Destination: South Africa

LONELY PLANET'S OFFICIAL ITINERARY INFORMATION

Itinerary: Safari Special

ONE TO TWO WEEKS / JOHANNESBURG TO KWAZULU-NATAL

With 10 days, you can see a good sampling of the wildlife along this 1600km-plus route. Short on time? Concentrate on just one or two parks. With three weeks or more you'll be able to get in Kruger and Swaziland plus several of KwaZulu-Natal's parks as well. Roads are good throughout, but expect some gravel and dirt roads in the parks.



South Africa is a superb safari destination, and with as little as a week or two at your disposal, it’s possible to get in a good sampling. Using Johannesburg as a gateway, head east via Nelspruit to South Africa’s safari showpiece, Kruger National Park. The teeming wildlife here and in the neighbouring private wildlife reserveswill undoubtedly hold you captivated for at least several days, and within just the first hour or so of entering the park, it’s likely you’ll already have begun to spot zebra, giraffe and more. (If time is really tight, you can get a good taste of things at Madikwe Game Reserve or Pilanesberg National Park, both easily reached from Johannesburg.)

From Kruger, continue south into Swaziland, where you can spend a few days hiking through the grasslands and forests of Malolotja Nature Reserve before heading on via Mbabane to the tiny but wildlife-rich Mkhaya Game Reserve, which is noted in particular for its black rhinos. From here, continue south into KwaZulu-Natal, where a collection of top-notch wildlife-watching areas awaits you. These include Mkhuze Game Reserve, with its hides nestled amongst the vegetation around watering holes, and the evocative Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, with its network of walking trails. Nearby are the upmarket Phinda Resource Reserve, and the estuaries and waterways of the Greater St Lucia Wetlands Park.