Although South Africa is an incredible country to explore, sometimes you only have a week. And if that is the case, this journey is the best way to spend it! Cape Town, the cosmopolitan gem of Africa, and the top notch luxury of a private Kruger National Park concessions, make for an awesome mix of the urbane and the wilderness.
If you are ever tempted to fly the family out for a quick one-week break at the end of a business trip, this is the tour for you. It spends the first few days in Cape Town, and then heads off to a private Big 5 concession in the Kruger National Park.
It is very seldom that Cape Town does not makes it onto a list of ‘the World’s Greatest Cities’, and Table Mountain is one of the most iconic landmarks around... and there is so much to do. Our sister website, nightjartravel.com, features a travel guide of things to do and see in South Africa, and of the 2000 odd listings, almost half are in the Western Cape, and over half again of those are in Cape Town!
The Kruger is one of the largest wildlife conservancies in the world, and although it draws large numbers of tourists, they disappear completely into the sheer size of the park. Not that you need to be concerned about other tourists. The private lodges in the Kruger operate on their own land, and have retained their private traversing rights over it. It's just the wildlife that moves freely across the land. This is the best of both worlds – private safari luxury and yet also the true wilderness feeling of free-roaming game. It is well worth experiencing.
Cape Town almost always appears on lists of 'Top 10 Cities of the World', and with good reason. The natural beauty of its dramatic mountains and white beaches extends well beyond the city limits to the southern tip of the peninsula. It has hiking, climbing, mountain biking and water sports for outdoor enthusiasts, top restaurants and vineyards for foodies, and a variety of museums for more contemplative excursions. Its complex history has its dark side, with travesties like District Six and the incarceration of political prisoners on Robben Island during the apartheid years, but it has also contributed to making Cape Town one of the most culturally diverse cities on the continent - diversity that is evident in its people, its food, its creativity and much more. Stay for 4 nights on this trip, and we are certain you’ll want to come back for more.
If one jewel shines really bright in South Africa’s tourism crown, it is the Kruger National Park. And while the park may be well over a century old, it continues to expand: On the eastern and northern sides, plan are afoot to integrate the Kruger with the Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe, the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique, and a few smaller areas. This new multinational conservation collaboration will be called the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, and the ambition is for it to ultimately expand to almost 10 million hectares. On the South African side, many of the smaller, privately owned game reserves on the edge of the Kruger have ‘dropped their fences’ with the Park, and become fully integrated into its ecosystem. It is on these properties that many of the luxury lodges are situated. All these lodges have retained their exclusive traversing rights over their land, making for a private, top class safari experience.
The Cape Grace is situated on a private quay, nestled between the working harbour of Cape Town’s bustling Victoria & Alfred Waterfront and the serenity of an international yacht marina, with Table Mountain and Signal Hill as backdrop.
The wide range of beautifully appointed, ultra-luxurious guest rooms are elegant in style and generous in size, and includes balcony options as well rooftop luxury and penthouse suites. French windows offering magnificent views throughout.
The Cape Grace showcases the essence of the Cape. Its designs embrace local creativity, whilst staying true to the warm atmosphere and personalised levels of service that have defined the Hotel for years.
Children are welcomed as very special guests, with professional child minders in attendance to enable you to go out and enjoy the Mother City with absolute peace of mind.
With dramatic mountains, a long stretch of Atlantic coastline and a picturesque working harbour, there are few cities to rival “The Fairest Cape”, as British explorer Sir Francis Drake described it in 1580. Its Mediterranean climate, superb natural attractions, historic landmarks and fabulous restaurants offer all the ingredients for a top holiday destination.
Key attractions include:
Singita Boulders Lodge is set along the banks of the Sand River. The lodge is a celebration of the tranquillity, space, and light that flows throughout this incredibly vast area. Inspired by the geometry of the boulders on which it rests, Boulders Lodge is an inviting oasis where organic interiors integrate seamlessly with the raw African beauty outside.
Each of the one-bedroom suites and two-bedroom family suites (2 adults and 2 children) features its own plunge pool and a private viewing deck. The suites are carved into the riverbank and surrounded by foliage, providing an earthy, indoor-outdoor feel. Whether through walls of glass or from the open-air areas, the surrounding landscape and animals may be glimpsed from every angle, making for a sense of connectedness, a spiritual harmony of privacy, luxury and calm.
Singita Sabi Sand is an unfenced, privately owned game reserve adjacent to the Kruger National Park, renowned for high concentrations of big game and frequent leopard sightings. During your stay, you are likely to spot a great variety of wildlife, including leopard, lion, rhino, large herds of buffalo, elephant, reedbuck, hyena, hippopotamus, cheetah, wild dogs and many types of birds.
The Sabie and the Crocodile are the two main rivers of the southern section of the Kruger National Park. They support a fascinating ecology and a good percentage of the park’s animal life. In the south-east in particular, you have your best chance of sighting the big five. The grasslands surrounding Lower Sabie are good for viewing herds of zebra and buffalo, while giraffe and lion can be seen in the Crocodile Bridge area and white rhino graze on the Nhlowa Road. The south-west is antelope territory, and also the only place in the Kruger National Park for rare sightings of the grey rhebok. The area around Berg-en-Dal with its mixed grazing attracts herds of buffalo and zebra, and, of course, the lions that prey on them. The highest numbers of lion are found in the central section, especially around Satara. The largest concentrations of raptors are found here too.
For many aficionados of the Kruger National Park, it is the northern, more peaceful section of the that ranks highest in their minds. A little further from Gauteng’s big cities, the distances are greater but the rewards worth the effort. The Limpopo and Luvuvhu Rivers, the sandstone mountains and the baobab trees define the terrain of the far north. The area north of Letaba to Shingwedzi is largely mopaneveld, where elephant are dominant browsers and large herds of buffalo are found. Rare antelope found here are the tsessebe and the roan.
Animals aside, there are two late Iron Age sites in the north of the park. Masorini, 12 kilometres from the Phalaborwa Gate on the way to Letaba, dates back to the 1800s and shows evidence of a Sotho-speaking group who developed a sophisticated mining industry by trading iron products. The second site, Thulamela, is believed to be part of what has become known as the ‘Zimbabwe culture’. Beginning with Mapungubwe and continuing into Great Zimbabwe, it was later abandoned for smaller chiefdoms, such as Thulamela.
This safari commences and ends in Cape Town, South Africa
If you are ever tempted to fly the family out for a quick one-week break at the end of a business trip, this is the tour for you. It spends the first few days in Cape Town, and then heads off to a private Big 5 concession in the Kruger National Park.
It is very seldom that Cape Town does not makes it onto a list of ‘the World’s Greatest Cities’, and Table Mountain is one of the most iconic landmarks around... and there is so much to do. Our sister website, nightjartravel.com, features a travel guide of things to do and see in South Africa, and of the 2000 odd listings, almost half are in the Western Cape, and over half again of those are in Cape Town!
The Kruger is one of the largest wildlife conservancies in the world, and although it draws large numbers of tourists, they disappear completely into the sheer size of the park. Not that you need to be concerned about other tourists. The private lodges in the Kruger operate on their own land, and have retained their private traversing rights over it. It's just the wildlife that moves freely across the land. This is the best of both worlds – private safari luxury and yet also the true wilderness feeling of free-roaming game. It is well worth experiencing.
Cape Town almost always appears on lists of 'Top 10 Cities of the World', and with good reason. The natural beauty of its dramatic mountains and white beaches extends well beyond the city limits to the southern tip of the peninsula. It has hiking, climbing, mountain biking and water sports for outdoor enthusiasts, top restaurants and vineyards for foodies, and a variety of museums for more contemplative excursions. Its complex history has its dark side, with travesties like District Six and the incarceration of political prisoners on Robben Island during the apartheid years, but it has also contributed to making Cape Town one of the most culturally diverse cities on the continent - diversity that is evident in its people, its food, its creativity and much more. Stay for 4 nights on this trip, and we are certain you’ll want to come back for more.
If one jewel shines really bright in South Africa’s tourism crown, it is the Kruger National Park. And while the park may be well over a century old, it continues to expand: On the eastern and northern sides, plan are afoot to integrate the Kruger with the Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe, the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique, and a few smaller areas. This new multinational conservation collaboration will be called the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, and the ambition is for it to ultimately expand to almost 10 million hectares. On the South African side, many of the smaller, privately owned game reserves on the edge of the Kruger have ‘dropped their fences’ with the Park, and become fully integrated into its ecosystem. It is on these properties that many of the luxury lodges are situated. All these lodges have retained their exclusive traversing rights over their land, making for a private, top class safari experience.
MannaBay is located in a prime position on the foothills of Table Mountain. It even has a gate leads directly from its grounds onto the mountain. From this perch, MannaBay looks down across the Mother City and the Atlantic bay area beyond.
From MannaBay, you can experience the Mother City in comfort and privacy, with a team of friendly staff dedicated to making every guest’s experience as special as possible. Enhanced by floor to ceiling glass windows throughout, the views are simply dazzling.
MannaBay’s premier suite and seven luxury en-suite bedrooms are each individually themed and artistically decorated. Most have a private terrace or balcony with ocean or mountain views, and each has its own highlights, from a private garden and plunge pool to eagle-eye top-floor views over the city and harbour. The ultra luxurious Versailles Suite features a splendid four-poster day bed on its spacious private balcony, an inside four-poster mirror bed, private sitting room, dressing room, and huge bathroom with opulent bathtub and walk-in shower.
MannaBay is a work of art that inspires, enlivens and delights. Children older than 12 years are welcome.
With dramatic mountains, a long stretch of Atlantic coastline and a picturesque working harbour, there are few cities to rival “The Fairest Cape”, as British explorer Sir Francis Drake described it in 1580. Its Mediterranean climate, superb natural attractions, historic landmarks and fabulous restaurants offer all the ingredients for a top holiday destination.
Key attractions include:
Notten’s Bush Camp is one of the original private game lodges in South Africa and offers an authentic African safari experience in a reserve known for its exceptionally high concentration of animal and bird life, including the Big 5. Each of its spacious private suites is elegantly styled, with a beautifully appointed open plan bedroom and an additional outdoor shower. Each unit has a private wooden deck with a beautiful view of the bush. A magical atmosphere is created with the purposeful absence of electric lighting, the ambient candlelight and lanterns capturing an enchanting spirit of romance. (Battery recharging facilities are available in the reception area). Notten’s Bush Camp is renowned for its excellent cuisine, impeccable standard of service and warm hospitality.
Children over 6 years old are welcome, unless the group takes over the entire camp of 8 private suites (minimum 14 people).
Notten’s forms part of the southern section of the Sabi Sands Game Reserve, the largest private conservation area in South Africa and is the oldest of all the private reserves. Notten’s shares traversing with neighbouring Sabi Sabi, and has over 6 000 hectares of pristine land for game viewing. Apart from the Big 5, you are likely to see a wide variety of animals, including among others, giraffe, wildebeest, cheetah, antelope and wild dog.
The Sabie and the Crocodile are the two main rivers of the southern section of the Kruger National Park. They support a fascinating ecology and a good percentage of the park’s animal life. In the south-east in particular, you have your best chance of sighting the big five. The grasslands surrounding Lower Sabie are good for viewing herds of zebra and buffalo, while giraffe and lion can be seen in the Crocodile Bridge area and white rhino graze on the Nhlowa Road. The south-west is antelope territory, and also the only place in the Kruger National Park for rare sightings of the grey rhebok. The area around Berg-en-Dal with its mixed grazing attracts herds of buffalo and zebra, and, of course, the lions that prey on them. The highest numbers of lion are found in the central section, especially around Satara. The largest concentrations of raptors are found here too.
For many aficionados of the Kruger National Park, it is the northern, more peaceful section of the that ranks highest in their minds. A little further from Gauteng’s big cities, the distances are greater but the rewards worth the effort. The Limpopo and Luvuvhu Rivers, the sandstone mountains and the baobab trees define the terrain of the far north. The area north of Letaba to Shingwedzi is largely mopaneveld, where elephant are dominant browsers and large herds of buffalo are found. Rare antelope found here are the tsessebe and the roan.
Animals aside, there are two late Iron Age sites in the north of the park. Masorini, 12 kilometres from the Phalaborwa Gate on the way to Letaba, dates back to the 1800s and shows evidence of a Sotho-speaking group who developed a sophisticated mining industry by trading iron products. The second site, Thulamela, is believed to be part of what has become known as the ‘Zimbabwe culture’. Beginning with Mapungubwe and continuing into Great Zimbabwe, it was later abandoned for smaller chiefdoms, such as Thulamela.
This safari commences and ends in Cape Town, South Africa
Take advantage of the lower South African exchange rate and get a luxury trip at an amazing price:
Hottest Tours of 2016
Cape Town & the Kruger
Active Adventure Tour
Golf & The Big 5