Cape Town to Victoria Falls - Hotel/Lodge

Adventure through dramatic scenery in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe

Cape Town to Victoria Falls is one of the world’s great journeys. Starting in Cape Town, the most cosmopolitan city in South Africa, this trip travels through the spectacular desert landscape of Namibia, wildlife-rich game parks in Namibia and Botswana and finally to the mighty Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe-Zambia border. This is an adventure through the heart of the most dramatic scenery in southern Africa, with rich culture, diverse wildlife and the opportunity to take part in numerous activities along the way.

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.
• The payment of entrance fees to natural reserves generates income which is used to upkeep and develop these important sites. On this trip, we travel to the Okavango River and Chobe and Etosha national parks.
• 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.
• Our local partners support the Save Our Sausage Trees initiative in Botswana, which aims to address the issue of depleting forests in the area. The mokoro is a canoe used by the people of the Okavango Delta and it is crafted traditionally from a single mature kigelia Africana tree (or sausage tree). Although increased tourism has had some obvious benefits to the area, it has also brought a higher demand for mokoro boats and therefore more trees are being cut down. As a wooden mokoro only lasts about five years, there are hundreds of these trees being felled per year and there are not enough trees to sustain this. We have consulted with the Okovango community, and have agreed to pay half the price of a fibreglass mokoro if a poler wants to purchase the other half to save the trees.

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 graded Activity Level 2 (Easy & 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.  

We run both camping and lodge/hotel departures for this trip, both following a similar itinerary.

Lodge/hotel departures offer an accommodated version of the camping trip, staying in a range of two- and three-star hotels, chalets and lodges. Breakfasts are eaten either at the lodge restaurant or are prepared by the local team, while lunches and dinners are typically prepared by the leaders and are enjoyed in a camp setting to capture the true open-air African experience. Some dinners are eaten in lodge/hotel restaurants too.

Transport for all departures is in a specially modified safari vehicle. All vehicles carry a reference library, fridge and/or icebox. Around 80 percent of Namibian roads are good gravel roads. However, the road conditions are completely dependent on how they are being maintained at the time and conditions can be poor on occasion. This can have an impact on journey times and comfort. Distances are long on some days, as this trip covers 3,100mi (5,000km), but take in an amazing variety of landscapes and wildlife. Game drives are completed in the vehicle we use throughout the tour (with the exception of optional game drives). Drive times stated are approximations and vary with road conditions and the number of stops.

Where we travel in South Africa is safe and the risk of crime is generally low. However, there are important steps that can be taken to minimise the risk of theft and these include leaving valuables in your hotel safe, at home, or concealed in the vehicle when not needed. Do not carry more cash than you need, as cards are widely accepted in South Africa. If using an ATM, do not do this alone and be mindful of your surroundings. It is not advisable to walk around after dark, particularly in Cape Town where you can easily and inexpensively take an Uber or ask your hotel to arrange a taxi.

There are a number of walks on this itinerary but most are short and on relatively easy terrain. The most challenging is the two hour walk to the White Lady rock paintings as the conditions can be hot and there are some boulders to navigate.

Legal note: All group members joining this tour are asked to sign an indemnity form at the start of the trip. This 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.

Following a review of all our trips we have categorised this trip as generally not suitable for persons of reduced mobility. However if you are a regular traveller on such trips, please contact customer services to discuss the trip and your personal condition.

Vaccinations and Health

We travel through several countries on this trip with different requirements, so it is essential you speak to your doctor or travel clinic to confirm which vaccinations or prophylaxes you need.

Please note, you may also need a yellow fever vaccination certificate if arriving from (or transiting through) a country with risk of yellow fever transmission. Again, please confirm before travel.

Additionally, bilharzia is known to occur in some of the lakes or rivers visited on this itinerary, we therefore advise all to take advice from your guide or leader locally before venturing for a swim.

Visa

It’s your responsibility to obtain any visas required for this trip. Visa requirements vary depending on your nationality and destination, so please check with the nearest embassy or consulate of your chosen destination(s), including any countries you may be transiting or transferring through. As a guide, some local governments provide information on what visas their citizens need. To help, we’ve gathered a selection of useful links below.

• Australia: www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations
• Canada: www.travel.gc.ca/destinations
• United Kingdom: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice
• USA: www.travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel.html

Worth knowing

South Africa: Anyone under 18 years old 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 a single parent, they 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.

Zimbabwe: A 30-day single-entry visa on arrival costs US$55 for British and Irish passport holders, US$30 for US passport holders and US$75 for Canadian passport holders.

Food & Drink

All breakfasts and four lunches are included.

We suggest you allow about US$450 for meals not included in the itinerary. Most included meals are prepared by the crew (sometimes it is not easy to get fresh meat). The general standard of food is good and vegetarians are well catered for. Please notify us of specific dietary requirements.

The water provided on this trip is safe and clean drinking water, normally from boreholes. 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.

Weather

June, July and August, while clear and warm during the day, can be cold and even drop to below freezing at night. Between September and May, it is considerably warmer with the time between October and March being the hottest, getting up to the high 30Cs (around 100F) and sometimes above. However, it is always a dry heat and the temperature does drop at night. The wet season is between November and February, but this is not a bad time to go, as it generally does not rain for very long.