ENCOUNTERSAFRICA
9-Day Kruger & Cape Town Luxury Fly-In Safari

South Africa - Fly-in safari

9-Day Kruger & Cape Town Luxury Fly-In Safari

Duration
9 days
Countries
South Africa
Suited to
2-8 guests
Pricing
From USD 11,780

The journey

This is the classic South African pairing, bush then city, run at the luxury end and connected by scheduled flights so no day is lost to the road. It opens on the Sabie River at Lion Sands, the only Sabi Sand lodge with river frontage into the Kruger itself, where leopard walk the banks and three nights give the guiding team time to show you the reserve properly. A short road transfer then crosses to Kapama Karula near Hoedspruit, a change of river and rhythm: villas on the Klaserie with glass walls and private pools, cheetah on the open clearings, and the option of a dawn hot-air balloon over the reserve. The direct flight from Hoedspruit lands you in Cape Town by early afternoon for three nights at the Mount Nelson, Belmond's pink landmark under Table Mountain. The last days belong to the peninsula: Cape Point and the Boulders penguins one day, the cableway and the V&A waterfront the next. Fly out of Cape Town International, which takes evening departures for Europe direct.

Your camps, day by day

Stay 1

Johannesburg to the Sabie River

The 55 minute Airlink flight from Johannesburg lands at Skukuza inside the Kruger, and a 40 minute road transfer brings you to Lion Sands on the Sabie River. Lunch is on the deck above the water, hippo grunting below. The first game drive goes out at four and the Sabi Sand tends to produce a big cat before dinner.

Stay 2

Leopard Country

Two full drives in the reserve that made leopard viewing famous: the Sabi Sand's habituated cats ignore vehicles entirely, so mornings often end parked beneath a female draped in a marula tree. Between drives there is a river-facing pool, a spa, and the option of a guided bush walk to read the morning's tracks on foot.

Stay 3

The Full Sabi Sand Day

A third day here is deliberate: it lets the guiding team follow stories rather than tick species, a lion pride moving toward the river, wild dog denning to the south, or the resident leopards' border disputes. Tonight, if you have booked it, dinner is followed by a night in a treehouse under the full sweep of the sky.

Stay 4

Across to the Klaserie

After the morning drive, a two hour road transfer runs north past Orpen to Kapama, the big private reserve outside Hoedspruit. Kapama Karula's villas stand over the Klaserie River behind walls of glass, each with its own pool. The afternoon drive covers new ground: open clearings where Kapama's cheetah do their hunting at speed.

Stay 5

Ballooning and Big Five

Kapama is one of the few Big Five reserves offering dawn hot-air ballooning: an hour drifting over waking elephant with the Drakensberg escarpment pink to the west, an optional extra worth every cent. Otherwise the morning drive tracks rhino on the northern plains. The evening drive ends with the spotlight out, genets and civets in the beam.

Stay 6

Bushveld to Table Mountain

A last dawn drive, breakfast on the deck, then 30 minutes to Eastgate Airport for the direct Airlink flight to Cape Town, 2 hours 30 minutes over the whole width of the country. The Mount Nelson's pink facade and nine acres of gardens sit at the foot of Table Mountain. Afternoon tea in the lounge is a Cape institution; take it.

Stay 7

Cape Point and the Penguins

A private full-day peninsula tour: over Chapman's Peak Drive with the Atlantic sheer below, down to the Cape of Good Hope where two currents argue, and back through Simon's Town for the African penguin colony at Boulders Beach. Lunch is seafood in Kalk Bay among the fishing boats. You are back at the Nelson in time for a swim.

Stay 8

The Mountain and the City

The cableway rotates through 360 degrees on its five minute climb up Table Mountain; go early, before the wind and the queues. The rest of the day is yours: the V&A Waterfront and the Zeitz museum of contemporary African art, Bo-Kaap's painted streets, or a half-day run out to the Constantia wine farms, twenty minutes from the hotel.

Stay 9

Cape Town Departure

A last mountain-shadowed breakfast in the garden, perhaps a final walk in the Company's Garden next door, before the transfer to Cape Town International, 25 minutes away. Direct evening flights connect to London, Amsterdam and the Gulf, so most travellers are home the next morning with the Sabie River still somewhere in their ears.

Safari highlights

  • Three nights at Lion Sands on the Sabie River
  • Leopard country of the Sabi Sand Private Game Reserve
  • Two nights in a glass-walled villa at Kapama Karula
  • Three nights at the Mount Nelson under Table Mountain
  • Cape Point and the Boulders Beach penguins
  • Scheduled flights between every stop, no long road days

What is included

Included

  • 8 nights accommodation, per person sharing
  • Scheduled flight Johannesburg-Skukuza with road transfer to Lion Sands
  • Road transfer Sabi Sand to Kapama, about 2 hours
  • Scheduled flight Hoedspruit-Cape Town in economy class
  • All meals and house drinks at Lion Sands and Kapama Karula; breakfast at the Mount Nelson
  • Twice-daily game drives and guided bush walks at both reserves
  • A full-day private Cape Peninsula tour with driver-guide
  • Sabi Sand and Kapama conservation levies, government taxes and VAT
  • Emergency medical evacuation cover while on safari

Not included

  • International flights to and from Africa
  • Visas and entry permits
  • Comprehensive travel and medical insurance
  • Lunches and dinners in Cape Town
  • Premium spirits, champagne and imported wines at the lodges
  • Gratuities for guides, trackers and hotel staff
  • Items of a personal nature, curios and telephone calls

Frequently asked questions

How much does a 9-day Kruger and Cape Town safari cost?

From USD 11,780 per person sharing, rising to about USD 12,780 in peak season. That covers eight nights split between Lion Sands, Kapama Karula and the Mount Nelson, all safari meals and drinks, game drives, the Johannesburg-Skukuza and Hoedspruit-Cape Town flights, transfers and a private full-day peninsula tour. International flights to Africa are excluded and quoted separately.

How do you get between the Kruger area and Cape Town?

By scheduled Airlink flight from Hoedspruit's Eastgate Airport direct to Cape Town, about 2 hours 30 minutes. It is the single most useful air link in South African safari planning, because it removes the need to route back through Johannesburg. The trip opens with the 55-minute Johannesburg-Skukuza flight, so the longest road transfer of the itinerary is around two hours.

What is special about Lion Sands?

Frontage. Lion Sands sits on the south bank of the Sabie River, the only Sabi Sand property whose game drives overlook the river into the Kruger National Park itself. The permanent water pulls elephant, buffalo and leopard through camp year-round, and the lodge's three treehouse sleep-outs, booked as an add-on night under the stars, are among the most requested beds in Africa.

When is the best time to do this trip?

The dry winter, May to September, is prime for game viewing: thin bush, animals on the rivers, cool clear mornings. Cape Town is at its best in the southern summer, October to March. April, May, September and October are the crossover months that treat both fairly, and they also dodge Cape Town's high-season crowds and the Kruger's February heat.

Is the Kruger area malarial? Is Cape Town?

The Sabi Sand and Kapama are low-risk malaria areas, with most transmission in the warm wet months of November to April; most travel clinics recommend prophylaxis for those months and sensible precautions year-round. Cape Town and the whole Western Cape are completely malaria-free. Both lodges provide repellent and screened rooms.

Are international flights included?

No. International flights to and from Africa are excluded and booked separately. The natural routing arrives at Johannesburg and departs from Cape Town International, which has direct overnight flights to London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and the Gulf hubs, so you avoid backtracking. All flights within South Africa on the itinerary are included.