Planning An African Safari Trip

Much To Consider Planning An African Safari Trip

We had a lot to think about planning an African Safari trip.  We wanted to re-visit Cape Town and the Stellenbosch wine region in South Africa.  The Rovos Rail luxury train was definitely on our planning wish list.  And we wanted to stay in a safari camp for a few days.  The challenge we had was putting it all together in the best possible way.  We worked with Tully Luxury Travel and set up the perfect African adventure.

We visited Africa before so we had a little experience to help with the planning.  There were so many amazing things to see and do on our first visit to Cape Town.  A day trip to the Stellenbosch area gave us a quick look at this great wine region but we knew we wanted to enjoy more.  

When we visited Africa the first time, we did 3 great game drives – Shimba Hills Park in Kenya, the Huhluwe Game Reserve in Richards Bay and the Aquila Game Reserve from Cape Town.  Many animals were elusive mid-day when most game drives were done.  But we saw a lot of animals and left with amazing memories.  We still wanted the full safari experience to see animals in their natural habitat early and late in the day.

On our visit to South America, we planned an amazing visit to see the Iguazu Falls.  This set of mighty falls definitely put Victoria Falls in Africa on our travel planning list.  So when we found the luxury Rovos train went from Johannesburg in South Africa to Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe and Zambia border we knew what we wanted to add Victoria Falls to our African adventure. 

Our Itinerary For This Great African Adventure

With some research, we knew what we wanted to experience on our African adventure.  Putting the plan together got us an amazing trip for almost 4 weeks.

Day 1-3:

There was no quick route to get from Toronto to South Africa.  When we visited Cape Town last, we found an amazing travel deal and actually experienced flying First Class with Emirates on a route that connected through Dubai.  The Emirates option for this trip was just too expensive so we finally found connection options in Europe.  But the flight to Cape Town landed 2 days after we left Toronto with 2 overnight flights.  The return trip was equally as long but we only had one overnight flight.

Day 3-11:

We planned 4 days in Cape Town, South Africa.  Since we saw so much of Cape Town on our last visit, there was little we needed to see or do.  So we booked enough time to recover from the long travel and to adjust to the time zone changes.  Suitably refreshed, we then planned another 4 days in the Stellenbosch area for wine tasting.  We knew there was much to explore in the charming small towns in that area.

Day 11-13:

After Stellenbosch, we fly to Johannesburg in South Africa for 2 days.  We have a day tour booked for the Maboneng Market and Soweto Tour.

Day 13-17:

From Johannesburg we travel to nearby Pretoria to travel on the Rovos luxury train for 4 days.  We will enjoy the luxury amenities onboard the trip and have several day trip stops along the route to Victoria Falls.

Day 17-20:

When we arrive in Victoria Falls, we are picked up and taken for our first safari stay at Thorntree River Lodge in Zambia for 3 days.  We will enjoy several safari excursions.  And have a helicopter tour planned to see Victoria Falls from the air.

Day 20-25:

From Zambia we fly to the Sabi Earth Lodge back in South Africa for 4 days.  This private game lodge is right beside Kruger National Park.  More exciting game experiences await us here.

Day 25-27:

We are then flown back to Johannesburg for an overnight stay before we board our flight back to Toronto.  

Planning an African Safari trip got us such an exciting itinerary.

Planning An African Safari Trip Started With A Return Visit To Cape Town

For this stay in Cape Town, we booked 4 nights at the Westin Cape Town.  This centrally located hotel will be a great spot to enjoy views of the Victoria & Albert Waterfront, Table Mountain and the whole of Table Bay.  We are always excited when our Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador Elite status gets us access to great Westin Executive Club Lounges.  

We planned to enjoy the amenities at the hotel and relax after the long travel days to reach Cape Town.  And we know it will take a few days for us to adjust to the time zone.

Luckily we saw so many great things on our last visit to Cape Town.  But we definitely want to take the cable car to the top of Table Mountain on this trip.  On our last visit we were teased with fog at the mountain top.  

Planning an African Safari trip we knew we wanted to start slowly and Cape Town was the perfect first stop.

Wine Tasting In The Stellenbosch Region

On our first visit to Cape Town, we did a great day trip to the Stellenbosch region.  We did a little wine tasting and wandered through some of the local points of interest.  But we knew we always wanted to go back and spend more time. 

We booked a stay at the boutique Clouds Estate.  This lovely resort is on one of the highest points of the Helshoogte Pass with views of the Simonsberg and Drakenstein mountains.  Clouds Estate is a working wine farm and we looked forward to seeing the vineyards and wine production.  Of particular interest was the “Pink” Sauvignon Blanc wine this estate was known for. 

We planned to visit the Delaire Graff Estate for wine tasting and to check out the art collection.  This was the other boutique resort we considered for our stay in the Stellenbosch area.

We have a few other wineries we wanted to check out and we planned to enjoy the small town sights.  Our short stay in Stellenbosch was one of the things we wanted to include when planning an African Safari trip.

A Quick Look At Johannesburg

After we are picked up in Stellenbosch, we fly to Johannesburg in South Africa.  We have two nights and one full day at the Marriott Melrose Arch Hotel.  Even with such a short stay we wanted to be in the central area of Johannesburg to get a feel for this city. 

We booked a private tour for our day in Johannesburg.  Our tour will include the Maboneng Market for a glimpse of the local food, art and crafts – although we will miss the very busy market day.  We will also get a Soweto Tour to visit Hector Pieterson Memorial Museum and the Mandela House. This will give us an insight into the unique history of South Africa.  We are sure our local guide will provide other local sites of interest.  When Tully Luxury Travel set up a similar private tour in Buenos Aires it was such a great experience.

At the end of our African adventure, we return to Johannesburg for one night before we fly home.  We considered returning to the Marriott Melrose Arch Hotel but then decided being close to the airport would make our final stay much easier.  We booked the Intercontinental Tambo.  This award-winning luxury hotel is within walking distance of the international airport terminal. So we will enjoy a quiet and relaxing day before the long trip home.

Luxury And Adventure On The Rovos Train From Pretoria To Victoria Falls

From Johannesburg we head to the Pretoria train station and board our Rovos luxury train for 4 days.  We were happy to get a chance to see this iconic train station.  We booked a deluxe cabin on the train and were pleased we have a shower as part of our cabin.  Although this might be the smallest space we have shared for several days in all of our travels!  We know there are lots of areas on the train to relax and watch the scenery go by.

On the first day we travel through Warmbaths (Bela-Bela) that are named for the mineral waters.  And pass by the Nylstroom (Modimolle) which is the source of the Nile River. The train travels by the edge of the escarpment where the Highveld drops off sharply.

On the second day we cross the Limpopo River enroute to Beitbridge and complete the border formalities as we cross into Zimbabwe.

On day 3 we travel through baobab country and have a day trip to the Matobo National Park.  This is the country’s oldest National Park.  We visit the Matopo Hills which are a series of granite kopjes (rock formations) formed over 2 billion years ago.  The earliest inhabitants (the “San”) painted on the walls of caves and rock shelters.  The special pigments and natural minerals used have survived both the local climate and time.  We saw similar fascinating rock wall paintings at Dazu in China! 

On day 4 the train travels along the eastern edge of Hwange Park.  We have another day safari excursion in the Hwange National Park.  This is the largest park in Zimbabwe, covering about 14,650 sq km.  The park has a huge selection of mammals and birds.  But we are hoping to see the tusker elephants this park is known for.  We are visiting at the beginning of the dry season so the elephants might be less plentiful.  But we hope that opens up opportunities to see other animals on our game drive.

Thorntree River Lodge At The Victoria Falls

Our Rovos luxury train journey finishes in Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe side.  A driver will pick us up at the train station and cross into Zambia.  This should give us a chance to see Victoria Falls from both perspectives.  A bit like we saw Iguazu Falls from both Argentina and Brazil. 

We have 3 days booked at the Thorntree River Lodge on the banks of the Zambezi River in Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park.  Our luxury safari stay in Zambia includes a wide range of activities.  We can choose from game drives in Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park, rhino tracking, bush walks, canoe trips, catch & release shore fishing and sunrise & sunset boat cruises.  We could also choose from visits to the Simonga Village, the Livingstone Museum or the Maramba & Makuni Markets.  

Day trips also could include a visit to Zambian and Zimbabwe side of Victoria Falls.  We pre-booked a helicopter tour to see the great Victoria Falls from above.  We learned when visiting the Iguazu Falls that a helicopter provided such a different perspective on large waterfall systems.

Between the very busy excursions and day trips we plan to enjoy the infinity pool over the river and maybe even relax in the spa.  We expect each night to finish with fine dining and some tales around the fire in the sunken boma. 

We should have an amazing and fulsome experience at the Thorntree River Lodge.  Planning an African safari trip needed at least one of these great experiences.  We were excited to have two on this trip!

Staying By The Kruger National Park At Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge

After having our first amazing safari experience, we then fly back to South Africa and stay at the Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge for 4 days. The Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve has 4 different lodges located in the South-Western section of the Greater Kruger National Park.  The reserve is located on a central plain between two rivers providing an environment that attracts a wide variety of wildlife.

At the luxury lodge we will have options to engage in day and night game drives in open safari vehicles. There are also walking safaris to explore the bush as a team on foot.  And bush breakfasts and bush picnics for different experiences.  

This luxury lodge experience will be another great way to mix a little pampering with some amazing African adventures.  We were so glad we got the opportunity to add this second stay when planning an African safari trip.

Things To Address Planning An African Safari Trip

We always did a lot of planning for longer trips.  But when planning an African safari trip we had a few extra things to consider.

Start Your Planning Early

When we started to think about a safari trip to Africa, we checked on the lead time for reservations. And were a bit surprised when we learned that we really needed to book some of the more popular game reserves early. And the Rovos Luxury Train also needed to be booked well in advance. Our international flights and some hotels were booked about 4 months before our travel. Planning for things to do in places like Stellenbosch were done with less lead time but we did the research in advance of our travel.

So we had our African adventure on our travel plans well in advance and planned the rest of our travel year around that.

Itinerary And Transfers

The first key thing to address was what we wanted to see and on a perfect itinerary.  We were delighted to have the Africa specialists at Tully Luxury Travel take our list and help with the perfect plan.  

With lots of travel between stays and visiting 3 countries, we needed to plan all the transfers.  We were happy to include all of that in our Tully Luxury Travel  package.  

Excursions

The Rovos train portion of our Africa adventure included defined excursions.  But in other spots, we needed to decide what to see and do.  A little research in advance of our trip gave us the information to do most of our choices once we arrived.

Having visited Cape Town and Stellenbosch, we had a good idea of the options available and we did not pre-plan additional tours.  But we made sure to pre-book a good private tour for our day in Johannesburg in advance.

Both of our safari camps offered a large range of options for excursions and day trips.  We did a bit of research on what we might want to see and do but did not make firm decisions.  We knew the local experts would help us create a perfect experience tailored for us when we arrived.  The one treat we booked in advance was the helicopter tour over Victoria Falls.  We felt we could schedule other things around this excursion.

Packing And Luggage Requirements

Packing and luggage always required extra thought when we did adventure travel.  When we packed for Antarctica, we worried about both excursions in cold Antarctica and a hot visit to spots in South America.  That added complexity we did not have for our African adventure.  

For Africa we needed a mix of dress clothes for our luxury travel and safari trekking gear.  We packed a good supply of both bug spray and sunscreen.  And included extra warm clothes when we found out that night excursions could be very cold.  But we also had luggage restrictions for the flights within Africa.  So we packed and re-packed several times to meet the minimum size and weight requirements.

Vaccines

Travelling to Africa we knew we needed to consider vaccines.  Prior travel to Africa, throughout China and along the Amazon River provided a number of vaccinations most of which were still active.  But we still needed protection for Malaria in some parts of Africa.  And we took Dukoral as a precautionary protection for Cholera and also for travellers diarrhea.

Visas

We knew as Canadians we could easily get into South Africa.  But we needed to check on the Kaza visa requirements for Zimbabwe and Zambia.  We were happy the Immigration forms were provided on the Rovos train and we would pay our visa fee on a train stop.  

Excited Now That We Finished Planning An African Safari Trip

We were so excited when we finished the planning for an African safari trip. There was lots to consider as we worked with Tully Luxury Travel  to create the perfect itinerary and get everything arranged in advance.  With all the planning completed, we can relax and enjoy the experience of a lifetime.

We will try to update our social media channels as we do this great African adventure.  Be sure to follow along! 

Any other things we missed planning an African Safari trip?  Do you have any tips for how to get the most out of this trip?

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