South Africa Wildlife Tour
Duration: 6 Nights / 7 Days
Destinations: Johannesburg – Stellaland - Witsand Nature Reserve
- Kalahari Gemsbok National Park - Augrabies Falls National Park - Pella Scenic
- Richtersveld National Park - Namaqualand Scenic - Cedarberg Wilderness Area
- Ceres Scenic drives - Tulbagh Scenic drives - Cape Town Scenery
Day 1: Tour begins Johannesburg – Stellaland Scenic drive and game viewing
On a private game farm, a bush camp with bedded accommodation and en-suite facilities,
is a peaceful retreat set amongst evergreen indigenous trees in a typical Kalahari
setting. An ideal opportunity to unwind alongside a crackling campfire, savoring
your first night in the African bush.
Day 2: Witsand Nature Reserve Game viewing
In a spectacular setting of soaring white dunes, red Kalahari sand and mountains,
Witsand Nature Reserve offers an unforgettable experience. Clear cobalt skies
and camelthorn woodlands are home to an abundance of bird life with an opportunity
to roam the reserve
to experience the essence of a Savannah bushveld setting.
Spacious, thatch-roofed lodges offer an air-conditioned retreat for the night.
Days 3 & 4: Kalahari Gemsbok National Park Game viewing
The warden of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (Kalahari Gemsbok Park) controls
a park of 1 00 000 hectares, with an area of similar size immediately adjoining
it across the Botswana border. In this huge landscape of red-colored sand dunes
and bush-covered watercourses live more than 10 000 springbok, as well as gemsbok,
cheetah, hyena, tawny-manned lion, red hartebeest, eland, kudu, wildebeest,
ostrich and bat-eared fox. The animals wander at will into the park from the
surrounding wilderness of the Kalahari. Bushmen also have free range over the
area. Two rivers follow their dry courses through the park - the rivers of the
Tweerivieren. They are the Nossob and its tributary the Auob.
Plants in the park include the superb kameeldoring and other species of acacia.
Their umbrella-shaped canopies provide shade, while their seedpods, and the
tsamma melons, are staple items of food for Bushman and animal.
Day 5: Augrabies Falls National Park Scenic viewing and walks
The contrast and clash between immovable granite 3 000 million years old, and
the surging flood of new season water irresistibly forcing a way through the
ancient rock, is breathtaking. The gorge is 9 km long and 260 m deep. It is
full of rapids and minor falls with an unplumbed hole at e the foot of the main
fall. In this hole, legend has it, there is a treasure in diamonds, which have
been washed down the river, over the waterfall and trapped in the gravel at
the bottom of the pool.
The Augrabies Falls National Park preserves 9 000 hectares of river landscape.
There is a rich variety of plant life, including kokerboom, lithops, haworthia,
wild olive, Karoo thornbush, Cape willow, as well as numerous birds, monkeys,
steenboks, wild cats and otters. The bird life in the park includes water
plovers, swifts, siskins, warblers and wagtails.
The barren surroundings, the enormously powerful river, the ominous roar of
the waterfall, the chaos of contending rocks and water in the gorge, the eerie
atmosphere an the ceaseless, darting flight of numbers of swifts that live in
the gorge all contribute to a stunning scene.
Day 6: Pella Scenic drive and rural experience
Founded by the London Missionary Society in 1814. The Old Cathedral surrounded
by palms has a curiously Arabian atmosphere. Set on a sandy plain backed by
high, sun-baked hills denuded of vegetation but vividly colored by minerals
in the soil, a spring reaches the surface, giving life to the figs, grapes and
pomegranates grown in Pella. Around this source of life is a walled garden.
In it, a grove of dates produces a uniquely flavored fruit.
The guesthouse forms part of an active farming community.
Days 7 & 8: Richtersveld National Park Very scenic and rural experience
Southern Africa's largest mountain desert park, 160 000ha of crenellated lava
mountains and sandy plains is situated in the northwestern crook of the Orange
River.
The Richtersveld is one of the world's most precious and fragile ecosystems.
With less than 50mm of rain each year, it harbors leopards, lizards, adventurers
and a surprising number of indigenous people. Goat herders, live lives unchanged
from those lived by their hardy ancestors.
The Richtersveld is a botanist's living laboratory, nurturing some 30% of all
South Africa's succulent plant species. The park is home to the quiver tree,
the bastard quiver tree, the maiden's quiver tree or bush tree, the halfmens
and miracle grass, which germinates, flowers and runs to seed within eight days
after rain thereby ensuring its survival. Its weird rock formations shaped and
sculpted, by the wind and sun, is a land for those who are keen to "rough
it".
Day 9: Namaqualand Scenic, especially in spring
Namaqualand, on its first impressions, is a harsh, relentless wilderness. The
contradictions of Namaqualand are part of its fascination. It is too full of
surprises ever to be dull, and the trunk-road route offers many scenes and novelties.
This area of granite, is richly mineralized, and covered with vast domes and
whalebacks of rock. The hot and arid landscape is prodigious its expanse and
strength. Further south the area is famous for its lovely breathtaking of spring
flowers.
Days 10 & 11: Cedarberg Wilderness Area Scenic drives and hiking
The fantasy world of towering rocks creates grotesque sculptures on the wild
trails of the Cedarberg. Every month the Cedarberg puts on a new face and hikers
walk its trails throughout the year. These weird rock formations give the range
its most remarkable distinction, but added to this is a rich plant life and
fascinating bushmen paintings.
Days 12 & 13: Ceres Scenic drives and rural experience
The town lies in the western side of a fertile basin surrounded by mountains.
The Dwars River bustles through the town, its course shaded by willow and oak
trees. The basin is warm for most of the year and well supplied with water.
For those who wish to just relax and absorb the tranquillity and beauty of the
town and its vast hinterland, there are unique and special places to stay and
enjoy.
Day 14: Tulbagh Scenic drives and rural experience
The Witsenberg, Winterhoekberg and Saronsberg ranges overlook this colonial
town with many Dutch styled houses. Mountain streams provide ample water; the
soil is well-decomposed sandstone and the climate excellent for fruit. The Klein-Berg
River, principal tributary of the Berg River, has its source in the Tulbagh
Basin, tumbles through the mountains to reach the Berg River valley through
the Tulbagh pass.
Day 15: Cape Town Scenery
Africa's biggest draw card and for good reason.
Magnificent with the majestic Table Mountain. The scenic drives along the
Cape peninsula. The blue Atlantic Ocean at Hout Bay. The Cape flats stretching
up to the Hottentots Holland Mountain range.
The vibrancy and energy of Africa is felt in the pulse of diverse society. Vendors,
shops, stalls, malls and many more. History then also has to play its part;
the Castle of Good Hope, Robben Island and wine farms galore, with the opportunity
to taste internationally acclaimed wine.
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