KwaZulu-Natal
Day 1: Durban
Arrive at Durban International Airport where you will be met by your Fairfield Tours guide to start out on the Kwa-Zulu Natal group tour.
Depart on a city tour of Durban. Visit the Durban City Hall. The style is Edwardian neo-baroque architecture. The Durban City Hall houses the Natural Science Museum and the Durban Art Gallery. See the Portuguese Clock Tower. Stop for a short visit at the Indian market.
Pay a visit to the uShaka Marine World which boasts fresh and sea water attractions from shipwrecks to an aquarium and dolphinarium, from water slides to amusement parks. uShaka is the largest ocean park in Africa and the fifth biggest in the world! Continue to your hotel where you check in and overnight.
Overnight: Southern Sun Elangeni, Durban - or alternative (BB)
Day 2: Durban
Spend the day at leisure in one of South Africa’s favourite holiday resorts. Durban has crowded Indian Ocean beaches of different character, where you can choose between areas specializing in surfing, sailing, swimming, snorkeling, angling or simply sunbathing. The city has all the ingredients of a world-class resort, including varied entertainment venues, a water park, harbour cruises, an aquarium and dolphinarium, snake park, a good choice of museums, an Indian Market, a 24-hour casino and its own Golden Mile, which is a long mile indeed – a 6-km promenade of bars, nightclubs, cinemas, restaurants, shops and street vendors. The wide promenade is full of Zulu ladies selling hand-woven baskets and beautiful beadwork, while the men try to lure you into a colourful rickshaw for a ride along the beachfront.
Overnight: Southern Sun Elangeni, Durban - or alternative (BB)
Day 3: Durban to Drakensberg
Enjoy breakfast and check out. Travel to the Natal Drakensberg. Travel via Howick which was built as a river crossing on the Umgeni River, just above the dramatically beautiful Howick Falls, where the river makes a single drop of 95m. There is a lovely Gorges Walk laid out along the canyon rim, and a number of attractive old houses are scattered through the village.
The last stretch south is a lovely drive past the romantically named Valley of a Thousand Hills, with superb views of table-top mountains, green hills, dams and the Umgeni River valley. This is also the route of the punishing annual Comrades’ Marathon.
On arrival at your hotel in the Drakensberg, check in. Spend the afternoon at leisure taking a stroll the explore the breathtaking surroundings.
Overnight: Mont Aux Sources Resort, Drakensberg - or alternative (BB)
Day 4: Drakensberg to Hluhluwe
Do a walking trail to allow the magnificent splendour of the Drakensberg to mesmerize you. Enjoy breakfast and check out. Travel via Glenco and Ladysmith – this is the region of the Anglo-Boer War where you will find many memorials and museums. At Dundee you will pay a visit to the excellent Talana Museum commemorating the first battle of the Anglo-Boer War at Talana Hill. This is a fascinating part of South Africa’s history. Continue to Hluhluwe. Check into your hotel.
Overnight: Bayala Game Lodge, Hluhluwe - or alternative (BB)
Day 5: Hluhluwe
Travel to the Hluhluwe Umfolozi National Park for your early morning game drive. This would be one of the highlights of your tour and is highly recommended. The Hluhluwe Reserve lies in the valley of the Hluhluwe River and is an area of wide open spaces, changing landscapes, savanna, bush and mountains. The Umfolozi Reserve is linked by a corridor with the White and Black Umfolozi rivers flowing through the park. The Game Reserve is acclaimed internationally for its conservation efforts. Besides the Big Five – rhino, elephant, leopard, lion and buffalo, there is an astonishing variety of wildlife to ensure a fascinating encounter for the visitor. The Park is home to the largest population of the southern white rhino.
Visit the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, which was recently proclaimed a natural World Heritage Site. It is one of the only areas in the world that encompasses five ecosystems. It has marine systems such as coral reefs, beaches and coastal forests; salt and fresh water marshes, open estuarine waters, lush coastal plains and the drier woodland areas. It is also home to the largest, southern most population of hippos and over one thousand crocodiles, a wealth of plant and animal life and rich birdlife. The enormous lake, 350 square kilometers in extent supports a variety of aquatic creatures both large and small and is part of the marine food chain. Being a fairly shallow lake there is much movement in the water and is the perfect habitat for birds and fish alike. Enjoy a boat sightseeing on the estuarine which will bring you close proximity to hippo’s, crocodile and a variety of birds, such as Fish Eagle, Goliath Heron and Kingfisher.
Overnight: Bayala Game Lodge, Hluhluwe - or alternative (BB)
Day 6: Hluhluwe to Shakaland
Enjoy breakfast and check out. Continue to Shakaland, a traditional Zulu "Umuzi" or homestead, divided into the home of the Zulu`s and your first-class accommodation in traditional beehive huts, with all mod-cons such as en-suite bathrooms. Feel the pulsating rhythm of mysterious and magical Africa as you re-live the excitement and romance of the days of Shaka, King of the Zulus, in this authentic re-creation of the Great Kraal overlooking the Phobane Lake.
Experience the sight of assegaai-wielding warriors, share the fascinating secrets of the Sangomas and witness traditional customs such as tribal dancing, spear making and the beer-drinking ceremonies.
Overnight: Protea Hotel Shakaland, Eshowe - or alternative (DBB)
Day 7: Shakaland to Durban
Enjoy breakfast and check out. Depart from Eshowe, whose musical name means “the sound of wind in the trees”, on the last day of the Kwa-Zulu Natal Group Tour. Travel to Stanger, which was Shaka’s capital, a royal town of some 2000 beehive huts, whose layout was so confusing it became known as KwaDukuza (place of the lost person). According to traditional, all public meetings were conducted under a large, shady indaba (meeting) tree, in this case, an old mkuhla (Natal mahagony) tree, still living next to a supermarket in Roodt Street.
The 80 km between Stanger and Umhlanga Rocks is called the Dolphin Coast, after the bottlenose dolphins who come close to shore to surf the huge waves. It is a beautiful stretch of coast, lined by small seaside villages. Ballito is the largest of the towns along the coastal strip, named, extraordinarily, after a brand of Italian silk ladies’ stockings. A little way north, Shaka’s Rock was said to have been Shaka’s favourite coastal resort. He threw his enemies off the cliff here, while any Zulu warrior wishing to prove his manhood could do so by leaping off voluntarily. A little further on, the women were hard at work making salt in the tidal pools at Salt Rock.
Transfer to Durban Airport for your outbound flight.
Contact Us for a quotation or to tailor make this tour.
top