Southern Africa Safari: Kruger & Coast

This trip is graded Activity Level 2 (Easy & Moderate) with a Wildlife Rating of Five. For more information on our trip gradings, visit the Activity Level Guidelines page or our Wildlife Holidays page for more on our Wildlife Ratings. If you have any queries about the difficulty of the trip, please contact us.

Journeys: Considering this is Africa, travelling times between destinations are relatively short. The longest drive is approximately eight hours, but the rest are less than four hours unless there is a game drive. The drives between destinations are completed in a comfortable minibus while the game drives are in open-sided safari vehicles. Please note, drives in and out of Kruger National Park and Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park are mostly in the minibus but our other drives are in safari vehicles. The game drives in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park may be with other guests at the camp who aren’t members of our group.

Dolphin swim: The swimming with dolphins excursion is in open water, which can be choppy at times. It is optional and you should have a moderate level of fitness and be a confident swimmer if you would like to take part. If you do not wish to swim, you can stay on the boat and look for dolphins from there. We launch the boat from the beach so boarding may be difficult if you have limited agility.

Walking: There is limited hiking on this trip. The longest is a two-hour game walk over relatively flat terrain, but the ground can be uneven, and vegetation must be navigated.

Legal note: All group members joining this tour will be asked to sign an indemnity form at the start of the trip. This indemnity form is a requirement of the South African Tourism Service Association, of which our local supplier is a member. As a client of Exodus Travels Ltd, your rights under the Package Travel Regulations (1992) are unaffected, and Exodus remains liable for the actions of our sub-contractors.

Joining Instructions

Start hotel: Dolphin Coast Lodge, Umdloti
Phone: +27 (0)63 855 8780
Recommended arrival time: You can arrive at any time today. There will be a welcome briefing around 6pm this evening.
Airport: King Shaka International Airport (DUR)

Getting to the start hotel

The start hotel is approximately a 10 to 15-minute drive from the airport. We provide one group arrival transfer from the airport, which is timed to coincide with the arrival of a chosen flight from London, UK. You may join this transfer at no extra cost, provided you can be at the airport before the transfer leaves.

Speak to your sales representative for the group arrival transfer times, to arrange a private transfer, or for more information.

Flying via Johannesburg
If you are travelling on flights via Johannesburg, please note that you will need to collect your baggage in Johannesburg, even if your bag has been checked all the way through to Durban (and even if you are told you do not need to pick it up). After collecting the bag, you are required to clear customs, and you should then drop it off at the bag drop for the onward flight. This only applies to the outbound flight – you do not need to do this at the end of the trip on the return flight.

Catching your return flight

There’s a group departure transfer to Johannesburg International Airport (JNB) for those booked onto a chosen flight to London, UK. Please speak to your sales representative if you wish to join. If the group departure transfer does not suit your flight time, speak to your sales representative to arrange an alternative transfer.

You 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.

Recommended vaccinations include hepatitis A, tetanus, typhoid, cholera, hepatitis B, rabies and tuberculosis. Additionally, malaria prophylaxis is essential as we travel in the greater Kruger area; seek advice from your doctor or travel clinic about which tablets to take.

Please confirm with your doctor or travel clinic before you travel about all your vaccination and health requirements.

Mozambique

Travellers from the UK, US, Canada and some EU states normally do not need a visa to enter Mozambique.

However, they do need an electronic travel authorization (ETA) before they travel. They cost 650 Mozambican meticais (around US$10) and can be secured at www.evisa.gov.mz.

Please note: The ETA is currently suspended due to website issues, but this can change at any time. Please check the official site for the latest status before making travel arrangements.

When they arrive in Mozambique they also need to show:

• Passport valid for at least six months after departure from Mozambique
• Proof of where they are staying (a letter from our Ponto Do Ouro accommodation, which we can assist with)
• Hard copy of travel insurance
• Return flight ticket
• Proof they have enough money for their trip (ie a recent bank statement)

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/mozambique
• Canada: www.travel.gc.ca/destinations/mozambique
• United Kingdom: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mozambique/entry-requirements
• USA:www.travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Mozambique.html

Travelling with under 18s: If both parents are travelling, no additional documentation is required, When only one parent or a legal guardian, or another adult, travels with a minor he or she may be required by an immigration officer to establish the adult’s relationship with the child. In this case, documentation and a letter of consent will be requested. The consent letter will no longer need to be in the form of an affidavit.

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.

In the itinerary, we state which meals are included on which day. The list below provides an indication of what these will consist of:

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

Where meals are not included, the leader will recommend a restaurant for a group meal. Dinners can cost on average 370-560 rand (US$20‐US$30) per person and lunches from 90-150 rand (US$8-US$13).

The tour leaders do all the shopping, meal planning and cooking for each group. They will purchase fresh produce wherever possible. Each tour has two cool boxes for meats and fresh produce and one cool box for cold drinks. We will supply the following drinks: fruit squash served with breakfast and tea or coffee served with breakfast and dinner. All other beverages will be at your own expense. Please note, on days when the group are on morning game walks or drives, we have an early morning cup of tea or coffee and rusks followed by the walk. Once we return to camp, we have a large brunch at around 11am. In the early afternoon, we have a snack-style lunch and dinner will be served after completion of the optional game drives.

Please be aware, we need at least two weeks’ notice to deal with special dietary requirements (eg vegetarian or allergies).

The water provided on this trip is safe and clean drinking water, normally from boreholes. It is not bottled water, however. If you would rather have bottled water then this will be at your expense, though we would encourage you to make use of the safe drinking water provided as this helps diminish plastic consumption.

Although the greater part of South Africa lies south of the Tropic of Capricorn, the temperature is moderated by the altitude. The average midday temperature is likely to be about 22C (72F) on the coast and 24C (75F) inland. This trip covers various different weather regions. Generally, inland areas will be dry between April and October (although storms can occur). In August, the nights can be very cold. However, the days are warm and crisp with generally cloud-free skies. November through February, rain can sometimes fall and the temperature will be 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 night times are incredibly clear.

As a certified B Corp, we’re on a mission to improve our social and environmental impact across all our adventures.

We do this through our innovative Thriving Nature, Thriving People plan.

This ‘nature positive’ approach is designed to help nature and communities thrive in harmony through practical solutions, such as reducing carbon and waste on our trips, supporting conservation projects through the Exodus Adventure Travels Foundation, and rewilding 100 square metres for every Exodus traveller.