Safari & Golf Journey in South Africa

This trip was booked 3 times before it finally happened thanks to the pandemic and border closures etc. Alice from Discover Africa was with us for the entire 3 years – from planning, canceling, and rebooking. She stayed in touch and communicated with us regularly during the entire 3 years. Her insights and suggestions helped make this trip one that will be very difficult to top.

“Fabulous Experience”

Cape Buffalo in the Kruger National Park. — Cape Buffalo in the Kruger

In terms of the actual holiday … Words fail me! Someone was watching out for us because we had multiple sightings of the Big 5, Magnificent 7 and Super 8 plus all of the other animals – small (mouse) to big (elephant). Pretty special when you consider that includes two sightings of Wild Dogs when there are only circa 400 in total in Kruger! I appreciate that’s completely outside of anyone’s control but worth mentioning. Going in September meant that the bush wasn’t at full height, so we were able to see the animals.

Cheetah with fly on nose — Cheetah with a fly on the nose

The lodges were great:

Thornybush and Jock’s Safari Lodge – they were luxurious without being pretentious. We were well taken care of and well-fed!
Gallo Manor Lodge in Johannesburg – it was very comfortable, and we were well taken care of again – the Director, Angel, chauffeured us to and from the golf course which was unexpected and very kind.

Colourful bird in tree — Colorful bird in tree

This holiday combined golf with safaris. The golf was good too. Hans Merensky’s course is well laid out and an interesting course to play. It does need some investment (as well as the hotel).

Leopard Creek was an experience! Old world golf club and an interesting course (unfortunately we didn’t see any wildlife as we did at Hans Merensky). We really enjoyed the Rocklands Course at the Johannesburg Country Club and had a lovely meal afterward looking over the course.

Thanks to Alice at Discover Africa for putting this holiday together for us.

The trip included: Johannesburg Kruger Park

"We had a fabulous experience from start to finish working with Bianca and Discover Africa. Bianca is an excellent travel planner and quickly and efficiently assisted us whenever we needed her help. This was the first private tour my husband went on, and Bia..."

Darlene Slaugenhaupt, United States•12 Sep 2026•

"Justin helped us with the safari and Victoria Falls portion of our trip to South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe. The lodges were fantastic and ground transfers perfectly executed. We had an amazing time!"

Kelly Headrick, United States•02 Jun 2026•

"Justin planned the best safari for our honeymoon. Everything was coordinated smoothly and the arrangements could not have been better. We are hoping to take another trip to South Africa in the future and will be using Discover Africa again. Justin was avail..."

Austin Mader, United States•11 Apr 2026•

"All bookings were at luxurious and convenient places. The camp tents are beautifully decorated with a rustic look and feel. Food service were amazing for most part. The bush drives are as best as it could be given the rainy season etc. Punctuality has been ..."

George Jacob, Canada•10 Mar 2026•

"We had an amazing experience at Walkers Plains Camp. The wildlife viewing was superb from start to finish. Our guide Millie and tracker were super friendly, extremely knowledgeable and made the game drives an absolute pleasure. The camp was very luxuriou..."

Sue Panayiotes, United Kingdom•28 Dec 2025•

"This was a well organized trip that smoothly transitioned us from one adventure to the next. All our transfers from hotels to airport to safari lodges were professional, courteous, and timely. We loved the places that were recommended and felt the pace of o..."

Jeanne Bryan, United States•22 Nov 2025•