Head Over Hills Luxury Retreat

Go Local in South Africa

Safari Wildlife & Nature + 3 more + 3 more

Real people, real stories, real South Africa.

19 days

from £6,690 pp

including flights

South African Grand Tour

Safari Wildlife & Nature + 3 more + 3 more

Three weeks, one unforgettable road trip across South Africa’s greatest highlights.

21 days

from £4,295 pp

including flights

Romantic Safari + 2 more + 3 more

South Africa Safari & Beach

South Africa, Mauritius

A seamless South Africa and Mauritius holiday.

14 days

from £4,450 pp

including flights

Classic South Africa

Family Classic + 3 more + 3 more

A classic South African holiday, with a few lesser-visited surprises.

17 days

from £3,655 pp

including flights

The Best of South Africa

Romantic Classic + 3 more + 3 more

Cape Town, wine & wildlife: South Africa's highlights over 11 days.

11 days

from £3,225 pp

including flights

South Africa Safari Explorer

South Africa's wildlife at its best.

14 days

Safari Wildlife & Nature

from £5,850 pp

including flights

Quirky excursions

View all excursions in South Africa

Featherbed Eco Experience

The Featherbed Nature Reserve, situated on the Western Head in Knysna, is the premier eco-experience on the Garden Route. Boarding the ferry you head out across the Knysna Lagoon to the Western Head where you hop off the boat and into a 4x4 vehicle which takes you up the headland onto the reserve, stopping at spectacular viewpoints. A specialist guide will provide you with information on the history, flora and fauna of this region. You'll stop for a buffet lunch at an outdoor restaurant admiring the panoramic views before returning back to the ferry.

The Birds of Eden

Birds of Eden is one of a number of fantastic wildlife interaction attractions on The Crags near Plettenberg Bay. Amazingly, it is a gorge of tropical forest covered in an enormous two hectare dome, and acts as a vast aviary (the largest in the world) for birds that have either been captive bred or removed from the wild, and cannot be returned fully to the wild. A series of walkways and bridges runs through and under the canopy and the birds are complete free to fly anywhere within the dome, and there are well over a hundred species to admire, from the local, and beautifully coloured louries, to noisy parrots and the even kookaburras. With a ruined temple and a waterfall you can walk behind, Birds of Eden is an exciting adventure for kids, as well as being fascinating for adults. If you want to really learn more about the birds, it is possible to arrange a guided tour with one of the bird keepers. The Crags is also home to an Elephant Sanctuary, Monkeyland and the Tenikwa Big Cat Experience, so you can make a whole day out of a trip here, interacting with a wide range of interesting and exhilarating animals and birds.

Bloukrans Gorge

If you explore the Garden Route east of Plettenberg Bay, for example if you are driving on towards Port Elizabeth for an Eastern Cape safari, or you’re just spending the day in the Tsitsikamma National Park, you’ll drive over Bloukrans Bridge: leave time in your schedule to stop for a moment at either end to admire it, because it’s spectacular. Built over the dizzying gorge of the Bloukrans River, its centre is 216 metres above the river at the central point, making it the highest single span bridge in the world. If you like adrenaline and want to try and understand what 216 metres is like, there is a cage walk out under the bridge to a central platform beneath the roadway. This walk alone offers amazing views into the precipitous gorge, but you can then bungy jump from the platform: the third highest bungy jump in the world!

Monkeyland

As you walk out onto the deck of the ticket office and restaurant at Monkeyland, you’re likely to catch a glimpse of a tail flashing up a tree, or be confronted by the unnerving sight of a gibbon stood upright on its two back legs, grasping a branch for balance in a manner that really brings home mankind’s evolution from the apes. You’ll set off through the forest sanctuary in the company of a guide who will tell you more about the 400 primates they have at Monkeyland, which include many different species of monkey, lemur, gibbons and bushbabies. They are cute, endearing and curious creatures and it’s a pleasure to be able to get so close to them and learn all about them. The primates were all rescued from unsuitable, caged captivity; unable to return fully to the wild, Monkeyland allows them an enormous amount of space to roam in (enough space that Monkeyland is home to Africa’s longest suspension bridge, at 128 metres!), whilst providing them food. Monkeyland is located on The Crags outside Plettenberg Bay, near Birds of Eden, the Elephant Sanctuary and the Tenikwa Big Cat Experience, so a day spent up here allows you to interact with a wide array of fascinating and exhilarating animals and birds.