Southern Africa Fall 2019


South African Elephants

Table Bay from atop Table Mountain

Table Bay from atop Table Mountain

Nelson Mandela's cell on  Robben Island

Nelson Mandela's cell on Robben Island

A Winelands' valley

A Winelands' valley

Leopard in the Okavango Delta

Leopard in the Okavango Delta

 Sunset over the Kwara River

Sunset over the Kwara River

Botswana's Wild Dogs

Botswana's Wild Dogs

Hippos in lagoon

Hippos in lagoon

Zebra mom and baby

Zebra mom and baby

Old water buffalo

Old water buffalo

Giraffe preparing to munch

Giraffe preparing to munch

 Young male elephants fighting

Young male elephants fighting

Lion pride feeding at night

Lion pride feeding at night

Rare Serval Cat

Rare Serval Cat

Lion cub hunting

Lion cub hunting

 Victoria Falls creating its own mist

Victoria Falls creating its own mist

Zambezi River pouring over Victoria Falls

Zambezi River pouring over Victoria Falls

Tentative Itinerary

Day 1

  • Depart from USA or Europe to Cape Town, South Africa You can fly South African Airways directly from the US to Johannesburg, arriving the next day. You can also fly through Europe, which is a 2 day trip, so you would need to leave the US on Monday, June 15.

Day 2

Late Morning

  • Arrive in Cape Town, one of the most beautiful settings of any city in the world, where you will be greeted by our guide and transferred to the Vineyard Hotel

Afternoon

  • Visit Table Mountain (weather permitting) by cable car for a walk around the mountaintop and gorgeous views of Cape Town and the length of the Cape of Good Hope
  • Opening dinner included in a gourmet restaurant at our hotel
  • Overnight at The Vineyard Hotel

Day 3

Morning

  • Depart for business meetings, including a briefing at the U.S. Consulate
  • Lunch included on the Waterfront

Afternoon

  • Visit Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned during the apartheid years to see the harsh conditions under which political prisoners lived and to hear stories directly from one of the former inmates
  • Time to walk around the Waterfront before returning to our hotel
  • Dinner on your own
  • Overnight at the Vineyard Hotel

Day 4

Morning

  • Depart for Franschhoek in the South African Winelands
  • Meet with faculty at the University of Stellenbosch
  • Lunch included at the Postcard Café, set in the midst of vineyards in one of the Winelands' beautiful wine valleys

Afternoon

  • Visit a nearby winery before checking into our charming inn, The Last Word, in the village of Franschhoek
  • Winetasting dinner included at a Franschhoek restaurant
  • Overnight at The Last Word

Day 5

Morning

  • Free time to explore Franschhoek

Afternoon

  • Visit several wineries in the region to taste their wines and learn about South African wine making
  • Dinner on your own
  • Overnight at The Last Word

Day 6

  • All day drive around the Cape of Good Hope Return to Cape Town in the late afternoon to the Green Hotel, close to the airport for our early morning departure for Botswana
  • Dinner included at the Green Hotel
  • Overnight at the Green Hotel

Day 7

Morning

  • Early flight to Johannesburg, connecting to our flight to Maun, Botswana
  • Continue on to our game camp via bush plane
  • Lunch included upon our arrival at Little Kwara

Afternoon

  • Check in to Little Kwara Camp
  • Late afternoon game drive through the private reserve, with the chance to see many varieties of wild animals or, alternatively, a peaceful boat ride through the rivers of the Okavango Delta surrounding Little Kwara. (Little Kwara is a "water" camp in the Okavango Delta, providing the opportunity to glide on a canoe or putt along in a motorboat through the rivers and lagoons of the Delta until evening falls.)
  • End the day with a "sundowner" - cocktails and snacks at some particularly scenic spot where we will watch the sun go down
  • Dinner included at Little Kwara

Day 8

  • Full day game drive, including picnic lunch, for those who want to spend the day seeing the herds of elephants, zebra, antelope and giraffes, prides of lions, leopard if we're lucky, and myriad of other animals and birds of the reserve.
  • Alternative will be an early morning and late afternoon game drive, with time in midday to have lunch at the camp, relax, swim in the pool and nap in your tent.
  • Dinner at Little Kwara
  • Overnight at Little Kwara

Day 9

  • Full day at Little Kwara for game drives, hiking through the reserve to see animals, canoe trips, boat trips through the rivers and lagoons of the Delta and/or relaxing in the beautiful lodge

Day 10

Morning

  • Early game drive through the reserve to the airstrip for transfer to our next camp, Chitabe
  • Lunch included upon arrival at Chitabe

Afternoon

  • Game drive through the private reserve, ending with the traditional "sundowner" at sunset
  • Dinner included at Chitabe
  • Overnight at Chitabe

Day 11

  • Full day at Chitabe for game drives, game hikes, and boating on the Delta. Chitabe is home to unique species including wild dogs and leopards.
  • Lunch and dinner included at Chitabe
  • Overnight at Chitabe

Day 12

Morning

  • Game drive through the reserve on our way to the airstrip for transfer to Kasane Airport, Botswana, near the borders with Zambia and Zimbabwe
  • Road and boat transfer from Kasane to the Royal Livingstone Hotel, Zambia
  • Box lunch included

Afternoon

  • Time to walk to the Zambian side of the Falls
  • Dinner on your own at the Royal Livingstone
  • Overnight at the Royal Livingstone Hotel

Day 13

Morning

  • Optional excursion to the Zimbabwe side of the Falls for the spectacular views offered from Zimbabwe. We will need to cross the border into Zimbabwe, walking across the Zambezi River on a bridge to the immigration office on the Zimbabwe side. We will repeat this process on our return to the Zambian side.
  • Lunch included on the Zimbabwe side of the Falls

Afternoon

  • Time to stroll through the local market before returning to Zambia
  • Closing dinner included at the Royal Livingstone Hotel
  • Overnight at the Royal Livingstone Hotel

Day 14

Morning

  • Transfer by private van to Livingstone Airport for flight back to Johannesburg, where you will connect with your flights to the US or Europe

Services End


Cost of the trip:

The ground cost for the trip per person (based upon double occupancy and not including international airfare) will be:
10 travelers or more (not including us)                  $13,490 per person
9 travelers or less (not including us)                       $14,075 per person

Because of the very limited accommodations in Botswana, we must confirm our reservations immediately (within the next week) and make a deposit. Therefore, we need to know right now if you are interested in this trip and also need to get a $2500 per person deposit. Please see our refund policy below, which is different for this trip. Of that $2500 deposit, $1500 is non-refundable - a restriction set by the camps and lodges themselves. So, if you would like to join us, please let us know immediately, send your check, and buy travel insurance. We are also limited to 10 people on this trip because of the limited lodging available.

The trip price includes all lodging, most meals, ground transportation, guides, admissions, transfers, and tips. Not included are international air fare between the U.S. and South Africa, alcoholic beverages (these are included in the Botswana camps, so drink all you want there!), excess baggage charges, independent airport transfers, incidentals (such as internet access, laundry, phone and fax calls), passport and visa fees (including the visa fees for the optional excursion from Zambia to Zimbabwe by foot), travel insurance, and medical expenses. We will have our own private guides and busses or vans exclusively for our group.

Please note that we may change the itinerary based on changes in flight schedules, natural disaster, availability of lodging, or other circumstances requiring such changes.

Refund Policy

Because of the lodging and flight restrictions in South Africa, Botswana and Zambia, which are much more stringent that any we have encountered before, once we confirm our reservations and make our deposit, which we must do immediately, we cannot get a refund on $1500 of that deposit. Therefore, we strongly encourage you to purchase travel insurance in case you need to cancel the trip.

Once we make our final payment, refunds can be made only if the program is sold out and your
place(s) can be resold, in which case a $1,000 per person cancellation fee will apply. If we must cancel the trip because of circumstances outside our control (i.e., war, natural disaster), your payments are fully refundable. We always recommend trip-cancellation insurance and, if the trip insurance doesn't include it, medical evacuation insurance.

Currency Fluctuation Policy

We reserve the right to adjust the cost of the trip if exchange rates negatively affect the value of the dollar against the local currencies, thereby increasing our costs significantly.

Trip cancellation

We reserve the right to cancel the trip if we do not have at least 6 people participating or if circumstances beyond our control (i.e., war, quarantine, natural disaster, etc.) require it. In the case of cancellation by us, we will refund your entire payment.

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