Here’s an epic Cape Town to Victoria Falls 3-week overland itinerary to help you discover the highlights of Southern Africa. This day-to-day guide will take you through South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, whilst giving you a brief insight into the daily activities, optional excursions and intriguing encounters. You can use the table of contents below to jump to each country or each day in the itinerary.
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The pre-tour meeting for the Cape Town to Victoria Falls tour
The pre-tour meeting began at 5 pm at our accommodation, Ashanti Lodge, where 1 night was already paid for as part of the tour. We checked into our dorm room and sat around in the upstairs bar working on our Walking Tours of Cape Town blog post with an ice-cold Castle beer when our tour guide, Alex, approached us to fill in some forms. Upon seeing the forms, we quickly realised that 75% of our tour group was made up of Chinese tourists. Most of them were over the age of 50 and spoke no English.
We couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed at the fact that Africa Travel Co (ATC) had placed us with a large family, when we had already changed from an earlier departure because they had also over-booked that one too, with a family of 22! At this point, we felt like we were invading a family holiday. Unfortunately, when taking an overland tour, these are the risks you take. The only way to truly know who you will be travelling with beforehand is to avoid a tour and self-drive this route instead.
When the tour meeting began, we paid our local payment. This is the extra cost that goes to the local communities for the activities we do along the way and towards food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. During this time, we also met the other crew members; TK, our jolly driver, Megan, the trainee tour leader, and Benson, the cook.
Anyway, our group was made up of us, 2 young Irish girls, 2 Americans, 1 German, a Chinese tour group and the crew members.
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Day 1: Wine tasting in the Cederberg region of South Africa
Drive length: 270 km Drive time: 4 hours Campsite & facilities: Highlanders Camp – Toilets & showers, bar, swimming pool & lots of wine!
Day 1 consisted of driving north of Cape Town to the Cederberg wine region. The drive was short, and the roads were smooth. 30 minutes into leaving Cape Town we passed by one of the biggest townships of the area. At this point, we were promptly reminded that a township tour was a highlight included in our itinerary. As we passed by the truck, we were expecting to stop but the truck was going too fast and it wasn’t going to happen. We were later told by Alex that the township tour is no longer included as ATC decided to take it out based on customer feedback. Anyway, we proceeded to the supermarket to pick up water, snacks and most importantly, beers to enjoy amidst the vibrant African sunsets. After a 45-minute supermarket stop, we were off to our first campsite.
The time in the truck on the first day flew by, as we spent most of the time chatting away to our fellow travellers that we would spend the next 3 weeks. Once we arrived at the camping ground, Alex gave us a demonstration of how to put up the tents and then we were all left to whip up our own. Putting the tent up was super easy and simple. We needed little guidance from the crew after the demonstration.
At 5 o’clock sharp, everyone needed to be upstairs in the bar for the wine tasting to commence. We tasted 6 wines in total and learnt how to properly conduct a wine tasting. Aside from just chucking it down your throat, there are a few steps. Did you know that wine has legs? No, neither did we! It was cold that evening, but the wine kept us warm and loosened us up enough to mingle with everyone. A platter of cheese and 6 wines later, it was time to head back to camp for our first meal, crack open a beer, and head to our sleeping bags for our first night outside. It was safe to say this trip from Cape Town to Victoria Falls was going to be a good one!
Day 2: Canoeing on the Orange River – South Africa
Drive length: 410 km Drive time: 6 hours Campsite & facilities: Fiddlers Creek – Toilets & showers, bar, braai area, canoeing equipment
The day began before sunrise; we were up, fed, and packed up by 7:30 am ready to hit the road. Today’s drive was pretty similar to the day before, with smooth roads and green mountainous landscapes surrounding us. We stopped again to break up the journey in the small town of Springbok where we could buy more snacks from the Spar. However, we opted for a sexy head-torch as we quickly realised that using our phone torch was only going to drain the battery quickly.
After a quick stop we were on our way to our campground for the night and to start the day’s activity; canoeing! Once we arrived at the camp, we all quickly threw up our tents and ate lunch. Within 90 minutes of arriving, we headed back down the same road for us to canoe 7km back on the adjacent river.
The protocol was 2 people per canoe. So, of course, we hopped in one together and canoed into our first African sunset that shone its orange colours. Along the way, we saw an abundance of birds, but the most impressive was South Africa’s national bird; the blue crane!
Arms aching, bums numb, and bodies tired after 3.5 hours of canoeing, we all sluggishly dragged our canoes up the muddy edge and headed for a shower. 44 sweaty tourists queuing for 6 showers! The further down the queue you were, the more likely the shower was to be cold. After freshening up, we were treated to a well-deserved braai (also known as a BBQ if you’re not South African). Later, we drank a few beers to wash down our delicious meaty feast and then hit the sack ready for another memorable day in Africa.
Day 3: Sunset over Fish River Canyon – Namibia
Drive length: 218 km Drive time: 3.5 hours (excluding 1 hour spent at the border) Campsite & facilities: Canyon Roadhouse – Toilets & showers, bar & restaurant, swimming pool, free wifi
Today we crossed over into our 37th country together. One of the least densely populated countries on Earth; Namibia. A quick stamp out of South Africa, and a quick stamp into Namibia, and we were riding Namibia’s roller-coaster roads. As soon as we crossed over the border the landscapes quickly changed from lush green mountains to desert land and the clearest blue skies. The amazing landscapes are just one of the many reasons you have to visit Namibia!
The drive today was quite short, so once we arrived at camp we had plenty of time to check out the funky American-designed bar that had retro 1940s vehicles dotted around the place. Even if you don’t drink, the bar is worth having a peek at. Not to mention, the small amount of free wifi on offer. This is the first day since starting the tour we had wifi to catch up on some admin work.
Just before sunset, we headed over to the Fish River Canyon, located in Ai-|Ais Transfrontier National Park. The Fish River Canyon is the second largest canyon in the world at 161km long, 27km wide, and 550m deep. We walked around to several of the viewing points and peered out over the spectacular vistas. Once we reached the final viewing point, we cracked open a beer and admired the sunset and toasted to yet another amazing day in Africa.
Day 4 & 5: Climbing dunes & Sossusvlei – Namibia
Drive length: 520 km Drive time: 8 hours Campsite & facilities: The Elegant Desert Lodge – Toilets & showers, bar, restaurant, swimming pool, free wifi
Day 4: Spotting wildlife & driving to camp
Day 4 mainly consisted of driving more of the roller-coaster roads to our campsite where we would spend 2 nights. Thank goodness we could take a break from putting the tents up and down. The drive was long, but we were kept entertained in the form of diverse landscapes and spotting oryxes and Springboks.
During the long journey, our fellow Chinese travellers started to warm to us and their English skills had dramatically improved since the first day. It was nice to chat with them a little bit and find out about their lives and what they used to do before they retired.
After driving for most of the day, once we arrived at camp, we set up our tents for another night of camping in Namibia, ate food, drank beer, and chilled by the pool on the wifi.
Day 5: Dune climbing & Sossusvlei
Today was an early 5:30 am wake-up. Shortly after shovelling breakfast down our faces, we were zooming off in the dark to climb Dune 45. Driving in the truck whilst it was still dark felt like we were going on a little adventure, which seemed like even more of an adventure when we slammed on the brakes to see a herd of zebras running right beside our truck!
Once we arrived at Dune 45, 44km away from camp, we wrapped our scarves around our faces ready to take on the 170-meter-high beast. Climbing the dune itself was relatively easy and only required a small amount of fitness. What made the climb difficult was the wind battering our faces and sand flicking up into our eyes and mouth. Upon reaching the 2/3 point, Katie decided to give up as she was suffering from earache and a runny nose. Jake continued to the top but soon returned so we could run/roll back down together.
Next up on the day’s itinerary was Sossusvlei, also known as the dead valley. This area is famous for its trees that have been dead for over 900 years! The blue skies and eerie dead trees with the dunes as a backdrop make for great photos. We spent a while here snapping away, fascinated at how nature takes its course.
As we were still in the middle of a little sandstorm, we postponed lunch and pushed onto Sesriem Canyon, which wasn’t quite as impressive as the Fish River Canyon but still worth stopping at.
By the time we had eaten lunch and headed back to camp, it was time for a well-needed hot shower. We both darted for the shower block in hopes of hot running water which we hadn’t had since starting the tour.
Day 6 & 7: Drive to Swakopmund & free-time activities – Namibia
Drive length: 366 km Drive time: 5.5 hours Hotel & facilities: Dunedin Star Guesthouse – Private rooms, free wifi, bacon & egg breakfast
This morning at 4:30 am we were rudely awakened by the wind howling through the tent, and one side of it towering over our heads as it had lifted from the ground. If we would’ve gotten out of the tent it would have most definitely blown away over the nearby mountains.
After breakfast, we hopped into the truck to drive to the popular holiday resort, Swakopmund. Along the journey, everyone seemed a little sleepy from yesterday’s activities so there wasn’t much chatter. For most of the drive, we all stared endlessly out of the windows trying desperately to spot some wildlife. Mainly cheetahs as our guide, Alex, told us he had seen one in this area in the past.
With no luck in seeing cheetahs, we quickly stopped by the next attraction, the Tropic of Capricorn. This is the imaginary Southern line that runs across the Earth in Africa, Australia and Brazil. If you want to know more, Google is your best friend. It’s too long-winded for us to explain here.
Afterwards, we pushed on through the scorching heat to Desert Explorers (a place to book activities) in Swakopmund. Here we watched a short video of activities we could do over the next two days. We have listed the main activities and prices below:
- 1 hour of quad biking – 450 Namibian Dollars (ND) ($30.22)
- Dolphin cruise – 850 ND ($57.08)
- 30 minutes of camel riding – 250 ND ($16.79)
- Sand-boarding – Lay down 500 ND ($33.58) and stand up 600 ND ($40.29)
- Skydiving – 2500 ND ($167.89) if booked through Skydiving for Fun, 2800 ($188.04) through Desert Explorers
- Living Desert tour – 650 ND ($43.65)
- Scenic flight – 2950 – 4200 ND depending on your choice of route ($198.11 – $282.06)
Note: You can pay with Namibian Dollars or South African Rand in Namibia
Being relatively frugal travellers, we always live by the rule that we don’t do activities that can be done in other places around the world when we are on long backpacking trips. Sticking to our rule, we opted in favour of a little shopping spree, getting fat at the grill restaurants, and catching up on some blogging work at the guesthouse whilst we had strong a wifi connection. Plus, Katie had a wee case of the flu, so it was nice to replenish and make the most of a double bed before we headed back out into the wilderness of Namibia.
Day 8: Spitzkoppe rock formations & Brandberg – Namibia
Drive length: 159 km to Spitzkoppe and a further 98 km to Brandberg Drive time: 3 hours to Spitzkoppe and a further 3 hours to Brandberg Campsite & facilities: Brandberg Rest Camp – Toilets & showers, bar, pool table, free wifi
Today we left behind the comfort of a cosy double bed and private shower to head out for more camping. The drive to our first stop, Spitzkoppe, was short. Jake managed to squeeze in a film and Katie jammed out to some tunes. Spitzkoppe is an area in Namibia that is home to unique, fascinating rock formations.
Here we could choose to partake in an optional activity; Bushman paintings walk. The optional activity cost 60 ND ($4.03) and consisted of an hour-long walk through ancient paintings on rocks that range from 2,000 to 4,000 years old. Most of the group decided to join this activity but we decided to stay behind. Jake went on a hike up one of the rocks with our new friends Vito and Hans. Katie opted to walk away into the quiet surroundings and sit and write for a while with nothing but the sound of the wind blowing and birds tweeting away in the background.
Day 9, 10 & 11: Meeting tribes & game drives in Etosha National Park – Namibia
Drive length: 328 km Drive time: 6 hours Campsite & facilities: Eldorado Farm Campsite (2 nights) – Toilets & showers, bar, restaurant, free wifi / Halali Camp (1 night) – Toilets & showers, bar, restaurant, swimming pool, wifi at a cost.
Day 9: Meeting the Himba & Herero tribe
Today was the day that the dynamics of the overland tour began to change. The previous days were all about an array of diverse landscapes, but the next part of the trip would be all about scoping out wildlife like on National Geographic TV. But before the wildlife spotting began, we stopped by two different African tribes on the way to Etosha National Park.
The first tribe we stopped at was the Himba tribe. The second was the Herero tribe. These two tribes used to be related but parted ways due to a lack of land and resources. What’s interesting about these tribes is their different, unique dress. The Himba tribe wear simple clothing made from sheepskin, whereas the Herero tribe wear old Victorian-style dresses. The Himba tribe who moved to the Brandberg region from Angola and Northern Namibia, merely moved here to make an income selling their handmade products to tourists passing by. Nonetheless, it was still fascinating to see their living arrangements and unique dress sense.
Once we reached camp, we set up our tents on the site that would be our home for the next two nights. Here, at Eldorado’s, we had the option to hop into a 4×4 and watch the feeding time of some animals (rhinos, cheetahs, hyenas and lions) that are kept to prevent farmers from shooting them. Once a cheetah finds livestock on a farm, a farmer will shoot the cheetah, to prevent it from returning to kill the animals on the farm. The drive in the 4×4 is 1 hour long and costs 400 ND ($26.86) per person.
Day 10: Safari game drive in a 4×4 at Etosha National Park
The day had arrived that the majority of us had been long awaiting. Today was the day that Katie would finally lay eyes on a tower of giraffes, her favourite animal in the whole world! The day started early, as we had to be at the gates of Etosha National Park at 7:30 am ready for opening. Etosha National Park is a whopping 22,000 square km. As our guide kept telling us, this is wildlife, so we can’t promise that you will see anything.
Anyway, it must’ve been our super lucky day as we instantly saw giraffes munching away at the trees as we rolled in. Then, within a few minutes, we saw a rare black rhino. There are currently only 16,000 of them left in the entire world. The morning proceeded the way it had started. Next, we shot straight to a watering hole where we saw a pack of lions, littered with zebras cautiously edging towards the water.
Throughout the day, we saw an abundance of wildlife, including elephants and finally to finish a successful game drive, a cheetah, which was hiding away in the bushes. We would say the 1,000 ND ($67.16) extra for the game drive optional activity was well and truly worth it!
Day 11: Game drive in ATC truck
Today we left camp early again to do another game drive, but this time in our truck that we had been riding around in for the past 10 days. Again, we saw giraffes, elephants, lions, and tons of springboks and oryxes. We also left the previous campgrounds to move to a campsite inside of the national park. Once we reached our site, we pegged down our tents yet again and then left for another game drive in the truck for the afternoon. However, this time the majority of the Chinese group opted to stay behind. With only 9 of us in a 27-seater truck, we could easily spread out and move around the truck. On this drive, the giraffes were much closer, and we even saw a journey of them crossing the road whilst doing a cute little shimmy!
After dinner at camp, we headed down to the watering hole on-site to see what surprising creatures we could spot in the wilderness. As soon as we arrived, we saw two rhinos. Shortly after, another two rhinos joined them and before long they were having a face-off with one another. It was the perfect end to two days of game drives.
Day 12: Windhoek & meal at Roof of Africa – Namibia
Drive length: 505km Drive time: 6 hours Campsite & facilities: Urban Camp – Toilets & showers, bar, restaurant, free wifi
Today was another quick start. We left camp at 7:30 am on the dot, ready to make the long drive to Namibia’s capital city, Windhoek. Day 12, and many people on the tour are starting to get tired and ratty with each other. People are not pulling their weight with the group cleaning, charger cables are going missing, and the cold early mornings are starting to take their toll.
Not much happened today, other than a stop in a small town to do a quick shop and wave at the kids in a nearby primary school. They went crazy with laughter when we took their photo and showed it to them.
In the evening we all went for a nice buffet-style meal at Roof of Africa. Here we had the opportunity to try some African delicacies; oryx, eland, kudu and zebra. The price tag of 190 ND ($12.76) was well worth it for all-you-can-eat!
Day 13: Cross the border to Botswana at Ghanzi
Drive length: 532km Drive time: 6 hours Campsite & facilities: Toutona Camp – Toilets & showers, bar, free wifi
Today was another long drive today into our 38th country together; Botswana! It’s safe to say we were incredibly excited to be exploring another off-the-beaten-path destination. We mostly slept for the journey, only waking up to eat. Once we reached the border, we waved goodbye to scenic Namibia and rolled into beautiful Botswana. Stamping out of Namibia was quick but entering Botswana proved a little more difficult. As British, American, Irish and German tourists don’t need a visa to enter Botswana the process for us was quick and easy. However, Chinese tourists need to fill in a lengthy visa application form. This saw us waiting at the border for an extra 2.5 hours, at which time we filled the truck with giggles and laughter from playing card games.
Once we arrived at our camp for the night, most of the group opted to go on the Bushman walk. The Bushman Walk is conducted by a real bushman who will show you how they live and survive in the wilderness. The cost of the walk is 15 USD per person and takes one hour. As the evening progressed, we ate a delicious chicken stir-fry and continued with our game of cards, before settling in our sleeping bags for our first night of camping in Botswana.
Day 14: Drive to Maun & relax at camp – Botswana
Drive length: 278km Drive time: 4.5 hours Campsite & facilities: Sitatunga camp – Toilets & showers, bar, swimming pool, free wifi, volleyball court
After two days of long driving, we were all pleased to hear that we would be staying in the same area for 3 nights. There was no need to put up and take down the tent each night. Once we reached camp we all whipped up our tents and went in search of wifi and the volleyball court. Today was quite a relaxing day of sitting around and playing a card game called Hearts.
Day 15: Okavango Delta trip overnight – Botswana
This part of the trip was the part that we were most looking forward to. Floating down the romantic, scenic delta. Spotting hippos, elephants and everything in between sounded like the perfect day.
In the morning we were picked up from our camp in a massive open truck. After a 2-hour drive with the cold wind battering our faces, we arrived at the base of the mokoros (like a canoe). The boat ride was serene, and we learnt a lot about Botswana and the animals from our poler, Oscar.
We then arrived at our camp for the night that had already been set up for us in the Botswanan bush. In the evening we went on a bush walk where we spotted more amazing African wildlife; giraffes, elephants, warthogs and more. To finish our trip in the Okavango Delta, we all ate around the campfire whilst being entertained by songs and dances from the local polers.
Day 16: Head back to Sitatunga Camp – Botswana
After a night of camping in the bush, we headed back to the gated camp that we arrived at the day before. Again, today was all about kickin’ back and relaxing! We spent the day handwashing some clothes, enjoying the campground, and doing a spot of shopping at the supermarket in Maun.
Today, we also had the opportunity to take a scenic flight over the Delta. For 120 USD, we opted out, but our buddies said it was well worth the price.
Day 17: Drive to Elephant Sands Camp – Botswana
Drive length: 381km Drive time: 5 hours Campsite & facilities: Elephant Sands Lodge – Toilets & showers, bar, swimming pool
Last night was a super chilly one, so getting out of our warm sleeping bags was like dragging a kid out of a toy shop. Once we were all awake, ready, and fed, we hit the bumpy Botswanan roads. Our stop today was at Elephant Sands Lodge, where herds of elephants roam the watering hole and by your tent. Whilst today didn’t consist of activity as such, just being at the camp was entertaining enough. We all spent hours by the watering hole watching herds of elephants drinking water and masking themselves with sand to protect their skin from the sun. Later in the evening, we sat by the campfire making s’mores.
Day 18: Drive to the entrance of Chobe National Park & meal – Botswana
Drive length: 257km Drive time: 4 hours Campsite & facilities: Thebe River Lodge – Toilets & showers, bar, restaurant, wifi
Today mainly consisted of driving to the entrance of Chobe National Park. Once we reached the campground, we threw up our tents and headed to the reception area to use the wifi and catch up on some work. Today was a relaxing one as the drive was short and we didn’t do much. However, there was an optional activity of cruising along the river at sunset spotting more wildlife. The cost of the sunset river cruise is $50.
Later that evening, we headed to the onsite restaurant for our last meal with the Chinese tourist group. Sadly, for them, their tour leader from China had messed up their flights so they needed to leave the trip earlier than planned. The evening was all about our last meal together and saying our farewells.
Day 19: Game drive and Bush camping in Chobe National Park – Botswana
Today was an exciting one. We relaxed at camp a lot longer than usual as we only needed to leave for Chobe National Park at 3 pm. Once 3 pm rolled around, we loaded up our overnight bags and hopped into the 4×4 safari jeep that came to pick us up. Today’s primary mission objection was to spot our first leopard. We had seen 4 of the big 5 so far, with only a leopard left on the list left to spot. We were apprehensive though as we had been warned that leopards are difficult to spot. So, you can imagine our excitement when the driver got a call to say a leopard was in the area. We sped off like Jerry being chased by Tom, leaving nothing but dust in our trails.
Tonight, was just the remaining 7 of us, along with our cook and a local guide. We camped out in the wilderness with nothing but the thin layer of our tent preventing us from being eaten alive by a pack of lions. Once we arrived at the camp, we ate and chatted by the cosy burning campfire and were all briefed on what to do if we needed to leave our tents to use the makeshift toilet during the night. That night we slept like babies, with the fire burning outside our tent, and with warm blankets tucked into our sleeping bags. The only disturbance was a honey badger rummaging through our left-over food before beeping the car horn to give us a 3 am wake-up call.
Day 20: Cross the border into Zimbabwe & visit Victoria Falls
Drive length: 82km Drive time: 1.5 hours Campsite & facilities: Shearwater’s Explorer Village – Toilets & showers, bar, restaurant, free wifi
We woke up in the morning after the comfiest night’s sleep yet, feeling a little sad that today would be the last day that we would whip up our tent and spend it with our new travel buddies. It was a super early start today, we were up, fed, and ready to leave by 6 am. The race was on to beat the other overland trucks to the border of Zimbabwe, so we didn’t need to wait in an endless slow line to get our visas. Unfortunately for us, on the drive back to Chobe National Park, we got a flat tire. Luckily for us, we still made it to the border before any of the crowds arrived. After a 30-minute stop at the border, we were on our way to the final country on this Cape Town to Victoria Falls tour, Zimbabwe.
Once we arrived at the final camp of the trip, we put up our tents for one last time before going in search of lunch in the town. The town was just a short walk away from the camp and we managed to find food easily enough, but paying for it was a different matter. Two days before arriving in Zimbabwe, the country decided to change its currency and no shops, supermarkets, or small restaurant chains were accepting US Dollars. So, off we went to join the snaking long lines at the banks, only to discover that foreigners aren’t allowed to exchange money for local currency. Luckily enough, we found a place to eat that would allow us to pay by debit card
Later that day, we headed down to Victoria Falls; one of Africa’s most popular attractions. The cost of entrance to Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe side is $30 and you can only enter once using the ticket. Seeing the falls was a fantastic experience and the perfect way to finish this spectacular and memorable Cape Town to Victoria Falls overland adventure!
Day 21: End of tour – Wave Goodbye
The final morning of the tour rolled around. The morning mainly consisted of re-arranging our backpacks and heading to our next accommodation over at Shoestrings Backpackers to see out our last night in Zimbabwe before heading to Livingstone, Zambia by ourselves.
Goodbyes to the crew and our fellow travellers, who shared with us the long drives and cold mornings, as well as the exciting moments of spotting animals and watching burning orange sunsets, weren’t about to be said just yet. We all arranged that evening to meet up one last time to enjoy food and one too many drinks to toast an awesome trip in Africa and to hug out a tearful goodbye.
If you decide to check out Swaziland before your trip starts in Cape Town, make sure you know how to get to South Africa from Swaziland!
Travel Insurance
No matter where you’re going in the world, it is a good idea to make sure you’re covered. Our personal choice is SafetyWing as you can opt for automatic monthly payments, just like a subscription. But, more importantly for us, it is available for purchase in 180 countries and can be purchased when already travelling. There is no cap on the duration of travel. We spent days and weeks searching for insurance, but most insurers would not allow us to take out a policy as we were already abroad.
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