Your Itinerary
Day 1 - Arrival at destination - Johannesburg - Essential South Africa
Welcome to Johannesburg and the start of your South Africa adventure.
After collecting your luggage, make your way to your hotel.
The remainder of the day is at leisure.
Special Information
The standard check in is 2pm. Should you be arriving earlier in the day, the hotel can hold your luggage until your room is ready.
Airport transfers are not included. However, the hotel is just a short walk from the airport terminal buildings, adjacent to the departure level of the airport via a sky bridge. Simply make your way to the departures floor and from there follow the signs to the City Lodge Hotel.
Day 2 - Essential South Africa - Johannesburg to Cape Town - Allocation 20 - Current
After breakfast you will meet your local guide at reception at 8am. Travel by comfortable vehicle to the Kruger National Park where adventure awaits. Along the way your informative guide will entertain you with fascinating information about South Africa. In the afternoon you will reach your accommodation. Your safari camp provides permanent en-suite safari tents which are tastefully decorated and provide comfort with an authentic bush ambience. The camp also features an outdoor pool plus a restaurant and bar overlooking a waterhole.
The remainder of the day is free to relax and settle into your safari camp before enjoying an included dinner.
Special Information
Your travel time today will be approximately 5 hours.
Day 3 - Essential South Africa - Johannesburg to Cape Town - Allocation 20 - Current
After an early breakfast, prepare for a full day of safari adventure in an open game drive vehicle at Kruger National Park. As South Africa's most renowned national park and the largest wildlife sanctuary, Kruger offers an unparalleled experience. Its remarkable biodiversity is unique on a global scale. The park is home to 147 mammal species, including the "Big Five" (leopard, lion, rhino, elephant, buffalo), as well as around 507 bird species, 114 reptile species, 49 species of fish, and 34 amphibian species.
Inspiring Highlights
Full Day Kruger National Park Safari
Special Information
Start Time: 6am (Breakfast is available from 5:30am)End Time: 4pm
During your time in Kruger you will be looked after by the safari camp staff.
Day 4 - Essential South Africa - Johannesburg to Cape Town - Allocation 20 - Current
Today you have a day at leisure to relax and enjoy your lodge or you can pre-book another full day game drive in an open vehicle in the Kruger National Park.
Day 5 - Essential South Africa - Johannesburg to Cape Town - Allocation 20 - Current
After a final breakfast in the wild beauty of the Kruger Region, you will transfer to the Kruger Airport. From here, you'll fly to the vibrant city of Cape Town, where stunning landscapes and rich culture await. Upon arrival, you will be met by a local representative who will transfer you to your hotel.
The rest of the day is at your leisure.
Special Information
Your included flight allows one checked bag up to 20kg (44lbs), and one 8kg (17 lbs) carry-on. Your flight will be unescorted.
Your internal flight for this day is arranged by our local partner. Specific flight details will be provided in your welcome letter upon arrival and cannot be provided in advance. Please note that these group flights cannot be upgraded, amended, or checked in online. Your group will be required to check in together.
Flight time will be approximately 3 hours
Day 7 - Essential South Africa - Johannesburg to Cape Town - Allocation 20 - Current
Enjoy a full day at leisure to relax, shop or continue exploring this dynamic city on your own.
Alternatively, you may wish to join an optional full day tour of the beautiful winelands region.
Day 9 - Link Day Essential South Africa to Victoria Falls
You'll have an early transfer for your flight to Victoria Falls, the legendary home of one of the world's greatest natural wonders.
Upon arrival, your local guide will meet you and escort you to your hotel.
The rest of the day is at your leisure to relax or explore. From the Zimbabwean side, you'll enjoy some of the most spectacular views of the falls, where the mighty Zambezi River plunges into the gorge below in a breathtaking display of mist and thunder.
Special Information
On your departure from Cape Town you will say goodbye to your tour guide, and your group will be met by a local guide in Victoria Falls, who will meet and greet you, and transfer you to your hotel.Due to the early departure you will have a breakfast box provided.
Your included flight allows one checked bag up to 20kg (44lbs), and one 8kg (17 lbs) carry-on. Your flight will be unescorted, however your tour guide will assist you on either end to ensure that your journey is trouble free.
Your internal flight for this day is arranged by our local partner. Specific flight details will be provided by your Tour Leader upon arrival and cannot be provided in advance. Please note that these group flights cannot be upgraded, amended, or checked in online. Your group will be required to check in together. Note that your flight may involve a change of aircraft in Johannesburg.
Day 10 - Essential South Africa with Victoria Falls - Vic Falls extension - Allocation - Day 1
Enjoy breakfast at the hotel before you join a guided tour of Victoria Falls from the Zimbabwe side.
No surprise why Victoria Falls is one of the seven Natural Wonders of the World. You'll understand it instantly as we tour the Zimbabwean side, for there are numerous spectacular vantage points along the width of the falls, and the sight of this astounding gift of nature, simply takes your breath away. Walk through the permanent, beautifully misty rainforest which flanks the falls, stopping to marvel at the principal sites as it cascades to the depths below the Main Falls, Horseshoe Falls, Rainbow Falls, the Boiling Pot, Cataract Island and Livingstone Island. We'll stand and watch, feel and listen to the spray and thunderous noise, as millions of litres of water tumble over the Falls into a series of narrow gorges below. The seventh Natural Wonder of the World puts on the most dramatic show for you, and you'll be privileged to have watched it.
This afternoon is at leisure. Alternatively you may wish to join an optional sunset river cruise.
Inspiring Highlights
Discovery the majesty of Victoria Falls
Day 11 - Essential South Africa with Victoria Falls - Vic Falls extension - Allocation -Day 2
Enjoy a full day at leisure to relax by the hotel pool, shop at the local markets or explore the quaint local township.
Alternatively, you may wish to join an optional full day tour to Chobe National Park in Botswana.
Day 13 - Essential South Africa with Victoria Falls and Madagascar Link Day
This morning, please make your own way to the airport, located adjacent to your hotel ready for your flight to Antananarivo
Welcome to Madagascar! On arrival in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, you will be welcomed and provided with assistance by a local representative before transferring to your hotel in the city. The remainder of the day is at your leisure.
Spend the rest of the day at your leisure.
Special Information
Your included flight allows one checked bag up to 20kg (44lbs), and one 8kg (17 lbs) carry-on. Your flight will be unescorted.
Flight time will be approximately 3 hours
Day 14 - Classic Madagascar - Antananarivo to Antananarivo - Current
Enjoy breakfast at the hotel this morning before we start our journey with a drive to Andasibe through the green and luxuriant vegetation of eastern Madagascar. Along the way, we will see Merina villages spread in the rocky mountains before arriving at Andasibe in the afternoon and checking into the hotel.
In the afternoon, we visit the V.O.I.I.M.A Community Reserve. Here you will also come across a variety of wildlife, ranging from brown lemurs, indri, chameleons, geckos, and birds. This reserve provides a sustainable way of saving the remaining rainforests in the area by creating a livelihood for the local communities through reforestation projects.
This evening, experience the forest from a different perspective as we enjoy a night walk. Your guide will point out nocturnal lemurs and other nocturnal animals in their natural habitat.
Inspiring Highlights
V.O.I.I.M.A community reserve
Andasibe National Park night walk
Special Information
Your travel time today will be approximately 4 hours.
Day 20 - Classic Madagascar - Antananarivo to Antananarivo - Current
Today, enjoy a hike in the incredible Isalo National Park. The park covers an area of 81,540 ha, comprising the entire stretch of the Isalo massif. This huge mountain is spectacular with its eroded sandstone elevations. Along the way, we will see vegetation like Uapaca bojeri, Pachypodium rosulatum, or ‘elephant's foot', and Aloe isaloensis, a native species of aloe endemic to Isalo. The eroded mountains also served as a place where the Bara kept their dead before they could bury them in their actual tombs.
We start our climb and reach the massif after walking about 20 minutes, where we will have a spectacular view of the huge sandstone mountains with their beautiful colours and their strange and battered formations creating many different images like ‘the tortoise', ‘the masks', and ‘the crocodiles'. We see small streams of water, and rivers which are marked by lines of brilliant green, generally made up of numerous Pandanus pulcher and the delicate, slim-stemmed, feathery-leaved palm Chrysalidocarpus isaloensis. Along the way, keep your eye out for sifakas, brown lemurs, and ring-tailed lemurs, as well as fifty-five species of birds.
Inspiring Highlights
Isalo National Park hike
Special InformationToday's walk is of medium difficulty: 3km over a variety of terrain, including a 20 minute climb and will take approximately 5 hours.
Day 21 - Classic Madagascar - Antananarivo to Antananarivo - Current
After breakfast, we continue to Tuléar, where this part of our journey brings us to new scenery among the dry forests of the west and the spiny desert of the south. On the way, we admire the different ‘Mahafaly tombs' and the ‘Antandroy tombs'. After a short visit to Tuléar, we drive to Ifaty, the driest part of the country. Situated in the Deep South, the landscape is dominated by the cactus-like, spiny forest of different euphorbiaceae and didieraceae.
Mangrove trees line the coast, alternated by Vezo communities which earn their living from fishing. We will see many small pirogues with men who go out fishing twice a day, while children and women wait on the coast to collect the fish before taking them to Tuléar for sale.
Check into your charming hotel late this afternoon overlooking the magnificent lagoon of Ifaty.
Inspiring Highlights
Mahafaly and Antandroy tombs
Special Information
Your travel time today will be approximately 6 hours.
Day 23 - Classic Madagascar - Antananarivo to Antananarivo - Current
Early in the morning we transfer to the airport for the flight back to Antananarivo. After check-in at the hotel, you have the afternoon free to explore the capital on your own.
The capital of Madagascar is also called the ‘City of Thousands' and it is where the first King started to unify the different kingdoms of the island. Tana was built in three stages: The high city, the first area occupied during the regal period where the old queen's palace is situated; the mid-city, where all the chic boutiques of the capital are found; and then the low city, which is the commercial area of the town. Walk from the high city to see the Rova, the queen's palace, and the house of the first minister during these days, which is now a museum. All of these were built by Frenchman Jean Laborde during the royal period. The mid-city, or the administration area, ends at the Rainiharo tombs and the lower town is situated in the main avenue called ‘L'avenue de l'independence' dominated by the railway station.
Special Information
On your departure from Tuléar, you will say goodbye to your tour guide, and your group will be met by a local representative in Antananarivo, who will meet and greet you and transfer you to your hotel.
Your included flight allows one checked bag up to 20kg (44 lbs), and one 8kg (17 lbs) carry-on. Your flight will be unescorted; however, your tour guide will assist you to ensure that your journey is trouble-free.
Your flight time today will be approximately 2 hours.
Day 24 - Depart Antananarivo
At a suitable time you will be collected from your hotel and transferred to the airport for your departure flight.
Thank you for travelling with Inspiring Vacations. We hope you had a memorable experience.
Special Information
Departure transfers are included as part of your package. You will be collected from your hotel at the appropriate time and transferred to the airport to meet your flight.
If you choose to extend your stay (e.g., departing after the final tour date) and have booked your additional accommodation independently, this included service will be forfeited and no refund will be issued.
If Inspiring Vacations has not provided your international airfares, please ensure you provide your flight details via your Traveller Hub portal no later than 90 days prior to travel so that your transfers can be confirmed.