family holiday in South Africa

 “During our stay in Timbavati, we had already seen almost all of the Big 5 animals (leopard, elephant, lion, buffalo) on day 1, only the rhinoceros was still missing from our list!”

After several years of traveling in Europe with the family, we wanted something different. Our two children were 8 years old, so why not plan a trip outside Europe? After a visit to a specialist, it turned out that a trip to South Africa is actually quite a good travel option with children. Even in terms of price, the trip was not much more expensive than our last family vacation to Sardinia. In addition, South Africa is a country that is perfect for a self-drive holiday. The road infrastructure in this country is comparable to that of European countries. Moreover, South Africa gave us the opportunity to plan a combination of safari, seeing the country, visiting the coastline, etc… Ideal for a family vacation!

Day 1 Schiphol – Johannesburg
Our first day was completely taken up by the flight! It was about 12 hours flying to Johannesburg. In the evening we stayed in a hotel near the airport and then flew to Hoedspruit the next morning, well-rested.

Day 2-6 Timbavati – Kruger National Park
At the airport in Hoedspruit, we were met by the people from our safari lodge and we entered Kruger National Park on our way to the ‘private game concession’ Timbavati. We would stay there for about 4 nights. During our stay in Timbavati, we had already seen almost all the Big 5 animals on day 1; only the rhinoceros was still missing from our list! The advantage of our choice to stay in a ‘private game concession’ became apparent when we spotted a leopard in a tree on the second day, and we could park our 4×4 right under the tree. We were allowed to enjoy the impala meal that the leopard was consuming above our heads. Along the way, we also saw several lionesses, a lone hyena, many impalas, and even a cheetah! On the third day, we almost witnessed a ‘live kill’ when two lionesses had targeted a buffalo. Eventually, the two lionesses did not dare to battle with two buffalos, and we continued our journey. Not much later, we finally saw number 5 of the Big 5! A white rhinoceros casually crossed the road right in front of us. On the last day of our stay, we followed a leopard early in the morning – we saw a leopard every day during our stay in Timbavati – hoping to witness a ‘live kill’. Unfortunately, at one point, the leopard chose to dive into the dense bushveld, making it difficult for us to continue following him. In the evening, we encountered a family of lions, where several cubs were playing with each other. A beautiful end to our stay here!

Day 6 Blyde River Canyon, 3 Rondavels…
The next day, we left Kruger National Park with the rental car and drove towards Blyde River Canyon, seeing some beautiful natural phenomena along the way: the 3 Rondavels, God’s Window, and Bourke Luck’s Potholes. In the evening, we arrived in Hazyview and stayed overnight in Casa Do Sol.

Day 7 Hazyview – Kruger National Park
On the seventh day of our trip in South Africa, we visited the southern part of Kruger Park with our car. After a day of driving and queuing behind other cars, we hadn’t seen much except for a few elephants, zebras, hippos, and some birds.

Day 8 Swaziland
The next day we left early from Hazyview to the border with Swaziland, the final destination was Kwazulu Natal in South Africa but since that distance is a bit too far to cover in 1 day by car, we decided to spend a night in Swaziland where we stayed in the very cozy hotel Foresters Arms in Mbabane.

Day 9-10 Hluhluwe
On the ninth day, we arrived in the afternoon in the vicinity of Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park. The next day we entered the park with the car. Our self-drive in the park turned out to be a fantastic experience! Not only was the park much less crowded than Kruger Park during our self-drive there, but the driving itself was also an experience in itself. The bumpy dirt roads made our self-drive a very pleasant experience. Also, in terms of wildlife, our trip was a hit. We saw a pair of rhinos, a cheetah, vervet monkeys, an eland, kudus, zebras, etc…

Day 11-13 Saint Lucia
On day eleven, we drove towards the Indian Ocean where we would stay in the cozy village of Saint Lucia for a few days. The intention was to explore the Saint Lucia Wetlands area as well as visit the beach. Something our children were looking forward to! During our visit to Saint Lucia Wetlands Park, we immediately bumped into a rh

inoceros that was standing across the road. After half an hour, we were able to continue our journey by car. Along the way, we saw mainly ‘birdlife’, and once we arrived at Cape Vidal, our children couldn’t wait to take a dip in the Indian Ocean. The next days in Saint Lucia we decided mainly to rest, enjoy the beautiful weather, the beach, and our children who couldn’t get enough of the Indian Ocean. On day fourteen it was time to leave for Durban from where we would fly back to Europe with in our luggage a memory of a fantastic trip in a wonderfully beautiful South Africa.

Travel Agent: Proflight”