A fam trip through South Africa’s beguiling northeast combines game drives, gorge adventures and gold-rush history for Francesca Young
South Africa is the ideal all-rounder, with good food and wine, great wildlife and cultural attractions galore. Its northeastern corner, which I visited along with eight travel agents on a South African Tourism fam trip, is a terrific snapshot of almost everything the country has to offer, from rich history and culture to adventure and animal-spotting activities.
What to see in Johannesburg
Our first stop is Johannesburg – where many UK travellers will fly to – which has gold-rush history literally written on the land. Evidence of 19th-century mining activity has left scars on the land, which we see on our 50-minute drive from the airport to Soweto (a portmanteau for South Western Townships), but scars of a more brutal kind are documented at Soweto’s Hector Pieterson Museum.
Named after the 12-year-old student shot by police on June 16, 1976, during school protests, the museum is filled with moving artefacts and images related to the Soweto uprisings, including Sam Nzima’s harrowing photograph of anti-apartheid activist Mbuyisa Makhubo carrying Hector’s body.
A further taste of South African history comes during our lunch at Sakhumzi restaurant. It’s located on Vilakazi Street, the road where Nobel Peace Prize winners Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela lived. After a meal of local dishes including chakalaka, a spicy vegetable relish, we stop by 8115 Vilakazi Street, the red-brick house Mandela returned to after 27 years in prison.
Louise Grant, travel consultant for Fare Wise Travel in Hungerford, says: “I felt a real sense of honour to be able to visit. It was inspiring and humbling. You could spend hours here soaking up the history.”
Driving South Africa’s Panorama Route
Leaving behind The Maslow Hotel in the glitzy Jo’burg suburb of Sandton, the road becomes more scenic as we reach the dark green forested peaks and waterfalls of Mpumalanga province, famed for the Panorama Route – a 100-mile stretch from Echo Caves to the Long Tom Pass.
Many of the towns established on and near the route during the late-19th-century Witwatersrand Gold Rush – including Lyndenburg, Sabie and the national monument of Pilgrim’s Rest – are now picturesque hubs for adventure activities, such as sunrise hot-air ballooning, quad biking through pine forests and kloofing (canyoning) down rivers.
I get my adrenaline fix ziplining over mist-soaked treetops at the Graskop Gorge Lift & Adventure Centre, where rope suspension bridges and 500 metres of forest trails criss-cross the gorge. From Sabie and Pilgrim’s Rest there are lots of other options too, including longer hiking trails, fly-fishing and even gold-panning.
Nearby, Angels View hotel stands out for its modern design, outdoor pool and Earth Grotto Suites with cliffedge views of the Drakensberg landscape. We round off our Panorama Route adventure with a boat ride in the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve. Guides alert us to the presence of crocodiles and hippos nearby, and in the distance point out colourful rock formations along with the Three Rondavels, a trio of majestic mountains.
Camps in Kruger National Park
Leaving behind the grandeur of the Drakensberg, anticipation begins to build as craggy mountains give way to the plains surrounding Kruger National Park.
Over the next two days we see giraffes, elephants and zebras, and best of all, four of the big five – only missing the elusive rhino. On one of our daily drives, we meet baboons, baby hyenas and warthogs, and bumping down a dusty track on another early morning excursion, a lion pads out of the bush towards the Jeep.
Conservation and learning are key concerns at Kruger, particularly at Kruger Untamed, two new camps in remote areas of the park. Everything from water use and energy to food supply is carefully considered, and all trace of the camps is removed each season so the land can rejuvenate.
That’s no mean feat given their amenities; my suite at the Tshokwane River Camp comes with a plunge pool and a bush shower filled with enough hot water for an eight-minute wash. Sister site Satara Plains Camp, which opened in May 2024, is another sustainable-yet-sumptuous place to stay.
As with any magical trip, our last day has come too soon, but it brings the trip to a memorable close. We gather around the campfire for storytelling by Innocent Ngwenya – once a poacher, now a tracker at Londolozi Game Reserve’s Tracker Academy. “I was on the wrong path and I’m ashamed of my past. The Tracker Academy changed my life – I learnt that when you protect wildlife and wild places, you create a better life for yourself and your loved ones.”
It’s a profound statement that leaves a lasting impression on our group. As Ann Ashley of Major Travel says: “It felt quite magical and showed the importance of animal conservation.”
Book it:
Major Travel offers a seven-night package taking in a four-night Panorama Route Tour and three nights at Kruger Untamed from £4,195, based on two adults sharing. Price includes all tours and activities, return flights from Heathrow, transfers and some meals. Based on a May 15, 2025, departure.
major.travel
What’s new in South Africa
New flights with Norse Atlantic
A new service from Gatwick to Cape Town with Norse Atlantic started three times a week from October 28, offering a budget-friendly way to reach Cape Town, from £436 return in March 2025.
flynorse.com
Steyn City Hotel by Saxon, Johannesburg
Opened in October, this new hotel is set in the luxury Steyn City estate in Johannesburg, and is a member of the Leading Hotels of the World.
saxon.co.za
GweGwe Beach Lodge, Wild Coast, Eastern Cape
Set in the Mkambati Nature Reserve in the Eastern Cape, this small hotel opened in June with sea views, cycling, scuba diving and wildlife watching, from around £283 per night.
naturalselection.travel
Nelson Mandela Cruise Terminal, Port of Durban
Upgraded in 2023, the renovated terminal is capable of handling 4,000 passengers a day. New terracotta cladding and triangular motifs reference Zulu designs.
kcterminal.co.za
Damara Trail, De Mond Nature Reserve, Western Cape
The country’s first ‘slow’ hiking trail provides a relaxed two-day route through a coastal reserve,
with camping stops on a wooden deck overlooking the ocean.
capenature.co.za
PICTURES: South African Tourism
