ENCOUNTERSAFRICA
7-Day Phinda & Kwandwe Big Five Safari

South Africa - Fly-in safari

7-Day Phinda & Kwandwe Big Five Safari

Duration
7 days
Countries
South Africa
Suited to
2-6 guests
Pricing
From USD 10,280

The journey

Updated on 23 August 2026

South Africa's best conservation stories are its rebuilt reserves, and this safari strings together two of the finest. Phinda came first: 30,000 hectares of northern KwaZulu-Natal returned from farmland to bush by andBeyond in the early 1990s, now habitat for cheetah that hunt in daylight, black rhino in the thickets, and the rare dry sand forest with its tiny suni antelope. Vlei Lodge, six thatched suites with plunge pools on the forest edge, is its most intimate address. Then a flight south swaps subtropical Maputaland for the Eastern Cape's big folded valleys. Kwandwe holds 22,000 private hectares along 30 kilometres of the Great Fish River, carrying all of the Big Five in malaria-free country, with guest numbers so low that the ratio works out around 450 hectares per visitor. Ecca Lodge is its contemporary heart: six suites, plunge pools, and a guiding culture that favours off-road tracking, walking and time at sightings. Between them you cover seven habitats, two climates and most of what South African conservation has learned in thirty years, at a price the famous lowveld names cannot approach.

Your camps, day by day

Stay 1

Johannesburg to Phinda

The Federal Airlines flight from Johannesburg lands on Phinda's airstrip in about 1 hour 40 minutes, and the transfer to Vlei Lodge is your first game drive, sand forest closing overhead. Six suites look onto a green clearing patrolled by nyala. The afternoon drive heads for the marsh, where the reserve's cheetah hold court.

Stay 2

Cheetah and Sand Forest

Morning on the open palmveld with Phinda's daylight-hunting cheetah, the reserve's signature sighting, and with luck a full stalk from crouch to dust cloud. After brunch, the sand forest on foot: torchwood shade, suni antelope the size of hares, and a birdlist that fills margins. The evening drive rounds up elephant in the mountain bush.

Stay 3

Black Rhino Morning

Phinda's black rhino are tracked on foot where wind and cover allow, your guide reading spoor through the thicket line until the animal materialises, prehistoric and briefly enormous. The Mzinene boat cruise fills the golden hour instead if you prefer water: crocodiles, hippo, and kingfishers in ridiculous supply. Farewell drinks on the marsh.

Stay 4

South to the Great Fish

A morning drive, then the flight south via scheduled connections to Gqeberha and 90 minutes of Eastern Cape road to Kwandwe's gates. The land changes completely: big folded valleys, spekboom thicket, the Great Fish River threading it. Ecca Lodge's six suites face a wooded gorge. An evening drive introduces the new cast.

Stay 5

450 Hectares Each

Kwandwe's arithmetic becomes real on the first full day: hours of driving, lion on a kill, white rhino grazing a hillside, and not one other vehicle. Guides here go off-road and stay with sightings as long as they hold. The afternoon includes a walk along the Great Fish, fish eagles overhead, and the night drive finds aardwolf if luck runs.

Stay 6

The Valley in Full

The last full day works Kwandwe end to end: black rhino in the euphorbia thickets, buffalo herds on the river flats, and the reserve's lion prides wherever the night moved them. Between drives there is the plunge pool, or the story of the reserve's restoration told over lunch. Dinner is outdoors under the escarpment, fires lit.

Stay 7

Kwandwe to Johannesburg

A final dawn drive down the valley, breakfast at Ecca, then the road to Gqeberha for the early-afternoon flight to Johannesburg and evening international connections. Two reserves that were farmland within living memory, and a week of Big Five viewing that argues restoration is the best story in African conservation.

Safari highlights

  • Three nights at Phinda Vlei Lodge on the sand forest
  • Daylight cheetah hunts and black rhino tracking
  • Three nights at Kwandwe Ecca Lodge, malaria-free
  • 22,000 hectares and 30 km of the Great Fish River
  • Roughly 450 hectares per guest at Kwandwe
  • Two restored reserves, one conservation story

What is included

Included

  • 6 nights accommodation, per person sharing
  • Scheduled flight Johannesburg-Phinda airstrip
  • Flights Phinda-Gqeberha via scheduled connections
  • Road transfer Gqeberha-Kwandwe and return, about 1.5 hours each way
  • All meals, house wines, local spirits, beers and soft drinks
  • Twice-daily game drives, guided walks and rhino tracking
  • Phinda and Kwandwe conservation levies, government taxes and VAT
  • Laundry and emergency medical evacuation cover

Not included

  • International flights to and from Africa
  • Visas and entry permits
  • Comprehensive travel and medical insurance
  • Premium spirits, champagne and imported wines
  • Specialist conservation experiences such as rhino notching
  • Gratuities for guides, trackers and lodge staff
  • Items of a personal nature, curios and telephone calls

Frequently asked questions

How much does a 7-day Phinda and Kwandwe safari cost?

From USD 10,280 per person sharing, rising to about USD 11,480 in peak season. That covers six nights at Vlei Lodge and Ecca Lodge, all meals and house drinks, twice-daily drives, walks and tracking, conservation levies and the internal flights and transfers linking Johannesburg, Phinda and the Eastern Cape. International flights to Africa are excluded and quoted separately.

Why combine Phinda and Kwandwe?

Because they complement rather than repeat. Phinda is subtropical: sand forest, marsh and palmveld, cheetah hunting in daylight, black rhino, superb birding. Kwandwe is the Eastern Cape: big open valley country on the Great Fish River, malaria-free, with extraordinary space per guest and strong lion and rhino viewing. Two climates, two habitats, and the whole Big Five twice over.

Is Kwandwe really malaria-free?

Yes. The Eastern Cape lies entirely outside South Africa's malaria zone, so the Kwandwe leg needs no prophylaxis in any season. Phinda is a low-risk area where clinics recommend tablets mainly for the November to April wet months. Travellers who want to avoid malaria medication altogether often run this itinerary in the southern winter.

What is Ecca Lodge like?

Contemporary and easy-going: six suites of glass, timber and colour on a ridge above a wooded valley, each with a plunge pool and outdoor shower. Kwandwe's low guest density means drives rarely meet another vehicle, guides go off-road for sightings and walking is encouraged. The lodge is one of the Eastern Cape's most family-friendly, with a dedicated kids' programme.

When is the best time for this combination?

April to September suits both reserves: dry, mild, thin bush and concentrated game, with Kwandwe's valley mornings crisp enough for blankets on the vehicle. October to March is greener and hotter, excellent for birding and newborn game, and Phinda's turtle-nesting coast is an easy add-on in midsummer. Both reserves guide well year-round.

Are international flights included?

No. International flights to and from Africa are excluded and booked separately, arriving and departing Johannesburg in the standard routing. All the internal legs, the scheduled flight into Phinda, the connections south to Gqeberha and the Kwandwe road transfers, are included in the published price.