Wagon Trails | 7 day Kruger to Vic Falls

7 day Kruger to Victoria Falls

Highlights: Take a night safari in the Kruger, Admire the mighty Victoria Falls, Cruise the scenic Chobe River, Try and spot the Big Five in Africa's national parks, Experience the very best of southern Africa

If you want to experience the best of southern Africa in six action-packed days, then this adventure will spirit you away to remote game reserves where you'll feel like you've stepped into a nature documentary. Try to spot elephants frolicking in the Chobe National Park and look out for the Big Five in South Africa's famed Kruger. Cruise the Chobe River, and marvel at the mighty Victoria Falls on this action packed adventure. From hippo spotting to camping in the wild, it's all on offer on this trip through southern Africa's iconic attractions.

Day 1 Johannesburg

Sawubona! Welcome to South Africa.

You can arrive at any time on day 1 as there are no activities planned until the important welcome meeting tonight at 6pm. Your leader will leave a note at reception telling you where this important meeting will take place. Please ask a member of reception for this information. At this meeting your leader will collect your kitty payment, sight your travel insurance and complete some other administrative tasks, as well as give you more information on your upcoming itinerary.

After the group meeting there is the option of joining the group for dinner.

Meal plan- no meals included

Our accommodation for these nights is at our safe, private camp in Johannesburg. You will sleep in safari style tents with beds. There are ablution blocks with hot showers and flush toilets, a relaxing pool area, bar and restuarant to enjoy with your fellow travellers.
Why not arrive early and head out to see the sights of Jo'burg, Don't miss the chance to head out on a fascinating tour of the township of Soweto, the chilling Apartheid Museum, landscapes-filled Art Gallery or the gold rush themed amusement park- Gold Reff City We can help you book all of this on arrival.

Days 2-3 Kruger National Park

After breakfasting in Johannesburg, we continue to southern Africa's most famous game reserve, the Kruger national Park, where we spend the next two nights. Enroute we visit the spectacular viewpoint for the Blyde River Canyon.

Entering Kruger through one of the central gates we immediately begin game driving enroute to our campsite.

Distance travelled: 600km
Time travelled: 9 - 10 Hours including stops and a visit to Blyde River Canyon.
Overnight: Camping in 2 man dome tents in a rest camp in Kruger National Park.
Meals included: B,D

Day 3:

This morning before breakfast there is the option of a dawn walk with a qualified, armed ranger. This is a great chance to see game up close and from a totally unique angle.
We have a full day in Kruger National Park on day 3 to explore the diversity of the Kruger landscape during a full day game drive. We will enjoy a picnic lunch in the park today.
In the evening, there is the option of taking an additional night drive with park authorities to spot nocturnal animals and perhaps even night-time predators.
We camp for these nights with hot water showers and flush toilets in clean shared ablution blocks.

Distance travelled and time taken- all day game drive.
Overnight: Camping in 2 man dome tents in a rest camp in Kruger National Park.
Meals included B, L, D

Day 4 Polokwane Game Reserve

After one final game drive in Kruger, we exit the park and make our way to Polokwane Game Reserve. Once in Polokwane town there will be around an hour free for you to head to the bank, whilst your tour leader is food shopping.

We set up camp at a campsite on the outskirts of the town of Polokwane.
This afternoon, after taking lunch at the campsite, we head out on a game drive, in the Polokwane Game Reserve, aiming to spot white rhino and with a bit of luck, rare antelope such as sable and eland.

Overnight: Camping at a campsite in Polokwane in 2 man dome tents.

Distance travelled: Once out of Kruger we travel 280km to the town of Polokwane.
Time travelled: We do a final morning game drive out of Kruger. Time spend on this game drive depends on where we stay in Kruger the night before and on animal sightings. Once out of Kruger we travel 3-4 hours on a scenic mountain road. We stop in the town of Polokwane for shopping and banking before setting up camp. In the late afternoon we take a game drive in Polokwane Game Reserve which will take around 2 hours.
Meals included: B, L,D

Day 5 Nata region

Today we have a long driving day ahead of us as we head to the northern parts of Botswana. We depart Polokwane early, crossing the border into Botswana at Martin's Drift. Continuing north via the towns of Francistown and Nata, we arrive at our camp north of Nata in the late afternoon.
Overnight: Camping at Elephant Sands campsite in 2 man dome tents.
Distance and time travelled: We travel 260km, crossing the Limpopo River to the Botswana border which will take us around 3.5 hours. After making the crossing we head to Nata approx. another 5 hours, (460kms) making today;s total travel time around 10-12 hours including lunch and a border crossing.
Meals included: B, D

Day 6 Chobe National Park

We start the day with an early morning game drive on a private concession. This area is renowned for its large elephant population, as well as other big game such as buffalo. When buffalo are present there is also the chance we may be lucky enough to spot one of the big cats. Back at camp we enjoy breakfast before heading to the town of Kasane on the outskirts of our next destination, Chobe National Park.

We head to our campsite at the edge of Kasane town where after setting up camp and having a late lunch, we enjoy a late afternoon fish-eagle cruise on the Chobe River. This is a very relaxing way to see hippos in the shallows and maybe even a herd of elephants coming down to the river's edge for bath time.

Overnight: Tonight we camp in 2 man dome tents at a campsite near the town of Kasane. There are hot showers and flush toilets at our campsite as well as a bar to enjoy a couple of cold drinks and perhaps a relaxing swim in the pool.

Distance travelled: Elephant Sands to Kasane is 260km.
Time travelled: The morning game drive from Elephant Sands will take 3 hours. From Elephant Sands to Kasane will take us around 3 hours. The sunset cruise on the Chobe River is a 3 hour activity.
Meals included: B, L, D

Day 7 Victoria Falls/Livingstone

There is a chance for an optional dawn game drive in Chobe before our departure for Livingstone.
(Please see optional activities section of these trips notes for approximate prices)
We then drive the 10kms from our campsite to the Zambezi River which forms the border between four countries Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia. We cross the river on a car ferry and after completing border formalities it's not far to the town of Livingstone.

We begin our time in Livingstone with a visit to the famous Victoria Falls- an unforgettable experience. The falls are an enormous curtain of water, about a mile wide, falling 108m into a narrow chasm below. In the wet season, the spray created can rise up an incredible 400m and the falls are an impressive raging torrent. In the dry season, the view of the falls is unobstructed by spray and it's possible to see little islets in the river below.
Our tour finishes in the early afternoon on day 7. We recommend extra nights in Livingstone to fully appreciate the Victoria Falls area. There are various activities and excursions to choose from both on the water, on land and high above it all. Choose from white water rafting and canoeing, or go horse-riding, abseiling or gorge swinging. You could also take a ride in a micro-light, helicopter or small plane for a bird's eye view of the falls. The spray from the falls can sometimes be seen from kilometers away. It's no wonder the locals name it Mosi oa Tunya, means the "smoke that thunders"!

Overnight: There is no accommodation provided for tonight but we are able to organize extra nights- please ask at time of booking.

Distance travelled: From the town of Kasane to Livingstone is 90km
Time travelled: 3 - 4 hours depending on how much time is spent at the border post and crossing the Zambezi river by ferry.

Notes: We cross the Zambezi river by ferry today. In normal circumstances the crossing is quite smooth and very quick if both ferries are running. Sometimes only one ferry is operational and there might be some delays.
Meals included: B