Thanda Tented Camp

South Africa Family Holiday

Family Safari + 1 more + 2 more

The ultimate family adventure through South Africa's highlights.

15 days

from £3,495 pp

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

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

Family Classic + 3 more + 3 more

City, Safari & Beach

South Africa, Mauritius

South Africa’s culture, safari and beaches rounding off with an indulgent island escape.

15 days

from £5,010 pp

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

A South African Fortnight

Classic Safari + 1 more + 2 more

A two-week classic adventure through the best of South Africa.

14 days

from £3,595 pp

Quirky excursions

View all excursions in South Africa

KwaZulu-Natal Self-Drive Safari

For those not staying on a private reserve, but staying in the Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Reserve, self-driving here is an interesting alternative to a guided safari. Unless you really know a lot about safari, it should never replace the experience of guided game drives and walks in the company of an expert who can not only find the animals but also explain them to you. However to complement guided game drives, or for those who feel they know their way around their African wildlife, it makes an exciting and rewarding way to see game. The park is laced with a network of roads, some tarmac and many more graded tracks (passable in a normal saloon car). There is a real thrill in setting off into the park, under your own steam, equipped with a map showing roads, waterholes and notable features, a pair of binoculars, a bird and mammal guide, and perhaps a packed lunch. You can then do whatever takes your fancy: spend half an hour with a herd of zebra or impala (which would never happen on a guided game drive), or head for a waterhole and sit with your bird book trying to identify as many species as possible, or simply to drive slowly around, taking in the amazing scenery and hoping to spot some big game.

Coastal visits

The remarkable KwaZulu-Natal coastline in and around Lake St Lucia is within easy striking distance of the game areas of the province. As well as being attractive, and boasting quiet rock pools amidst the surf for swimming and snorkelling, this is also an area replete with wildlife. Offshore are whales, sharks and dolphins, whilst Lake St Lucia is home to crocodiles and hippos. In the bush that backs onto the shores, you’ll find small antelope and monkeys, and the air teems with birdlife. Most private lodges can arrange a visit to the coastline, or if you’re staying at Hluhluwe–iMfolozi, you can drive yourself over to the area for the day.

KwaZulu-Natal Bush Walks

Most lodges in private game reserves, in the period around lunchtime between the two usual daily safari drives, offer guests the chance to go on a short safari walk. The focus on these is not the game you’d see on drive. Instead you’ll concentrate on learning about the trees and plants, including their various uses in bush medicine and bush craft. You’ll also have the chance to look at the much, much smaller animals like spiders and millipedes, no less worthy of your attention than the bigger animals in the reserve! Some of the private reserves offer a more intensive walking safari experience, where you’ll walk for large parts of a day through the bush, or even for a couple of days, camping out. Sometimes these will be to walk with cheetahs, which seem particularly comfortable being accompanied or tailed by humans; other times it will just be about the thrill of spending protracted amounts of time on foot in what has become an alien and fascinating environment for modern man, never knowing what is around the next corner, and really getting the chance to understand and appreciate nature. In the public reserves like Hluhluwe–iMfolozi, daily safari walks are operated by the parks board and can be booked on to when you arrive. If safari walks are something you are particularly interested in, please let us know so we can direct you towards appropriate lodges and reserves.

KwaZulu-Natal Game Drives

When staying at a private safari lodge, the bulk of your game viewing will be done on safari drives. These take place in the early morning and late afternoon, as many of the animals everyone wants to see (notably the predators) are most active around dawn and dusk. In the morning you’ll be wakened by a call from your ranger, who will then be waiting for you with coffee or tea before you get into the safari drive vehicle. You may stop during the morning drive for more coffee! After a drive of around three hours, you’ll be returned to the lodge for a massive breakfast. Your time is then yours to do as you please until mid/late afternoon. Usually lunch will be served (although sometimes not during their winter) and you may have the chance to go on a bush walk. Then you meet your ranger again for afternoon tea before heading off on your evening drive. You’ll stop for sundowner drinks, and the last hour or so of your drive will be in the dark, using a spotlight to try and spot some of the nocturnal creatures. Upon your return its time for a gorgeous dinner before retiring to bed in order to be as fresh as possible when that morning call comes! Drive times are determined by dawn and dusk. So in their summer, morning drive starts very early and the evening drive starts quite late, allowing for a big chunk of free time in the middle of the day. In their winter, these times get compressed as the day is shorter – hence some lodges skipping lunch during the winter months. When out on drive your ranger (and his tracker in those reserves where they are used) will use his skills and experience of the bush, plus information from other rangers out on game drives, to pinpoint the best game viewing. He (or she!) will also provide a running commentary on the animals you are seeing – it is truly amazing how much information they are able to pass on. If you particularly want to see certain animals, do let your ranger know and he’ll try to oblige wherever possible, although much is dependent on the animals cooperating, and of course the wishes of the other guests in your safari drive vehicle (unless you have paid for a private vehicle). In a public reserve like Hluhluwe–iMfolozi, safari drives are operated by the parks board twice a day and can be booked on to when you arrive.