South Africa: Walking & Wildlife

Quite the most incredble insight into what SA has to offer. With the help of our two brilliant leaders Clifford & Andy we were spoilt by the number of bird and big 5 sightings (these guys have eyes in the back of their heads and Xray vision!). For wildlife spotting this trip does not disappoint - elephant, giraffe, rhino, hyena, lions, warthog, so many antelope and not forgetting a "Leopard Tortoise"all in our first week. Glorious walks abound, the Drakensberg are truely breathaking and we were expertly lead and looked after according to our skill levels. In amongst this were enlightening lessons in tribal history and culture that helped us understand the real SA. Accomodation is varied but everytime suited the location perfectly. The days were long but our leaders were tireless in their enthusiasm, kindness and skills in cooking! If you want a memorable and very varied trip in Africa this is a winner.

From the moment I stepped off the plane and met our guides Clifford and Andy the trip was exciting it comprised of such a fabulous variety of experiences and immersed you in South African culture, history, beauty and wildlife. The accommodation was varied and suited the environments we were in. The game drives were superb and we saw such a large variety of animals and birds. The hikes took us to areas of outstanding breathtaking beauty. Our guides were phenomenal nothing was to much trouble they understood our individuality and catered to our needs as the only vegetarian in the group I was given some of the most awesome meals courtesy of our guides cooking skills. I would highly recommend this trip

First group trip on some years. Superb experience and packed so much in. Saw big 5, gear locations, food and like minded company

This is a great trip for those who love both wildlife and hiking. In terms of wildlife, I thought St Lucia and Letaba were special and found Kruger a bit too commercial (like Etosha). The scenery for the hiking is fantastic, particularly in Swaziland and the Drakensberg (one of the most beautiful places I have ever been). If anything, I would like it to have been a bit more challenging as the walks were a little short for myself and other members of the group on some days. This didn't take away from a wonderful trip which I would recommend to anyone.

The itinerary looked good but the trip exceeded expectations. Superb mix of activities, locations and accommodation. Good group who got on well and mucked in when needed. Amazing scenery and saw all the Big5 and much more besides. Blyde River Canyon, Eswatini and, of course, the Drakensburg were all stunning. Weather good although walking in 30c+ was a challenge and needed regular rehydration. Challenging walks with most of the group agreeing a moderate rating is misleading.Seeing leopards, after 2 previously unsuccessful trips, as we were almost out of the Kruger and completing the BIg5 on our last game drive at St Lucia. Otherwise the hike to Witsieshoek via the challenging Witsieshoek Crack with boulder scambling and ladders.

Another outstanding trip from Exodus. It is very cleverly consrtucted, gradually building to the climax in the Drakensberg mountains. There were huge contrasts in scenery, passing through industrial and agricultural areas, the expanses of fairly dry national parks to the much greener hills and mountains of Eswatini, the lakes and Indian Ocean at St Lucia and the stunning mountains of the Drakensberg. The wildlife watching was good, not as easy as places such as the Massai Mara in Kenya, but we did see the big 5 and a lot more besides; on all of the walks there was also the opportunity to see wildlife. If birding is your thing, this is a great trip especially at this time of year as the migrations are just starting. I particularly enjoyed the visit to Isandwala and Rorkes Drift, the scene of major battles during the Zulu Wars together with walking the Fugitive's trail between the two. Weather is never predictable and we went from close to 40C one day in the game reservers to weather and scenery that could have been Scotland the next - but it did give us a chance to make use of the open fires in our accommodation in the hills of Eswatini! (Later in the trip we also experienced the most spectacular thunderstorms I have ever seen - very impressive) The Last four nights were spent in the Drakensberg, two at Thendele and 2 at Witsieshoek. The scenery was stunning and the walk up from Thendele to Witsieshoek showed a different aspect of it - more reminiscent of the Yorkshire Dales. The views from the top are wonderful but unfortunately, as is the way with mountains the weather, it closed in for the last day and the inside of a cloud looks pretty much the same wherever you are! We were a group of 12, thrown together at the start of the trip, who rubbed along pretty well and had some great times together, so a big thankyou to all concerned.

Great trip saw lots of wildlife and great walking

This trip is a great way to See South Africa across a variety of landscapes, mainly through National Parks and game reserves. There is a range of environments from the Drakensberg mountains to the Indian Ocean beaches at St Lucia with spectacular walks. There are long drives, over 3000km in total, in a reasonably comfortable 14 passenger minibus. Travelling in May, the weather was dry, sunny and warm, except at night and the highest walks. The accommodation varied between basic and very comfortable, but always clean.

The Exodus holiday in South Africa was a wonderful introduction to African landscapes and wildlife. I have travelled widely in my life but with little experience of Africa. This holiday exceeded my expectations in two ways: the remarkable opportunities to see wildlife at close quarters in Kruger; the amazing landscapes of the Blyde River canyon, Swaziland and the Drakensurg Mountains. My enjoyment of the holiday had a lot to do with the way it was organised and led by the group leader. I have been left with many great memories.

Really excellent trip with great variety of walking and wildlife, wonderful scenery, great accommodation and fantastic guides.

This was my second trip with Exodus, and I was confident that I was going to have a good time, get good value for money, and a wonderful experience. I was not disappointed. The booking was effortless, including the add on of four days in Cape Town that I requested. All the information that I needed was in the trip notes,and I felt well prepared. Our guide, Innocent is very knowledgable, and keen to impart this to us, and for us to have as good a time as possible. JoJo, the driver/chef, is also very well-informed, and a very careful safe driver. A lot is asked of him, as he would often prepare a meal for 13 after a long day's drive, sometimes on pretty basic equipment. This he did, always cheerfully. Both were very keen to explain how we can help the local craft industries, but we never felt pressurised or uncomfortable. The variety of experience, each day something new, was a fantastic introduction to South Africa. One week essentially wildlife spotting, the second hiking in some very dramatic scenery. I strongly recommend adding on a few days in Cape Town, if you haven't been before. It is less than a 2h flight, and a beautiful, easy, interesting city, and a great contrast to the game parks and mountains.

Really enjoyed this trip even though we probably did not chose the best time of year to do this, April. Sayin that the weather was quite kind to us. Letaba Game Reserve was a lovely start to our tour, the rangers at Mtomeni Safari Camp were very knowledgeable and friendly, food, especially breakfast, was very good. Permanent tents were much better than expected. Found the safari section a little repetitive but still enjoyable. Early starts and then pretty full on all day but never felt rushed. Loved the beach at St Lucia, a relaxing few hours there was appreciated as allowed us to recharge our batteries. Battlefields tour very interesting and would suggest if possible that you try and get your guide to add in a visit to Rorkes Drift to complete the story. Drakensburg was the highlight for me, good walking and marvellous scenery.

Well, what a trip! Soaking up the sights and sounds of South Africa and Swaziland was truly an amazing experience.

We chose this holiday for the combination of walking and wildlife offerred and the areas within South Africa that it covered. We love the Kruger and were also interested in seeing the Drakensburg mountains and Swaziland. Inevitably we spent a lot of time in the minibus as we covered very long distances, but it was worth it. We saw plenty of wildlife and fantastic scenerey. We stayed in some staggeringly beautiful places. My main concern with the holiday was always the walking, and whether we would be up to it? We are both in our 70s, but consider ourselves reasonably fit, as we regularly play 3 rounds of golf a week ( walking) and always take exercise every day. In the event, we found the walking very tough. In the main the terrain was difficult: narrow steep and stoney paths with tricky footing: there was a lot of difficult clambering across rocks and a head for heights was essential! I feel that a grading of “ moderate” for the walking was misleading: it seemed much more demanding than that. The altitude is high, and this adds to the difficulty. I would have preferred to have been given the option of easier walks from time to time, so that I could look at the wonderful scenery as well as my feet! Having said this, our guide was really helpful and got me through. I am glad we went.

An interesting and varied trip, including trekking in several locations, safaris in a number of places, a trip to a beach and a boat ride to see hippos and other wildlife. I like hippos and gazelles.

This trip covers a lot of ground! I can't believe how much we managed to do in just two weeks, and needed my photos and videos to remind me. The accommodation was of an exceptionally high standard and we slept very well everywhere. Our own guides were brilliant, and the external guides at various locations were excellent and very knowledgeable about their specialist areas.

A good mix of wildlife watching in a number of areas and walking in the Drakensberg Mountains

Difficult to sum up as we were offered such a wealth of experiences on this holiday. However revelling in the wonders of the natural world, whether specifically looking for wildlife, or walking in the mountains and hills, was a constant.

A very varied holiday, filled daily with new adventures so that it felt longer than 2 weeks. The animal sightings on safari and the early morning estuary trip were thrilling and the views on the mountain walks breathtaking. The added excitement of panning for gold, the aspects of historical interest (Anglo-Zulu war) and a day at the beach whale watching made this trip truly memorable.

I loved the variety of this trip. The accommodation ranged from lodges to mountain huts to tents. The activities covered day hikes and game drives. The scenery went from cool mountain plateaus to hot lowlands to lovely beaches. The organisation was streamlined.

The whole trip was fantastic. The only downside was the failure to inform the leader of my requirement for a gluten free diet. I don't think Ende had even heard of the condition, but, when it was explained to him he coped brilliantly even to the extent of preparing my main dish separately.

We booked this trip for our Honeymoon, it was something we always wanted to do and we enjoy trekking. We said we would keep a very open mind when getting to South Africa as we didn't expect to see a lot of animals or didn't know what to expect with the accommodation. Well, we were completely blown away with what we saw on this trip, within the first evening on the safari we saw Elephants, Giraffes, Buffalo, Impala and Wildebeest. The accommodation was very good, clean and tidy. Our favourite place we stayed was Mtomeni Safari camp in Letaba Ranch Reserve, this was the true safari experience for us. There was no electricity so bring your torch, sat round the fire, taken back to our tent in the evening by a guide with a riffle just in case we had an unexpected visitor!!. Waking up in the morning to site of the beautiful river with some monkey playing outside of tent was brilliant! Kruger Park was not as touristy as we thought it would be, the camp sites were really good and the showering facilities were very clean. Seeing all the animals so close to our van was incredible. It was almost like the animals were just as interested in us as we were in them! The walking comes later in the trip mainly, the mountains were breath-taking. The scenery surrounding our accommodation was amazing. Drakensberg is such a beautiful place and easily somewhere you could go back in the future for more walks.

This trip has the perfect blend of hiking and wildlife. Without exception the walks were stunning, and the game viewing in Karongwe and Kruger plentiful and awe-inspiring.

A fantastic trip which gave us a some highlights of South Africa. We really enjoyed the Drakensberg area and especially loved the chain ladders! Walking in the indigenous forest was a great experience. We enjoyed the 2 nights in Swaziland as the area was very scenic and the walking good. Visiting the Karongwe and Kruger was so worthwhile - we saw so many animals, birds and plants. Our day on the beach at Cape Vidal was great fun and we loved the big waves and the white sand, a real opportunity to relax at the half way point

This trip was fantastic. The guides, David and Ende were very knowledgeable, and excellent cooks!! They had a trainee, Colly, with them who knew a lot about tracking and local knowledge. We saw so many animals. It was wonderful to see them in their natural surroundings. I really enjoyed the walks, which were varied. However, the weather, and time beat us on Sentinel Peak, which was disappointing, but it is expected as it's winter in South Africa at the moment. A truly wonderful trip. I recommend it wholeheartedly!!

This trip covers a lot of ground! I can't believe how much we managed to do in just two weeks, and needed my photos and videos to remind me. The accommodation was of an exceptionally high standard and we slept very well everywhere. Our own guides were brilliant, and the external guides at various locations were excellent and very knowledgeable about their specialist areas.

A good mix of wildlife watching in a number of areas and walking in the Drakensberg Mountains

Difficult to sum up as we were offered such a wealth of experiences on this holiday. However revelling in the wonders of the natural world, whether specifically looking for wildlife, or walking in the mountains and hills, was a constant.

A very varied holiday, filled daily with new adventures so that it felt longer than 2 weeks. The animal sightings on safari and the early morning estuary trip were thrilling and the views on the mountain walks breathtaking. The added excitement of panning for gold, the aspects of historical interest (Anglo-Zulu war) and a day at the beach whale watching made this trip truly memorable.

I had booked this holiday because of the variety of activities on offer and it didn't disappoint. My main interest was the hillwalking and this was superb in all locations, however I found the safari part of the holiday just as enjoyable. The sights we saw, such as the cloud inversion at God's Window, were also stunning.

The whole trip was fantastic. The only downside was the failure to inform the leader of my requirement for a gluten free diet. I don't think Ende had even heard of the condition, but, when it was explained to him he coped brilliantly even to the extent of preparing my main dish separately.

We booked this trip for our Honeymoon, it was something we always wanted to do and we enjoy trekking. We said we would keep a very open mind when getting to South Africa as we didn't expect to see a lot of animals or didn't know what to expect with the accommodation. Well, we were completely blown away with what we saw on this trip, within the first evening on the safari we saw Elephants, Giraffes, Buffalo, Impala and Wildebeest. The accommodation was very good, clean and tidy. Our favourite place we stayed was Mtomeni Safari camp in Letaba Ranch Reserve, this was the true safari experience for us. There was no electricity so bring your torch, sat round the fire, taken back to our tent in the evening by a guide with a riffle just in case we had an unexpected visitor!!. Waking up in the morning to site of the beautiful river with some monkey playing outside of tent was brilliant! Kruger Park was not as touristy as we thought it would be, the camp sites were really good and the showering facilities were very clean. Seeing all the animals so close to our van was incredible. It was almost like the animals were just as interested in us as we were in them! The walking comes later in the trip mainly, the mountains were breath-taking. The scenery surrounding our accommodation was amazing. Drakensberg is such a beautiful place and easily somewhere you could go back in the future for more walks.

I loved the variety of this trip. The accommodation ranged from lodges to mountain huts to tents. The activities covered day hikes and game drives. The scenery went from cool mountain plateaus to hot lowlands to lovely beaches. The organisation was streamlined.

This trip has the perfect blend of hiking and wildlife. Without exception the walks were stunning, and the game viewing in Karongwe and Kruger plentiful and awe-inspiring.

A fantastic trip which gave us a some highlights of South Africa. We really enjoyed the Drakensberg area and especially loved the chain ladders! Walking in the indigenous forest was a great experience. We enjoyed the 2 nights in Swaziland as the area was very scenic and the walking good. Visiting the Karongwe and Kruger was so worthwhile - we saw so many animals, birds and plants. Our day on the beach at Cape Vidal was great fun and we loved the big waves and the white sand, a real opportunity to relax at the half way point

Fantastic trip. Such a variation of landscape and scenery. From wide open prairie, rainforest jungle and wild bushland to golden sand beaches, the Indian Ocean and souring mountains... we had it all. Oh, and too many wild life encounters along the way to actually list here in this short review.

This trip was fantastic. The guides, David and Ende were very knowledgeable, and excellent cooks!! They had a trainee, Colly, with them who knew a lot about tracking and local knowledge. We saw so many animals. It was wonderful to see them in their natural surroundings. I really enjoyed the walks, which were varied. However, the weather, and time beat us on Sentinel Peak, which was disappointing, but it is expected as it's winter in South Africa at the moment. A truly wonderful trip. I recommend it wholeheartedly!!

This was an amazing holiday, we packed so much in and saw so much it will be difficult to choose a highlight. The guides were very good and made sure we were happy, safe, well fed and enjoyed every minute.

Having walked in every continient and completed 11 Exodus trip I feel reasonably well qualified to judge that three of the walks we did on the trip should be included in anyones top day walks of the world. Knowledgeable local staff had the language skills for me to learn more about African wildlife on this trip than two previous safaris. This trip comes very highly recommended by me.

A wonderful trip in a spectacular country, seeing a lots of wildlife and some stunning landscapes