14-Nights Independent Wonders Of Southern Africa

Cape Town

Cape Town is southern Africa's most beautiful, most romantic and most-visited city. Few urban centers anywhere can match its setting along the Cape Peninsula spine, which slides like the mighty tail of the continent into the Atlantic Ocean. By far the most striking - and famous - of its sights is Table Mountain, frequently mantled by clouds, and rearing up from the middle of the city to provide a constantly changing vista to the suburbs below. Table Mountain is the city's solid core which divides the city into distinct zones with public gardens, wilderness, forests, hiking routes, vineyards and desirable residential areas trailing down it's lower slopes.

Johannesburg

Johannesburg's contrasts are some of the most extreme in the world; poverty-stricken and overcrowded Alexandra is surrounded by some of the richest suburbs in South Africa, and downtown hundreds of homeless struggle to survive around the Stock Exchange. The contrast between suburb and township is mirrored nationwide, but is more extreme here because of the intense wealth of many of the suburbs, and the sheer size of the townships and their satellite squatter camps. Yet the city as a whole continues to suck in people and skills from all over the country, making it the financial, commercial and cultural powerhouse of South Africa.

Victoria Falls

The town of Victoria Falls is a pleasant place, created for visitors. There are hiking routes and rental bicycles. There are also trinket shops, selling everything from cheap T-shirts to antique African musical instruments. Carvings of masks and animals are a tradition around the area (as is the bargaining required to purchase them for a reasonable price). The Victoria Falls Hotel, a short walk from the falls, still operates in full colonial splendor and should be seen even by those not staying there. Visit Crocodile Ranch and Craft Village - a fascinating glimpse into Zimbabwean culture. Visit Livingstone, just across the border in Zambia— more than just a tourist town and more character than Victoria Falls. Another appealing side trip is to Chobe National Park, in neighboring Botswana. Chobe is one of the finest game parks in the world.

Kruger National Park

This enormous and magnificent park is one of the most popular public game parks in the world. Its density of permanent game is unrivalled with hundreds of different species; 507 birds, 336 trees, 147 mammals, 114 reptiles, 49 fish and 34 amphibians! Sighting the "Big Five" has become a quest for many people on safari, and Kruger National Park has more than its fare share of these, with an estimated 1,800 lion, 9,125 elephant, 25,000 buffalo, unknown number of leopards and 2,300 black and white rhino. These animals became the 'Big Five' because they are the five most dangerous animals to hunt - when injured they attack! There are plenty of other fascinating animals and birds in the African bush.

Okavango Delta

The Okavango delta is one of the world’s largest inland water systems. It's headwaters start in Angola’s western highlands, with numerous tributaries joining to form the Cubango river, which then flows through Namibia (called the Kavango) and finally enters Botswana, where it is then called the Okavango. It is a unique ecosystem with large populations of African mammals, birds, and other animals and is one of the last totally unspoiled areas in Africa. This destination is perfect for camping, picture taking, walking safaris, and mokoro (canoe) excursions.

Chobe National Park

The Chobe National Park, which is the second largest national park in Botswana, has one of the greatest concentrations of game found on the African continent. Its uniqueness in the abundance of wildlife and the true African nature of the region offers a safari experience of a lifetime. The park is divided into four distinctly different eco systems: Serondela with its lush plains and dense forests in the Chobe River area in the extreme north-east; the Savuti Marsh in the west; the Linyanti Swamps in the north-west and the hot dry hinterland in between. A major feature of Chobe National Park is its elephant population currently estimated at around 120,000. The Chobe elephant are migratory, making seasonal movements from the Chobe and Linyanti rivers, where they concentrate in the dry season, to the pans in the southeast of the park, to which they disperse in the rains.