When you put the word “highlights” in the name of a trip, you better be confident that it lives up to the hype. This trip does. Across 30 epic days, you’ll go round-trip to Cape Town via Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia — a new spin on one of our most popular routes — taking comfortable touring vehicles as well as staying in a mix of hotels and campsites for a well-rounded experience. Wildlife sightings and cultural moments come standard here — everything from searching for the "big five" in national parks to enjoying meals with local families. You’ve got memories made for a lifetime.
Travel Style
Classic
Service Level
Standard
Physical Grading
2 - Light
What's Included
Your G for Good Moment: Lusumpuko Women's Club Lunch, Victoria Falls
Your G for Good Moment: Dqae Qare San Lodge & Camp, Dekar
Your G for Good Moment: Penduka Village Restaurant & Shop, Windhoek
Your G for Good Moment: !Khwa ttu San Culture and Education Centre, Yzerfontein
Your Welcome Moment: Welcome Moment - Meet Your CEO and Group
Your Discover Moment: Victoria Falls
Your Discover Moment: Swakopmund. Cape Town orientation walk. Soweto Township Bicycle Tour. Panorama Route drive with entrances. Kruger National Park wildlife safari drive in our vehicle (full-day). Traditional dance experience. Nature walk at Timbavati Safari Lodge. Great Zimbabwe National Monument visit. Nature walk (Matobo National Park). Victoria Falls visit. Okavango Delta excursion with entrances, wildlife walks, and traditional canoe trips. San/Bushmen walk. Traditional dinner (Kalahari). Etosha National Park entrance with wildlife safari drives in our vehicle. Sossusvlei Dunes and Sesriem Canyon entrance. Wine tasting in Lambert's Bay. Fish River Canyon entrance. Internal flight. All transport between destinations and to/from included activities.
What are the main highlights of this trip?
Search for the "Big Five" across four countries, Take a nature walk in Matobo National Park, Explore giant sand dunes and Victoria Falls, Meet the San people of the Kalahari Desert
How large will the group be?
Max 18, avg 14
What meals are included in this trip?
28 breakfasts, 3 lunches, 9 dinners
What are the modes of transportation on my trip?
Plane, air-conditioned touring vehicle, safari vehicles, mokoro, walking.
Is there an extra cost for travelling solo?
We believe solo travellers should not have to pay more to travel so our group trips are designed for shared accommodation and do not involve a single supplement. Single travellers joining group trips are paired in twin or multi-share accommodation with someone of the same sex for the duration of the trip. Some of our Independent trips are designed differently and solo travellers on these itineraries must pay the single trip price.
Where will we stay during the trip?
Hotels (11 nts), lodge/chalet (11 nts), adventure tents (1 nt), guesthouse (1 nt), basic camping (1 nt), serviced camping (4 nts).
Itinerary
Cape Town
Arrive at any time. There are no planned activities until an evening welcome meeting.
Cape Town
Enjoy a full day in Cape Town with the option to visit Table Mountain, choose to explore Cape Point, or embark on a wine tour around Stellenbosch. In the evening, opt to join your group for meal at one of Cape Town's many great restaurants.
Cape Town/Johannesburg
Take a short flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg. In the afternoon, travel to Soweto for a bicycle tour and learn more about its important history and significant role in bringing the issues of segregation to the forefront.
Johannesburg/Greater Kruger Area
Take the Panorama Route into the Kruger National Park area. In the evening, enjoy a traditional dinner and dance experience.
Kruger National Park
Enjoy a full day wildlife safari drive in the Kruger NP. Keep an eye out for Africa's famed "big five". Opt for a wildlife safari drive in an open safari vehicle.
Greater Kruger Area
Head north to Timbavati Safari Lodge, for a guided nature walk in search of the small 5. Listening, touching and sensing, can open your world to the real secrets of the African Lowveld. The lodge is nestled among glades of mature, exquisite indigenous trees, and is a paradise for nature lovers and bird watchers.
Greater Kruger Area/Louis Trichardt
Opt for a morning safari drive, or soak up the atmosphere in the camp, before traveling to the next location, in the Louis Trichardt area. Free afternoon to relax by the pool, opt to walk/hike in the property, or learn about South Africa rich history of the Anglo Boer era.
Louis Trichardt/Great Zimbabwe Monument Area
Get an earlier start and cross the border into Zimbabwe. Continue on to the Great Zimbabwe Monument.
Great Zimbabwe Monument Area/Matobo National Park
Start the day with a visit to the Great Zimbabwe National Monument, Africa's most significant ruins site south of Cairo. Learn the history of the ruins and climb to the citadel for a view over the site. Continue on to Matobo National Park.
Matobo National Park
Wake up early and opt to explore ancient cave paintings, hike the unique and stunning landscape, or hang out by the pool. In the afternoon, enjoy an included nature walk, with the opportunity to get up close and personal with the resident wildlife.
Matobo National Park/Hwange National Park
Travel to Hwange National Park for an opportunity to spot more wildlife. Opt to enjoy an evening wildlife safari drive in a safari vehicle.
Hwange National Park/Victoria Falls
Continue on to Victoria Falls and enjoy lunch at the G Adventurers–supported Lusumpuko Women's Club. Marvel at the spectacular falls from the Zimbabwean side, then enjoy free time in the afternoon to explore further.
Victoria Falls
Spend the day exploring your beautiful surroundings. Opt to visit Victoria Falls, go whitewater rafting, or take a helicopter flight over the falls. The town of Victoria Falls is a great base to see both natural wonders and take part in some exciting activities. Get up close (and wet from the spray) while awing at the immense Victoria Falls, raft the whitewater of the mighty Zambezi, and for the more adventurous, bungee jump with Victoria Falls in view.
Today, new travellers may join you for the rest of your adventure. You are welcome to join them at a group meeting this evening, followed by an optional dinner.
Victoria Falls/Kasane
Cross the border into Botswana, and stay in Kasane, just outside of Chobe NP. Try to spot the elephants, crocodiles, and hippos this region is famous for during an optional sundowner cruise. Drive to the border and cross from Zimbabwe into Botswana. Continue to the Kasane area, outside the gates of Chobe National Park, home to the largest elephant population in Southern Africa.
Opt to check out one of Botswana's national parks and its thousands of resident elephants, crocodiles, and hippos on a sunset boat cruise on the Chobe River.
Kasane/Nata
Opt to rise early for sunrise and marvel at your surroundings as you set out on an optional safari drive in Chobe National Park. Travel to Nata and watch elephants drinking at the watering hole while you dip in the pool on the property, or grab a sundowner at the bar area.
Nata/Maun
Prepare for a 1-night/2-day journey into the delta. Travel to Maun, the biggest town in the Okavango Delta area, pick up any supplies needed, and prepare for the journey into the Okavango Delta.
Okavango Delta
Enjoy wildlife walks, traditional mokoro excursions, and birding. Learn the ways of the bush from the local polers. The excursion begins with a drive in customized safari vehicles for about 1-2 hrs to the "dock" to board a mokoro (canoe) that takes us deep into the delta. After a 1-2 hrs in the mokoro, arrive to the basic bush camp.
In the evening, watch a traditional dance performance.
Maun/Ghanzi
Hop into a mokoro with your friends on the way back to Maun. Search for wildlife in the reeds along the river as you make your way back towards civilization. Zoom through the western part of Botswana to Ghanzi; the heart of the Kalahari. Catch a glimpse of how the Indigenous San Bushmen adapted to the Kalahari Desert on a bushman walk. They will teach you about wilderness survival skills in a place that seems uninhabitable.
Then while the day comes to an end, enjoy the warm hospitality of the San Bushmen as the group will be staying at the G Adventures-supported Dqae Qare San Lodge & Camp. The best part? You are making a difference in the lives of this community just by enjoying your time at camp. So sit back, allow yourself to become immersed in their history and culture, sit around the fire, and simply enjoy the moment. Enjoy the sunrise in the delta before travelling back to Maun by mokoro. Travel along the northern portions of the Kalahari Desert throughout the day – this is a severely arid and barren landscape, though very beautiful.
Arrive in the late afternoon and camp in the Ghanzi area.
Ghanzi/Windhoek
Travel to Windhoek, the German-influenced capital city of Namibia. Today, new travellers may join you for the rest of your adventure. You are welcome to join them at a group meeting this evening, followed by an optional dinner.
Windhoek/Etosha National Park
Visit the G Adventures supported Penduka Village Restaurant & Shop, just outside of Windhoek, to pick up a tasty packed lunch, then continue up to Etosha National Park. Enjoy an afternoon wildlife safari drive in our touring vehicle, then opt to explore more on an open vehicle night drive. Leave Windhoek and head north through the Namibian countryside to Etosha National Park and enjoy a wildlife safari drive in our touring vehicle. Keep an eye out for lions, giraffes, elephants, and antelopes. After sunset, some animals may head to the watering holes near the campground.
Etosha National Park
Enjoy another wildlife safari drive in our touring vehicle and keep your eyes peeled for some of the famous wildlife.
Etosha National Park/Swakopmund
Sit back and watch the stunning desert landscape go by enroute to western Namibia. Watch the beautiful desert landscape go by en route to western Namibia.
Spend two nights in the area exploring this historical town or trying some of the numerous activities available, such as sandboarding or a skydiving.
Swakopmund has bizarre lunar landscapes, unforgettable sunsets, and prehistoric Welwitchia plants.
Swakopmund
Spend a day exploring all the area has to offer. Optional activities include sandboarding, skydiving, and a township tour.
Swakopmund/Namib Desert
Travel into the beautiful Namib Desert, stopping at Walvis Bay on the way. Get a real feel for the Namib Desert as we spend hours crossing this empty region.
En route, take a coffee break in Solitaire, a mystical village consisting of a filling station, a general dealer/coffee shop, and a small mechanical workshop. Drive through Walvis Bay, the only town on the Namibian coastline that boasts a deep sea harbor.
Arrive in the area in the late afternoon, where the towering red sand dunes of Sossusvlei form the gateway into the Namib Desert.
Namib Desert
Visit Sossusvlei Dunes and Sesriem Canyon, and climb the towering Dune 45. Opt to visit Deadvlei. Enjoy a visit to Sossusvlei, a clay pan enclosed by the world’s largest sand dunes, up to 300m (984 ft) high. Here, use some free time to enjoy the sand dunes on your own. Visit the Sesriem Canyon, a small canyon typical of the area.
Namib Desert/Keetmanshoop
Continue south through the Namib Desert to Keetmanshoop, enjoying dramatic Namibian landscapes along the way. In the afternoon enjoy a visit to the rare Quiver Tree Forest.
Keetmanshoop/Orange River
Early start and visit the geological formation: Giant's Playground. Drive South and later in the day visit the breathtaking Fish River Canyon. Then, continue on to the banks of the Orange River with time to swim or just relax. Enjoy the beautiful scenery in this part of the country.
Orange River/Lambert's Bay
Cross the border into South Africa and continue down the coast to Lambert's Bay, stopping along the way for an included wine tasting. Then, opt to visit Bird Island or stroll through this charming town. We head towards the coast again and on to Lambert’s Bay, a picturesque town on the west coast of South Africa.
Enjoy an included wine tasting at Lambert’s Bay. Learn how to analyze your palates, listen to your taste buds, and how to pair your food with the best wine raised in the foothills of the Cederburg Mountains.
In the afternoon, opt to visit the well known Bird Island where you can find more than 25,000 blue-eyed gannets at certain times of the year. Penguins also gather on this island for breeding between August and October.
Opt to stroll through this lovely town, visiting unique artisan shops and boutiques.
Lambert's Bay/Cape Town
Continue on the last stretch of the trip to lovely Cape Town. Stop at the G Adventures supported !Khwa ttu San Culture and Education Centre along the way, then get ready to explore the vibrant streets of this scenic coastal city. While travelling towards Cape Town, through Namaqualand, keep an eye out for fields of Namaqualand daisies (in season August and September).
Cape Town has many different options should you book extra time to explore after the tour.
Visit Table Mountain, explore Cape Point (Cape of Good Hope), or join a wine tour in and around Stellenbosch (45 min drive). Visit the old French Huguenot town of Franschoek and surroundings (1 hr drive). For the truly adventurous, try skydiving, abseiling, or even cage diving, for a close encounter with the great white sharks.
Opt to wander through the city centre, which has some of the oldest buildings and gardens in South Africa (Botanical Gardens and Parliament Gardens), or visit the Cultural Historical Museum, Planetarium, and numerous other small museums and theaters.
Cape Town
Depart at any time. We highly recommend booking post-accommodation to fully enjoy this city.
Is travel insurance required for my trip?
Travel insurance is compulsory in order to participate on any of our trips. When travelling on a group trip, you will not be permitted to join the group until evidence of travel insurance has been sighted by your leader, who will take note of your insurance details. When selecting a travel insurance policy we require that at a minimum you are covered for medical expenses including emergency evacuation and repatriation. A minimum coverage of USD200,000 is required. We strongly recommend that the policy also covers personal liability, cancellation, curtailment and loss of luggage and personal effects. Some tours include adventure activities that require extra coverage (e.g. crampon use); please review your itinerary and make sure that you are covered for all included activities. If you have credit card insurance we require proof of purchase of the trip (a receipt of credit card statement) with a credit card in your name. Contact your bank for details of their participating insurer, the level of coverage and emergency contact telephone number.
Terms, conditions and restrictions apply; pricing, availability, and other details subject to change and/ or apply to US or Canadian residents. Please confirm details and booking information with your travel advisor.
