Johannesburg to Cape Town

Enjoy mountain kingdoms, world-class wine, safari lands and dramatic coastlines

This epic journey explores the different facets of three very diverse countries. We go on game drives in Kruger National Park, walk in the spectacular Drakensberg mountains, travel along the Garden Route, enjoy wine tasting in renowned vineyards and visit exciting Cape Town, while also visiting the mountain kingdoms of Eswatini (Swaziland) and Lesotho. This three-week trip has something for everyone: prolific wildlife, incredible scenery, beautiful beaches, awe-inspiring mountains and, of course, the rich culture that makes these countries what they are today.

People, Places & Planet

We work hard to create trips that have a positive impact on the people and places we visit and look after the planet we explore. Learn more about our sustainable travel ethos and practice here and find out about the work of the Exodus Travels Foundation here.

Some sustainable travel highlights of this trip include:

People

How this trip helps improve life for local communities.

• Local guides keep you well informed about local traditions and cultural-social sensitivities.
• This trip brings income and opportunity to the destination community through the inclusion of locally owned hotels, restaurants and other enterprises, and by championing locally produced food wherever possible.
• Read more about our other initiatives here.

Places

How this trip helps protect and conserve local landscapes and nature.

• By travelling in a small group, we ‘tread lightly’ to minimise our impact on local resources and the environment.
• We work with our partners on the ground to proactively reduce waste; this includes eliminating all single-use plastic water bottles by providing refills for reusable bottles.
• Entrance fees to natural reserves generate income used to upkeep and develop these important sites. We visit Kruger National Park.
• Our trips adhere to ABTA’s industry-leading animal welfare guidelines to ensure the best possible practices regarding working animals and wildlife viewing. Our animal welfare policy can be found here.
• With our partners, Rewilding Apennines, we rewild 100 square meters (1,075 sqft) of land per passenger who travels with us.
• Read about our commitment to nature protection and restoration here, including our rewilding commitment for every customer who travels with us.

Planet

How we seek to keep the carbon footprint of this trip low.

• Accommodation and restaurants in the itinerary use locally sourced food which has not been transported long distances.
• Read about our climate action here, including our carbon reduction and compensation commitments.

Tips for sustainable travel on this trip

• Leave no trace: We do all we can to ensure we leave no rubbish in the wild and beautiful places we visit; we ask that you do the same. If there are no recycling facilities in-country, consider bringing recyclable materials home with you.
• Plastic waste reduction: Please bring a reusable water bottle on this trip, also consider avoiding single-use hotel toiletries, which generate a large amount of plastic waste.

Is this trip for you?

This trip is rated Activity Level 3 (Moderate). For more information on our trip gradings please visit the Activity Level Guidelines page. If you have any queries about the difficulty of the trip please do not hesitate to contact us.

It is designed for people in good health who enjoy the outdoors. It is a varied trip, with sightseeing, city tours, game viewing, beach activities and walking. The moderate grading is given as some of the walks, especially in the Drakensberg, require a reasonable level of fitness.

There are some long driving days as we cover a lot of ground but there is lots to do and see along the way, plus we stop regularly for bathroom breaks, refreshments, photographs and leg stretches. Drive times on a lot of the days are four to five hours but a couple may be in excess of seven hours (not including time for stops). Drive times in the day-to-day itinerary are approximations and do not include stops.

Vaccinations and Health

South Africa

There are no required vaccinations. However, recommended vaccinations include hepatitis A, tetanus, typhoid, cholera, hepatitis B, rabies and tuberculosis. You will also need a yellow fever vaccination certificate if you’re arriving from a country with risk of yellow fever transmission or transiting for more than 12 hours through a country with risk of yellow fever transmission. Please confirm with your doctor or travel clinic.

Malaria prophylaxis is essential if travelling in the greater Kruger area; seek advice from your doctor or travel clinic about which tablets to take. The rest of South Africa, including the Garden Route, has a low risk of malaria.

Dengue fever, a tropical viral disease spread by daytime biting mosquitoes, is also a known risk in places visited. There is currently no vaccine or prophylaxis available, so we recommend taking the usual precautions to avoid mosquito bites.

Eswatini (Swaziland)

There are no required vaccinations. However, you may want to consider vaccinations for hepatitis A, tetanus, typhoid, cholera, hepatitis B, rabies and tuberculosis. You will also need a yellow fever vaccination certificate if you have travelled from a country with risk of yellow fever transmission. Please confirm with your doctor or travel clinic. There is also a risk of malaria in Eswatini, please confirm the recommended course of action with your doctor or travel clinic.

Lesotho

There are no required vaccinations. However, you may want to consider vaccinations for hepatitis A, tetanus, typhoid, cholera, hepatitis B, rabies and tuberculosis. Please confirm with your doctor or travel clinic.

Visa

South Africa

Travellers from the UK, US and most (though not all) EU states normally do not need a visa to enter South Africa. Please note, visa requirements often change and it is your responsibility to obtain any required visas for this trip. Therefore, we recommend that you check with the nearest embassy or consulate of your chosen destination(s), including any countries you may be transiting or transferring through.

Some local governments provide guidance on what visas their citizens need. To help, we’ve gathered a selection of useful links below.

• Australia: www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/africa/south-africa
• Canada: www.travel.gc.ca/destinations/south-africa
• United Kingdom: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/south-africa/entry-requirements
• USA: www.travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/SouthAfrica.html

Please note, all travellers to South Africa who require a visa need at least two consecutive blank pages in their passport (ie a left- and right-hand page) to enable an entry visa to be issued.

Additionally, any child under 18 travelling to South Africa needs to be in possession of an unabridged birth certificate with the names of both parents. If a child under 18 is only travelling with one parent, they will also have to have an affidavit, no less than three months old, from the absent parent confirming the child can travel with the other parent; a court order granting full legal guardianship of the child; or a death certificate of the deceased parent.

Eswatini (Swaziland)

Travellers from the UK, US and most EU states normally do not need a visa to enter Eswatini. Please note, visa requirements often change and it is your responsibility to obtain any required visas for this trip. Therefore, we recommend that you check with the nearest embassy or consulate of your chosen destination(s), including any countries you may be transiting or transferring through.

Some local governments provide guidance on what visas their citizens need. To help, we’ve gathered a selection of useful links below.

• Australia: www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/africa/eswatini
• Canada: www.travel.gc.ca/destinations/eswatini
• United Kingdom: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/eswatini/entry-requirements
• USA: www.travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Eswatini.html

Lesotho

British nationals can obtain entry visas on arrival.

Visa requirements often change and it is your responsibility to obtain any required visas for this trip. Therefore, we recommend that you check with the nearest embassy or consulate of your chosen destination(s), including any countries you may be transiting or transferring through.

Some local governments provide guidance on what visas their citizens need. To help, we’ve gathered a selection of useful links below.

• Australia: www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/africa/lesotho
• Canada: www.travel.gc.ca/destinations/lesotho
• United Kingdom: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/lesotho/entry-requirements
• USA: www.travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Lesotho.html

Food & Drink

All breakfasts, 16 lunches and 13 dinners are included.

Your guide and driver/assistant generally prepare the meals included in this trip. Below is a rough idea of what you can expect:

• Breakfast: Cereals, coffee, tea and toast, plus the occasional cooked breakfast.
• Lunch: Cheese, cold meats, salads, bread or rolls, and fresh fruit.
• Dinner: Potjies (stew), braais (barbecue), stir fries, pasta with fresh vegetables.

We need at least two weeks’ notice to deal with special dietary requirements (eg vegetarian or allergies). For this reason, if you did not indicate these on your booking form, please advise us as soon as possible. The tour leaders do all the shopping, meal planning and cooking for each group. They always try to obtain fresh produce wherever possible. We also supply fruit squash, tea and coffee with breakfast, and tea or coffee with dinner. All other beverages are at your own expense.

The water provided on this trip is safe, clean drinking water, normally from boreholes. If you would rather have bottled water then this is at your expense, though we would encourage you to make use of the safe drinking water provided as this helps reduce plastic consumption.

Weather

Although the greater part of South Africa lies north of the Tropic of Capricorn, the altitude moderates the temperature.

Summer is October to April with an average daytime temperature of 25C-30C (77F-86F) and an average nighttime temperature of 10C-20C (50F-68F).

Winter is May to September. Average temperatures are colder at this time of year. In and around Cape Town, most of the rainfall is in winter but it’s frontal rain, which comes off the Atlantic. Therefore, it can rain solidly for two days and, in between, there are warm sunny days!

There is likely to be very little rain inland between April and October. During July and August, the nights can be very cold, especially in the Drakensberg where temperatures can drop below freezing. However, the days are warm and crisp with generally cloud-free skies.

During November to February, rain sometimes falls and the temperature is higher. However, as anyone who has travelled to these parts will say, rain is often a blessing; it manifests the local colours, drops the sometimes-sweltering temperatures and never generally lasts too long. It also means the nights are incredibly clear. Due to the ocean’s proximity to the mountains and the winds, it is fairly common to experience tabletop clouds on the higher mountains in and around Cape Town.