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This private overland adventure focuses on two tiny landlocked African kingdoms - Lesotho and Swaziland.
Those who relish off-the-beaten-track experiences will find the Tiny Kingdoms private tour delightful. From Johannesburg, the tour travels to the Eastern Free State before entering Lesotho. We exit Lesotho and visit the South African Drakensberg before traveling to Swaziland to experience this beautiful Kingdom's culture, wildlife, and scenery.
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ItineraryGuests are met and welcomed at 07H30 sharp at a location of their choice in Johannesburg. After taking care of a few formalities, your privately guided 'Tiny Kingdoms' tour begins. We'll head off in a southerly direction. The first highlight of your day is a visit to Aldam. After stopping for an early lunch, we'll take a game drive through the adjacent Willem Pretorius Nature Reserve. The central plains of Southern Africa were once home to vast herds of animals, in particular, black wildebeest, springbok, and quagga. In the mid-1800s, the sometimes comical-looking black wildebeest was almost hunted to extinction because of the great demand for their skins in Europe. By the late 1800s, a few farmers had intervened, effectively saving the species, and today the largest herds may be seen in this 12,000-hectare protected area. Other species you might encounter include eland, blesbok, springbok, white rhino, and giraffe. The reserve also boasts 220 recorded species of birds, including the martial eagle, blue crane, Orange River Francolin, blue korhaan, ground woodpecker, and melodious lark. After your game drive, we'll make our way toward our luxury farm-style accommodations at Moolmanshoek. The remainder of your first day in South Africa is at leisure.
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Itinerary The folks at Moolmanshoek are committed to sustainable tourism and, by extension, a renaissance of the eastern Free State. Your second relaxing day is dedicated to country pursuits. Horse riding is popular, and Moolmanshoek is home to two award-winning studs and more than 100 horses. Other activities include day walks and hiking trails, and game and night drives, where animals such as black wildebeest, zebra, springbok, blesbok, mountain reedbuck, steenbok, duiker, fallow deer, caracal, mongoose, meerkat, red hartebeest, eland, gemsbok, ostrich, porcupine, hare, spring hare, and jackal might be seen.
Distance ItineraryToday you'll experience the typical Sotho countryside. After a late breakfast, we'll make our way south to Ficksburg, where we'll enter the landlocked country of Lesotho. The country is the only independent state in the world, lying entirely above 1,000 meters above sea level. After entering the country at Ficksburg, we'll join the main 'ring road' and turn north, traveling through various country and tribal villages and subsistence farmland.
On reaching Boribeng, we'll turn east towards the high mountains. The road winds through the typical tribal countryside, gradually increasing in altitude and remoteness until we reach the 'destination in the sky' at Maliba Lodge. The lodge is in a pristine national park surrounded by mountains on all sides. During winter, these snow-capped mountains are a special treat, as snow occurs only sporadically and for short periods in Southern Africa.
Distance ItineraryToday is devoted to a tour of the Lesotho Highlands. After making our way to the Hlotse area, we'll turn east towards the village of Pitseng, from where the altitude increases rapidly. As we climb the high mountains, we'll make several roadside stops to enjoy the spectacular alpine views. After traversing several mountain passes and the intake tower near Ha Lejone, our route reaches the concrete-arch Katse Dam, Africa's second largest after Tekezé in Ethiopia. The 606-foot-high Katse Dam in the Maluti Mountains is 6,560 feet above sea level. It is an integral part of the Lesotho Highlands Project, supplying water to South Africa, particularly the Johannesburg metropole. Katse is Africa's most efficient storage dam because of its great depth and relatively small surface area. While at Katse, we'll visit the info center and enjoy a guided tour of the dam wall. Later, after lunch at the local lodge, we'll take a one-hour boat cruise on the dam before returning to our overnight accommodations.
Itinerary On this day, you can enjoy various adventures at Maliba Lodge. Activities on offer include hiking, bird watching, archery, horse riding, a dinosaur footprint tour, and village and community visits. Your guide will gladly assist in booking your activities. Maliba also offers spa treatments, which include facials and foot treatments, hot stone massages, and full body exfoliation.
Distance ItineraryFollowing breakfast, we'll say goodbye to Maliba and head off toward Bhuta Bhute and South Africa via Caledonspoort border control. After clearing immigration, we'll go to Clarens, an eclectic village on the edge of the Golden Gate Highlands National Park. After exploring the village, we'll continue eastwards to Golden Gate. Named in 1875 by farmer J N R van Reenen and his wife as they moved through here, they named the area 'Golden Gate' after witnessing the sun's last rays reflecting off the surrounding cliffs. The park has several unique animals, including eland, mountain reedbuck, oribi, black wildebeest, springbok, and blesbok. These mountains are also home to the only bearded vulture population in the southern hemisphere. The park's geology provides visual 'textbook' examples of Southern Africa's geological past. The sandstone formations form the upper part of the Karoo Supergroup. The oldest dinosaur embryos ever discovered were found here in 1978. The eggs were from the Triassic Period, 220 to 195 million years ago, and had fossilized fetal skeletons of Massospondylus, a prosauropod dinosaur. More examples of these eggs have since been found. We'll arrive at our overnight accommodations at Three Tree Hill late afternoon.
Distance Itinerary After breakfast, we'll head south towards the Kamberg Nature Reserve in the foothills of the Drakensberg. Kamberg is home to Game Pass Shelter, known as the 'Rosetta Stone' of rock art sites, as archaeologists studying these paintings uncovered a vital key to understanding the symbolism of San rock art. The paintings at Game Pass Shelter enabled archaeologists to learn about the San's belief that they could draw mystical powers from animals, depicting images seen by shamans during trance-like states. Among the most significant symbols in Khoi-San culture, the eland occurs throughout, along with various therianthropic figures. The guided trail to the shelter departs from the Kamberg Rock Art Center, and it generally takes around three hours to reach the extraordinary site.
Alternative activity: After breakfast, we'll head to the Lammergeier Bird Hide in the Giants Castle Nature Reserve. It is the only location in the southern hemisphere where the Bearded Vulture exists and where one stands a reasonably good chance of photographing them. Other large raptors include the Cape Vulture (Griffon) and Jackal Buzzard. Occasionally, black-backed jackals are also seen.
Distance ItineraryDeparting Three Tree Hill, your tour continues north-easterly towards the Kingdom of Swaziland, the last absolute monarchy in Africa. Our first stop of the day, just a short while after departure, is at a prominent local hilltop, where in January 1900, the Battle of Spioenkop took place between British and Boer forces. With the impressive Drakensberg Mountains as a backdrop, we inspect this historic site at leisure. Later, we'll pass through the towns of Dundee, Vryheid, and Piet Retief, before entering Swaziland at Emahlatini. From there, we'll make our way to Malkerns and our overnight accommodations, set in a renovated colonial house built on a 'koppie' in the Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary, from where sweeping views of the Ezulwini Valley may be enjoyed. The lodge grounds are a haven to several tiny antelope, including suni and blue duiker. There are many established hiking trails in the surrounding hills you might consider if you wish to stretch your legs.
Distance Itinerary Today is dedicated to various cultural pursuits. First on the agenda is a visit to King Sobhuza Memorial Park in Lobamba. The memorial was established as a tribute to the late King Sobhuza II, who led Swaziland to independence in 1968. Later, we'll visit the Mantenga Cultural Village and Nature Reserve. Our visit includes a guided tour of the reserve's cultural village with authentic beehive huts, a cultural and dancing display, and a visit to Mantenga Falls. You might also see the Southern Bald Ibis at Mantenga, an endangered bird of the region. A mid-afternoon stop is made at a popular local candle factory. Here you'll see a great variety of unusual candles of all shapes, sizes, and scents and the folks who manufacture them. Later, a visit may be made to a local curio market before returning to your accommodations for the evening.
Distance ItineraryAfter breakfast, your tour heads off in a westerly direction toward Johannesburg. Before exiting Swaziland, we'll make a stop at Ngwenya Glass. Set in a beautiful garden, this local glass factory has been making glassware in all shapes and forms from recycled glass since 1987. Their products include glasses, African animals, bowls and decanters, jugs and paperweights, and other glass products. After exiting Swaziland at Oshoek, your tour continues to Badplaas and Machadodorp, where you'll join the national N4 route to Johannesburg, ending a comprehensive cultural safari tour of northern South Africa.
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