South Africa
Kruger and its private reserves for Big Five and leopard sightings, Cape Town and the Winelands for a very different second half of the trip, and a well-developed self-drive network throughout.
Overview
Kruger National Park is one of Africa's largest game reserves, and the private reserves along its unfenced western boundary, Sabi Sands and Timbavati among them, are known for close, off-road sightings and some of the best leopard viewing on the continent. Malaria-free alternatives further south, including Madikwe and parts of the Eastern Cape, suit families travelling with young children.
South Africa is also the easiest country on this list to combine safari with a city and wine break: Cape Town, Table Mountain, the Cape Peninsula and the Winelands around Stellenbosch and Franschhoek are a short domestic flight from Johannesburg, and the country's infrastructure makes a self-drive add-on realistic in a way it rarely is elsewhere on this list.
We put together the safari leg, the Cape Town leg and the transfers between them, with flights and a private guide where the ground calls for one.
Highlights
- Kruger National Park and its private reserves
- Leopard sightings in Sabi Sands and Timbavati
- Cape Town, Table Mountain and the Cape Peninsula
- The Winelands: Stellenbosch and Franschhoek
Best time to visit
May through September, the dry winter, is best for game viewing in Kruger, thinner bush and animals drawn to waterholes; Cape Town is at its best in the local summer, November through March.
Getting there
OR Tambo International Airport serves Johannesburg and Kruger's private reserves; Cape Town has its own international airport, with a short domestic flight connecting the two legs of a trip.
How we arrange it
We don't guide inside South Africa ourselves, and we don't publish a fixed South Africa itinerary the way we do for Kenya: no set trips exist yet for this country, so we build each one individually rather than invent a day-by-day plan that isn't real. What we do is put the trip together end to end, flights in and out, the right lodges and camps for your budget and interests, road or light-aircraft transfers between them, and a private guide on the ground who knows that particular park well.
Tell us what you want to see and how many days you have, and we'll draw up an itinerary and put you in touch with the people who can deliver it, with Nissa as your single point of contact throughout.
Outside Kenya we work through ground operators licensed in their own country, and they hold the permits and guiding accreditation required there. Nissa Safaris plans the trip, books it and stays your single point of contact throughout; the local operator runs the vehicles and guides on the ground.
Ready to plan South Africa?
Send us your travel dates and we'll put together a South Africa itinerary around them, flights, lodges and a guide on the ground.
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