Good-value Cape Town, Kruger & Victoria Falls

As the oldest city in South Africa, Cape Town is fondly known as the ‘Mother City’ and many people have fallen in love with its warm and friendly embrace. On touching town at Cape Town International Airport, your driver will be waiting in a luxury SUV to whisk you the Sugar Hotel, your home away from home for the next four nights.

The Sugar Hotel is enviably positioned as you can stroll to the vibrant city centre (take in Greenmarket Square, the Company’s Gardens, the National Gallery and many boutiques, galleries and restaurants), the quaint neighbourhoods of De Waterkant and Bo-Kaap (famous for their multi-coloured Georgian houses) and even to the Sea Point Promenade and V&A Waterfront if you are feeling energetic.

Even better, your suite has a private plunge pool, ideal if you are visiting over hot summer days from November to March. Your accommodation is on a B&B basis, meaning you are free to discover the many exciting markets and top-notch eateries that Cape Town has to offer.

Renting a car will allow you to go further afield and see Table Mountain, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, the penguins at Boulders Beach, Cape Point and, of course, the exquisite Winelands in Constantia, Stellenbosch and Franschhoek.

After getting your fill of Cape Town, your driver will return you to Cape Town International Airport for the short-haul flight to Hoedspruit near the Kruger National Park. You will be swapping skyscrapers for safari suites, all in the name of tracking the Big 5: rhino, elephant, buffalo, leopard and lion.

In fact, your lodge is named after one of the most inscrutable members of this august group. Kapama Buffalo Camp is built among the trees and its 10 spacious suites are connected by wooden walkways. This portion of your trip is all-inclusive, meaning you will enjoy meals and sundowners with the Kapama family.

No matter what time of year you travel, the Greater Kruger area is always alive with wildlife. If you enjoy birding, then aim to visit over summer when all the migrant species have settled in to pass the northern hemisphere’s icy winter.

Once you see and hear the Victoria Falls, you will quickly understand why the traditional name – Mosi oa Tunya – is so apt. Meaning ‘the smoke that thunders’, it refers to the huge spray and colossal noise that thousands of litres of water plummeting over the edge of Batoka Gorge make.

It is another short flight from Kapama to Livingstone, the small town in Zambia named after the first European to see the Falls in the 1800s. Your time here is spent at Avani Victoria Falls Resort, a mad-cap hotel that is the closest to the water out of all the hotels in the area. Echoing traditional adobe buildings, it has sparkling swimming pools, bars, restaurants and all the other amenities you would expect from a resort.

As if the activity options at Avani are not enough, Victoria Falls also offers myriad adventures. You can take microlight or helicopter flips over the Falls, go white-water rafting in season, take tea on Livingstone Island, swim in Devil’s Pool, go bungee jumping and bridge swinging and even track rhinos in Mosi oa Tunya National Park.

On Day 10, it is back to Harry Mwanga Nkumbula International Airport for your return flight home.