Reviews

Cape Town to Johannesburg

This is a good tour covering a lot of South Africa. There is a lot of travel but it is worth it!

Cape Town to Johannesburg

Lots of laughs. Fantastic landscapes & wildlife. The trip started in Cape Town which is a beautiful city with many attractions and things to do. I would suggest having a few extra days in Cape Town to ensure you see all that is on offer.
There is a lot of driving and van time, but the scenery is stunning and we had a fantastic group & tour leader, so there were many laughs and chats along the way and wildlife spotting for the bird enthusiasts. Accommodation was varied, from hotels in Cape Town and Hermanus to chalets and cabins in the National Parks. All were clean, comfortable with ensuite facilities and most had wifi connections. Our tour leader, Warren prepared many delicious dinners and was able to cater to non-meat eaters.
There were a few long driving days over some very rough roads (especially driving to Lesotho), but our driver, Brilliant, was brilliant and did an amazing job getting us to Malealea in one piece. The peace & serenity of Malealea made the drive worth while.
We did encounter heavy rainfall in the second half of the trip which seemed to follow us from the Drakensburg, into St Lucia, Eswatini and Kruger N.P. It didn’t dampen our spirits, but did mean that roads in Kruger N.P were closed and we managed to leave St Lucia before the road out of St Lucia collapsed. The road to our accommodation in Kruger N.P (Skukuza) was flooded forcing road closures 10kms out. Warren & Brilliant, our tour guide and driver had everything under control, making sure that our safety was paramount. The highlight was the unscheduled night drive, coming close to elephants and giraffes as we drove to our alternate accommodation.
Kruger N.P did not disappoint where we were able to see 4/5 Big Five (unfortunately we missed the leopards, who were busy trying to keep dry). The highlight was seeing a group of juvenile male lions chilling under some trees & shrubs trying to keep dry. There are also a lot of bird sightings, elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, zebra, monkeys, antelope, Kudu, Waterbuck.
Overall it was a fantastic trip, showing off the best of South Africa, with many special moments and highlights and I would recommend this trip.

Potential to have been way better

As per the title it seems Exodus sub contracts this trip out to an African travel company and has little to no involvement with the actual trip planning. Because of some failures with a previous trip I reached out to the person in charge of this trip from Exodus end. Sadly it seems Kate gave me a wonderful level of lip service of what to expect and answers to my questions etc. However in reality, she clearly never passed any of her observations onto the African company organising the trip. However 2 other couples who booked through Trailfinders UK (also part of our group) did have their requests passed on. The levels of difference in hotel accommodation were clearly noticeable, although we all paid the same amount.

What does this mean?

Varied itinerary, unusual overnights.

Food quality very mixed.

Johannesburg to Cape Town Reverse

Accommodation was good.
Scenery excellent.
Wild life excellent.

Most Inspirational Moment

Close encounter with the Cheetah

Thoughts on Group Leader

Group leader started very well.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Would recommend this trip

Reply from Exodus

We would like to thank Gwen for her feedback, although we are sorry that she was disappointed with the start of the game drive in Kruger National Park on New Year’s Day.  While we would like to explain that this group’s game drive took place earlier than normal, due to the public holidays and a much higher volume of visitors to the park than usual, we appreciate it would have been disappointing that the excursion was delayed.  Following client feedback from this trip, we have spoken with the tour leader, and moving forward we do not anticipate future clients encountering similar issues.  We were pleased to read that Gwen overall enjoyed her time in South Africa and has awarded it a five-star rating, and we hope to welcome her on another Exodus holiday in the not too distant future.  John Penge – Product Manager.

Fabulous sightseeing adventure

What an amazing experience! 3 weeks, a lot of time spent on the bus traveling, but never boring, always stunning landscapes, often wonderful wildlife, and with the help of our excellent guides, who spotted and identified animals and birds and pointed them out to us, followed up by showing us them in their wildlife books. The nights were spent in a large selection of hotels and cabins. Some were rustic, no electricity, but always comfy and clean. I was so impressed with the delicious food our guides cooked for us for dinners, accompodaring those who did not eat meat. With limited facilities they produced plentiful and tasty meals. I enjoyed the places we visited especially the organised hikes. The only slight glitch, the safari that is included was in the van which would have been unacceptable so we had to pay for an additional trip in an appropriate vehicle. I would have liked a few moe healthy options for lunch, but the r st of the trip was truly a great experience. I would recommend starting in Capetown and ending in JoBerg, otherwise you will have the best animal sightings in the first week, making the limited sightings in the end less dramatic. I would also suggest going to Capetown a few days before the tour, as there is so much to see and a limited time. I will have to return!!!!!

Cape Town to Johannesburg

Quite possibly the best holiday of my life (and I’ve had a few).

Cape Town to Johannesburg

I really enjoyed this tour and would highly recommend it- the tour offered the opportunity to see a lot of Southern Africa – I started the reverse itinerary in Cape Town, a beautiful city with plenty to do. There are many highlights on this trip – the landscapes and wildlife were spectacular- we saw the big 5 several times including leopard on 3 consecutive days. Many of the other highlights are outlined in the trip notes and I won’t repeat them here. Our guides Justin and Fiona were excellent. This was the first fully accommodated tour offered by Exodus for this journey and all our accommodation was clean and of a good standard. The transport was spacious with regular stops on the long driving days. On one of our walks in Lesotho, the rain and hail came down and a grandma from the village invited us to take shelter in her home – the people here are very accommodating. During our trip, there were some water restrictions due to the worst drought in Southern Africa since the eighties but there was always the opportunity to get a shower every day. Similarly, a couple of places either had no electricity or restrictions on when it was available. The general standard of the local guides was good with some such as Thulani, a Zulu guide, at Rourke’s drift outstanding and others still gaining experience. With the depreciation of the rand, South Africa is very cheap compared to the UK.

Caz T

The trip was a fantastic introduction to South Africa. The scenery and wildlife was excellent. The trip was very well organised and ticked all the boxes for me.

Sylvia Herd

This was a great trip, showing off the main sights of South Africa, with the added bonus of Lesotho & Swaziland. Although there were some long driving days, we were a small group of 6 who gelled really well & had a very competent staff of 3. Personally I felt the Garden Route was overrated, so I was pleased that I’d done the reverse itinerary as this saved the best until last. But I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the trip.