Romantic African Getaway to Kruger and Seychelles

The Kruger stretches for tens of thousands of square miles, a raw wilderness that expands in every direction. Elephant herds rumble across the Savannah, giraffes poke their necks above the trees and echoed calls rise from the valley floor. Your luxury suite is perched above it all, built on the highest rock in the area. From a private heated plunge pool, watch the herds roam, listen to the lions roar, and clink champagne glasses to the start of your great adventure. Your luxury lodge provides you absolute seclusion and privacy in an expressive safari destination. However, you are never completely alone as there is always wildlife that roams through the valley below with delightful sights to elevate the romance.

After you land in Johannesburg, take a connecting flight to an airstrip in the Sabi Sands. The short airport transfer is also a game drive and your first impression of the wildlife that inhabits the area. A rhino, a buffalo herd and the refined movements of a hunting cheetah are all real possibilities, and the Sabi Sands offers an exceptional blend of abundance and diversity. The reserve borders the central Kruger National Park and is crossed by two permanent rivers which serve to attract vast herds of ungulates and nomadic wanderers. This scenario also maintains a very healthy predator population, with big cat sightings a feature on virtually every game drive. For a first safari experience, capture the raw drama that occurs when so many animals congregate together while also experiencing the raw beauty of nature's realm epitomized by the baffling diversity of creatures. Check in to your suite and the evening is at your leisure.

Take your breakfast on your private verandah as a buffalo herd rumbles below, 50, 60, perhaps 70 march through the bush and past your view. Elephants and giraffe are always easy to spot from here; look carefully and you will find rhinos also graze below. From your vantage point, enjoy the ultimate views over the Kruger ecosystem to begin your day. Head out on a private morning game drive to cruise through the bush for close ups of the herds you just saw from above. Follow the prints and a lion pride rest beneath a bushwillow tree as they yawn and doze with one eye open. A scattered carcass suggests why so many lion roars were heard from your verandah last night.

A game drive can reveal everything with dozens of different species spotted in just a few hours, and it can also hone in on the most revered scenes as a beautiful rhino pair approaches the safari vehicle. Return to your lodge in the mid to late morning for some rest over the hottest part of the day. Then, your safari continues as you gaze out over the animal kingdom as iconic herds gracefully move past. You will be treated to a couple's massage at the lodge's spa, a salubrious treatment that also comes with a view. In the mid afternoon, take a second game drive for another chance to lose yourself in the landscape and discover all the famous animals of Africa.

Wake up as herds gather on an open grassland, their striped elegance accompanied by the delicate skip of the springbok. Kudu is near as a large herd rests with ears alert to danger. On your game drive, explore diversity as you loop around waterholes and havens for nature's most surreal characters. Nothing can compete with the thrill of seeing a big cat on the move. A female leopard jumps from a tree to lose herself in the grass, and flickers past the safari vehicle.  Follow her tail, and the hunt plays out with haunting yelps that are quickly silenced as jaws crunch through a black and white neck.

Throughout this safari itinerary, follow a program of twice-daily game drives and leisurely afternoon hours at your suite. The Sabi Sands offers a splendid seclusion to envelope you in nature's untouched realm. For most of the experience, it's just you and the landscape whether you are relaxing by the pool or exploring the rugged trails of the Sabi Sands. Admire giraffe grazing serenely from the treetops as you watch enormous elephant tusks compete at a waterhole, find warthogs and baboons as they chase each other through the bush, and capture the raw essence of this remote world. The Kruger ecosystem is unchanged for millennia; a safari is not just an encounter with animals, it is a complete immersion in their kingdom.

Descend onto the valley floor on a game drive to journey past the elephant herds and enter Mala Mala, one of Africa's finest private reserves. Exclusive and expressive, Mala Mala offers a huge safari landscape to just a handful of guests. Like Sabi Sands, it's all unfenced and a major piece of the Kruger's vast ecosystem. Your accommodation has a different location, this time in the valley with a view of the river. While the views don't stretch nearly as far, the animals come very close. Everything must come to drink, so there is always an animal in the sight of your private verandah, so the safari never stops. There is even an outdoor shower surrounded by your private indigenous garden as you watch over the hippos that fill the river.

Your spacious accommodations on Mala Mala is an ode to the opulence of traditional colonial safaris. Wooden features are matched with leather and crystal furnishing as your suite is much more an exclusive home than a guest room. Like Sabi Sands, you will enjoy two game drives a day to leave plenty of time to lie back and watch it all unfold from the heated plunge pool or wooden verandah. Follow the river on a game drive to see impalas drink with a look of apprehension, vervet monkeys jump around with a sense of chaos, an old giraffe as it brings an air of tranquility, and a herd of buffalo that carpet the water with noise. There are moments of pandemonium as hooves splash, primates yelp, and the giraffes canter off as the lion pride arrives with supreme authority.

In Mala Mala, the guide can take you off of the trail, which means that you can get closer to the most revered scenes. Spot a leopard in a tree, and you can drive up for the photogenic view. When the lion cubs crunch into a springbok carcass, the vehicle is just a few meters away. You are intimately engaged in the interactions and watch the Safari drama from the ultimate vantage point. Walking safaris equally enchant as a hand in hand journey takes you through the landscape of the big five. Skilled trackers and armed rangers keep you safe and lead you to personal encounters with the ungulates. Stand beside zebra herds, watch the springbok skip from ground level, and even meet a herd of female buffalo with their young. Like always, it feels like you are alone with nature, enveloped by all the beauty of Africa's wilderness. Throughout your time at Mala Mala, walking safaris can be done instead of the game drives.

An evocative soundtrack provides your morning alarm call as a pair of male hippos fight, and their rumbustious grunts echo into your suite. Baboons shout from afar while tropical birds provide a symphony. With a Safari immersion, all of your senses are open to the animal kingdom. On your final day in Mala Mala, you can tailor the program for the day. If you have not yet seen a particular animal, the guides will focus your day on finding them. If you already have your favorite animals, then it's easy to picnic within their realm. As a final treat, stay out on the afternoon game drive to watch the sunset across the sky followed by a surreal darkness.  On a nighttime drive, you will see a shift of perspective;  your guide will switch the spotlight on for you to discover that you are surrounded by animals.

Today you will travel as two flights connect you from one exclusive enclave to another. Wave farewell to the wildlife as the safari vehicle takes you to Mala Mala's private airstrip for a local connection to O. R. Tambo International in Johannesburg. From here, fly to The Seychelles to arrive in the evening after gaining a couple of hours in time zones. A helicopter transfer completes the trip to take you from Mahe Island to the remote Cousine Island. A maximum of eight guests shares this piece of tropical bliss in the archipelago. Touch down for landing, and a private champagne reception will await at your luxury villa. Clink the glasses, walk the few meters to the soft sand of the beach, dip your toes in the warm waters, and savor the absolute serenity of a private island.

Sleep in as you feel the Indian Ocean breeze come through your curtains. Lounge in your private infinity pool as turquoise colors graces the horizon. Enjoy the seclusion provided by indigenous jungle, a lush awning of green keeps your villa shrouded in privacy. Then take a few steps down to a white sand beach, the kind that comes from travel postcards. Cousine offers the quintessential island experience as a tropical paradise cast adrift in the Indian Ocean. For these five days, it's all about indulgence; just lie back and capture the classic romantic beach experience. Discreet and attentive service provide meals and drinks to your villa, and the program is always yours. Dine on a candlelit table on the white sand, overlook the sapphire and celebrate the romance of the Seychelles.

A program of activities allows you to follow your mood. You may enjoy a private Creole cooking class at your villa, snorkeling with green turtles on the reefs encircling the beach or a cruise through the archipelago in a solar catamaran as you stop off at the other islands of the Seychelles. Sea kayaking, scuba diving, deep sea fishing, or a scenic tour by helicopter are also options for your consideration. The island's spa provides further salubrious moments while the jungle interior offers secluded walks beneath the flutterings of exotic birds. For these five days, the island is yours.

Your romantic adventure comes to an end as you helicopter across the Seychelles archipelago to elegantly traverse the turquoise tones of the Indian Ocean.  Connect with your international flight for a safe arrival home.