African Elephant Coast Six Day Itinerary

The Elephant Coast, as its names suggests, offers superb viewing of Africa's greatest animals including a stay at the famous Tembe Elephant Park.
 
Outstanding game viewing includes Tembe world class bird watching, scuba diving and snorkelling, lake and river canoeing, fishing excursions (the only lake in South Africa that holds tigerfish) and cultural experiences.

Day 1: Durban - Shayamoya

Arrival at Durban Airport you will be welcomed by an Elephant Coast safari representative and transferred to Shayamoya. This family run lodge offers genuine hospitality and is set alongside the Pongolapoort Dam and is part of a proposed biosphere reserve that will incorporate the 1200 ha Phongolo Nature Reserve. Enjoy an ice cold sundowner while watching hippo and crocodiles on a river cruise completed by a bush dinner under the starstudded sky. Lunch/Dinner

Day 2: Shayamoya to Tembe Elephant Park

After breakfast the morning is spent either fishing or enjoying a guided walk in the Phongolo Nature Reserve. We then transfer to Tembe Elephant Park which is home to the province's biggest indigenous elephant herd. This luxurious tented safari lodge with each unit tucked secludedly away in the sand forest adds to the untamed african experience.
 
After a leisurely lunch and a swim in the lodge's thatch-sheltered swimming pool we spend the afternoon searching for those elusive giants, stopping at Mathlasela hide and waterhole at dusk and retire back for a campfire dinner. FULL BOARD Distance 135kms

Day 3: Tembe Elephant Park

Limited access into Tembe Elephant Park restrict the Tembe experience to small exclusive groups who are given the opportunity to enjoy the elephants as well as the parks profuse diversity of fauna and flora. With 300 square kilometres in extent, Tembe is the third largest game reserve in Kwa Zulu Natal, home to four of the Big Five and the rare suni antelope, one of the smallest species of buck in Southern Africa. Dinner is followed by an evening game drive. FULL BOARD

Day 4: Tembe Elephant Park

A day trip to Ndumo is a must for it is undoudtedly one of the top birding spots in South Africa.
 
Ndumo's three large pans (Banzi, Nyamiti and Shokwe), two riverine systems, sand forests and woodlands create the biodiversity of a far larger park and are home to 430 species of birds, 45 species of amphibians and 62 varieties of mammals. The reserve is a dense primordial riverine forest of more than 200 species of trees. Picnic lunch is enjoyed at a look out point, ending this perfect day with a traditional barbecue complimented by Thonga dancing FULL BOARD

Day 5: Kosi Forest Lodge

After breakfast we transfer to Kosi Bay Forest Lodge and Nature Reserve. The Lake system comprises of several lakes interconnected by channels, home to a variety of fish and birds and spans over 10 kilometres, dotted here and there are the locals reed fish traps.
 
The morning is spent at Kosi Bay mouth either snorkelling, sunbathing or enjoying a walk with the wind in your hair. Other activities are guided canoeing through the Kosi Lakes, birding in the Raffia forest or turtle tracking which is offered in season(mid Nov - mid Jan). Relax in a unique open air en-suite bath which is sunken in white sand, hidden in the Sand forest. FULL BOARD

Day 6: Kosi Bay to Durban

Depart after breakfast to Durban via a cultural village where we have the opportunity to purchase the local handicrafts and visit a local sangoma for ancient herbal remedies or perhaps have our fortune told. A packed lunch is enjoyed at Enseleni Game reserve and we end our safari in the early evening. Breakfast/Lunch