Safari is often a hook to attract travellers to Southern and East Africa, but there are so many more experiences on offer. Kim Emmanuel looks at five great safari combinations.
1. Bush and beach
The classic bush and beach formula just doesn’t seem to age, says Lisa Goosen, Tintswalo Lodges CEO. “With Tintswalo Atlantic in Cape Town, and Tintswalo Safari Lodge in the Greater Kruger, we stand in a great position to assist in co-ordinating these packages,” says Goosen.
Tintswalo Atlantic boutique lodge is located at the base of the ocean-facing Table Mountain National Park. Each of the lodge’s 11 suites has a unique design and theme. The lodge’s facilities include a restaurant, dining room, lounge area, and swimming pool.
Tintswalo Safari lodge, in the Manyeleti Game Reserve, is only a short drive from Hoedspruit Airport. The lodge comprises seven suites, each able to accommodate a maximum of four guests, and a Manor House that can accommodate up to 10 guests. Game drives are conducted in open, four-wheel-drive game-viewing vehicles where guests may be able to view the Big Five. Activities on offer from the lodge include game drives, game walks, private 4x4 safaris, stargazing, and birding.
Richard de la Rey, of Rare Earth, suggests a slight variation to this classic combo for the second-time traveller. “There are highly underrated areas such as the West Coast that should be included in an itinerary. To combine this with a lodge in a less busy reserve would be ideal,” says de la Rey. He mentions Welgevonden as a reserve that offers a different topography to that of the Kruger, and also varies in terms of the wildlife and birds that can be seen.
2. Savanna and Great Apes combo
The combination of a Savanna Safari in southern Africa with a Great Apes Safari in Rwanda should be on everyone’s bucket list, says Craig Glatthaar, Wilderness Safaris Business Unit Manager. Wilderness Safaris’ new lodge, Bisate Lodge, is set to open in Rwanda mid-year.
Bisate Lodge will comprise six forest villas with views across a private deck towards Mount Bisoke, each offering a bedroom, reception space and bathroom as well as a central fireplace. The lodge’s design was inspired by the Royal Palace of the Rwandan monarchy, with traditional prints and Rwandan textiles used in the interiors.
3. Safari and cultural experiences
Game reserves are often close to rural communities and indigenous populations, offering guests on safari the opportunity for cultural exchanges with locals.
Guests staying at Wilderness’s Serra Cafema Camp can visit a Himba community, aa group of semi-nomadic pastoralists who live in the Kaokoland area of Namibia. The guided visit teaches guests about the culture of the Himba people.
From the Damaraland Camp, guests can visit villages where the Damara and Riemvasmaker communities are resident.
Victoria Falls Safari Lodge offers guests the opportunity to enjoy both a safari and cultural experience. Guests can view wildlife from the deck at the lodge, experience a guided sit in Siduli Hide at the edge of the waterhole, or enjoy a game drive through Zambezi National Park.
These safari experiences can be combined with an evening at The Boma – Dinner and Drum Show. The experience includes local cuisine, spirited dance performance, interactive drumming, and traditional storytelling.
A tour through South Africa’s KwaZulu Natal province can also tick off both a safari and cultural experience. At Phezulu Safari Park guests will learn all about the culture and traditions of Zulus and witness the skill that goes into building their huts, making their pottery, brewing beer and crafting beadwork and baskets. A sangoma (traditional healer) can also read the bones of travellers, giving insight into their future.
4. Safari and winelands
The Cape Winelands are a popular extension to a safari experience.
The most widely booked itinerary includes a combination of the Cape Winelands, Garden Route and a safari experience in the Eastern Cape, say both Vernon Wait, of Lalibela, and Saskia Brown, Sales and Marketing Manager for Kwandwe Private Game Reserve.
Wait adds that the itinerary’s unique selling points include the Cape’s mountains and winelands, and the malaria-free aspect of the Eastern Cape.
For the Garden Route section of the trip, Brown recommends a visit to Grootbos Private Nature Reserve. The reserve is home to a number fynbos types and 765 plant species. The ocean allows guests to view marine life, which includes whales, sharks, dolphins, seals and penguins.
5. Luxury train travel and safari
The Your Africa team recommend combining a safari experience with luxury train travel.
The Blue Train’s Pretoria-Hoedspruit route makes this possible.
The train’s luxury coaches have three luxury suites, with the option of either twin beds or a double bed. The De Luxe coaches each have four suites. All suites have an en-suite bathroom.
The Lounge Car on the train is an ideal place from which to enjoy the views of the countryside. Chefs also regularly refresh their menus, which include anything from Karoo lamb, ostrich and venison, to Knysna oysters.
The scheduled departure dates for this route for 2017 are as follows. The train will depart Pretoria on March 17, June 16, July 7, and August 11. A return service from Hoedspruit is available on March 18, June 17 July 8 and August 12.
Kapama Private Game Reserve, a 10-minute drive from Eastgate Airport in Hoedspruit, is home to the Big Five and over 40 other mammal species and 350 different types of birds. There are four lodges within the reserve including Kapama River Lodge, Kapama Southern Camp, Kapama Buffalo Camp, and Kapama Karula. The reserve also offers a range of activities, such as game drives, bush walks, romantic sleep-outs, hot-air ballooning, and photographic safaris.
