Evening: Overnight flight to Johannesburg, South Africa.

Afternoon: Arrive Johannesburg from your international flight. You clear customs and are met and transferred approximately 20 minutes to the Courtyard Hotel. Enjoy the complimentary snacks and beverages in the hotel lounge during happy hour prior to dinner.

Dinner: In the hotel.

Evening: Overview of the program and the next couple of days in Johannesburg.

Lodging: Courtyard Hotel Eastgate

Meals Included: Dinner

Breakfast: At the hotel.

Morning: This morning, you have an excursion to Soweto (SOuth WEstern TOwnship), the largest black residential area in South Africa. This “city within a city” consists of 50 suburbs, or sections, and essentially acts as a labor reservoir for the greater metropolitan area of the Witwatersrand. In many ways, the story of Soweto is the story of South Africa. The tour route takes you to all the major points of interest, such as Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, Baragwanath taxi rank, Freedom Square and Hector Peterson Memorial. Discussion on the history of South Africa and apartheid.

Lunch: At a local restaurant in Soweto.

Afternoon: After lunch, transfer to the southern edge of Johannesburg where you visit the award winning and internationally acclaimed Apartheid Museum; you walk through the museum with a local guide. This beautiful museum gives a balanced account of 20th century South Africa. It recounts the political upheavals beginning in the last century and moves on to the transition from a racist state into the new era of hope and freedom as a democracy. Transfer back to the hotel.

Dinner: At the hotel.

Lodging: Courtyard Hotel Eastgate

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: Entering the caves at Sterkfontein requires going up/down about 100 stairs and crouching low to get through some of the passages; alternately, there is a great little museum and coffee shop on site if you are unable to enter the caves. At the Cradle of Humankind Heritage Site, you will be able to see other archaeological sites accessed by an easy walk.

Breakfast: At the hotel.

Morning: Transfer to the Sterkfontein Caves, South Africa’s most important early man sites. An archaeology specialist guides you through the cave system that is home to the earliest remains of our human ancestors on the Southern Continent. The Sterkfontein area, or “Cradle of Humankind,” has outstanding universal value due to a complex of fossil–bearing caves. These caves contain a superbly preserved record of the stages in evolution of humankind within the past 3.3 million years. Artifacts dating back to the Early, Middle and late Stone and Iron Ages have been found. The 116,000 acre Cradle of Humankind Heritage Site is situated at Mohale’s Gate, three miles from Sterkfontein Caves, and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1999. The designation is due to it currently being the world’s richest hominid fossil–bearing site. Two of the main finds here include Mrs. Ples, the first complete Australopithecus skull, and Little Foot, a 3.3 million–year–old, almost complete, near–human skeleton which is still under excavation. The site not only has hominid and other fossils but a number of other fascinating attractions including Iron and Stone Age fossils, rock art sites, plants and bird species. Sterkfontein, one of the 13 sites that form the Cradle of Humankind, is also world-renowned for the studies that have been carried out there on fossilized fauna, wood and stone tools that were made, used and discarded by hominids in the past.

Lunch: Boxed lunch provided.

Afternoon: Transfer to the De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Centre which has gained international recognition for bringing the cheetah back from the brink of extinction through its captive breeding programs. Here you take a tour with one of the center’s enthusiastic researchers who gives insight into the long term viability of the African cheetah. Transfer back to the hotel.

Dinner: At the hotel.

Lodging: Courtyard Hotel Eastgate

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: At the hotel.

Morning: Transfer to the airport to board your commercial flight to Livingstone, Zambia.

Lunch: Lunch on board.

Afternoon: After arriving in Livingstone, you are transfered to a nearby local orphanage. Here you have a chance to learn about the effects of AIDS, an unfortunately integral part of Zambian life and culture, and interact with the children and foster parents. Afterward, transfer to your lodge and settle-in. Your group leader gives you an overview of Zambia.

Dinner: At the lodge.

Lodging: Thorntree River Lodge

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: In order to access all of the viewpoints at Victoria Falls, you need to go up/down around 150 stairs one way; the path may be slick due to the waterfall's mist, too. You can still see the waterfall without climbing all of the stairs, you just won't be able to see the waterfall from all of the viewpoints.

Breakfast: At the lodge.

Morning: Transfer into Livingstone for a guided excursion of Livingstone town and its colorful produce market, as well as its crafts market. Livingstone is a classic old colonial town of former Northern Rhodesia. You visit the Livingstone Museum, known for its archaeological and ethnographic displays as well as artifacts that belonged to Dr. David Livingstone. Afterward, visit the famed Victoria Falls. Victoria Falls is where the Zambezi River opens out into an extravaganza of roaring, spray-tumbled water, known to the locals as “Mosi oa Tunya” (the smoke that thunders). Few sights are as awe-inspiring as this when the ground rumbles with the forces of the water. You view the Falls this morning from the Zambian side. Finish the morning with a visit to the local crafts market.

Lunch: At the lodge.

Afternoon: Afternoon at leisure, with a variety of local activities to choose from.

Dinner: At the lodge.

Lodging: Thorntree River Lodge

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: At the lodge.

Morning: This morning you are transferred by vehicle and boat across the Kazangula Border to Botswana and on to your lodge.

Lunch: At the lodge.

Afternoon: During tea, your group leader gives you an overview of Botswana's history, culture, wildlife, etc. This afternoon you take a game drive in Chobe National Park. Game drives here are taken in open-air safari vehicles in the early morning and late afternoons, moving through the plains searching for predators and other game. Chobe National Park remains one of Africa's prime game-viewing areas. Here one finds all of the "Big Five," except for rhino. This is elephant country, home to the largest population of elephants in the world - many of these great grey giants can be seen at this time of year. (Note that seasonality makes a big difference in how much game you will see. If it's dry you will see larger herds; if it has recently rained the animals will be more dispersed.) The park forms part of Botswana's northern-most border and is a contrast of desert aridity and flood plains. The Chobe region is best known for its vast magnificent river and floodplains filled with grazing herds of big game. Buffalo, sable, lion, leopard, hippo, hyena, and many species of antelope find safety in this huge national park. Chobe is one of Africa's most pristine ecosystems and greatest wildlife refuges.

Dinner: At the lodge.

Lodging: Chobe Safari Lodge

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: At the lodge.

Morning: Depart in 4x4 game-viewing vehicles for a game drive in the park. Afterward, return to the lodge for a chance to freshen up before your group leader gives a lecture on lion social structure and behavior.

Lunch: At the lodge.

Afternoon: Depart on your private, full-afternoon game viewing cruise. This afternoon you explore the Chobe River by motorboat where you may come face to face with the elephant, buffalo and other wildlife that gather on the banks of the river to drink and bathe. Immerse yourself in the unique environment viewing numerous birds including sacred ibis, blue heron, goliath heron, saddle-billed storks, marabou storks and little egrets. The longer excursion allows you to drive deeper into the park, exploring new areas and seeking out larger herds of animals.

Dinner: At the lodge.

Lodging: Chobe Safari Lodge

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: At the lodge.

Morning: Game drive in search of wildlife that may have eluded you so far.

Lunch: At the lodge.

Afternoon: Enjoy afternoon tea while your group leader gives a lecture on elephant anatomy, behavior and social structure, as well as elephant overpopulation and its effects on environmental degradation (including possible solutions). After tea, embark on a game viewing cruise on the Chobe River.

Dinner: At the lodge.

Lodging: Chobe Safari Lodge

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: At the lodge.

Morning: You are transferred across the border into Zimbabwe and south to Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe’s premier safari destination. Hwange is legendary for its wonderful array of wildlife, particularly the massive herds of elephant and buffalo. In the summer months, large antelope herds migrate onto the plains, closely followed by large predators. There are a number of shallow pans spread throughout the park, around which wildlife congregates, making for excellent and reliable game viewing. Elephant, Cape buffalo, rhino, sable, roan, southern giraffe, blue wildebeest, impala and sometimes even gemsbok (oryx) can be seen here. This park is one of the best for predators - lion, leopard, wild dog and cheetah are regularly sighted, along with the smaller African wildcat, serval, honey badger, civet and spotted hyena. Bird life in the area is also prolific, with more than 400 species found; the birdlife is incredibly varied, with species that frequent teak woodlands as well as those more typical of the drier Kalahari being present.

Lunch: In camp.

Afternoon: Your group leader gives an overview of Zimbabwe’s history, culture, wildlife, etc. before the group departs on a late afternoon game drive in the park.

Dinner: In camp.

Evening: A night game drive is offered in search of the nocturnal species active in the area.

Lodging: Ivory Lodge

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Light breakfast in camp.

Morning: An early morning guided bush walk is available for those interested, where you may encounter wildlife but you also explore the little surprises in the bush. Embark on a morning game drive in search of the varied wildlife in the area. Arrive back in camp for a hearty brunch followed by the heat of the day at leisure. The camp’s viewing “blind” provides a great place to safely observe animals coming to drink from the waterhole in the heat of the day.

Brunch: In camp.

Afternoon: During tea, you discuss termites and their effect on the environment, followed by a late afternoon game drive.

Dinner: In camp.

Evening: A night game drive is offered in search of the nocturnal species active in the area.

Lodging: Ivory Lodge

Meals Included: Breakfast, Brunch, Dinner

Note: In order to see all viewpoints at the Falls, approximate length of walk is two miles. It is possible to walk less and see some, but not all, viewpoints. Paths may be slick from mist, but are mostly flat.

Breakfast: At camp.

Morning: You are transferred from Hwange to the town of Victoria Falls.

Lunch: At the hotel.

Afternoon: Following lunch, a noted local historian discusses the story of Scottish explorer Dr. David Livingstone, who first visited Victoria Falls over 150 years ago, and whose journeys laid the ground work for the Colonial era that followed. Following the lecture, a short vehicle transfer takes you to the magnificent Victoria Falls, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Here you see how through the millennia the forces of nature have created this marvelous spectacle, Africa’s greatest waterfall. You view the Falls today from the Zimbabwe side. Afterward, visit Mpisi’ Village, a nearby traditional village. While at the village, you meet the headman, Mr. Mpisi (mpisi means “hyena” in the local language), a highly respected chief and traditional healer as well as an authority on the history of his people, the Matabele. He discusses with you the fascinating history of this proud nation from their origins in Zululand, South Africa to present day Zimbabwe. This fascinating story is related in the setting of Mr. Mpisi’s traditional home; after the discussion you may explore this setting that has remained largely unchanged for generations.

Dinner: Farewell dinner at the hotel.

Lodging: Victoria Falls Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Elephant Back Safari/Departure (start of post-program Cape Town extension #13597)

Breakfast: At the hotel.

Morning: You transfer to a nearby location to ride atop elephants. The trail leads through the pristine bush and valley of the Masuwe River, which is home to numerous species of wildlife; here it is possible to see elephant, kudu, buffalo, impala and leopard. There is also excellent birding with over 50 species to be sighted. Each elephant is under the charge of a handler. After the elephant back safari, you are driven back to the hotel and have time to freshen up and pack. You are transferred in the late morning to the Victoria Falls airport, where you board a commercial flight to Johannesburg.

Lunch: In flight.

Afternoon: Arrive Johannesburg where you connect to your international return flight or the start of optional post-program extension #13597, "Cape Town Extension."

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Morning: Early morning arrival back in the USA and Canada.