Kruger & Panorama Route Breakaway

Guests will be collected from various lodges and hotels within a 5 km radius of the OR Tambo International Airport between 6:30 am and 6:45 am, and then from the OR Tambo International Airport shuttle and Bus Terminal between 6:45 and 7:00 am, departing at 7:15 am.

Guests will have time to relax, unpack and enjoy a light lunch, there after enjoy a swim, or walk around the beautiful Lodge and walking trail, We depart the lodge around 15.45 pm for a Sunset / Night safari in the Kruger National Park. The sun sets early in the winter months which means clients will have a longer Night safari, and clients in summer will enjoy beautiful sunsets while on safari, before returning to the lodge around 20.00 pm for a lovely dinner and a good night’s rest.

Please book a pre-night at one of the airport hotels due to the early start of the tour.

Travel distance: 385 km

• Included: Afternoon game drive with open safari vehicles in Kruger Nationalpark

All safaris start before sunrise, Mpumalanga means the place of the rising sun and is the first province in South Africa to see the sunrise. This is the best part of the day, not knowing what to expect, after a short drive to the park, we enter the park gates and your guide will have an idea of the best areas to find the wildlife including the Big 5 and plains game, this is the finest time of the day to see predators.

The Lodge will arrange breakfast packs and your guide will stop after about 3 hours for breakfast and bathroom break and a chance to get a coffee. We then continue with your safari, Kruger offers a variety of eco-zones and each one has a different range of wildlife, we visit rivers and watering holes as well as plains and Bushveld regions.

We then stop for lunch(not included) at a rest camp, there is a variety of dishes to choose from. The guide will then continue with the safari heading towards the lodge, we arrive around 15.30 – 16.00 pm, time to relax, swim and have a great dinner, after an exciting day on Safari.

• Included: Full-day Kruger Nationalpark game drive in open safari vehicles

Today we start with a delicious hot breakfast at the lodge at 7.30 Am and your guide will meet you at 8 am in a closed air-conditioned vehicle. The Panorama route starts after a 45 min drive from Hazyview, however, we climb almost 1,000 m in elevation to the Northern Drakensberg Mountain range. The temperatures vary a lot from Hazyview, so bring a jacket and comfortable walking shoes as we do some lovely walks.

We visit God’s Window(weather-permitting) which allows people a window from the escarpment and a 1,000 m drop below one can see as far as Kruger and beyond on a clear day. Your comfortable walking shoes will be needed as the various lookout points have paths and trails to the view sights. Getting to the top takes an average person around 15-20 minutes, but it is worth the walk through a natural rainforest environment.

Bourke’s Luck Potholes is a stunning natural formation created by water erosion over hundreds of years. The Bourke’s Luck potholes have round carvings and holes of different sizes formed in the Treur River and Blyde River confluence in the red sandstone. Your guides will brief you on all the history of the region. Guests can use small footbridges and walk over the chasms, looking at the water flowing through the cracks and holes. There are also several small but beautiful waterfalls that line the area, we spend about 1 hour here and it’s a great walk of about 1 Km in total.

Blyde River Canyon is the 3rd largest canyon in the world. The canyon is over 40km long and is as deep as 1 200m. The canyon contains vast amounts of plant life with rivers and dams making up the floor of the canyon. At a certain lookout point on the canyon, guests get to see another beauty of the Panorama Tour, the 3 Rondavels – The Rondavels get their name from their similar appearance to the Rondavel houses a traditional hut commonly built in Africa, these 3 outcrops stand prominently from the landscape.

• Included: Visit Panorama Route

Early Departure from the lodge again before sunrise, armed with breakfast packs. Your guide will focus on animals we could not find on the first 2 safaris and hoping for lion and leopard as they are most active in the early mornings, The Kruger National Park has 148 mammal species and over 500 bird species, and your guide will help you find you as many as possible.

No safari is ever the same and Kruger has a huge network of roads to choose from guides will safari in different areas of the park in different seasons, giving clients the chance to experience more sightings.

After a short breakfast and coffee stop, we will continue with the safari returning to the lodge at around 11 am, here you say goodbye to your guide and freshen up before the journey back to Johannesburg. Clients are collected by the shuttle at around 11.30 am, and we return to Johannesburg OR Tambo shuttle terminal and lodges within a 5 km Radius, arriving between 17.00 – 18.00 pm

Due to the late arrival at OR Tambo International Airport, we recommend for domestic flights not to depart before 19h00 and international flights not before 20h00.

If booked on the Enchanted Garden Route, consider staying at one of the airport hotels for a post-night, flying out to Cape Town the next day.

Travel distance: 385 km

• Included: Early morning Kruger National Park game drive in open safari vehicles

The Panorama Route is a long stretch of road between the Kruger and the Sabie area, in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. It is famous for its natural attractions which include unique rock formations, waterfalls, and the Blyde River Canyon

It is called the Panorama Route because of the magnificent landscapes which are the biggest highlights of the area.

There are a total of 7 waterfalls along the Panorama Route. These include some famous waterfalls, such as the Lisbon Falls, Mac Mac and the Berlin Falls.

The morning is one of the best times of the day to visit God’s Window. Not only will you have fewer crowds to deal with, but you will also get to see a beautiful (but sometimes misty) sunrise.

Phabeni Gate is the gate closest to Hazyview.