South Africa Safari Tour

Depart for Cape Town

Your journey begins on an overnight flight.

Arrive in Cape Town

Welcome to Africa! If you purchased airline tickets from YMT Vacations, you will be transferred from the airport to your hotel to enjoy the afternoon at your leisure. This evening, meet your fellow travelers and Tour Director at an informative welcome briefing and included welcome dinner at the hotel. (D)

Cape Town, Table Mountain and Bo-Kaap

Your first full day in Africa is packed with excitement. After breakfast, take a guided city tour of Cape Town, South Africa’s second largest city. Bordered by the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, Cape Town’s scenery places it in one of the most breathtaking settings in the world. Ride a cable car to the flat top of Table Mountain. Drive through the colorful Bo-Kaap, the “Malay Quarter” of Cape Town with a rich history as a historic home for the local Muslim community. Finally, head to Gold Restaurant for an authentic pan-African dinner and a djembe drum lesson. A vital part of African culture, the djembe has been used in ceremonies and celebrations since the 12th century. (B, D)

Cape Town, Cape Point Nature Reserve and Boulders Beach Penguin Colony

Rich with diverse plant and animal life, your day at Cape Point Nature Reserve promises to be especially memorable for animal and nature lovers. Ride the Flying Dutchman Funicular to the top of Cape Point’s lighthouse for panoramic views of the rocky landscape, pounding waves, wildlife and rare plants. Spend time at the Boulders Beach Penguin Colony, where you can see endangered African Penguins teetering across the white sand. (B, L)

Swellendam, Mossel Bay & Oudtshoorn

En route to Oudtshoorn, enjoy a stop in Swellendam for lunch on your own in this Dutch town overlooking the Breede River. Visit an aloe factory, then take a stroll through the Bartolomeu Dias Museum in Mossel Bay. This evening’s dinner will be included. (B, D)

Knysna & Cango Caves

Full of prehistoric cave paintings and artifacts, the Cango Caves are a must-see for visitors to the Western Cape. Back above ground, stop by an ostrich farm! The ostrich is the world’s largest bird, learn all about them on an included tour. Enjoy an included lunch. (B, L)

Knysna Leisure Day

Today is yours to enjoy as you wish. Join an optional tour or spend the day in Knysna, the jewel of South Africa’s picturesque Garden Route. (B)

Port Elizabeth via Tsitsikamma National Park, Jukani Wildlife Sanctuary & Birds of Eden Flight Aviary

Start the day at Tsitsikamma National Park, famous for its rocky coastline, remote mountainous region, and forests with deep river gorges leading down to the sea. Walk across the Storms River Suspension Bridge. Look out for bungee jumpers while your coach carries you 709 feet above the water on the Bloukrans Bridge. Next, look but don’t touch the leopards, jaguars, lions, tigers, honey badgers, zorillas (African skunks), and more at the Jukani Wildlife Sanctuary. Learn about the individual animals you will see during a guided tour. Finally, go under a five-acre dome of pristine indigenous forest occupied by thousands of bright, loud, and fascinating birds at Birds of Eden Free Flight Aviary. (B)

Johannesburg & Mandela House

After a short flight to Johannesburg, spend the day learning about apartheid and the man who dismantled it who dismantled it on this informative tour of Johannesburg.

Enjoy a panoramic tour of Johannesburg with stops included at the Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum in Soweto. Learn all about Hector Pieterson and the photo that shocked the world during the Soweto uprising. Continue on to the Mandela house. The Mandela House is a museum found in the humble home where Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid revolutionary, president, and national hero lived before his arrest in 1962. It provides moving insight into Mandela as a man, a leader, and champion of freedom and human rights in South Africa and across the world. This evening’s dinner will be included. (B, D)

Hazyview & Kruger National Park

Your lovely scenic drive will take you past Blyde River Canyon, God’s Window, Three Rondawels, and Bourke’s Luck Potholes. (B,D)

Kruger National Park Game Drive

Spend the whole day on safari in Kruger National Park. During your full-day game drive, you will have ample opportunity to see the iconic wildlife that makes South Africa a dream destination for animal lovers. This reserve is home to grasslands, thorny woodlands, and savannas speckled with hardy trees. Loping giraffes, speedy cheetahs, laughing hyenas, elegant antelope, hefty hippopotamus, and Nile crocodiles all await you during your full day at the park. Enjoy talking about your adventures with your fellow travelers at an included dinner this evening. (B, D)

Johannesburg

Greet the sun and the animals on an early morning game drive at Kruger. Then, it’s off to Johannesburg! Enjoy a drive through the farmlands, forests, and scenery of South Africa en route to Hazyview. This banana and macadamia nut farming town is just outside of Kruger National Park, one of the best places to see South Africa’s Big 5: lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants and buffalos. This evening, enjoy a farewell dinner. (B, D)

Depart for Home