Soarin’ Over Zululand
Duffle & Compass Exclusive 2010 Safari
15 days/14 nights
This private safari was done April 26 to May 9, 2010 with specialist guide Daryl Dell and escorted by founder Carol Oken. This itinerary can be can be custom-tailored for you.
This South Africa safari begins at the edge of the Kalahari Desert, an ideal habitat for the endangered African wild dog and the elusive brown hyena. From there our private chartered plane carries us south, near the Indian Ocean coast, where our private guide and Zulu tracker share their knowledge of the wildlife, culture and history of the land known today as Phinda. We’ll learn about the leopard research project, track elephant and lion on foot through the bush, and soar like an eagle over the tapestry of forests, mountains, and sun-kissed beaches of the area. We’ll stay in luxury safari lodges and enjoy gourmet meals, cold sundowners and star-gazing in the southern sky. Our journey ends in Cape Town where we’ll explore all the “Mother City” has to offer.
Day 1 Johannesburg
We will be met upon arrival at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg and transferred to the D’Oreale Grande Hotel at Emperors Palace, just a short distance away. This 5-star luxury hotel has a spa and fitness center available to help you adjust your body clock to South Africa time. Accommodation is in a classic room on a bed and breakfast basis.
Day 2
After breakfast, we’ll be collected for our private city and Apartheid Museum tour.
Day 3 Madikwe Game Reserve
After breakfast we’ll check out and make our way to the airport for our scheduled flight to Madikwe. After settling into our rooms at Madikwe Safari Lodge we’ll enjoy lunch on the deck overlooking the game-filled plains.
The Madikwe Safari Lodge is nestled between two hills and overlooks the game-filled plains. Each luxury suite has a sitting area, circular fireplace in the bedroom, large bathtub, indoor and outdoor shower and a private veranda with a plunge pool. Accommodations at Madikwe are on an all-inclusive basis including meals, soft drinks, house wines, local brand spirits and beers.
Tonight we’ll take a night drive through the acacia savanna looking for bushbabies leaping from branch to branch.
Day 4
We’ll rise early and head out for our first pre-dawn game drive to see if we can track the endangered African wild dogs. Spend a leisurely afternoon catching up on journal writing or lounging around your private plunge pool. We’ll head out again in our 4x4 open vehicle in the late afternoon to see what might cross our path.
Day 5 Phinda Private Game Reserve
We’ll spend our last morning here tracking the elusive brown hyena before heading back for breakfast. We’ll be taken to the airstrip to board our private charter plane to Phinda.
Set deep in the heart of a rare, dry sand forest, the spectacular Phinda Forest Lodge fuses architectural design and conservation. This award-winning safari lodge is designed in a Zulu Zen style with private stilted suites with luxurious bathrooms and private viewing decks.
Daryl Dell, our specialist guide will join us for lunch and give us an overview of the next few days. Enjoy a siesta before our late afternoon adventure – lion tracking! Daryl has followed this particular pride of lions for eight years and will introduce us to their social dynamics and behavior patterns.
We will spend the next six days in this Reserve – over 51,000-acres of prime 
wilderness land in the Maputaland region of KwaZulu-Natal – and the adjacent Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park, a World Heritage Site just west of the white sand beaches of the Indian Ocean.
We will spend three nights at Phinda Forest Lodge and then move to Phinda Rock Lodge for three nights. Accommodations at Phinda are on an all-inclusive basis including meals, soft drinks, house wines, local brand spirits and beers.
Day 6
We’ll depart for an early morning game drive heading for the open grassy plains to observe the fastest mammal on earth, the cheetah. Along the way Daryl will point out the abundant array of bird life. This evening promises a unique experience, searching for one or more of the twelve leopards under the Munyawana Leopard Research Project at Phinda. We’ll hear more about what is being done to preserve these long-persecuted felines. If we’re lucky we’ll be able to get some great, up-close photos.
Day 7 
You can choose to sleep in and enjoy your luxurious suite or depart early for morning game drive. This afternoon we’ll get together with the Black Rhino Research Team and learn about the area’s conservation initiatives. As the sun sinks we’ll take a boat cruise on the Mzinene River with frozen gin & tonics!
Day 8
We’ll leave the lodge at first light and experience Phinda’s ecological diversity on a full day walk. Daryl’s enthusiasm for identifying birds will certainly be contagious. And if we come across fresh tracks of buffalo, elephant bulls or rhino, we will track them and try to view them on foot from a safe distance. As the day warms up we’ll stop for a picnic lunch and siesta. Our crew will set up hammocks for us to snooze or just take in the magic of being out in the bush.
In the late afternoon, we’ll arrive at a camp site set up just for us. We’ll enjoy a delicious bush dinner around the campfire. You can choose to sleep out under a million stars, or be taken to sleep at Phinda Rock Lodge. While we were walking, our luggage has been transferred there.
Phinda Rock Lodge is set into a cliff-face and the suites are seemingly suspended over the valley below, providing breathtaking views. Constructed from contoured stone and adobe, each suite opens onto a private deck with a plunge pool.
Day 9 
As the sun rises, we’ll wake up in the African bush and depart our tented camp for Phinda Rock Lodge. Upon arrival we’ll be ready for breakfast and a hot shower. Today we meet up with our local guide who will takes us to the surrounding Zulu communities where we’ll have the privilege of visiting a school, craft market and a traditional “Sangoma” healer. After experiencing this culture which is full of song, dance and “ubuntu” (humanness), we may have a different perception of the “African” way. Later we’ll set out to focus on elephant herd dynamics. We’ll enjoy sundowners from the top of a mountain and toast another amazing day on safari.
Day 10
The area of Maputaland is so incredibly diverse and one of the best ways to appreciate it is by air. This morning we will soar above Zululand on a 45-minute, scenic air safari. Then it’s off to the beach where we can enjoy swimming, snorkeling or a long walk on the deserted beach. If you are a certified scuba diver, this is your chance to experience one of the world’s top ten dive sites. More than 1,200 species of fish are found along this coastline. Tonight is a seven-course bush banquet with seven perfectly matched wines!
Day 11 Cape Town 
We say our goodbyes to Daryl and everyone at Phinda this morning and fly to Cape Town. We’re not in the bush anymore! We will settle in at the Four Rosmead Guest House, our home for the next four nights. Accommodation is on a bed and breakfast basis. Dinner tonight at Savoy Cabbage.
Day 12
After breakfast our local guide will take us for a full-day cultural tour. Starting at District Nine and the museum, we’ll gain some perspective on this country’s apartheid years. After lunch we’ll visit Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela and other freedom fighters were imprisoned. Dinner tonight at Fork.
Day 13
After breakfast, we’ll head out on foot for the shops along Long and Kloof streets, the Company Gardens and the African Craft Market. From there we’ll take the double deck tour bus where we can hop on and off. We’ll have lunch in Camps Bay overlooking the beach and end our day on top of Table Mountain. Dinner tonight at Sevruga.
Day 14
There will be an early pick up for those going shark cage diving. Everyone else will enjoy breakfast before heading to the bustling Victoria & Albert Waterfront. Later our guide will take us out to the Cape Winelands to visit a few Franschhoek and Stellenbosch wineries. Tonight we’ll have cocktails at the famous Mount Nelson Hotel’s Planet Bar before heading to dinner.
Day 15
We’ll sleep in this morning and have a leisurely breakfast before packing. Later this afternoon we’ll be transferred to the international airport to begin our journey home.
Contact Duffle & Compass to custom-tailor this itinerary for you.
