Experience Southern Africa — Self-Launched

Land at O.R. Tambo and take the Gautrain to Park Station (about £9) or a Gautrain bus/Grab to Maboneng. Check into a hostel in Maboneng or Melville. Spend the afternoon at the Apartheid Museum (£6 entry, closed Mondays) and eat dinner at a Maboneng street-food spot or Neighbourgoods-style food hall. Sort a local SIM (Vodacom/MTN tourist SIM ~£5) and load a small amount of rand data.

🚌Gautrain airport–Park Station ~£9 + walk/Grab ~£5

🛏Maboneng or Melville hostel dorm (~£18)

• →Apartheid Museum (£6)
• →Maboneng / Main Street life walk
• →Buy local SIM & data

Book a Baz Bus or Intercape/Greyhound coach from Johannesburg to Nelspruit (Mbombela), ~4.5–5.5 hrs, then a shared shuttle or minibus taxi on to Hazyview (~1 hr). Baz Bus runs a direct Johannesburg–Hazyview hostel service on some days — check their timetable. Base yourself at a Hazyview backpackers with a pool and self-catering kitchen. Book tomorrow's Kruger day safari through the hostel or GetYourGuide (open-vehicle safari, ~£90–110 including park fees).

🚌Johannesburg–Nelspruit coach ~£20 + shuttle to Hazyview ~£8

🛏Hazyview backpackers dorm (~£16)

• →Book Kruger open-vehicle safari
• →Self-catering supper at hostel

Early start (05:30) for a full day in an open 4x4 through Kruger's southern/central circuits. Big Five territory — carry binoculars, water, sun cream and a packed lunch. Alternatively, book a SANParks guided morning walk or night drive directly through the park (cheaper, ~£25–35, but less intensive than a full day). Return to Hazyview in the late afternoon.

🚌Included in safari day tour pickup

🛏Hazyview backpackers dorm (~£16)

• →Full-day Kruger open-vehicle safari (~£95 incl. park fees)

Contact the Black Mambas directly (they accept visitor donations and arrange bush walks and snare-sweep patrols for small groups; email ahead via their site or ask your Hazyview hostel to arrange). Shared transfer Hazyview–Hoedspruit ~1.5 hrs (~£15). Join a guided snare-detection walk, hear the unit's story over a braai, and stay at a nearby bush camp or Hoedspruit backpackers. Donation/activity contribution ~£45 per person.

🚌Shared transfer ~£15

🛏Hoedspruit backpackers or bush camp tent (~£20)

• →Bush walk with Black Mambas (~£45 donation)
• →Campfire evening

Long travel day: shared transfer or minibus taxi Hoedspruit–Polokwane, then coach/minibus to Martin's Drift border and on to Palapye/Serowe (Pula ~£25 total). From Serowe take a local kombi or hire a shared 4x4 to Goo Moremi Gorge (about 45 min). Camp or stay in a basic Serowe guesthouse (~£14). The gorge has year-round water, raptors and rock pools — do the short self-guided rim walk and swim.

🚌Shared taxis and coaches via Martin's Drift ~£25

🛏Serowe guesthouse or campsite (~£14)

• →Goo Moremi Gorge walk & swim (~£4 entry)

Take an early kombi/coach Serowe–Nata (~3 hrs, ~£12). Check into Nata Lodge backpackers or campsite and book a sunset open-vehicle excursion into Nata Bird Sanctuary and the Makgadikgadi edge through the lodge (~£45 for a shared vehicle). Flamingos and pelicans in season (roughly Nov–Mar), vast white pans year-round. If you're lucky and well-organised, ask about a sleep-out on the pans.

🚌Kombi Serowe–Nata ~£12

🛏Nata Lodge hostel/campsite (~£16)

• →Nata Bird Sanctuary open-vehicle excursion (~£45)

Cross at Kazungula (or the Kasane/Vic Falls bridge) by shared taxi and kombi — Nata to Kazungula is a long, dusty ride (~5–6 hrs). If you're on a UK passport, Zimbabwe charges US$55 cash for a single entry visa at the border (bring clean US dollar notes). Check into a Vic Falls backpacker (Shoestrings is the classic). Afternoon walk down to the rainforest for your first view of the Falls (US$50 park entry — buy direct at the Zim parks gate).

🚌Nata–Kazungula kombi ~£14 + cross-border shared taxi ~£6

🛏Victoria Falls backpackers dorm (~£18)

• →Victoria Falls rainforest walk (US$50 ≈ £40)

Full day for optional activities — book directly: Zambezi Helicopter Co 'Flight of Angels' (~£140 for 12 min) is the Intrepid-endorsed operator; or rafting (~£110), Devil's Pool (seasonal), or the Vic Falls canopy tour. In the evening book a traditional village dinner through a community tourism operator (roughly £25–35) for goat stew, peanut butter rice and drumming — or simply eat at a local Zimbabwean restaurant in the town.

🚌Local taxis/shared lifts ~£6

🛏Victoria Falls backpackers dorm (~£18)

• →Zambezi helicopter flight or rafting (optional ~£110–140)
• →Traditional Zimbabwean dinner (~£30)

Morning visit to the Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust rehabilitation centre (small donation ~£8, transport with a local taxi ~£8). Midday cross to Kasane (shared taxi over the border, ~£10). Book a Chobe River sunset cruise directly with a Kasane operator (~£35–40 including park fee) — elephants by the hundred at the water's edge. Sleep at a Kasane hostel or campsite.

🚌Vic Falls–Kasane cross-border shared taxi ~£10 + taxis ~£8

🛏Kasane backpackers/campsite (~£17)

• →Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust (~£8)
• →Chobe sunset cruise (~£38)

Bus/kombi Kasane–Nata–Gweta (~5 hrs, ~£16). In Gweta, Planeterra-linked and local guides run meerkat-viewing trips and pan sleep-outs from Gweta Lodge or Planet Baobab (~£55 for a shared package including meerkat visit and pan dinner with stargazing). This is one of the best-value wildlife nights in Botswana — the pans are silent, clear-skied and full of stars.

🚌Kasane–Gweta kombi/coach ~£16

🛏Gweta Lodge dorm or pan sleep-out (~£18)

• →Meerkat colony visit + Makgadikgadi pan dinner & stargazing (~£55)

Kombi/coach Gweta–Maun (~4 hrs, ~£14). In Maun, book a 2-night mokoro camping trip direct with a local poler-guide outfit (Maun has dozens — expect ~£180–220 per person all-in with food, tents, polers and a guide; group size 2–6). Head into the delta mid-afternoon, pole out to an island and camp wild with hippos calling. Note: choose a Botswana-owned operator if you want your money to stay local.

🚌Gweta–Maun kombi ~£14 + mokoro transfer

🛏Wild camp on a delta island (included in mokoro package ~£18/night equivalent)

• →Afternoon mokoro safari (~£70 of the package)

Up at dawn for a guided walking safari on the island — track elephant, giraffe, zebra and the extraordinary birdlife of the delta. Siesta through the heat of the day, then an optional afternoon mokoro paddle or another walk. Dinner cooked over the fire by your polers. This is the heart of the trip — budget for just the mokoro package today.

🚌On foot / mokoro

🛏Wild camp on a delta island (included)

• →Sunrise walking safari
• →Optional afternoon mokoro (~£25)

Mokoro back out of the delta in the morning, shower and settle into a Maun hostel (Sitatunga Camp or Old Bridge Backpackers). Optional scenic helicopter flight over the delta (~£160) or a scenic light-aircraft flip (~£215 via Mack Air) if the budget stretches. Otherwise hire a bike, do laundry, and stock up for the long haul south tomorrow.

🚌Mokoro out (included) + local taxis ~£5

🛏Maun backpackers dorm/campsite (~£17)

• →Optional delta helicopter/light aircraft flight (~£160)
• →Maun town & laundry

Bus/coach Maun–Serowe (~6 hrs, ~£18). Book a sunset or dawn game drive directly at Khama Rhino Sanctuary (entry ~£10, shared drive ~£25) — a community-run reserve protecting Botswana's largest rhino population, plus zebra, giraffe and hundreds of bird species. Camp or stay at the sanctuary's basic chalets.

🚌Maun–Serowe coach ~£18 + shared vehicle to sanctuary ~£4

🛏Khama Rhino Sanctuary campsite/chalet (~£16)

• →Khama Rhino Sanctuary game drive (~£25)
• →Sanctuary entry (~£10)

Early coach Serowe–Gaborone (~4 hrs, ~£14), then Intercape or Greyhound Gaborone–Johannesburg (~6 hrs, ~£22). Cross at Tlokweng/Groblersdal. Arrive Joburg in the evening, take a Grab to a Maboneng or Melville hostel. The Intrepid review crowd complains about this drive for a reason — bring snacks, a neck pillow and a downloaded podcast.

🚌Serowe–Gaborone coach ~£14 + Gaborone–Joburg coach ~£22 + local taxi ~£6

🛏Melville/Maboneng hostel dorm (~£18)

• →Rest & plan Soweto day

Book a Soweto bicycle tour directly with a township-owned operator such as Lebo's Soweto Backpackers or a Soweto cycling outfit (~£35, 2–3 hrs) — Vilakazi Street, Mandela's house, Hector Pieterson Museum and a local lunch. Take a minibus taxi or Grab back into Joburg and fly home from O.R. Tambo. If time allows, add the Hector Pieterson Museum (£4).

🚌Grab to Soweto ~£12, minibus taxi back ~£3, airport transfer ~£12

🛏None (departure day)

• →Soweto bicycle tour (~£35)
• →Hector Pieterson Museum (~£4)