Self-Launched: Kruger, Victoria Falls & Namibia (18 Days)

Land at O.R. Tambo International and get yourself to a hostel or budget guesthouse in the Melrose/Rosebank or Maboneng area. Use the Gautrain (roughly £9-11 from the airport into Sandton/Park station) or a metered Gautrain bus/taxi. If you're arriving on a daytime flight, use the afternoon to buy a local SIM (Vodacom/MTN, ~£6 for data) and pick up a few basics. Eat dinner at a hostel or a neighbourhood braai spot — bunny chow or a plate of pap and wors are cheap and filling.

🚌Gautrain from OR Tambo to city centre (~£9), then short taxi/bus

🛏Budget guesthouse or hostel in Melrose/Rosebank (~£25-30/night dorm or twin share)

• →Arrive and settle in
• →Buy local SIM card and data
• →Evening walk around Rosebank/Melrose

This is a self-drive or shuttle day. Easiest route: take the early City Bug or Intercape bus/shuttle from Johannesburg to Hazyview, Nelspruit (Mbombela) or Hoedspruit (roughly £25-40, 5-6 hours). If you're renting a car (around £25-30/day with basic insurance, shared two ways), take the R532/Abel Erasmus Pass and stop at God's Window, Bourke's Luck Potholes and the Blyde River Canyon Three Rondavels viewpoint — all are self-guided with small entrance fees (~£2-4 each). Overnight in a backpackers lodge in Hazyview or Graskop, or the safari-town centre of Hoedspruit.

🚌City Bug/Intercape bus or shuttle Johannesburg to Hazyview (~£30, 5-6 hrs); rental car optional ~£25/day

🛏Backpackers lodge or guesthouse in Hazyview/Graskop (~£18-25/night)

• →God's Window viewpoint (entrance ~£2)
• →Bourke's Luck Potholes (~£2)
• →Three Rondavels / Blyde River Canyon viewpoint (~£3)

Book a full-day open-vehicle safari with a local operator (Wild Frontier, Viva Safaris, or the backpackers' own day trips) — these cost roughly £65-85 per person and include the conservation fee (foreigners ~£30/day), a guide, and a full day in the park. Alternatively, hire a guided self-drive game drive with SANParks' own morning/afternoon drives if you're already inside the park. You'll be looking for elephant, lion, giraffe, buffalo and – with luck – leopard. Bring your own water and snacks; a restaurant stop inside the park (Skukuza or Lower Sabie) is cheap.

🚌Open safari vehicle pickup from your lodge (included in the day tour)

🛏Backpackers lodge or guesthouse in Hazyview (~£18-25/night)

• →Full-day Kruger National Park open-vehicle safari (~£70 incl. park fees)
• →Picnic lunch stop at Skukuza or Lower Sabie

Self-book a two-night stay at a budget bush camp in the Greater Kruger private reserves (Karongwe, Makalali, Thornybush or a similar conservancy). Budget tents or rooms in private conservancies run around £40-60/night with dinner and breakfast, or you can book a two-day/one-night 'cheetah conservation safari' with operators like Wild Frontier. Ask your lodge if a resident researcher or field guide can do a short briefing on cheetah and carnivore conservation — many conservancies partner with the Endangered Wildlife Trust's Cheetah Metapopulation Project and happily include this in the evening game drive.

🚌Shared shuttle or rental car from Hazyview to the private reserve (~1.5 hrs)

🛏Budget bush camp in a Greater Kruger private conservancy (~£50-60/night incl. dinner & breakfast)

• →Afternoon/evening game drive in a private conservancy
• →Cheetah and carnivore conservation talk (ask lodge)
• →Sunset boma braai

Your bush camp will usually run two open-vehicle game drives per day — a sunrise drive and a sundowner drive — both included in most multi-night conservancy packages. This is the best place to spot the Big Five without the crowds of the national park, as private reserves are allowed to drive off-road. Relax by the pool between drives and take a bush walk with a ranger if offered (often a small extra, ~£15-20).

🚌Open safari vehicles provided by the lodge

🛏Budget bush camp in a Greater Kruger private conservancy (~£50-60/night incl. dinner & breakfast)

• →Sunrise game drive
• →Afternoon sundowner game drive
• →Optional guided bush walk (~£15-20)

One last morning drive, then head back to Johannesburg. Options: the afternoon City Bug/Intercape bus from Hoedspruit or Hazyview to Johannesburg (~£30-40, 6-7 hrs), or a short flight from Hoedspruit Eastgate (HDS) or Skukuza (SZK) to Johannesburg (~£70-100 if booked a few weeks out). Overnight near Rosebank or OR Tambo airport in a budget guesthouse; sort out your Namibia flight logistics.

🚌Bus Hoedspruit/Hazyview to Johannesburg (~£35, 6-7 hrs) or domestic flight (~£85)

🛏Budget guesthouse near Rosebank or OR Tambo (~£28-35/night)

• →Morning game drive
• →Transfer to Johannesburg
• →Evening dinner in Rosebank

Book a low-cost flight Johannesburg to Windhoek (FlyNamibia, Airlink, or South African Airways; roughly £120-170 one way if booked 4-8 weeks out). Fly into Hosea Kutako International (WDH), 45 km outside town. The official taxi/shuttle into central Windhoek is around £15-20. WARNING: Namibia's new 90-day visa on arrival (from April 2025) costs USD 90 (~£70) — apply online before you travel to save delays. Spend the afternoon walking Independence Avenue, the Craft Centre and Christuskirche; then pick up a Namibian SIM (MTC, ~£5).

🚌Flight JNB-WDH (~£140), airport shuttle into Windhoek (~£18)

🛏Budget guesthouse in central Windhoek (~£25-30/night)

• →Walk Independence Avenue and Christuskirche
• →Namibian Craft Centre
• →Buy MTC SIM card

Long drive day. The most economical option is the Intercape bus Windhoek to Sesriem (Solitaire area) — roughly £20-25 and 5-6 hours — or a shared shuttle with operators like Safari2Go/Livingstone's Adventures (~£40-50). Alternatively, if you want to self-drive Namibia at all (highly recommended for this section), pick up a rental car in Windhoek (~£30-45/day, shared between two people) and drive the B1 and C24. Check in to a desert lodge or backpackers near Sesriem and enjoy sundowners over the dunes.

🚌Intercape bus (~£22, 5-6 hrs) or shared shuttle (~£45) or rental car (~£35/day shared)

🛏Desert lodge or backpackers near Sesriem (~£25-35/night)

• →Scenic drive through desertscapes
• →Sunset over the dunes at the lodge

Book a Sossusvlei sunrise excursion with a local operator (roughly £40-55) or, if self-driving, pay the park entrance (~£7/day per person) and get in before gate-opening at sunrise to catch the light. You can walk or take the 4x4 shuttle from the 2WD car park into Sossusvlei (~£7). Climb Dune 45 on the way back, walk into Deadvlei's white clay pan with its dead camel thorn trees and 300m dunes, and visit Sesriem Canyon in the late afternoon. Optional: Sossusvlei Lodge sundowner and nature drive (~£20).

🚌Guided 4x4 excursion or self-drive in rental car

🛏Desert lodge or backpackers near Sesriem (~£25-35/night)

• →Sunrise at Sossusvlei and Dune 45
• →Walk to Deadvlei
• →Sesriem Canyon
• →Optional sundowner nature drive (~£20)

Drive or ride to the coast. The most common budget option is a shared shuttle (~£40-55) or continuing your rental car, stopping at Solitaire's famous apple pie café (the Moose McGregor's Desert Bakery) on the way. This is classic Namib scenery: red dunes, the Tropic of Capricorn sign, the Kuiseb and Gaub passes. Once in Swakopmund, take a walk with a local San/Bushman guide on a short desert bushman walk (roughly £15-20) to learn desert survival skills and spot geckos, snakes and insects.

🚌Shared shuttle (~£45) or self-drive rental car (~4-5 hrs)

🛏Backpackers or guesthouse in Swakopmund (~£25-35/night)

• →Solitaire apple pie stop
• →Tropic of Capricorn sign
• →Desert bushman walk with local guide (~£17)

Book a Sandwich Harbour half-day 4x4 tour (roughly £55-70) — these drive along the beach and over giant dunes from Walvis Bay into Namib-Naukluft Park and include a picnic lunch. In the afternoon take a community-guided township walk in Mondesa with a resident guide (roughly £20-30 with a local operator such as Mondesa Cultural Tours) — you'll visit the market, an arts & crafts shop and a family home for dinner and a performance.

🚌4x4 tour vehicle; shared taxi around San/shop in Swakopmund

🛏Backpackers or guesthouse in Swakopmund (~£25-35/night)

• →Sandwich Harbour 4x4 tour (~£60)
• →Mondesa township walk with dinner & local performance (~£25)

Free morning and afternoon for optional activities. Book through your hostel: sandboarding in the Namib dunes (~£25-30), sea kayaking with seals at Walvis Bay (~£30-35), or fat-tire bike tours of old Swakopmund (~£20). Walk the Swakopmund Jetty, the old Lighthouse and the colonial-era streets; grab a coffee at Village Café. Eat a sit-down dinner at one of the seafood spots (The Tug or The Jetty) — jetty fish and chips run ~£12-15.

🚌On foot around town

🛏Backpackers or guesthouse in Swakopmund (~£25-35/night)

• →Optional sandboarding (~£28), sea kayaking (~£33) or fat-tire bike tour (~£20)
• →Swakopmund Jetty walk
• →Seafood dinner

Travel day. The drive from Swakopmund to Etosha is long (~7-8 hrs), so split it. Take the B2 to Usakos, then the B1 north toward Otjiwarongo — a good overnight staging post. Otjiwarongo has backpackers and budget guesthouses (~£25-30). Ask your host to help organise a visit to the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) centre on the edge of town — a global cheetah research facility founded by Dr Laurie Marker.

🚌Bus (Intercape runs Windhoek-Otjiwarongo; combine with Swakopmund-Windhoek leg) or rental car (~7-8 hrs)

🛏Budget guesthouse in Otjiwarongo (~£25-30/night)

• →Long scenic drive through the Namibian interior
• →Evening arrival in Otjiwarongo

Morning visit to the Cheetah Conservation Fund (guided centre tour ~£15-20, or book the full activity package with a cheetah-viewing game drive, ~£30-40). Midday, drive or catch a shared shuttle north to Etosha (via Outjo, ~1.5 hrs, ~£25-35 if hired). If you have your own car, enter at the Anderson Gate and self-drive the park's roads — the waterholes around Okaukuejo are famous for evening wildlife. If you don't have a car, book an Etosha day or half-day game drive from your camp.

🚌Rental car or shared shuttle to Etosha (~£30); own car inside the park

🛏Budget bush camp or lodge near Etosha South/Anderson Gate (~£35-45/night)

• →Cheetah Conservation Fund tour and cheetah drive (~£35)
• →Self-drive or guided game drive into Etosha

Book a full-day Etosha open-vehicle game drive (roughly £50-70) with a local guide — the waterholes around Okaukuejo, Halali and Namutoni attract huge concentrations of wildlife in the dry season. Alternatively, hire a SANParks morning or afternoon drive (~£30) or join the guided camp drives. Look out for elephant, black rhino, lion, giraffe, springbok and hundreds of bird species. Bring water, sun protection and your own lunch or snacks.

🚌Open safari vehicle or self-drive

🛏Budget bush camp or lodge near Etosha (~£35-45/night)

• →Full-day Etosha game drive (~£60)
• →Optional night drive at the camp waterhole (~£15)

Travel day to Zimbabwe. Easiest and cheapest routing: drive or shuttle back to Windhoek (or fly out of Ondangwa/Hosea Kutako) and take a short flight to Victoria Falls (Ethiopian, Airlink or FlyNamibia via Johannesburg, roughly £190-250). Alternative cheaper-but-slower route: bus to Katima Mulilo/Kasane, cross to Botswana, and continue on to Vic Falls. In the evening, settle into a budget lodge in Victoria Falls town and go for a traditional Zimbabwean dinner — many family-run guesthouses and Sadza & relish restaurants offer home-style dinners for ~£8-12. If you can pre-arrange a dinner at a local family homestead (ask your guesthouse host or a community tourism operator like Taste of Africa), you'll get the most authentic version of the G Adventures' Flatter Ncube dinner.

🚌Road transfer to Windhoek (~£45) + flight to Victoria Falls (~£220)

🛏Budget lodge or guesthouse in Victoria Falls town (~£25-35/night)

• →Transfer to Victoria Falls
• →Traditional Zimbabwean dinner (~£10)
• →Kwa-Zulu/Vic Falls town evening

Self-guide the Victoria Falls rainforest — entrance is ~£25-30 for a day and the viewpoints track the full length of the falls. You can add a guided walking tour (~£15-20) at the Victoria Falls Rainforest yourself if you want local geology and history. Extra optional activities, all self-bookable: a Sunset Cruise on the Zambezi (~£55-65), the Victoria Falls Historic Bridge Tour (~£40), or the full-day Chobe National Park day trip from Kasane (~£150-180 — this is the biggest single optional and worth pre-booking). Evening: eat at The Lookout Restaurant or a local spot, then catch the Boma if you fancy something traditional (~£30-40).

🚌On foot / short taxi around town (~£5)

🛏Budget lodge or guesthouse in Victoria Falls town (~£25-35/night)

• →Victoria Falls Rainforest walk (~£27)
• →Optional Zambezi sunset cruise (~£60)
• →Optional Chobe National Park day trip (~£165)
• →Optional Victoria Falls Bridge tour (~£40)

Book an airport shuttle or taxi from Victoria Falls town to the airport (~£12-18). If you have a late flight, squeeze in a morning at the falls or a sunrise walk along the Zambezi. Depart on your own flight out (Victoria Falls has direct flights to Johannesburg, Nairobi and Harare via Airlink/Fastjet). Note: if you're transitting through a yellow fever-endemic country on the way home — including Kenya or Uganda — make sure you have a yellow fever certificate before you start this trip.

🚌Airport shuttle/taxi (~£15)

🛏Departure day — no accommodation needed

• →Morning walk along the Zambezi
• →Departure flight