Kwa Zulu Natal Self Drive Holiday

Fourteen nights through KwaZulu-Natal, self-guided and tailor-made, across the Drakensberg, the battlefields and the coast, in malaria-free country.

The malaria-free part matters: it puts big game within reach of families and anyone who would rather not take prophylactics for a fortnight, which rules out most of the alternatives in southern Africa.

Two nights in the Drakensberg open it, in the Ukhahlamba park, where the escarpment runs for two hundred kilometres and the Tugela gorge and waterfall are reached on foot, with mountain biking available. The Anglo-Zulu War battlefields follow, with community-owned accommodation, then private reserves for the game drives, which may take in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi, the oldest proclaimed park in South Africa and the site of Operation Rhino in the 1950s and 1960s, the programme generally credited with pulling the white rhino back from the brink and which now supports well over a thousand of them. St Lucia closes it with three nights in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, with snorkelling, kayaking, fishing, riding and stargazing available.

The itinerary is tailor-made and the inclusions are not itemised in detail on the operator’s page; the lower price reflects four-star accommodation and the upper a mix of four and five-star, so the quote depends on what is chosen. Flights are not included and the price shown is per person. Fifteen days covers mountains, history, game and coast in one province, which is a remarkable amount of variety for the distance driven. No wildlife sighting can be promised. The winter months from May to September are the best of it for game viewing and comfortable for walking in the Drakensberg, while the coast at St Lucia works year round.