Sundance Spirit

After you have cleared South African Immigration & Customs formalities & exit the Customs Hall into the awaiting public area, look for a gentleman with a ‘Sundance Spirit’ sign displaying your surnames - he is your personal escort & transfer driver.

In Johannesburg you are staying three nights at the Balalaika Hotel in the suburban city of Sandton, adjacent to the largest shopping mall on the African Continent.

Despite Johannesburg’s reputation as being a ‘tough town’, Sandton is considered a ‘very safe’ upper market area, ideal for those requiring more than simply a transit overnight stay.

The Balalaika Hotel is a haven for those who like elegance & premier quality. It provides a superb blend of tranquillity, convenient business technology & ´country styled´ ambiance. There are two wings to the hotel, each with its own landscaped gardens & swimming pool. Lords Bar features a piano player each evening, while ´The Colony´ restaurant rightly boasts excellence in it’s a la carte menu.

Day 2 & 3 - Johannesburg

Purposely we have left two days entirely free for you to catch up on some sleep & have a good relax before starting out on what will be a fantastic journey of adventures.

The Balalaika Hotel is very close to the huge Sandton Mall. It offers the full gambit of choices & all types of shops. If it is clothing, sporting goods, camera equipment, antiques, bric-a-brac & right up through a diverse range of diamond wholesalers, you’ll find it here in the Sandton Mall.

Take the opportunity to stock up on camera film if you haven’t already purchased quantities. You are unlikely to find better prices anywhere & certainly, on your itinerary you’re going to need a good quota.

When pangs of hunger make their presence felt, there are many choices of restaurants ranging from the basic sandwich bars tight up through fine dining establishments within the Mall.

If shopping is not your thing, perhaps a day excursion to take in the world famous Sterkfontein caves, site of the archaeological dig that has unearthed what are thought to be the oldest human remains found anywhere in Africa. It is a truly fascinating opportunity to glimpse back into time & journey to the origins of mankind on this planet.

An early breakfast, check-out from the Balalaika Hotel & you will be picked up & transferred by private vehicle to JNB International for the Air Botswana non-stop flight to Maun. Air Botswana check-in counters are located on the mezzanine level of JNB International Terminal.

Current schedules would have you arriving into Botswana’s gateway city to the Okavango Delta at approx. 1130hrs.

On arrival & after clearing Customs & Immigrations procedures, you’ll be met & introduced to your Mack Air pilot who will be transferring you by light aircraft to Camp Moremi on the edge of Chief’s Island, in the heart of the Moremi Game Reserve. Flight time is approx 0. 35 minutes.

Taking off from Maun the landscape below is arid, however within ten minutes, behold the beginnings of the Okavango influence as small waterholes, a labyrinth of channels & wider waterways unfold. Flying at 500´above the ground you are more than likely to see family groupings of elephants clustered around the water, hippos in the pools & perhaps glimpse herds of Red Lechwe antelope who congregate in the open savannah grasslands, close to the waters edge.

Don´t be at all put off if on approach to the Moremi bush landing strip, your pilot completes a ´fly-over´ to ensure that the runway is clear as often, small herds of antelope & the occasional elephant wander along the landing strip. This region is truly nature’s wilderness.

Once on the ground you’ll be provided cooling drinks, your luggage loaded into the 4 x4 & then you will be driven to Camp Moremi, located 10 minutes away on the shoreline of the Xakanaxa Lagoon.

There is nowhere on this planet quite like the Moremi Game Reserve for remoteness, its myriad of eco-systems, animals, birds, reptiles, insects & flora.

It offers only 11 secluded East African tented accommodation units, each built 3 feet above ground on wooden decking with a separate but connected private en-suite bathroom equipped with flush toilet, separate basin, hot & cold running water & a good sized tiled shower cabinet.

The East African safari tents have two solid wood framed lockable doors (one at each end of the unit), with eight bug screened window panels. At night guests can choose to leave the canvas flaps which close over the bug-proof muslin down or, close them.

There is a small private sundeck off the back door, with 2 Directors chairs, a table & lantern. Power is locally generated and available from 0500 until just before midnight. The bedside table lamps operate off a separate small 12 volt battery that is on continuously.

Once you are settled in to Camp, this afternoon commencing at approx 3.30pm you will be introduced to your appointed Guide who will host you for the duration of your stay on the daily safari activities. The afternoon game drive will be of approx. 3 hours duration, returning to camp after traditional bush ´sundowners´ drinks at the onset of dusk.

All meals, locally branded alcoholic beverages, beers, fine wines, soft drinks, bottled water, tea, coffee, snacks, safari drinks & laundry service is included with accommodation in your daily tariff at Camp Moremi.

Morning & afternoon Game drive or water based activities at Camp Moremi. You will return to Camp from the morning game drive at approx. 10.45am to a hearty brunch, after which the time is yours to relax, read, sit out by the pool or on the observation deck above the marsh & lagoon, until it is time for the afternoons safari activity to commence.

If you feel like a drink during this time, just ask any of the staff & they will undoubtedly be only too pleased to assist.

An early start this morning & a water based transfer from Camp Moremi to Xugana Island Lodge (pronounced Coo-Gah-nah).

This water transfer in an aluminium outboard powered boat will take you through the many papyrus reed covered channels, lagoons & the main flow of the Okavango River.

It undoubtedly will provide you wonderful up-close encounters with many species of birds & likely sightings of hippo, crocodile & elephants who like to wade belly deep in the cooling waters.

Half way through the three hour water transfer, you’ll stop on one of the small islands that dot the Okavango Delta for tea or coffee & biscuits & to stretch your legs.

Here, a changeover of vessels takes place, as the boatman who brought you, now returns to Camp Moremi & you will go onto Xugana Island Lodge with the vessel & boatman that came down from there this morning.

Xugana Lagoon is widely accepted as the most pristine & spectacular of permanent water sites in the entire Okavango Delta.

It is very private, having capacity for a total of 16 guests. The accommodation units are large & spacious thatched chalets, set out apart on the fringe of the island each with a partial lagoon view.

All game viewing & bird watching activities at Xugana are water based in addition to which, Ranger guided bush walks are to be recommended.

On arrival your Camp Manager will greet you & run through a camp briefing before introducing you to your appointed Rangers who be your guide on all safari related activities during your two night stay. Then you will be shown to your accommodation unit.

It will be time then for brunch, served outside the main lounge & at a table a metre or two from the lagoon edge. During the day, bream congregate in the shallows seeking out titbits but at night, they disappear to be replaced by a school of large catfish. Then there’s also the resident ´croc´ who likes to lay directly in the beam of the spotlight that illuminates the waters edge.

Afternoon water-based safari activities will commence approximately 1530hrs after which you’ll return to camp for a shower & time to relax before dinner.

Safari activities, bird watching, sports fishing (Tiger fish are highly prized African fighting fish) & Ranger guided mokoro canoe trips or bush walks are available as you choose, today.

All meals, locally branded wines & beers, soft drinks, bottled water & all safari related activities plus a laundry service is included with your accommodation at Xugana Island Lodge each day.

Dependant upon the light aircraft transfer schedule, your mornings timetable of activities may vary. Usually, you will awake, have a light breakfast & be transferred by boat to the close-by bush airstrip for your approx. 1 hour flight to Savute Safari Lodge.

Located in the heart of the Chobe National Park which is a dramatic wilderness region, dominated by seven rock outcrops guarding a relic marsh & now dry river channel, Savute is famous for a huge array of animals, many of whom are high on the endangered species lists. (such as African Wild Hunting Dog )

Here too, are the Gubatsa Hills which are ideal hunting territory for elusive leopard, but more-so, they offer glimpses into Africa’s time-warp with many examples of ancient man’s hand-painting of the animals they hunted.

Savute is famous for the herds of buffalo, zebra, wildebeest and resident bull elephants that inhabit this region. Over 300 species of birds & all of the predatory cats, elephant, giraffe, hyena, wild dog & many antelope species, are here and likely will be spotted during your 4 x 4 ranger conducted game drive experiences.

Accommodation at Savute is in twin-bedded safari suites, each privately located, with large sliding glass doors that set this camp apart from all others. Daily tariff includes all locally branded alcoholic beverages, all meals, snacks & safari drinks, bottled water, soft drinks & laundry services. You will be at Savute Safrai Lodge 3 nights.

Savute Safari Lodge – game drive activities morning & evening. During the middle of the day laze around the pool or simply read a book, the choice is yours as after all, this is your vacation.

Dependant upon light aircraft schedules your activities today will include breakfast, perhaps a morning game drive, then a light aircraft transfer to Kasane followed by a road transfer (2 hours) from Kasane, leaving Botswana & clearing Immigration for Botswana & Zimbabwe at a border post & on through to Victoria Falls. Note, there is a tourist visa ´fee´ imposed by the Govt of Zimbabwe of US$30 for each person on arrival.

It is best to have exact US dollars as change in US is a scarce commodity in Zimbabwe.

On arrival at Victoria Falls, you will be taken to check in to the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge where you will stay for the next two nights.

After a leisurely breakfast, you’ll be collected & taken on a private guided walking excursion of the Zimbabwe side of the Victoria Falls. Dr David Livingstone who named them after the then Queen of England, was the first European to set eyes upon what now are considered to be one of the eight natural wonders of the world.

The Victoria Falls were formed millions of years past by tectonic plate movement, the mighty Zambezi river plunges over 90 metres into a narrow gorge which hurls the spray back skywards, often to be seen 15 km away. The natives christened the falls ‘the smoke that thunders’ – a description that certainly captures their unrelenting power.

This afternoon is at leisure – time to head into the township & wander the wonderful local arts & crafts markets ( truly amazing bargains are to be found here, especially on stone or ebony carved animals & faces, pottery & handicrafts – but you need to bargain vociferously ! ).

This evening you will be treated to a sundowners cruise on the Zambezi River including snacks & beverages.

If you fancy a special local cuisine dinner, we would recommend you make reservations to go to a famous restaurant called ‘The Boma’. It is no more than a 5 minute taxi ride & offers a huge array of game meats, fish, buffet salads, fresh vegetables & diet crushing deserts.

After breakfast, you will be collected & driven in a minibus to the border of Zimbabwe & Zambia, a kilometre beyond the huge bridge that spans the Zambezi River.

Here, your guide will assist with border control & Immigration procedures. There is a fee of US $20 per person upon departing Zimbabwe & a fee of US $ 30 per person to be granted a Zambian tourist visa. It is recommended you have exact US dollars change for these transactions.

Once Immigration is completed, you will be driven on to Livingstone airport where a charter light aircraft flight is awaiting to fly you to Royal Zambezi airstrip.

Dependant upon the airlines schedule of transfers that day, the charter flight may operate first to Lusaka, then in another aircraft, onto Royal Zambezi airstrip. It could also however operate non-stop but you will be informed at Livingstone airport of the flight plan.

On arrival at Royal Zambezi airstrip, you will be met & transferred in a 4 x 4 safari vehicle to Kiubo River Lodge.

Kiubo River Lodge lazes under an expansive canopy of magnificent African Ebony, Mangosteen & Tamarind trees.

From the lofty vantage point of the tastefully decorated thatched main lodge, you're likely to be looking & listening to herds of buffalo, wallowing hippo & skittish zebra slaking their thirst in the great Zambezi River. The wide, elevated river frontage provides wonderful vistas over the water to Mana Pools & game viewing by boat or canoe allows safe, yet exhilarating proximity to nature.

For the romantic in all of us, Kiubo's liquid sunset cruises are guaranteed
to touch undiscovered places in your heart.

Accommodation here consists of eight spacious twin-bedded tented rooms
built on raised wooden platforms with en-suite facilities & private
verandas.

The Bar & dining area faces the river with a giant Ebony tree as the focal point. The building is constructed of natural materials: thatch, reeds & stone flooring, furnished with Rhodesian teak.

A small swimming pool is available for guests to relax and cool off during hot summer days.

Lights are run off 12-volt solar panels charging batteries. Paraffin lanterns illuminate paths & tent entrances. Ample hot water is heated by the solar panels.

There are numerous choices of safari activities, all conducted under the supervision of an experienced, knowledgeable guide.

Activities include twice daily safari game drives morning & late afternoon, & are conducted in 4x4 customized safari vehicles in the Nature Park. Alternatively at the guests request, Ranger guided walking safaris offer the opportunity to get a close-up look at the African bush with its diverse flora & fauna.

With the Zambezi River as the focal point, guests are encouraged to explore the area by boat in search of the wildlife which frequents the river banks. This peaceful form of game viewing allows close-up encounters with a variety of game & bird life, & with the breathtaking scenery as backdrop – this is undoubtedly a photographer's dream.

Canoeing at Kiubo River Lodge - arguably one of the finest ways to discover the secrets of the Zambezi, is downstream & an easy going, enjoyable canoe ride - no previous experience is necessary. Stable 5m Canadian canoes are used & all trips are accompanied by an experienced river guide.

Bird watching at Kiubo River Lodge is excellent all year round in the Lower Zambezi so remember to bring your binoculars & zoom lenses. A zoom of minimum 70 x 300mm is recommended for bird studies.

All locally branded alcoholic drinks, soft drinks & bottled water, snacks, morning & afternoon tea, all meals & laundry service is included at Kiubo.

Today you will have a morning & afternoon-evening safari activity. Between safari activities, you will be returned to camp for relaxation time & lunch. In the afternoon, an instructor will accompany you on a canoe orientation to acquaint you with the handling of the 5m canoes which are very stable & manoeuvrable.

Leaving Kiubo after breakfast initially in a 4 x 4 on a short game drive, to day’s real fun excursion is by way of your canoeing down the tranquil Zambezi River to Mwambashi River Lodge, accompanied under the care of an expert official guide.

The river here is slow & meanders along giving you the opportunity to take in amazing scenery & most likely, observe animals & birds from a relatively close but safe proximity.

Lunch will be provided en-route & beverages are available (water & soft drinks) to take with you in your canoe. This is an ´easy´ journey on the river & one that can be undertaken after a brief orientation session, by complete novices in the art of canoeing.

On arrival at Mwambashi River Lodge you will be welcomed by the Management, provided a briefing on the Lodge & its surroundings & then shown to your accommodation.

Mwambashi River Lodge is located deep within the relatively unexplored Lower Zambezi National Park directly opposite Chikwenya Island & on the eastern boundary of Mana Pools. You have four nights here & three full days to explore & soak up this amazing region.

Mwambashi accommodates 16 guests in large comfortable East African style safari tents built on raised wooden platforms. Each unit has an en-suite shower, toilet & hand basin. Accommodation units are tastefully appointed using vibrant ethnic colours & fabrics and yellow wood furnishings.

All have private balconies offering superb private views over the Zambezi River.
It is renowned for fine cuisine & excellent service.

Guests enjoy meals including full three-course dinners in a central thatched dining area which leads into a comfortable lounge with a well stocked reference library. All meals are served with choices of beverages: bottled water, soft drinks, local beers & a selection of local wines being included & available on request.

Overlooking the river & adjacent to the main complex is a raised balcony which is ideal for enjoying sundowners or simply relaxing & reading during the heat of the day.

The Lower Zambezi National Park is home to large herds of elephant & buffalo.

Prides of lion are also common here & plains game which form the major part of the predators diet, is abundant. Both early morning & late afternoon Ranger guided game drives in customized 4 x 4 safari vehicles enable guests to take fullest advantage of these opportunities.

The Lodge also conducts night drives when leopard, hyena, civet & genet are often sighted.

The impressive diversity & Mwambashi's unique location makes it the ultimate safari destination. Mwambashi certainly offers guests the greatest of wildlife viewing opportunities. As can be expected, the River itself forms a focal point of many of Mwambashi's game activities.

Comfortable pontoons take clients on ´sundowners´ cruises & game viewing trips whilst short canoe safaris are available for the more adventuresome.

Serious naturalists & conservation-minded guests will be interested in the scientific project to study African Wild Dog currently underway at Mwambashi. Although recognised as an endangered species, the area boasts a healthy population of these unique pack predators.

Departing after morning safari activities & breakfast, you will be driven to the Jeki Airstrip for your light aircraft flight to Lusaka.

Here at Lusaka Airport you need to check-in for the South African Airways flight , clear Zambian emigration exit procedures & shortly thereafter will be flying southbound & non-stop to Johannesburg.

On arrival in Johannesburg, you will clear South African Immigration & Customs formalities & exit into the public areas. Then, head outside the International arrivals onto the footpath, turn left & along approx. 250m to the Domestic Terminal & up in the elevator to check-in for your South African Airways flight to Cape Town.

On arrival in Cape Town & after collecting your luggage from the baggage carousel, you will be met directly outside by your transfer driver & taken by private vehicle to the Radisson Waterfront Hotel.

Referred to as the ´Mother City´ Cape Town is set under the shadow of imposing & famed Table Mountain. It is a city that for centuries, was the layover point for explorers, adventurers & traders plying their wares between Europe & South America & grew as a result of multi-national colonization dominated by the Dutch.

The city architecture is a mix of Cape Dutch & modern high rise & the ethnicity of its population as diverse as the many colours of a rainbow.

The centre of the cities tourism industry is focused on the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, which like so many others the world over, has been restored from its historic warehouse & shipyard days to know face the new world order with a sprawling three tiered shopping complex, a fabulous ´living´ aquarium that is certainly worth its meagre price of entry & a host of excellent eateries, from basic outside cafes to high class fine restaurants.

The V & A Waterfront complex is actually South Africa’s most frequented year-round visitor attraction & within walking distance from the Radisson Waterfront Hotel.

We would suggest you consider taking the cableway excursion up to the top of Table Mountain if the weather is clear as from here, the vistas to all points of the compass are stunning. So too, perhaps a half day excursion by small catamaran out to Robben Island – once a notorious prison that housed South Africa’s dissident political prisoners of the ´Apartheid Regime´ days.

Here, imprisoned for 18 of his 27 years behind bars as a convicted ¨terrorist & enemy of the Republic¨ Nelson Mandela was contained.

His tiny cell is open for viewing & provides a chilling look at what has thankfully become a passing phase in South Africa’s chequered racial history.

Above all, today is for you to determine how much you want to do & where you wish to wander.

At approx 09.00am a Group ´S´ compact rental vehicle will be delivered to you at the hotel and you have it until you return it to Cape Town Airport just prior to checking in for your flight homeward bound.

The vehicle will give you two full days freedom to expand your venturing & open up the choices of visiting the beach suburbs on the Atlantic Ocean side of Table Mountain – Seapoint, Clifton & Bantry Bay – or take the ocean scenic drive down to the Cape Point Nature Reserve at the southern tip of the African continent.

Alternatively, drive north to Cape Town’s hinterland mountains & the Stellenbosch – Franschhoek wine regions. Here, tucked under the lee of imposing granite peaks are some of South Africa’s finest vineyards & boutique wineries & where daily, wine tastings are readily undertaken for visitors & locals alike. Here too, the small local arts & crafts shops offer excellent products & finery – well worthy of the hour’s drive time from the city itself.

What ever you choose to do, for the next two nights your accommodation is as good as it gets in the Cape Town district – you are staying at STEENBERG COUNTRY HOTEL located in Constancia, some 25km from the Waterfront & in a world all of its own.

Steenberg was formally a vineyard & remains so today, producing excellent vintages from the long-serving vines, however it also has glorious guest quarters, an exclusive fine dining restaurant & one of the leading 18 hole championship golf courses in the country which is open to hotel guests year round.

They leave nothing to chance at Steenberg & your every need is catered for with elegance & pizza.

All good things have to come to an end & today herald´s the final day of what will have been a holiday that has unfolded with exotic & new experiences at the turn of each corner.

You have the morning to have a late breakfast, do that final packing, & then check-out to head for Cape Town Airport, return the rental vehicle, & check in for your International flight.

We trust that once having had time at home to reflect on the amazing experiences of these last twenty four days, you bask in an afterglow that is only felt by those who have spent time in the African wilds & you will cherish a host of indelible lifetime memories.

·	Meet on arrival at JNB International Airport.
·	Transfer by private vehicle to Balalaika Hotel, Sandton.
·	3 nights accommodation @ Balalaika Hotel, DBL room, B & B basis.
·	Transfer in private vehicle to JNB International Airport.
·	Air tickets for Air Botswana flight JNB-Maun.

- South Africa : Cape Town

·	Meet on arrival at CPT Airport.
·	Transfer by private vehicle to Radisson Hotel Waterfront.
·	2 nights Radisson Hotel Waterfront DBL superior sea facing room B & B basis.
·	Rental car delivered to Radisson.
·	3 days rental car, unlimited km, ´standard´ with insurance cover.
·	2 nights accommodation at ´Steenberg Country Hotel´ - Constancia, luxury DBL room on B & B basis.

Note: rental car to be dropped off at CPT Airport.

- Botswana

·	Meet on arrival at Maun & introduced to your Mack Air pilot.
·	Light aircraft transfer, Maun to Camp Moremi.
·	2 nights at Camp Moremi – Okavango Delta all inclusive – DBL accommodation, meals, local alcoholic beverages, bottled waters, soft drinks, laundry & safari activities & ´sundowners´.
·	Water transfer Camp Moremi – Xugana Island Lodge.
·	2 nights at Xugana Island Lodge all inclusive – DBL accommodation, meals, local alcoholic beverages, bottled waters, soft drinks, laundry & safari activities & ´sundowners´.
·	Light aircraft transfer Xugana – Savute Safari Lodge.
·	3 nights at Savute Safari Lodge all inclusive – DBL accommodation, meals, local alcoholic beverages, bottled waters, soft drinks, laundry & safari activities & ´sundowners´.
·	light aircraft transfer Savute – Kasane.
·	on arrival at Kasane, land transfer to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

- Zimbabwe

·	2 nights accommodation Victoria Falls Safari Lodge.
·	Guided walking tour of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe side.
·	Zambezi River ´Sundowner´ Cruise.
·	Land transfer VFA Safari Lodge – Livingstone, Zambia.

- Zambia

·	Light aircraft transfer Livingstone to Royal Zambezi airstrip (*).
·	Land transfer to Kiubo River Lodge.
·	2 nights at Kiubo River Lodge all inclusive – DBL accommodation, meals, local alcoholic beverages, bottled waters, soft drinks, laundry & safari activities & ´sundowners´.
·	Instructed canoe orientation.
·	Excursion by canoe downriver to Mwambashi River Lodge – includes lunch en-route.
·	4 nights at Mwambashi River Lodge all inclusive – DBL accommodation, meals, local alcoholic beverages, bottled waters, soft drinks, laundry & safari activities & ´sundowners´.
·	Transfer in 4 x 4 to Jeki airstrip.
·	Light aircraft transfer from Jeki airstrip – Lusaka.