Kruger & coast holiday in South Africa
This small group tour of South Africa and Swaziland combines thrilling wildlife experiences, including a night camping at the HQ of the famous Black Mambas in Kruger, with memorable cultural encounters. Visit a Swazi village to learn about traditional lifestyles and perhaps even meet the chief.
Johannesburg Nocturnal bush walk with the famous Black Mamba rangers Safaris in Kruger National Park Swaziland Hlane Royal National Park Visit a traditional Swazi village Saint Lucia Estuary Boat safari in search of hippos and crocodiles Cape Vidal Durban
Price
£875£787To£1125excluding flights
More info
Single supplement £75.
Offers
Up to £130 off selected dates.
Late availability on these dates: 03 Jan, 14 Feb
Late availability on these dates: 03 Jan, 14 Feb
Description of Kruger & coast holiday in South Africa
Sample the very best of South Africa and Swaziland on this fully escorted small group tour, as you travel from Johannesburg to Durban through Kruger National Park, Hlane Royal National Park and the wildlife-rich Saint Lucia Estuary. Your itinerary includes a couple of very special experiences: camping with the famous Black Mambas - the world's first all-female anti-poaching unit, and a boat safari with the chance to see hippos and crocodiles, a thrilling alternative to the traditional game drive.
Your first stop is a few days in the legendary Kruger National Park, home to some 150 species of mammal including the Big Five, 100 species of reptile and over 500 species of bird. But your first night here won’t be spent in a lodge or bush camp. Instead, you’ll stay at the HQ of the Black Mambas. This team of 36 young African women helps patrol the Balule Nature Reserve, part of Greater Kruger National Park, and as part of your introduction to their work, they’ll take you on a nighttime bush walk to help remove snares, and perhaps see some nocturnal wildlife.
After a day of game drives in Kruger, you’ll cross into Swaziland, and Hlane Royal National Park. Here you’ll be taken on a game walk with a brilliant Swazi guide to see huge herds of elephants and giraffes, with lions, leopards and hippos also present. After a night camping in the park you have the opportunity to visit a local village, unusual in that it has a female chief, to learn about Swazi culture and perhaps even lend a hand with some of the everyday farming activities.
Cross the border, then, back into South Africa, as your group makes for the Saint Lucia Estuary, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that provides habitat for hundreds of hippos and crocodiles. Two nights of camping here include a thrilling boat safari that offers a very different experience to traditional game drives, and a day trip to Cape Vidal. Depending on the time of year, you might spot migrating humpback whales off the coast, or see loggerhead turtles making the way up the beach to lay their eggs.
Finally reaching Durban, South Africa’s second city, bid farewell to your fellow travellers at this glamorous coastal destination.
Map
Price information
£875£787To£1125excluding flights
Single supplement £75.
Check dates, prices & availability
Travel guides
There aren't many places you can see penguins on the beach, whales from the shore, and then go on an incredible safari.
Our Kruger National Park travel guide lifts the lid on almost 20,000km² of protected land.
Holiday information
Small group tour, ideal for solos & couples:
Small group travel is not large group travel scaled down. It is modeled on independent travel – but with the advantage of a group leader to take care of the itinerary, accommodation and tickets, and dealing with the language. It’s easy to tick off the big sights independently – but finding those one-off experiences, local festivals, travelling markets and secret viewpoints is almost impossible for someone without the insider knowledge gained from years in the field. For those with limited time, a small group tour will save valuable time in planning, and on holiday.
Reviews
1 Reviews of Kruger & coast holiday in South Africa
4 out of 5 stars
Reviewed on 25 Mar 2025 by Ellen Kinsley
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Camping in the national parks was a memorable experience, I loved hearing the insects chirping and squeaking through the night. Meeting the Black Mambas was amazing, I had read about them years ago and it was fantastic to meet them in person and hear their stories. We were very lucky with the animals we saw - all of the "big 5", four of the "ugly 5" and two of the "little 5", plus many more beautiful animals. The night drive at Kruger was wonderful, an opportunity not to be missed.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
You don't necessarily need everything on the kit list - make your own judgement and save valuable space in your luggage. Bring some padlocks: for the lockers in the truck and for keeping baboons out of your tent! Bring a variety of charger wires as some may not work in the truck. Bring plug adaptors to make use of electricity in the campsites. Be prepared for early starts and not much down time It's worth considering the single supplement for the tent in order to have more space, especially in the hot weather.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
I feel the holiday supported conservation to some degree through supporting the Black Mambas. It wasn't evident that there was an intention to reduce environmental impacts as this wasn't discussed, and we were given plastic bottles of water by some of the guided tours that were used. They could have built in more opportunities to support local people, e.g. through stopping at local cafes/kiosks/fruit sellers/craftspeople, rather than supermarkets and retail parks.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
I had a great experience camping in the national parks and I'm really glad I went on this trip. The crew worked well together and our cook in particular was great fun and made the trip very enjoyable. We were well fed and vegetarian alternatives were made e.g. veg curry, veg pasta salad, bean patties. The structured approach and emphasis on precise timings gave a "school trip" feel at times, which might not suit those who prefer a more flexible approach. But I would recommend this trip as a good way to see several wildlife destinations in a short time, especially for people travelling solo as it provides safety and companionship.
Read the operator's response here:
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback and review following your travels with us! We passionately believe that businesses have a responsibility to take consistent action to minimise environmental impact, conservation efforts and contribute to limiting global warming to 1.5C in the next decade. Businesses need to be part of the solution, and that is our commitment. As part of our Carbon Management Program, (we measure our electricity, gas, paper waste, flight emissions; aim to reduce and be more resource efficient and then offset the rest). We offset the carbon emissions from our global business offices and the emission created on our trips. Through these offsets, significant monetary contributions are made on behalf of our business, suppliers, staff and travellers to internationally certified carbon abatement projects.
We also aim to minimise the carbon emissions on our trips as much as we can by (not limited to) the following:
o engaging locally owned and operated services, thus avoiding use of long, carbon-intensive supply chains
o use local public transport wherever possible, and particularly minimise the use of flights within itineraries, and
o include and encourage locally produced food and goods which reduces the energy consumed by production and transport of food and goods
For some destinations and itineraries it can be more difficult to implement these, for example - some local suppliers might rely on an income stream from selling plastic water bottles, or public transport options may not be available to service the itinerary, making it quite a complex issue. It is difficulties like this that make our other efforts an important part of our approach.
We have also recently launched ‘carbon labels’ for our trips, which reflect the carbon emissions produced per person per day. The aim of these is to educate our travellers about their impact, and encourage low-carbon options where possible.
Thank you for specifically highlighting that you feel we could support local businesses more on this itinerary, I have shared this feedback with the relevant teams to consider.
I hope this helps highlight how important environmentally responsible and sustainable travel is to us.
We also aim to minimise the carbon emissions on our trips as much as we can by (not limited to) the following:
o engaging locally owned and operated services, thus avoiding use of long, carbon-intensive supply chains
o use local public transport wherever possible, and particularly minimise the use of flights within itineraries, and
o include and encourage locally produced food and goods which reduces the energy consumed by production and transport of food and goods
For some destinations and itineraries it can be more difficult to implement these, for example - some local suppliers might rely on an income stream from selling plastic water bottles, or public transport options may not be available to service the itinerary, making it quite a complex issue. It is difficulties like this that make our other efforts an important part of our approach.
We have also recently launched ‘carbon labels’ for our trips, which reflect the carbon emissions produced per person per day. The aim of these is to educate our travellers about their impact, and encourage low-carbon options where possible.
Thank you for specifically highlighting that you feel we could support local businesses more on this itinerary, I have shared this feedback with the relevant teams to consider.
I hope this helps highlight how important environmentally responsible and sustainable travel is to us.
Responsible Travel
As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we've screened this (and every) holiday so that you can travel knowing we've worked to maximise the benefits of your holiday to local people and places, and minimise any negative impacts.
Planet
We’re all for zero contact, zero interaction experiences with wildlife. Wild animals should be viewed in the wild. This trip offers travellers the opportunity to view wildlife in their natural habitat in the Kruger National Park, and Hlane Royal National Park. Our leaders are trained to ensue travellers follow a few simple guidelines; don’t call out to animals, whistle or try to get their attention – noise disturbs them and stresses them out – just let them do their thing. Drivers and guides must never use their vehicles to get an animal to move, or drive off-road to get closer to the action.We actively discourage the participation of travellers in any activities that exploit wild or domestic/working animals. Unfortunately there are many businesses in Southern Africa offering an optional 'Walk with the Lions' experience. We ask all our travellers to avoid this activity as it is contrary to our Responsible Travel policy. The lion walking industry directly contributes to the captive breeding and canned hunting of lions.
In an effort to reduce single use plastic during this trip we provide reusable cloth bags to all of our travellers. It’s easy to use plastic excessively, especially in the hot months. However, we encourage our travellers to buy large 5-10 litre bottles to refill their small water bottle.
Water is a precious commodity in this part of the world. Our trained tour Leaders are well versed in advising travellers on initiatives to manage water consumption. We encourage travellers to treat this scarce resource with the utmost respect.
Unfortunately on the vast majority of this itinerary, using local transport is not reliable or feasible. So we use private, locally owned transport. We ensure our vehicles/fleets are well maintained and fuel-efficient. We also endeavour to include a range of other local transport options such as Canoe where possible.
People
This trip s run by our own local Southern Africa operator who shares our commitment to responsible travel, from waste and water management to ensuring we are leaving as minimal a footprint as possible. Our local team are trained on our global responsible travel policies and practices. We also use a range of other local suppliers for different activities throughout this 2 country itinerary.All aspects of this trip (on the ground) are operated by local Southern Africans (most of whom live locally) including all our leaders, vehicle drivers, local site guides, suppliers and accommodation providers.
The cloth bags provided to our travellers on every trip are sourced and suppled from a local community NGO.
This trip has a maximum group size of 16, to minimise our impact on the places we visit. Overtourism is an issue we are very conscious of and we are taking measures to ensure our impact on the communities we visit and their environment is our top priority.
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