Itinerary
Day 1 — Johannesburg to Kruger National Park | Sunset Game Drive
Your guide collects you from OR Tambo International Airport or your Johannesburg accommodation early in the morning. The drive east takes you through Mpumalanga's rising landscape — the highveld giving way to the escarpment, then dropping down into the warm lowveld as Kruger country begins. You reach Tembo Guest Lodge in Hazyview around midday, check in, and settle into your well-appointed room before your first game drive.
The afternoon is yours before the highlight of day one: a sunset game drive into southern Kruger National Park. This is prime predator territory — lion, leopard, cheetah, and wild dog all patrol these zones — and the late-afternoon light over the mopane and acacia is extraordinary. Watch animals gathering at the waterholes as the heat of the day subsides. Return to the lodge for dinner as the African night closes in over the river.
Destination: Southern Kruger National Park Accommodation: Tembo Guest Lodge, Hazyview (4-star) Meals: Dinner included
Day 2 — Full Day in Kruger National Park | Morning & Afternoon Game Drives
Day two is a dedicated, full game-drive day inside Kruger. You are on the vehicle at first light — the gates open at sunrise and your guide is already positioned to enter the park the moment they do. The morning session covers the southern park's most productive routes: the Sabie River corridor, the open plains around Lower Sabie, and the dense riverine forest sections where leopard and lion concentrate.
A midday break at one of the park's picnic spots gives you time to eat, birdwatch along the river, and watch resident hippos from the banks before the afternoon drive resumes. The evening game drive runs deep into golden hour, with animals active again after the midday heat and predators beginning to prepare for the night. Return to the lodge for dinner.
Destination: Kruger National Park (southern zones) Accommodation: Tembo Guest Lodge, Hazyview (4-star) Meals: Breakfast & Dinner included
Day 3 — Panorama Route Excursion | Blyde River Canyon, God's Window & Bourke's Luck
After breakfast, you leave the lowveld behind and ascend the Drakensberg Escarpment for a full day on the Panorama Route — one of the most scenic drives in South Africa, running along the edge of the escarpment with views across the lowveld that stretch for hundreds of kilometres.
Key stops on the Panorama Route include:
Blyde River Canyon — the third-largest canyon in the world and one of the most photographed landscapes on the continent, with the three domed peaks of the Three Rondavels rising above the canyon floor.
God's Window — a viewpoint cut into the escarpment edge where the highveld drops suddenly and dramatically away, revealing the vast green lowveld below. On a clear day the views extend all the way to Mozambique.
Bourke's Luck Potholes — a geological spectacle where two rivers meet and millennia of swirling floodwater have carved cylindrical potholes into the yellow rock. The colours and formations here are unlike anything else on the route.
Return to Tembo Guest Lodge in time for dinner. All meals are included today.
Destination: Panorama Route (Mpumalanga Escarpment) Accommodation: Tembo Guest Lodge, Hazyview (4-star) Meals: All meals included (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
Day 4 — Final Morning Game Drive | Return to Johannesburg
One last early morning game drive before breakfast. This session — after three days in the field and a guide who now knows exactly how the animals in this section of the park are moving — often produces some of the most memorable sightings of the entire tour. After breakfast, you check out of the hotel and begin the drive back to Johannesburg, arriving at OR Tambo International Airport or your city accommodation in the late afternoon.
Destination: Return to Johannesburg Accommodation: None (end of tour) Meals: Breakfast included
