary.  They're all here: leopard, cheetah, lion, rhino, hippo, elephant, wildebeest, buffalo, giraffe, zebra, warthog, spotted hyena, impala, and more. Any one of the suggested camps is excellent. All have good game rangers and service. Your day begins at dawn with an early morning game drive in an open landrover. Midday is spent on bush walks or lazing by the pool.  

MALA MALA MAIN CAMP – Sabi Sands Game Reserve.

Mala Mala located along the  Sand River is in the prime game viewing area of the Sabi Sands. . Rooms are large thatched chalets. The food is excellent and the service outstanding. They have three lodges, Main Camp, Sable and Rattray's. Each has its own style of luxury.  www.malamala.com

LONDOLOZI - Sabi Sands Game Reserve
Londolozi Lodge is also set along the lush banks of the Sand River. Londolozi is comprised of three exclusive camps where the splendor of the bush melds with luxury living. Your accommodation is an air-conditioned chalet, with a private deck and a plunge pool, as well as indoor and outdoor showers. Each lodge has a lounge and dinning area, leisure deck, bar, swimming pool and boma for outdoor meals. www.londolozi.com

SINGITA – Sabi Sands Game Reserve

Intimacy is the hallmark of Singita's style - exquisitely appointed double suites, separated into exclusive camps set in shady woodland above the Sand River. Each expansive suite ensures absolute privacy and features its own ensuite bathroom, open-air shower, double-sided fireplace, air-conditioning, private leisure deck, and living area, with views across the river to the plains beyond. Excellent cuisine and wine cellar. We have found nothing finer in southern Africa. www.singita.co.za 

 

Day 7 & 8

MASHATU GAME RESERVE  - TULI BLOCK, BOTSWANA (229 nm west and north with 1 fuel & customs stop)  

Limpopo Valley airstrip, 2 nights, all meals and local drinks, activities, photographic hide, transfers.

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You fly back over the escarpment to Botswana to  fly to the Tuli Block  -- an 18,000-acre private game reserve. Desolate to the casual glance, the burned sand and scrub is the domain of elephant, lion, leopard, hyena, eland, and other antelope. 

Mashatu Main Lodge or Mashatu Tented Camp : "Amongst the Giants - the elephant and baobab tree". Both camps are a 40-minute drive in an open land rover north from the airfield.  Along the way you’ll spot antelope, cross dry streams, and gaze out to the distant horizon. During your visit an experienced guide and tracker team will seek out elephants, lions, and the elusive leopard!  Included is a morning visit to a special photographic hide, where you view animals from ground level at a waterhole. Incredible experience.  Dine at set tables around a warm fire in the boma. As the night progresses – you may be treated to singing and dancing by the staff.  Retire to your twin-bedded tent or thatched chalet for a comfortable night's sleep.  Additional activities which do cost extra are horse riding or cycling  (fantastic experience) or special program on elephants, lion or cultural tour presented by specialist guides. www.mashatu.com.

 

Day 9 & 10 

SHINDE, KWARA, CAMP KANANA,  VUMBURA CAMP,  NXABEGA or STANLEY’S CAMP- OKAVANGO DELTA, BOTSWANA (382 nm north with 1 fuel stop) 

Private airstrip, 2 nights, all meals and local drinks and laundry,  activities, transfers.

 

From the Tuli Block you fly north  to  the heart of Okavango Delta in Botswana to one of the Delta’s exclusive camps. The Delta is created by a fast flowing river that gets much of its water from the rains in Angola. The river branches, slows down, and spreads over tens-of-thousands of square miles bringing life to the desert. Then it evaporates. It’s a river with no mouth. Your choice of camps.   Some camps have both a water and a land experience. Others have water only when the floods come to the delta usually by May. And still others have only a land experience. Game drives in open land rovers ensure the safe sighting of predators at a discrete distance, while a game walk with a Ranger makes one feel close to the African bush. Unique to a Delta experience is being polled slowly through reeds so close as to scrape the sides of a mokoro (dug out canoe), following a path made by a grazing hippo. The water isn't deep but it's alive with creatures of all sizes. Some benign, some not.  Another push of the pole and you glide into an open pool -- floating on a carpet of pastel lilies, bathed in sunshine, and silent, except for the ensemble of birds. The water is pure enough to drink. Lodge will be determined by availability and by your request. Please look at the below web sites to determine which camp looks best to you.  KWARA www.kwando.com , VUMBURA PLUS AMANY OTHERS  www.wilderness-safaris.com NXABEGA & SANDIBI www.ccafrica.com  or SHINDE & KANANA www.kerdowney.com   STANLEY’S, CHIEF’S & BAINS www.sanctuarylodges.com .

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Day 11 & 12

SELINDA, LAGOON,  LINYANTI BUSH CAMP, SAVUTI, LINYANTI PLAINS, BOTSWANA, (38nm north)

Private airstrip, 2 nights, all meals and local drinks and laundry,  activities, transfers.

North of the Okavango Delta is the Linyanti Plains an area known for large elephant herds as well as lots of plains game and the carnivores -  lions, cheetah, wild dog and leopard. If you have the time, we suggest including this stop in your itinerary otherwise you could skip this area and fly direct to Victoria Falls. Here you are  rewarded with one of the most serene settings imaginable – and game of all sorts that moved across your view. There are some lovely camps in the area some with more access to the Linyanti than others. Selinda www.greatplainsconservation.com ;Savuti  www.wilderness-safaris.com  ;Lagoon  www.kwando.com; Linyanti Bush www.kerdowneybotswana.com.

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Day 13 & 14

VICTORIA FALLS HOTEL, VICTORIA FALLS, ZIMBABWE (146 nm east with 1 fuel & customs stop) 

Victoria Falls Airport, 2 nights, Bed & Breakfast, airport transfers.

Now you fly east to Victoria Falls to visit and overfly the famous Victoria Falls. You will be staying at the historic, grand Victoria Falls Hotel. The Hotel, popularly known as “the grand old lady of the Falls”, is situated in the Victoria Falls National Park, a world heritage site. The Edwardian-style hotel, built in 1904, was recently refurbished and is set in lush tropical gardens with lily ponds, palm trees and semi-tropical shrubs. The Falls are just a ten-minute walk away using the hotel’s private pathway. Its opulent Livingstone Room is known for fine dining and dancing and the Stanley Terrace, with its clear view of the Victoria Falls Bridge, connecting Zimbabwe and Zambia, is renowned for its cocktails and afternoon teas. All rooms are decorated in the gracious Edwardian style of Zimbabwe’s colonial era. www.africasunhotels.com. 

 

Or RIVER CLUB or TOKA LEYA, ZAMBEZI RIVER, LIVINGSTONE, ZAMBIA

Livingstone Airport, 2 nights, all meals and local drinks and laundry, some activities, transfers.

Now fly east to Victoria Falls and over fly them before landing at Livingstone airport.    You’ll be met at the airport and driven through town before turning west to follow the Zambezi River upstream 15 miles to stay at one of the many lodges perched along the Zambezi River. The River Club is built in a colonial, Victorian-era style with individual split level chalets built on high stilts overlooking the wide, slow flowing Zambezi. .  There’s plenty to do but it may be best as a tranquil setting and an ideal place to relax and watch the hippos and birds that live by the river.  A trip to the Falls can be arranged. Boat to islands in midstream, take a picnic, and have cocktails as the sun sets.  Horseback riding. Visit the neighboring African village. Go fishing with River Club’s expert guides. The “Club House”, where meals are served on the verandah, has a lounge, pub, and library.  A rewarding stop. Toka Leya is their sister camp but accommodation is in safari tents. Similar activities as River Club www.wilderness-safaris.com 

 

OR ROYAL LIVINGSTONE,  VICTORIA FALLS, LIVINGSTONE,  ZAMBIA

Livingstone  Airport, 2 nights, Bed & Breakfast, access to the Falls on Zambia side, transfers

 

Your base is on the banks of the legendary Zambezi River in the Royal Livingstone Hotel. The Falls Park is a short walk from your room. Located on the property is an activity center. Here you can arrange white water rafting, bungee jumping or a sunset cruise above the Falls. It’s a great way to see hippo and crocodile while viewing a spectacular sunset.  You can explore the town of Livingstone, visit a village with a local school and clinic, and perhaps meet the headwoman or man.  You can also arrange to go over the Zimbabwe side to see the Falls from there or to relax and have afternoon tea on the porch of the historic and grand Victoria Falls Hotel. www.suninternational.com 

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Day 15 & 16

DAVISON'S CAMP  HWANGE NATIONAL PARK, ZIMBABWE (99 nm southeast) 

Private airstrip, 2nights, all meals and local drinks, laundry, game drives, airstrip transfers.

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Your last destination is at Zimbabwe’s massive Hwange National Park. You will land in the south-eastern section of the Hwange Park at the Linkwasha Vlei. It's a fantasy of airborne Africa: flying low over golden, flat, savanna grasslands, easing down until your wheels touch, and rolling to a gentle stop. This is an area of large herds of elephant and buffalo, spotted hyena, giraffe, sable antelope and lion and leopard. You will have day and night game drives, a guided walk in the morning (if you wish) and the luxury of game viewing from your tent’s veranda as animals come to drink from a well-situated water hole.  Accommodation is in large walk-in tents with ensuite bathroom. www.wilderness-safaris.com.

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Day 17

Return to Johannesburg (453 nm south with 2 customs and fuel stops )

1 night, Bed & Breakfast, transfer.

We will meet you at your arrival airport, debrief you at dinner and return you for a good nights sleep at 

the Pivot Hotel in Fourways, Johannesburg. Call home and tell them you are back in civilization!

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Day 18

A chance to do last minute shopping at a nearby African market and repack your bags. Transfer to Johannesburg International airport for an evening flight home. Let the stories be told!