4-Day Walking Safari - South Africa Tours, Hiking
4-Day Walking Safari
This Safari is conducted in the Greater Kruger Park and designed for the keen adventurer. There is little that compares with the thrill of meeting the Big 5 on foot in their own terrain.
Tour Code: ws/T
Depart From: Johannesburg
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Duration: 4 Days
Country:
South Africa
Departures: Weekly
Type: Safari | Hiking | |
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Tour Description
The Walking Safari is conducted in the Greater Kruger, which are the exclusive and unique Private Reserves adjoining the Kruger Park on its western borders. There are no fences between the Kruger Park and the Reserves, and the advantage of these exclusive wilderness areas is their privacy, so no sharing sightings or camps with other tourists.
A maximum of 12 guests make up a trail, each accompanied by and armed and experienced guide and a chef. The minimum age 16 years.
The Walking Trail will be closed for maintenance from the 31st of December to the 21st of Jan 2011.
Incoming safaris meet fellow adventurers at a bush pub for lunch and a briefing before departing by open safari vehicles to their respective camps.
Please note the safari can be extended to 5 days. Departures for the 4-Day Safari are on Fridays and Mondays for the 5-Day Safari.
The Bush Camp
* Tusker tented camp – Klaserie Private Nature Reserve
Tusker Tented Camp is situated amongst lush riverine forest on the banks of the Klaserie River in the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve. Its name referring to the Elephant’s Tusks, this camp often receives visits from Africa’s largest land mammal.
The Camp is private and secluded and not open to day visitors. The camp can sleep up to 12 people in large walk-in twin-bedded tents (linen and towels are provided, sleeping bags are not needed) with sown-in mosquito screens. Ablutions are separate but close with hot showers and flush toilets.
Although there is no electricity, there is solar lighting, candles, lanterns and a campfire to guide you around the camp at night. Meals are prepared in the kitchen tent and served in the dining tent. Each safari is accompanied by one or two experienced and armed guides and the camp is serviced by a chef and camp attendant.
The Walks
The walks aren’t strenuous but can last up to 4 hours every time, depending on tracks or sightings met on the way. Following tracks might lead through thick bush, riverbeds and gullies, therefore an average fitness is required.
To increase photographic opportunities and game sightings, the walks are also combined with game drives in an open safari vehicle. Each trail changes over to another camp in a different Reserve, including a 2,5 hour game drive through the Greater Kruger Park.
Walks and drives are conducted in the early mornings, late afternoons and at night, avoiding the African heat and moving along with the animals.
What to bring
The Greater Kruger is a malaria area. Please take your own precautions.
Walking shoes and neutral coloured clothing (no white, black and bright colours)
Towel and toiletries
Rain jacket
Warm jersey
Hat and sunglasses
Sun block
Insect repellent
Torch
Cash for Entry Fees/Conservation Fee and drinks and tipping (should you decide to do so)
Camera (bring extra batteries as there is no electricity) and loads of film.
Pick Up and Drop Off Points
Please see points for pick up and drop off in Johannesburg and Pretoria.
Itinerary
Day 1
On the day of departure (Fridays) you will be collected from your hotel between 05h00 and 06h00 in the morning and transferred to the Game Reserve. The journey takes approximately 5 hours with stops along the way.
You will meet your ranger at a lovely bush pub at the edge of the reserve, where you will sign the indemnity forms and have lunch together. After lunch, we transfer you into open safari vehicles to our bush camp in Klaserie Private Nature Reserve, making sure that you spend the maximum time out in the bush!
Day 2 & 3
In the mornings we set off at first light after a snack breakfast of rusks and coffee or tea. Enjoying the cool morning air we may walk directly from camp or else use a vehicle to get further out.
Your ranger will decipher the tracks and signs left by the passing animals during the night. The thrill of walking, tracking and getting up close to one of the creatures of the bush is an unforgettable experience.
On the walks there is a lot of emphasis on all of nature’s wonders, big and small, such as trees, plants, insects and birds.
A big breakfast is prepared back in camp and then there is time to unwind and siesta or spot some birds around the camp. After lunch is served it is time to head out again.
The afternoon activity is a walk/ drive combination, looking for tracks and activity in other areas.
After the walk we drive to a beautiful spot in the Reserve, where we’ll have sundowners while waiting for a stunning African Sunset. As the diurnal animals and birds anxiously get ready for bed, the stage and sounds change and a whole new world awakens.
This is when we connect the spotlight and night drive back to camp, looking for the nocturnal creatures that are so rarely seen during the day.
Back in camp a hearty supper and a warm campfire will be waiting for you. After a long day in the bush there is nothing more rewarding then to sneak off to bed and listen to the sounds of the night under a blanket of the overwhelming African stars!
Day 4
On the day of departure you will still go out for one last walk. Sniffing the typical scents of the bush you’ll realise how much you’ve learned already!
After breakfast it’s time to pack up and go back to the bush pub, where you will pay the Conservation Fee and the drinks you’ve consumed in our camps.
Then you are transferred back to the city to arrive (in Johannesburg) at about 18h00.
Tour Include
Transfers to and from Johannesburg or Pretoria.
Two walk/drive combinations and night drive each day
All meals and accommodation.
Guides.
Tour Exclude
Drinks
Conservation Fee of R180 per person. The R180 is a once-off local payment for Entry Fees that needs to be paid directly to the Reserves.
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