SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa's standouts.
A shortlist of the 10 drakensberg & blyde river tours most worth booking in South Africa, with what each one is like on the day, who runs it, and what it costs.
A 90-minute Blyde Dam boat cruise near Hoedspruit with Three Rondawels views, hippos and crocodiles, plus great English guiding.
“Fantastic guides and beautiful scenery would recommend”
Full-day Blyde River Canyon panorama tour from Nelspruit with viewpoints, waterfalls, and the Graskop Gorge Lift—door-to-door.
“We started the day and the guide immediatelytold us that something could be closed before of the weather (I would have appreciate if they call me instead and move to the day after). The canyon, that is the only thing I wanted to see was Read more”
Full-day guided Panorama Route tour from Nelspruit featuring Blyde River Canyon, Bourke’s Luck Potholes, God’s Window, Lisbon Falls, and lunch.
“Merci à Hans, notre guide et chauffeur. Belle journée, magnifiques paysages et gigantisme de Dame Nature. Début octobre, la nature souffre du manque d'eau et attend avec impatience la saison des pluies. Les cascades ne sont pas à leRead more”
Two days of Panorama Route waterfalls and canyon views, plus a 1-night stay and open-vehicle Kruger safari with meals included.
“Awesome guide, Colin, was a delight from Nelspruit for activities along the way to Kruger National Park. Our night safari had a much different feel than our day safari. Guides especially Fiso were all we hoped for and helped us find more than 60 animal species. Worth the cost of the tour!”
Hike the Mnweni Drakensberg over 3 days with gear, permits, meals, and a night in a cliff cave, for views near 3,100m.
“Soul Adventures and specifically Patrick are simply amazing.”
Full-day Drakensberg and Mandela tour from Durban with Howick Falls, the Mandela Capture Site, Midlands Meander views, and mountain stop.
“Our guide, Kudzi was a lovely young man but turned up in a very small old car with broken air conditioning and non-working back seatbelts and the car struggled to go more than 80kph. We had to drive 3 hours to the first stop so we decRead more”
Private 9-hour Panorama Route tour from Hoedspruit: Blyde Canyon, Three Rondavels, potholes, falls, God’s Window, Graskop lunch.
“We booked last minute even knowing the forecast was rainy and still had a great day. They were able to pick us up at our resort which made for an easy day. The sights were beautiful and they were flexible given the weather - even changed our return drive route and made it possible to…”
Full-day safari from Durban to Drakensberg and UNESCO rock art, Howick Falls, and the Nelson Mandela Capture Site, with private-group transport.
“Big fail : the goal of our trip was mainly to go for hiking which was not the case at all. We did the fall then Mandela’s capture site as mentioned in the details then we took the road to Drakensberg mountains super excited to start our hike. Read more”
Durban day trip to Drakensberg rock art, Mandela history, and Howick Falls, with an early start and a solid cave-painting hike.
“Great, interesting. It's a pretty demanding one and a half hour climb up to the rock paintings, but you can go at your own pace. The area was pretty brown because it was almost winter, but that valley is very beautiful with green grass and flowers in the summertime.”
A long day of canyons and viewpoints near Hazyview, plus a Swadini Aventura boat cruise with wildlife spotting and nature talk.
“The guide begins by telling us that the trip takes 10 and not 8 hours as indicated. Then he doesn't stop at God's Window where the trip would otherwise start... When we get to the boat there are two more hours, it sails... When we ask how it is that we have to wait so…”
