Zululand & the KwaZulu-Natal game reserves · Departing from the Protea hotel on Sunday 1 August 2027
There are two tours available to choose from – A short 3 day tour to St Lucia or a longer 7 day tour to St Lucia, Mkhuze and Bayala Game Lodge. Please note that the full 7 day tour includes the first 3 day tour and then continues on to two further luxury safari venues. Both tours depart together, directly from the Protea Hotel in Umhlanga after the closing ceremony on Sunday 1 August and both end with a transfer to King Shaka International Airport. (local, alternative destinations can be discussed)
| Short tour | Full safari tour | |
|---|---|---|
| Dates | 1 – 4 August 2027 | 1 – 8 August 2027 |
| Length | 4 days / 3 nights | 8 days / 7 nights |
| Where you stay | Elephant Lake Hotel, St Lucia | Elephant Lake Hotel · Ghost Mountain Inn · Bayala Game Lodge |
| Game drives | Rare Cape Vidal Coastal Safari Game Drive in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. | Rare Cape Vidal Coastal Safari Game Drive in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and Four Safari game drives in a Big Five Private Game reserve. |
| Boat cruises | St Lucia Estuary | St Lucia Estuary · Lake Jozini |
| Also included | Full day at Cape Vidal with a Traditional South African beach braai | Full day at Cape Vidal with a Traditional South African beach braai · Spa Treatment · Zulu cultural dancing |
| Per person sharing | R9 000 ≈ $560 · kr 5 390 | R34 000 ≈ $2 125 · kr 20 360 |
| Child under 12 sharing | R6 800 ≈ $430 · kr 4 070 | R24 500 ≈ $1 530 · kr 14 670 |
| Single room total | R10 200 incl. R1 200 supplement | R43 000 incl. R9 000 supplement |
Prices are approximate and will be adjusted and confirmed by December 2026 based on numbers attending. Neither tour includes flights, airport transfers, gratuities or travel insurance.
Encircled by the iSimangaliso Wetland Park – South Africa’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site – St Lucia sits on an estuary stretching more than 85 km. It is the easy, beautiful version of a safari add-on: no early starts, everything within walking distance and hippos wandering through town at dusk.
After breakfast and check-out at Umhlanga, you will be collected and transferred to the Elephant Lake Hotel in St Lucia, which is walking distance from shops and restaurants.
The evening is yours to explore the town at your leisure and dinner is for your account. Take a walk down the main street, browse the market stalls and enjoy dinner at one of the many unique, informal restaurants. Watch out for hippos in the streets between from dusk and into the night. They come out of the river, pass right by the hotel and head into town on their way to graze for the night.
Included Breakfast
After breakfast your guide will collect you for a boat cruise on Lake St Lucia, which is abundant in birdlife, crocodiles and hippos. This cruise is enjoyable for all ages and runs about two hours with snacks and drinks included.
The rest of the day and the evening are at your leisure to explore locally. Lunch and dinner are for your account.
Included Breakfast · St Lucia boat cruise
A full-day guided excursion starting at 8am. You will be transported in an open-top vehicle on a guided wildlife drive through the iSimangaliso nature reserve – a World Heritage Site boasting five different ecosystems, rich birdlife and wildlife along the way. We will then arrive at the magnificent Cape Vidal beach, where the golden sand stretches as far as the eye can see.
A picnic lunch is served on the beach on arrival: a delicious full braai and drinks. Then it will be time to explore your exquisite surroundings. Take some time to stretch your legs with a walk on the beach, dive into the blue of the Indian Ocean and experience an abundance of sea life amidst the sheltered, shallow reef. (Snorkelling gear included). Sightings of blacktail, angelfish, convict surgeon, damsels, indian goatfish and common lionfish, amongst other tropical fish, are common sightings in Cape Vidal as well as green turtles, colourful nudibranchs, marbled electric rays, cuttlefish, crayfish, octopus and spotted eagle rays on a good day.
You will be returned back at the hotel around 4pm, via a final wilderness drive through the wetland park and the evening is at your leisure to rest or explore further.
Included Breakfast · Full-day guided Cape Vidal tour including lunch
After breakfast and check-out you will be transferred to King Shaka International Airport for your onward flight. (Alternate, local transfer destinations can be discussed well in advance.)
Included Breakfast
A three-star hotel on the shores of the St Lucia Estuary, inside the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. Fifty-six en-suite air-conditioned rooms, all with a westerly view across the estuary, DSTV, tea and coffee facilities, wall safes and a full range of bathroom amenities.
Ground-floor rooms open onto a private patio by the pool; upstairs rooms have private balconies. The estuary viewing deck off the upstairs lounge bar is the perfect spot for a sundowner. Free Wi-Fi in public areas.
The full trip: three nights in St Lucia, two at the foot of Ghost Mountain in Mkuze and two inside a Big Five reserve at Bayala Game Lodge. Four game drives, two boat cruises, a spa treatment and an evening of Zulu dancing.
After breakfast and check-out at Umhlanga, you will be collected and transferred to the Elephant Lake Hotel in St Lucia, which is walking distance from shops and restaurants.
The evening is yours to explore the town at your leisure and dinner is to your account. Take a walk down the main street, browse the market stalls and enjoy dinner at one of the many unique, informal restaurants. Watch out for hippos in the streets between from dusk and into the night. They come out of the river, pass right by the hotel and head into town on their way to graze for the night.
Included Breakfast
After breakfast your guide will collect you for a boat cruise on Lake St Lucia, which is abundant in birdlife, crocodiles and hippos. This cruise is enjoyable for all ages and runs about two hours with snacks and drinks included.
The rest of the day and the evening are at your leisure to explore locally and lunch and dinner are for your own account.
Included Breakfast · St Lucia boat cruise
A full-day guided excursion starting at 08:00. You will be transported in an open-top vehicle on a guided wildlife viewing drive through the iSimangaliso nature reserve – a World Heritage Site boasting five different ecosystems, rich birdlife and wildlife along the way. We will then arrive at the magnificent Cape Vidal beach, where the sand stretches as far as you can see, there are areas to swim in the sea, snorkel and explore sealife in the rock pools.
A picnic lunch is served on the beach on arrival: a full braai, snorkelling equipment and drinks. You will be returned back at the hotel around 16:00, via a final wilderness drive through the wetland park and the evening is at your leisure to rest or explore further.
Included Breakfast · Full-day guided Cape Vidal tour including lunch
After breakfast and check-out you will transferred to Ghost Mountain Inn (about two hours). Lunch en-route is at your leisure and for your own account.
Zululand runs up the Northern KwaZulu-Natal coast to the Mozambique border. Enjoy the wild landscapes, traditional cultural heritage, beaches, mangrove swamps, estuaries and rolling grassland. We will have dinner together on arrival.
Included Breakfast · Dinner
After breakfast we will depart on a boat cruise on Lake Jozini – one of South Africa’s largest dams, which set at the foot of the Lebombo Mountains. There are gorges teeming with cycads and birdlife and on the western side you may see elephant, rhino, hippo and crocodile.
Once back at the hotel, relax into your one-hour spa treatment. Lunch is at your leisure and for your own account and the rest of the day is free before we meet for dinner and sensational Zulu dancing.
Included Breakfast · Lake Jozini cruise · 1-hour spa treatment · Dinner
After breakfast and check-out you will be transferred to Bayala Game Lodge. Once checked in and we have had lunch, we will head out on an evening game drive.
The KwaZulu-Natal reserves protect some of South Africa’s richest wildlife habitats — rolling hills, open savannah, sand forest and wetlands. The province has an international reputation for conservation, particularly the recovery of the southern white rhino and uMkhuze Nature Reserve alone records more than 420 bird species.
Included Breakfast, lunch and dinner · Afternoon safari
Expect a wake-up call between 05:00 and 06:00. The day starts with early morning tea and coffee, followed by roughly three hours in an open-top vehicle with a break built in for a drink, snack and to stretch your legs. This is the time when wildlife is most active! You will then return to the lodge to indulge in a well-earned brunch.
There is time to relax, a light lunch around 13:00 and the afternoon drive will depart between 15:30 and 16:30. You will stop to enjoy a sundowner before heading back for dinner.
Included Breakfast, lunch and dinner · Morning and afternoon safaris
After a morning safari and breakfast, you will depart from the lodge and will then be transferred to King Shaka International Airport. (Alternate, local transfer destinations can be discussed well in advance.)
Included Breakfast · Morning safari
A privately owned, award-winning hotel at the foot of the legendary Ghost Mountain in the small town of Mkuze, northern KwaZulu-Natal — an intimate base for exploring the game and coastal reserves of the Elephant Coast. There is an on-site spa, pools, a gym and indigenous gardens. Rooms have a private patio, satellite TV, minibar and tea/coffee maker.
Set within Zuka Private Game Reserve, a Big Five Game Reserve three hours north of Durban. Zuka is a rewilding project that begun in 2001 that now covers 10 300 hectares of restored and protected Northern Zululand, supporting elephant, black and white rhino, lion, leopard, buffalo, cheetah, giraffe and zebra.
Family-friendly and unpretentious, with lounges and bars, both indoor dining and eating out, under the stars, and a pool deck overlooking the wilderness.
Places are confirmed on a first-come basis and final pricing is set on numbers, so the sooner the organisers know you are coming, the better.
Or contact Garry Oftebro directly — garry@oftebro.co.za · 082 801 8860