South Africa, eSwatini and Lesotho holiday
Description of South Africa, eSwatini and Lesotho holiday
This two week overland takes you through South Africa from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth. We'll pass through the small but fascinating country of eSwatini (formerly Swaziland), the beautiful mountain kingdom of Lesotho and travel along the coastline of South Africa, wildlife rich national parks and the Great Karoo region.
Starting from Johannesburg we'll travel along the Panorama Route, one of South Africa's best natural wonders, with visits along the way at God's window, the Three Rondavels and we'll make a stop to see the Bourke's Luck Potholes. Before leaving South Africa we'll visit one of the world's most famous game reserves, Kruger National Park. Packed with wildlife our time here provides a final chance to tick off and enjoy watching any big game animals, birds and other wildlife.
Our next stop is in the small country of eSwatini (formerly the Kingdom of Swaziland) where we include a nature walk and you can also can take game drives, mountain biking or a visit to the Chief’s village.
Back in South Africa we cross the spectacular Drakensberg mountains where we take another hike, and descend to the Kwa-Zulu-Natal coastline and St. Lucia where we enjoy a boat cruise on the estuary, looking out for crocodiles and rhino. A wildlife safari follows in Hluhulwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve which is still a stronghold for the heavily persecuted South African rhinoceros population. More of the Big 5 and other wildlife can also be seen here.
Next is Lesotho where we have a couple of days to hike in the mountains and discover the Basotho people and their ponies.
Ending our journey in South Africa we have a long drive through the arid planes of central South Africa and the Great Karoo before visiting Addo National Park where we'll have our final wildlife safari.
The tour is available at two accommodation levels on each departure, either camping based or accommodated, staying in hotels, lodges and permanent camps.
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How our company is making a difference:We know that making the positive difference we aim to achieve will not be an easy task. However, our enthusiasm and commitment towards our travel responsibility mission is far stronger than any obstacles. We believe that in order to achieve any objective, the company has to have accurate policies and procedures for the employees and the guests to follow in order to reach our goal.
We have decided that the environment is a major component of any local community and any negative effect on the environment would directly have an impact on the lives of the inhabitants of the local community. Therefore, we have drawn up a strict environmental protection policy that all our employees and travelers have to abide by. For example, we recycle empty ink cartridges. A company collects them and disposes of them the correct manner.
The Garden Route in South Africa is known for falling victim to run away veld fires. Not only do these fires destroy beautiful landscapes, but also wine farms, which destroy incomes of the workers and farmers. Our Travelers are not only briefed, but warned about the dangers of smoking and flicking cigarettes in these wilderness areas they will drive through. Lastly, we encourage them to go back home and spread the world of wild life conservation in terms of protecting the natural habitat, not littering, and possibilities of wild life sponsorship.
On any of the game drives, travelers are briefed not to feed the smaller animals, like monkeys and birds. They are tamed this way, which may cause them to get hurt in the future, or even cause harm to the tourists. Don’t offer your guide extra money for doing something that (you know) is illegal. Off road driving is not allowed in most places so don’t push your guide to do so. Also don’t push him to approach wildlife too close.
For us, Responsible Travel is the only way to travel.
As responsible travelers, we recognize the need to reduce our plastic consumption and provide sustainable alternatives to our customers. That's why we've partnered with Water to Go to offer a fantastic solution.
Water to Go is a company on a mission to tackle the issue of plastic pollution by providing travelers with reusable filter bottles. These bottles are not your average water containers. They are designed with advanced filtration technology that allows you to safely refill your bottle from natural water sources, taps, and even in places where tap water is not typically considered safe to drink.
People
Throughout our long tourism business journey, exceeding 15 years of travel operation, we have succeeded in establishing strong links with the communities we are dealing with in the host destinations.We believe that the Responsible Travel concept has to be a two-way strategy with both the travelers and the local community gaining benefits. We benefit the local communities we visit using a wide scope of activities that have a positive impact on the local economy, directly by donating money to charity organizations, financially supporting some local communities and by recruiting employees who belonging to the local community. We encourage our guests to buy local products and make use of services that people local community offer. We help indirectly through capacity building projects we implement with our employees and through the experiences and culture exchanges that take place between the locals and the travelers during our tours.
We promise to support the local community of every destination we take our travelers to. We will do this by employing local guides, using local handicraft shops and recommend shops to our travelers so that their holiday spending contributes to the people of that country. Furthermore, we provide each traveler with a tipping guide. By doing this we set a concept of tipping and gratuity for every person who will offer a form of service to the traveler.
We have also considered the social aspect of the local community and how to respect the customs and traditions of the inhabitants helping us operate our tours. We always provide our guests with all the information needed to understand the community they are visiting and we create valuable opportunities for the travelers and the locals to mingle and exchange ideas and thoughts.
The first objective is to operate our tours in the most perfect way possible. Our second objective, but not second in importance, is to benefit the local community, protect the environment, and have a positive social impact on the inhabitants living in our host destinations. One of the ways of doing this is to inform and educate our travelers on the cultures of the destinations. By doing this we aim to create a form of respect between the travelers and the local citizens who they will face along their tour.
We educate all our staff on the real life situations of each destination. Sales consultants will use this information to inform potential travelers of the correct information and threats that they may face. By creating long lasting relationships with our local ground handlers, we are able to establish what needs the community has and through their information we can inform our travelers what they can contribute to the local community from their home countries.
Although South Africa is much more developed than the other surrounding African countries, the children of this country are still at the mercy of donations and support from tourists and investors. We aim to be the middle man between our travelers and these organizations to hand over funds and donations that will be used for the orphans and poor children of Africa’s rainbow nation.
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