The Southern Star
Starting in Cape Town, head through the wineries of Stellenbosch, into the Orange River before going into Namibia and the Fish River Canyon. Test your fitness on Dune 45 at Sossusvlei, try sand boarding and quad biking. See the seals at Cape Cross and enjoy game drives in Etosha's arid National Park prior to heading into the water based game viewing in Botswana, with the final stop at Victoria Falls.
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Details |
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Price Includes |
(OE-3309-P) |
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Fully Escorted Tour - Kumuka Tour Leader and Driver |
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All Activities, Sightseeing + Entrance Fees as Per Itinerary |
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All Meals Whilst Camping |
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National Parks and Reserve Entrance Fees |
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All Tolls and Taxes |
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Accomodation |
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Price Excludes |
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Flights, Local Payment 280 USD, All optional excursions, visas and meals unless otherwise stated in the itinerary. |
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Suitability / Level |
Easy |
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Max Group Size |
24 |
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Itinerary
& Highlights |
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Days 1-3: For those who wish to see some of the city of Cape Town we advise that you arrive a few days early as our trip leaves the city on the day of departure. There is a lot to do in the city and the regions.
Capetown, Stellenbosch & Orange River. Departing Capetown at 10.00am the first day of the trip is a short drive to Stellenbosch in the wine-growing region of South Africa. We have a chance here to sample some of the local flavours at some of the wineries. From Stellenbosch we head north to the northern border region via Cederberg. On the border with Namibia is the Orange River where we have the option of doing a four-hour canoe safari.
Days 4-6: Fish River Canyon & Nauklift N.P. Our next stop is Fish River Canyon, which is the world?s second largest canyon. There is a spectacular viewpoint over the canyon and short walks are available in the region.
From the canyon we head up to the Naukluft National Park. This park has one main feature, which is sand, large mountains of sand. These dunes are the highest in the world reputed to be as high as 300 metres. The ones we will see have been measured by altimeter on our previous trips and are about 200 metres high, which is still very large. The day here begins before sunrise as the best times to photograph the dunes is when the sun is low on the horizon and the shadows define the contours clearly. The other reason for the early start is that it is too hot to walk up the dunes once the sun fully rises and the hot sand burns people?s feet. There is also the chance to go on a desert tour for about 3 hours with a local guide.
Days 7-10: Swakopmund. The next part of the journey takes us to Swakopmund. The town of Swakopmund is situated on the Atlantic Ocean and is a German colonial town in the middle of a desert. It has some wonderful old German buildings of which one of the most beautiful is the prison (it is still used as a prison). The town itself is generally cool as a mist created by the cold air off the Atlantic mixing with the hot air of the desert, which is why the Germans chose this area to build the town, covers it. There are lots of optional excursions to do in Swakopmund including dune biking on quad bikes over the sand dunes, sand boarding, scenic flights, and game fishing. The town itself proves popular on our tours as it has lots of clubs, restaurants, casino and even an authentic German bakery.
Days 11-13: Otjitotongwe Cheetah Park & Etosha N.P. Just north of Swakopmund there is the Cape Cross seal colony, home to 20,000 to 100,000 (depending on the season) cape fur seals. Regardless of the season, it is always possible to get a close look at lots of seals. From Cape Cross we head north and spend a night at Otjitotongwe Cheetah Park. What makes this farm unique from other farms in the region is that this farmer has allocated 2,000 acres of the family property to be used for breeding cheetah. This has not really endeared them to all their neighbours, who are predominately livestock farmers; hence the area is fenced off. Although it's not the optimum way to view these animals (through a fence) they do have 2,000 acres and it is rare to get so close to them. Highlights include his over excitable son feeding them by hand (something that shouldn't be missed, while he still has a hand) and sitting amongst the few that are hand reared and therefore tame. These young tame cheetahs were abandoned when they were young and consequently cannot be let to run with the other cheetah. They usually allow us 30 minutes with these animals and it is quite an experience to have cheetah walking amongst us. North of the farm is Etosha National Park. This Park is one of Africa's largest (roughly the size of Wales). It has some very good facilities and a very good network of roads and waterholes, which enables good game viewing. One of the more famous features of Etosha is that the campsites also have waterholes. This means that once the days game driving is over and park laws restrict us to the camping areas it is still possible to view animals. The holes are floodlit and people can sit and watch all night if they wish, the only restriction being noise. We use two areas, Okaukeujo and Namutoni, with the former being the more established so it attracts more animals. Photography is permitted and, if using fast film, good results can be achieved. Okaukeujo is famous for attracting Black Rhino, whilst nothing is guaranteed with animals; they are frequent visitors to this waterhole. The park itself has a wide variety of animals, and they are different to the animals seen in East Africa; there are different types of Zebra (it's all in the stripes) Impala (black faced) and the Wildebeest (blue). Aside from these different types of animals there are elephant, giraffe (the park has been referred to at times as "Giraffic Park"), lion, bird life and gazelle.
Days 14-19: Okavango Delta And Chobe N.P. Leaving Etosha we head to the Caprivi strip where we will be based for the trip into the Okavango Delta. The Okavango Delta is formed by the Okavango River, which flows into the desert and disappears as it fans out to form the Delta. We go into the Okavango Delta for 3 days (2 nights) and camp in the bush at designated free camps. Our method of transport is 4 wheel drive vehicles, motorboat and Makoro (dug out canoe in Setswana). The Makoros are traditionally made of wood but as they come to the end of their serviceable life, fibreglass canoes are now replacing them. These are not quite as authentic but building the old canoes uses a whole tree and the environment is beginning to suffer. The water level in the area has dropped due to the over use of the water further upstream, which is threatening desertification. The delta region is home to a vast amount of animals and it is possible to take some walks to try to see them. From the delta we continue to the Chobe National Park in northern Botswana. At Chobe we do a morning game drive usually from 06.00am until 09.00am and a 3-hour boat cruise in the evening. Both the boat cruise and the game drive give us great game viewing opportunities in one of the largest parks in southern Africa.
Days 20-21: Victoria Falls. From Chobe we drive to Victoria Falls, known locally as "Mosi oa Tunya", "the smoke that thunders". The falls themselves are one of the world's natural wonders although they are neither the highest nor the widest. They do, however, create a visual spectacle as they cut a massive gorge in the earth and crash 111 metres to the river below. This gorge actually forms the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. There are numerous optional activities on the Zimbabwe side, the most famous being white water rafting on the Lower Zambezi. This excursion takes a full day and has 14 plus rapids, none below grade 4 (rapids are graded from 1 to 6). Please note that at certain times of the year the rafting may be restricted or even closed due to high water levels (March to May). Bungy jumping is also an option for all those who wish to throw themselves 111 metres head first off a bridge! Various flights are on offer including light fixed wing aircraft, helicopter, microlight and ultralight, all offering wonderful views of the falls. As well as these there is horse riding, elephant riding and canoeing, not to mention a walk to the falls themselves. Videos and still photographs are available for purchase of most activities, and are a great reminder of your adrenaline filled visit to the mighty Victoria Falls and Zambezi River. We would advise that you spend a few days at Victoria Falls after the tour ends. This will allow you the time to take full advantage of the activities on offer.
The tour will end at approx 17.00pm on the last day. NO accommodation included on Day 21. |
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Accommodation
& Centre Details |
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Camping (20 Nights) |
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Holidays
Extras |
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| Trip: |
The Southern Star |
| Duration: |
21 Days |
| Company: |
Kumuka Worldwide
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| Location: |
Cape Town |
| Region: |
South Africa,
Africa |
| Price: |
From
GBP605
p/p |
| Flights: |
Not Included 
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| Availability: |
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December, |
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