7-day

 

Coast to Coast Tour South Africa

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See the Big Five in the oldest proclaimed game reserve in Africa, the Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game Reserve, visit spectacular beaches and stay at comfortable accommodation. This tour starts at the warm Indian Ocean coast of KwaZulu Natal on the East Coast and traverses to Cape Town at the cold Atlantic ocean on the West Coast.

 

   Itinerary:

 

Day 1: You will be picked up at the King Shaka International Airport in Durban at the East Coast between 7 am and 8 am or at your nearby hotel and we travel north (3-hour drive) to St. Lucia, a world heritage Unesco site. Take a cruise along the St Lucia Estuary on a private barge. This gives visitor’s access to one of the most significant estuarine systems in the world, which with its extensive 80 km reach – is home to hundreds of crocodiles, hippos, fish as well as a wide variety of water birds. You stay at the Elephant Lake Hotel with spacious rooms, all standard with air conditioners (cooling only), wall safes, tea/coffee making facilities, 9 channel DSTV and en-suite with shower.

 

Day 2: We get up early to start a full day safari at the Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game Reserve, where 1,500 white rhino and 360 black rhino, buffalo, elephant, lion and leopard, blue wildebeest, zebra, giraffe water-buck, nyala, kudu, bushbuck, warthog, cheetah, hyena and 23,000 impala and 300 species of birds have been recorded. With 96000 hectares to explore we travel within the oldest proclaimed game reserve in Africa. The reserve is world renowned for its conservation of Black and White Rhino, just to imagine less than 120 years ago less than 100 Rhino’s existed worldwide. Today the reserve boasts hundreds of Black Rhino’s and of the largest population of White Rhinos in the world. (Lunch include a Traditional South African Braai). After this Big 5 experience, we leave for the Elephant Lake Hotel and discover some of the pristine and secluded beaches of the area.

 

Day 3: After a scrumptious breakfast, we head back to Durban for a visit to the Ushaka Marine World. We head south to overnight at the Blue Marlin Hotel, Scottburgh. (or similar) Scottburgh is a quaint village nestled alongside stretches of shoreline washed by the warm waters of the Indian Ocean with white sandy beaches, lush indigenous forests and magnificent rolling hills with a sheltered bathing beach named Scott Bay. The beach boasts a vast expanse of terraced lawns and expansive sandy beaches as well as an inviting tidal and paddling pool, perfect for families.

 

Day 4: Before we head back to Durban to get on a flight (not included) to Cape Town, your tour group has the option to do scuba diving at Aliwal Shoal from Umkomaas, a rocky reef which is the remains of an ancient sand dune approximately 5 km off the coast. The reef is inhabited by many kinds of hard and soft corals and a variety of tropical and subtropical fish species. Once at Cape Town, you stay at the Harbour Bridge Hotel (or similar).

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Day 5: Meet us at your centrally located hotel, or at the Nelson Mandela Gateway, V&A Waterfront from 07:30 am to board for Robben Island. This must-see excursion takes about 4 hours and includes a ferry trip to the Island where you will be guided to see all the historical sites around the Island. We enjoy lunch and browse through the awesome shops of the V&A Waterfront. After this, we visit the Bo-Kaap-Museum and walk the steep cobbled streets to view the Colourful houses, formerly known as the Malay Quarter. We choose one of the numerous restaurants in the vicinity to have dinner, and overnight at Harbour Bridge Hotel (or similar).

 

Day 6: We leave for Cape Town's most famous icon: Table Mountain by the Aerial Cableway to take in the natural beauty and stunning views. The first botanical garden in the world to be established (in 1913) to protect local flora, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in the UNESCO-listed Cape Floral Kingdom follows. Lunch is at the famous Jonkershuis Cape Malay restaurant. Visiting Groot Constantia, we taste their export quality wines. We journey along the False Bay coastline to Boulders Beach near Simon’s Town, home to one of the few land-based penguin colonies in the world. Choose one of the popular restaurants in the area for dinner. Overnight at Quayside Hotel in Simon’s Town.

 

Day 7: First visit is Cape Point, part of the Table Mountain National Park and home to an abundance of flora and fauna, and ascend the viewpoint with the Flying Dutchman Funicular. Go to the Spier Wine Farm for chocolate and wine tasting on the banks of the Spier dam. Heading out to Big Bay to take in the world-renowned view of Table Mountain and Robben Island, we have lunch at Moyo Blouberg at the West Coast, have a unique African eating experience with Africa’s finest urban cuisines. Eat, drink and have fun with the locals!

 

We drop you at the airport or your hotel, and you consider doing another tour with Amatungulu Tours.