Day 1 Depart the US

• Greet your fellow travellers in your gateway city before boarding your flight to Johannesburg, South Africa.

Day 2 Cape Town, South Africa

• Arrive in Johannesburg where you will meet your South African guide, before boarding a flight to Cape Town, South Africa. Cape Town, on South Africa’s southwest coast, is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It is tucked into the arms of a broad bay, surrounded by white-sand beaches with the magnificent Table Mountain rising as a backdrop to the city. It is home to South Africa’s parliament and reflects South Africa’s history and heritage of cultures, religions, styles and flavors.

Overnight: Cape Town

Day 3 Cape Town, South Africa

• Ascend via cable car to view the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, as well as the Cape peninsula, from the symbol of Cape Town, Table Mountain.
• Discover Cape Point, where legend claims the Indian and Atlantic oceans merge.
• Learn about the African penguin and preservation efforts as you visit its land-based colony at Boulders Beach. Experience an exclusive “behind the scenes” orientation at SANCCOB (South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds). Be briefed about the infamous Treasure oil spill and be guided through areas of SANCCOB’s rehabilitation center.

Overnight: Cape Town

Day 4 Cape Town, South Africa

• A hands-on opportunity to do some drumming. Let your pulse beat to the original rhythms of Africa. Engage in a "drumming circle,” learning the basic beats and participate in a pulsating rhythmic orchestra conducted by the drum teacher/leader. Your tutors and co-drummers will be youth from the LoveLife Youth Center, which supports underprivileged youth in the area and provides them opportunities.
• Former political prison, now monument to the Freedom Struggle, Robben Island conveys so much about South Africa’s past and the power of hope. Visit Mandela's cell and be guided around the island and its history by a former political detainee. Also visit the only school on Robben Island, and meet the headmaster there to learn about the Island’s future as well as its past.

Overnight: Cape Town

Day 5 Cape Town, South Africa

• Discover Shark Alley. Approximately 12km offshore from Gansbaai (2hrs drive from CapeTown) there are two islands situated next to each other and due to a number of geographical reasons—one being the shallow and narrow channel that runs between these two islands—it has become known as one of only two unique areas in the world, where the chances are high you will get to view the great white shark. Other wildlife species such as cape fur seals, cape gannets, cape cormorants, jackass penguins, whales and dolphins are also likely to be sighted.
• Board your group’s charter boat and venture out into the water for the day. Observation of your subjects as well as the other wildlife that makes this area home is easy from the decks of your small sea vessel.
• Spend the day with researchers who will teach you about the often misunderstood great white shark, as they walk you through their research and conservation efforts, as well as give you the opportunity to participate and gather data.
• Come face-to-face with your subject. The great white shark is one of the most feared predators and coming up close and personal with them is an awesome experience. The cage floats partially above and below the water surface where you can dive a few feet down either via snorkel techniques or with an air supply and look eye–to-eye with this amazing creature

Overnight: Cape Town

Day 6 Johannesburg, South Africa

• Board your early flight to Johannesburg.
• Explore the Apartheid Museum, a striking and impressive multi-media experience of Apartheid South Africa. Likened to the Holocaust Museum in D.C., this museum takes you into the beating heart of the Freedom Struggle, the grip of the National Party's Apartheid, and the giddy days of liberation.
• Visit Nelson Mandela's humble house in Orlando West, Soweto, now called the Mandela Family Museum—an interesting stopover for those keen to imbibe a slice of authentic history regarding the world's most famous former prisoner.
• Observe the massive SOuth WEstern TOwnship (SO-WE-TO ) of Johannesburg,the biggest city in South Africa, heart of the Freedom Struggle and home to a dichotomy of peoples, languages, economic groups, traditions and modernity.
• Meet some incredible children at the Takalani Orphanage – home for physically and mentally disabled children. Take part in an interactive program with the children to further enrich the benefit of your visit. This may include a group art project, preparing a meal for and serving the children, or other activities or needs that best provide a meaningful encounter.

Overnight: Johannesburg

Day 7 Johannesburg, South Africa

• Experience the Cradle of Humankind: Sterkfontein Caves. Within the caves, scientists have discovered many hominid and other animal fossils, dating back more than four million years, to the birth of humanity. Learn about the most important and most famous of these fossils–“Mrs Ples” a 2.1 million-year-old Australopithecus skull, and “Little Foot” an almost complete Australopithecus skeleton that is more than 3 million years old. These fossils, both found in the Sterkfontein Caves in the Cradle of Humankind, tell us much about the precursors of modern humans, Homo sapiens.
• Get hands on at Maropeng. Early humans and their ancestors came to the Maropeng area to use the local rocks for tool-making as they pursued a hunter-gatherer way of life. The technology of these tools suggests they were made sometime between 1.0 and 0.5 million years ago during the Earlier Stone Age, prior to the appearance of modern Homo sapiens.
• Go tribal at Lesedi Cultural Village. Lesedi is a multi cultural village set amongst the pristine bushveld and rocky hills north of Johannesburg. Experience the vibrant and colorful traditions of the Basotho, Ndebele, Pedi, Xhosa and Zulu peoples. Be part of traditional Africa for just a short while as your guide brings the culture of each tribe alive to you.

Overnight: Johannesburg

Days 8-10 Kruger National Park, South Africa

• Escape into the tranquillity and magnificence of the African bushveld, where the only sounds are natural and the sights are of magnificent animals and the bright night sky as you encounter the famous Kruger National Park.
• The Kruger National Park was founded by the government in 1926, thanks to the dedication of people who, in the face of a society that was of a very different mind, believed that the eastern part of South Africa needed to be preserved in its glorious, untouched state. Today, Kruger National Park encompasses nearly 12,000 square miles of wildlife safari country and supports more than 800 species of animals living in their natural habitats. The park, rich in biodiversity, stretches for 350 km from south to north along the Mozambican border before meeting up with the Zimbabwean border in the north. This is a paradise for the wildlife enthusiast and is a world leader in dynamic environmental management techniques and policies based on experience gained over more than a century.
• Open vehicle game drives each evening and morning will bring you up close and personal with the Big Five (the lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino) and all the other inhabitants of the bush.
• Learn more about different ecosystems, habitat, game and birds from park rangers and other experts.
• When night falls, look for nocturnal animals with spotlights.
• While you are at Kruger National Park, rangers will schedule a “game darting and transport” for your observation. This experience will further your education into the management of the Park, as well as hands on knowledge of encountering wildlife in the field for research and transportation.

Overnight: Bush Camp within Kruger National Park

Day 11 Johannesburg, South Africa

• Say your final goodbyes to the wonders of this preserved park before travelling back to Johannesburg for the evening.

Overnight: Johannesburg

Day 12 Depart for USA