Victoria Falls & the Lowveld

Nights

11

Party

2–4 guests

Countries

South Africa · Zimbabwe

From

US$ 35,000 per person, based on four guests sharing, including private aircraftExcludes international flights to and from Africa.

Best season

Apr–Jun · Sep–Oct

This one runs from the top of Table Mountain to the lip of the Zambezi gorge. You start at The Silo in Cape Town, go up the mountain before the queues, and drive out to Delaire Graff in the Winelands for dinner. The aircraft takes you to Fancourt for the Montagu and The Links, then on to Dulini River Lodge in the Sabi Sand, six suites above the river, with a night drive for leopard and the animals that only come out after dark. You finish at Victoria Falls River Lodge, tented suites in the trees above the Zambezi, with a canoe at sunrise and a helicopter over the Falls.

Highlights

• Table Mountain at 07:00, before the public
• Hōseki and lunch at Delaire Graff
• Fancourt Montagu and The Links
• A night drive in the Sabi Sand
• A helicopter over the Victoria Falls
• A sunrise canoe on the Zambezi

1. Day 1

   Cape Town · The Silo Hotel

   We meet you at Cape Town International and drive you to The Silo Hotel, the Royal Portfolio's 28 rooms above the V&A Waterfront. The rest of the day is yours: the rooftop pool, the harbour, or sleep. Dinner at the hotel whenever you want it.

2. Day 2

   Table Mountain at 07:00

   You ride the cable car at 07:00, before it opens to the public, and have the summit to yourselves while the city wakes below. The afternoon is slow: the Waterfront, a long lunch or the rooftop pool at The Silo. Your guide is on call if you want to see more of the city.

3. Day 3

   The Helshoogte Pass · Delaire Graff

   A private drive takes you out to Delaire Graff Estate on the Helshoogte Pass. Lunch is on the terrace of Delaire Graff Restaurant with the Banhoek Valley below you. In the evening you stay on the estate for Hōseki, where Virgil Kahn serves an eight-course Japanese omakase, and then drive back to Cape Town.

4. Day 4

   Cape Town → George · Fancourt Hotel

   Your Embraer Phenom 300 lands at George in under an hour and you are at Fancourt before lunch. Use the afternoon for the practice ground, the spa or the gardens. Dinner is a private table in the Fancourt Manor House, the original manor and a national monument.

5. Day 5

   Golf · Fancourt Montagu

   The Montagu is No. 4 in South Africa, a Gary Player design upgraded in 2005, and you play it in the morning with the Outeniqua Mountains behind every tee. Non-golfers go along the Garden Route to Knysna for lunch on the lagoon and are back at Fancourt by late afternoon.

6. Day 6

   Golf · Fancourt The Links

   The Links is No. 1 in South Africa for 2025 and hosted the 2003 Presidents Cup. It is open and firm and the wind decides most of it; your caddie will tell you by how much. Non-golfers can visit the Golfing for Change project in Oupad, Knysna, which every Ascot Private journey supports, or spend the day at the spa.

7. Day 7

   George → Sabi Sand · Dulini River Lodge

   A Pilatus PC-12 flies you north-east to the Sabi Sand. Coming in to the strip in the Exeter concession, the pilot does a low pass to clear impala, and sometimes buffalo, off the runway. Dulini River Lodge has six suites on the river, and your vehicle, guide and tracker are waiting.

8. Day 8–9

   Dulini · Sabi Sand

   Two full days in the Sabi Sand, on your timetable. Your guide follows leopard, lion and the rest of the Big Five and stays at each sighting as long as you want. One evening you go out after dark for leopard and the animals you rarely see by day: genet, civet, bushbaby and the white-tailed mongoose.

9. Day 10

   Sabi Sand → Victoria Falls · Victoria Falls River Lodge

   The PC-12 takes you to Kruger Mpumalanga International for customs, then north across the Limpopo to Victoria Falls. Your suite at Victoria Falls River Lodge is a tent on a tree deck above the Zambezi. In the afternoon a helicopter takes you to the Falls, coming in from upstream at the height of the spray with the rainbow hanging in the mist.

10. Day 11

    The Zambezi at sunrise

    At sunrise you go out on the Zambezi in a canoe with your guide, the river quiet and the banks busy with kingfishers and egrets. The rest of the day is slow: the pool, the river view, a sundowner on the water. Dinner at the lodge on your last night in Africa.

11. Day 12

    Departure

    Breakfast above the river, then an Embraer Phenom 300 from Victoria Falls to Johannesburg or Cape Town for your international flight. Your Journey Architect has your luggage checked through. Thirty days later the coffee table book of your trip reaches your door.

Flown by turboprop, light and super-light jet and helicopter. How we choose the aircraft