Kruger self-drive & safari adventure

This morning you be picked up and driven back to the airport to catch your next flight to Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport, which takes just under an hour. On arrival in Kruger, you're met at the airport by our representative and assisted with collecting your hire car. It's then a pretty half-hour drive to Hazyview through the wooded hills of Mpumalanga and another two hours to your lodge in Sabi Sands Nature Reserve. This afternoon, you will go on your first wildlife drive in the Kruger National Park. Your qualified guide will introduce you to some of the 147 mammal species and 500 bird species within this incredible wildlife area.

Enjoy your first full day of safari. Your day starts with an early morning wildlife drive when the wildlife is at its most active. You then return to your lodge for a hearty breakfast and have some free time to relax and enjoy your lodge's facilities. After lunch, you head out on your afternoon wildlife drive, trying to see species you've yet to encounter. Enjoy sundowners in the bush before heading back for a delicious meal, sharing tales from your day with fellow guests.

Another day of safaris is on deck. No boundary fences exist between Sabi Sands Game Reserve and the adjacent Kruger National Park which allows the wildlife here to roam freely between them. The reserve is particularly well-known for leopard sightings making this an ideal location for checking off sightings of the Big Five.

Enjoy another full day on safari. Between wildlife drives, you could head out on a bush walk with an experienced guide. This gives you a different perspective on the area's wildlife as you learn about the wider ecosystem, follow animal tracks and concentrate on seeing smaller species such as birds, reptiles and insects.

After your morning safari and breakfast, you will leave Sabi Sands and make your way to your lodge in the Timbavati Game Reserve. This drive will take up to four hours and is done on gravel roads so be prepared for an adventurous but rewarding journey filled with wildlife viewing opportunities. You should arrive at your next lodge in time for a proper safari drive this afternoon.

A typical day on safari at Timbavati Game Reserve unfolds with a sunrise drive, followed by free time to unwind, and an afternoon-into-night drive for viewings of nocturnal animals with a spotlight. The reserve, once degraded farmland, has been restored into a haven for wildlife, so in addition to providing an excellent base for safari drives it showcases an impressive feat in conservation.

By now, you will hopefully have spotted the Big Five animals while on safari, but in Timbavati you can add rarer species to your checklist including cheetahs, African wild dogs, and the rare white lion.

This morning you depart Sabi Sands Game Reserve for the two-hour drive back to the airport in time for your onward flights.