This Safari is a great combination of wilderness and culture. Often Safaris in Africa can become tourist attractions rather than an authentic bush and village experience. You start off on your Safari with a four night five day Walking Safari with the emphasis on really feeling the bush. There are no motor vehicles at all in this wilderness area, just you, the bush and the animals. After five wonderful days in the bush we head to the Venda Area of South Africa. This area is a traditional farming area and it is highly unlikely that you will see any other travelers in the Venda area.

Travel Recap:

On arrival in Durban you will be met and transferred to the Imfolozi Game Reserve.

All trails take place in the Wilderness section of the game reserves. No roads, man made artefacts or vehicle tracks are encountered in these areas just nature in its purest form. Our founder, Dr Ian Player, championed these wilderness areas fifty years ago.

All our trails are designed to run in remote wilderness areas through out Africa.

The iMfolozi Game Reserve is renowned for its large carnivores and other big mammals, especially elephant, black rhino and white rhino. These animals can be encountered daily and make the trail unique and exciting. Our trail guides are exceptionally well trained and act as both facilitators and teachers on your trail.

St Lucia is renowned for its beauty and wildlife. The whole eco system is unique to the area and trails vary from beach to open grassland on the lake shores.

The Drakensberg dominates the skyline of KwaZulu Natal and is unrivalled in its beauty. Our trails through the wilderness touch both the inner spirit and outer soul.
Overnight: Imfolozi Game Reserve

The trailists arrive at the Wilderness Leadership School at 8.00am to meet their trails guides and the rest of the group. A short briefing and equipment issue then takes place. All valuables and unnecessary equipment are then left either in the vehicle or at the Wilderness Leadership School. Departure for their trail is around 10.00am.

The journey to the wilderness areas takes about three hours and some history of the areas are discussed and debated en route. On arrival in the wilderness area the group proceed down to the trail launch site. This site varies depending on where the guides decide to trail.

The groups leave the vehicles and proceed on foot for the rest of the trail. The group carry all possessions, provisions and food for the next five days. There is a sense of satisfaction at being able to live off your own energy during the trail and not having to rely on any other means of transport or facility.

The camp sites are chosen for their beauty and practicality. Often one sits in the camp and watches animals going about their daily routine oblivious to the trailists sitting nearby. Most camp sites are near water to ensure a ready water supply.

Camping is done on a minimum impact leave no trace basis, and only ground sheets and sleeping bags are used. In bad weather flysheets may be erected.

The general procedure is to then trail through the wilderness area camping in different sites for the four nights, but this once again depends on weather and trailists abilities.

Food is cooked on open fires(gas in Berg) and all trailists help with cooking and preparation.

One of the more memorable duties is night watch. All trailists stand watch during the night for an hour or so. This is to ensure the safety of those sleeping and to check animal movement near the camp. This is an incredible time to reflect on the trail, your life and where you are going. This, added to the responsibility of all the other trailists’ lives, is a very powerful tool. Many people write to the School with memories of night watch and how it changed their lives.

The actual trail and trail mechanics differs each trail and is therefore difficult to elaborate on, suffice to say it is a life changing experience that should be experienced by everyone. There would be more wilderness areas and fewer conflicts in this world, if a wilderness trail was a compulsory experience.

The Wilderness Leadership School is committed to creating an environmental conscience in South Africa and through out the world, through experiential education in wilderness areas.
Overnight: Imfolozi Game Reserve

Continue your explorations as you head for the world famous Kruger National Park. South Africa’s world-famous Kruger National Park offers visitors an experience of a lifetime. The reserve’s unspoiled and untamed environment stirs deep emotions and enables you to experience wild Africa just as you imagined it. The park was originally founded by Paul Kruger in 1898 and was first called the Sabi Game Reserve. In 1926 it was enlarged and made into a national park. In 2002 the Kruger National Park became part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, which is a peace park that links Kruger with the Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe to the North, and with the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique to the East.

A typical day on safari usually follows a similar routine although there are slight variations between lodges. No matter where you are, however, the African Safari experience will be one that lingers in your mind and awakens a passion for Africa.
Overnight: Pundai Maria/Shingwedz/Mopani or Letaba Lodge [B, L, D]

Travel across Kruger National Park to your new location. The Coach House at Agatha, just 13km's south of Tzaneen in the Northern Province, is set on a magnificent plateau with sweeping views across forests and farmland to the peaks of the Wolkberg. It is the only hotel in the province to be awarded a five star grading and Silver classification, which is the highest accolade of hotels in South Africa.

Brimming with history, the Coach House is on the site of the original staging post and hotel used by travellers in the feverish gold rush days of the late 19th century. For those who love the bush and the wildlife, Phalaborwa Gate of the Kruger National Park is an easy hours drive away. There is also a local private nature reserve that offers excellent elephant and rhino tracking opportunities. The Coach House is also renowned for its wine cellar which stores an impressive 8000 bottles comprising 200 local and imported wines to please every palate and pocket.

This is an ideal spot from which to explore nearby, indigenous forests, the unique Modjadji Cycad forest (home of the famous Rain Queen), ancient baobabs and emerald green tea plantations.
Overnight: Coach House [B, L, D]