10 Day Tiny Kingdoms Tour

Arrival / Eastern Free State

Distance

418 km (260 mi)

Itinerary

8 am - 4 pm (Customizable)

Guests 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.

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.

Eastern Free State / Lesotho

Distance

105 km (65 mi)

Itinerary

8 am to 4 pm (Customizable)

Today, 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. These snow-capped mountains are a special treat in winter, as snow occurs only sporadically and for short periods in Southern Africa.

Lesotho

Itinerary

8 am to 4 pm

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.

Drakensberg

Distance

327 km (203 mi)

Itinerary

8 am to 4 pm

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.

Swaziland

Distance

55 km (34 mi)

Itinerary

8 am to 4 pm

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 many unusual candles of all shapes, sizes, and scents and those who manufacture them. Later, a visit may be made to a local curio market before returning to your accommodations for the evening.