After breakfast, visit the spectacularly beautiful Tsitsikamma National Park and Storms River Mouth (weather permitting). The Tsitsikamma National Park incorporates 80 km of rocky coastline with spectacular sea and landscapes. A remote mountainous region with secluded valleys covered in mountain Fynbos and temperate high forests with deep river gorges leading down to the sea.
Afterwards we’ll continue our travels to Knysna, known as the oyster box of South Africa. Nestling on the banks of a beautiful lagoon, in the heart of the Garden Route. Enjoy a sunset cruise to the Knysna Heads, before sitting down for dinner at Drydock Restaurant. Renowned for dishes with glorious aromas and flavors, using the finest local ingredients and freshly picked herbs from the region.
2026 includes: En-route to Knysna, a stop at Mungo, a family owned and managed textile producer in Plettenberg Bay, producing fine quality textiles, woven on antique looms.
The 14 day South African Explorer Tour is a combination of the best that South Africa has to offer. It all starts in Cape Town. Traveling through the celebrated Garden Route and experiencing its warm hospitality, quirky towns. Then on to Johannesburg. In Johannesburg, get a historical insight into the country’s apartheid struggle years, and its liberation. It is a fascinating and heart wrenching narrative. A story that needs to be told.
A trip to South Africa would be incomplete without visiting the Kruger National Park. Where wildlife encounters will have the spirit of Africa coursing through your veins. Finally you will get to experience the highlights of the Panorama Route. Before ending the tour in Johannesburg.
The scheduled tour departs on selected Saturdays from Cape Town. With a minimum of 2 people and a maximum of 10 people.
South African Explorer Tour Highlights
Visit a farm stall packed with locally produced products from the Overberg region.
Visit to Cape Agulhas (the southernmost tip of Africa).
Travel via the scenic Tradouw Pass.
Guided tour of the Cango Caves and a guided tractor tour of an ostrich farm in Oudtshoorn.
Wine tasting top quality wines of the Klein Karoo region.
Sunset cruise on the Knysna Lagoon.
Visit Monkeyland Primate Sanctuary & Birds of Eden Sanctuary in Plettenberg Bay.
Visit to Tsitsikamma National Park and scenic Storms River Mouth.
Vibrant Soweto, Apartheid Museum, and the Hector Pieterson Memorial & Museum.
Two days of game viewing in the Kruger National Park including a thrilling open vehicle game safari with packed breakfast.
Experience the spectacularly scenic Panorama Route with visits to God’s Window, Three Rondavels, Blyde River Canyon, and Bourke’s Luck Potholes.
Most importantly:
Enjoy carefully chosen optional TRAVEL WITH A PURPOSE Activities that positively impact both the travellers, and the destinations they visit.
On arrival at Cape Town International Airport, you’ll be met by your representative and transferred to your hotel.
South Africa’s Mother City is consistently voted one of the world’s best cities to visit. The remainder of the day is at leisure to enjoy the vibrant culture, scenic beauty, and award winning cuisine.
Overnight: 4* The President Hotel or similar in Cape Town.
Day 2, Sunday: Cape Town
Enjoy a full day at leisure. Perhaps join a sightseeing tour*. Alternatively relax on one of Cape Town’s many pristine beaches. Although a small city, Cape Town is packed with sightseeing attractions, excellent bars, cafes, and restaurants. As well as colorful craft markets.
*Optional Tours
Full Day Cape Highlights
2025: R 2 095 / 2026: R 2 350 per person.
Meet your local guide, who will show you where to snap the best photos of Cape Town’s most iconic sights. First stop is Table Mountain, named one of the ‘New 7 Wonders of Nature’, for a cable car ride to the top of the mountain (excluding cost of cable way ticket & weather permitting). Travel via the scenic Chapman’s Peak drive (if open) to Cape Point Nature Reserve, for a picture of the famous Cape Point lighthouse dating back to 1859.
Visit Boulders Beach (entrance fee for own account), home to a colony of African Penguins and then to Muizenberg Beach, one of the most popular Cape Town beaches, dotted with colourful beach huts along the sand and locally known as ‘surfers paradise’. Head to Groot Constantia Wine Estate, for a wine tasting and wander through the scenic vineyards.
Cape Point
Full Day Cape Winelands
2025: R 1 690 / 2026: R 1 840 per person.
Join us for an authentic, local experience on a day out in the picturesque Cape Winelands. Visit Fairview wine estate, a local cheesery and working wine farm that specializes in the production of handmade, full flavoured cheeses paired with a wine tasting, followed by a visit to Babylonstoren wine farm with its botanically diverse fruit and vegetable garden, incredible scenery, and warm hospitality for a second wine tasting.
Overnight: 4* The President Hotel or similar on a bed & breakfast basis
Day 3, Monday: Cape Town – Cape Agulhas – Oudtshoorn
This morning you will be met by your local tour guide and depart for the scenic Garden Route. Travel along Sir Lowry’s Pass, with its magnificent views, to Grabouw and Elgin, a lush landscape surrounded by majestic mountains. Stop en route at a farm stall packed with locally produced products from the area.
Our journey continues to Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa. Where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. The area has largely been untouched and unexplored with its rugged coastline being the graveyard for many a ship. The historic Cape Agulhas Lighthouse is considered the icon that signifies the tip of Africa.
After this thrilling experience, we continue via historic Swellendam and the Tradouw Pass to Barrydale and the famous Route 62. Continue to Oudtshoorn, known as the ‘ostrich feather capital’ and centre of the world’s Ostrich farming industry.
Enjoy dinner at an Ostrich Farm (included), dining on local specialties such as Ostrich Steak.
Distance traveled today: 550 kms
Overnight: 4* La Plume Boutique Hotel or similar on a dinner, bed & breakfast basis
Day 4, Tuesday: Oudtshoorn
After a leisurely breakfast take a tour of the spectacular limestone caverns of the Cango Caves. One of the world’s great natural wonders, sculpted by nature through the ages. Join a fun filled interactive guided tractor tour at a working Ostrich Farm. Followed by a wine tasting, sampling top quality wines of the region.
Distance traveled today: 90 kms
Overnight: 4* La Plume Boutique Hotel or similar on a bed & breakfast basis
Cango Caves in Oudtshoorn
Day 5, Wednesday: Oudtshoorn – Knysna
After breakfast, travel over the Outeniqua Pass to George. The sixth oldest town in South Africa. It has many historical landmarks like the Slave Tree and King Edward VII Library building. Which is said to be the best example of Edwardian architecture in the town.
The tour travels via Wilderness, an attractive holiday resort. On to Knysna, known as the oyster box of South Africa. Nestling on the banks of a beautiful lagoon in the heart of the Garden Route.
Enjoy a delicious lunch en route of traditional cuisine and local treats (included). The remainder of the day is at leisure until you join an afternoon sunset cruise on the Knysna Lagoon.
Distance traveled today: 170 kms
Overnight: 4* Rex Hotel or similar on a bed & breakfast basis and lunch
Day 6, Thursday: Knysna
Today you’ll have the opportunity to further explore the natural beauty of the Garden Route. Visit Monkeyland Primate Sanctuary, where you will be able to see a variety of primates, roaming free in the forest. This award winning sanctuary is well known for its efforts to rehabilitate and free previously caged primates. A portion of this MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience, goes towards ensuring that these already endangered species can survive. And reproduce for a future reintroduction into the wild. The experience directly advances UN Global Goal 15: Life on Land.
The tour continues to the famous Eastern Head, where you will enjoy spectacular views of the Knysna Heads (weather permitting). Afterwards you’ll travel to Brenton on Sea. A breathtaking holiday location and a nature lover’s paradise with its unspoiled beaches and peaceful surroundings. The remainder of the afternoon will be at leisure.
Distance traveled today: 110 kms
Overnight: 4* Rex Hotel or similar on a bed & breakfast basis
Day 7, Friday: Knysna – Tsitsikamma
After breakfast, visit the spectacularly beautiful Tsitsikamma National Park and Storms River Mouth (weather permitting). The Tsitsikamma National Park incorporates 80 km of rocky coastline with spectacular sea and landscapes. A remote mountainous region with secluded valleys covered in mountain Fynbos and temperate high forests with deep river gorges leading down to the sea.
Afterwards we’ll continue our travels to Knysna, known as the oyster box of South Africa. Nestling on the banks of a beautiful lagoon, in the heart of the Garden Route. Enjoy a sunset cruise to the Knysna Heads, before sitting down for dinner at Drydock Restaurant. Renowned for dishes with glorious aromas and flavors, using the finest local ingredients and freshly picked herbs from the region.
2026 includes: En-route to Knysna, a stop at Mungo, a family owned and managed textile producer in Plettenberg Bay, producing fine quality textiles, woven on antique looms.
Distance traveled today: 100 kms
Overnight: 3* Tsitsikamma Village Inn (Log Cabin) or similar on a bed & breakfast basis
Day 8, Saturday: Tsitsikamma – Gqeberha – Johannesburg
Head eastwards along the Tsitsikamma Forest to Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), affectionately known as the “friendly city”. Travel to the airport for an onward flight to Johannesburg, where you’ll be met and transferred to your hotel. The remainder of the day is yours to relax.
Distance traveled today: 185 kms
Overnight: 4* Southern Sun Sandton or similar on a bed & breakfast basis
Day 9, Sunday: Johannesburg
Spend a full day exploring Soweto and surrounds, where some of the watershed events in the struggle against apartheid occurred. The tour starts with a drive past the FNB Stadium, also known as Soccer City. This was the venue for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final. It was also the site of Nelson Mandela’s first speech in Johannesburg after his release from prison in 1990.
The drive continues through Diepkloof, home to Soweto’s richest. And then to Kliptown, where the Freedom Charter was officially adopted in 1955. Drive past the Regina Mundi Church that played a pivotal role in the township’s history of resistance against apartheid. Then onto Vilakazi Street, the most famous street in Soweto. Where two Nobel Prize winners once lived, Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu.
The afternoon will conclude with visits to the Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum. That commemorate the role of the country’s students in the struggle against apartheid. And the prestigious Apartheid Museum, that covers the full history of the Apartheid era in South Africa.
Distance traveled today: 100 kms
Apartheid Museum
Overnight: 4* Southern Sun Sandton or similar on a bed & breakfast basis
Day 10, Monday: Johannesburg
Enjoy a full day at leisure. Perhaps join an optional tour*, or enjoy some shopping at Nelson Mandela Square. Home to a variety of shops and boutiques catering for all tastes and budgets.
*Optional tours
Morning Maropeng, the Cradle of Mankind Tour
2025: R 2 985 / 2026: R 3 270 per person
Experience the birthplace of human life at the Cradle of Humankind, visit the Maropeng Museum and take a journey through time. See fossils and discover how humankind was born.
Afternoon Pretoria Tour
2025: R 3 060 / 2026: R 3 350 per person
Explore the highlights of Pretoria, including Paul Kruger House, Church Square, the Voortrekker Monument, Union Buildings and City Hall.
Overnight: 4* Southern Sun Sandton or similar on a bed & breakfast basis
Day 11, Tuesday: Johannesburg – Kruger National Park
This morning you will be collected from your hotel, heading east to the Mpumalanga region. After freshening up at your lodge enter the world famous Kruger National Park. Spend the afternoon game viewing in your closed touring vehicle. The Park offers some of the best game viewing and wildlife opportunities in the world. And you’ll soon appreciate the challenges of managing this unique reserve. After an action packed afternoon in the Kruger Park, enjoy authentic cuisine from the region at your hotel.
Distance traveled today: 430 kms
Overnight: 3* Hippo Hollow Country Estate or similar on a dinner, bed & breakfast basis
Day 12, Wednesday: Kruger National Park
The day begins with early morning coffee or tea. Followed by a thrilling open vehicle morning game drive (with English speaking game ranger) through the Kruger National Park with packed breakfast. Your guide will endeavor to spoil you with sightings of the “Big Five”, general game and prolific bird life.
Kruger open vehicle game drive
Return to the lodge for lunch (own account) and a short siesta. In the afternoon we will journey once again through the magnificent expanses of the Kruger National Park. Unrivaled in its diversity of flora and fauna. Enjoy an afternoon of game viewing in your closed touring vehicle. Pursuing the Big Five and other rare and endangered species.
Optional Tours
Open vehicle afternoon game drive
2025: R 1 030 / 2026: R 1 115 per person
For the wildlife enthusiasts a second open vehicle safari, as an extension to the morning safari, in one of the world’s most renowned game reserves.
Learn more about the Kruger Park Anti-Poaching Dog Unit(subject to availability)
Cost in 2025 & 2026: R 250 per person
After the early morning open vehicle game safari, a presentation of the Kruger Park Anti-Poaching Dog Unit (Project Watchdog), that was established because of the increase in rhino poaching worldwide. Learn about the dogs that are trained to track poachers in the field, detect firearms, ammunition and wildlife products that enter and exit through the Kruger National Park gates. A portion of the trip price of this TRAVEL WITH A PURPOSE Activity goes towards ensuring that these dogs receive the best possible care in support of the vital work they do.
Distance traveled today: 250 kms
Overnight: 3* Hippo Hollow Country Estate or similar on a bed & breakfast basis
Day 13, Thursday: Mpumalanga
Enjoy breakfast before setting out to explore the magnificent Panorama Route. One of the most scenic routes in the region, offering glorious views, spectacular landscapes, and exquisite waterfalls. Visit majestic sights including God’s Window, the Three Rondavels and Blyde River Canyon (third largest canyon of its kind in the world), and Bourke’s Luck Potholes. And the charming village of Graskop; one of the first gold mining camps in the country.
Blyde River Canyon
Optional (own account) open vehicle full game drive is available, should you prefer not to join the Panorama Route tour.
Cost: R 2 965 per person
Join a full day open vehicle safari with a highly qualified field guide who is eager to share their knowledge and passion for this unique wilderness area.
Distance traveled today: 260 kms
Overnight: 3* Hippo Hollow Country Estate or similar on a bed & breakfast basis
Day 14, Friday: Mpumalanga – Johannesburg
Enjoy breakfast before starting the return journey to Johannesburg. Arrive in Johannesburg, at OR Tambo International Airport, at approximately 2.30 pm, where the tour ends on arrival. [Breakfast]
Distance traveled today: 400 kms
Responsible travel
Enjoy carefully chosen optional MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experiences that positively impact travelers and the communities you visit.
Meals included in this trip support sustainable food production. With at least 30% of the food on the menu being sourced locally (within 50-80km) of where it’s prepared.
South Africa is undoubtedly one of the most interesting countries in the world. People from all over the globe flock to its shores for its natural beauty, wildlife, and sunshine. South Africa’s immensely varied terrain supports a rich diversity of animals, birds, and plant life. It has an incomparable range of experiences.
South African Explorer Tour Rates
2025 South African Explorer Scheduled Tour Rates
Per person sharing
Single Supplement
1st January – 30th April 2025
R 56 995
R 12 195
1st May – 30th September 2025
R 56 250
R 11 395
1st October – 31st December 2025
R 58 130
R 12 735
2026 South African Explorer Scheduled Tour Rates
Per person sharing
Single Supplement
1st January – 30th April 2026
R 62 130
R 13 295
1st May – 30th September 2026
R 61 375
R 12 420
1st October – 31st December 2026
R 63 490
R 13 945
If there are only 2 guests, you will travel in a sedan vehicle.
For 3-10 guests, you will travel in a 13 seater vehicle.
South African Explorer Scheduled Guided Tour Rates Include:
Transportation is in air-conditioned touring vehicles appropriate to the requirements of the tour
16 Meals: 13 breakfasts, 1 lunch, 2 dinners including gratuities (excluding all beverages).
13 Nights’ accommodation including porterage.
Transportation including toll fees in air-conditioned vehicles.
Services of a professional English speaking tour guide.
Entrance fees as specified in the itinerary.
Bottled water in Eco friendly packaging.
South African Explorer Exclusions
Flight and departure tax between Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) and Johannesburg on Day 8.
Recommended flight – FA374 departing Gqeberha at 3.25 pm, arriving JNB at 5.05 pm.
Departure Dates
2025 South African Explorer Scheduled Tour Departure Dates
August 2025
2, 16, 23, 30
September 2025
13, 20
October 2025
4, 11, 18, 25
November 2025
1, 8, 15, 22, 29
December 2025
–
2026 South African Explorer Scheduled Tour Departure Dates
January
3;17
February
7;14;21;28
March
7;14;21;28
April
4;18
May
2;16
June
6
July
4
August
1;15
September
5;19
October
3;10;17;24
November
7;14;21;28
December
–
All our South Africa Safaris and Tours ↓
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