AFRICA BENCH 2018
L L Bwindi ALBORAN ALBORAN SEA SEA Casablanca Casablanca MOROCCO Maakech Maakech CONTENTS EXPLORE AFRICA 4 BEST SELLING TOURS 6 SOUTH AFRICA 8-39 Scheduled Tous 9 Pivate Lodges & Camps 20 Family Safais 30 Johannesbug 32 Sun City 33 Cape Town 34 Cape Winelands 35 Gaden Route 36 Self-Dive South Afica 37 KwaZulu-Natal 38 TRAIN JOURNEYS 40-43 ZIMBABWE, ZAMBIA & MALAWI 44-55 Zimbabwe 45 Zambia 50 Malawi 54 BOTSWANA 56-69 NAMIBIA 70-77 KENYA & TANZANIA 78-95 Kenya 80 Tanzania 88 Mt Kilimanjao 94 RWANDA & UGANDA 96-99 Rwanda 97 Uganda 98 MADAGASCAR 100-101 INDIAN OCEAN 102-107 Kenya Coast 103 Zanziba 104 Mozambique 105 Mauitius 106 NORTH AFRICA & ARABIA 108-114 Moocco 109 Egypt 110 Jodan 112 Oman 113 United Aab Emiates 114 TERMS & CONDITIONS 115 N i g e N i g e B e e n u Skeleton Coast B e e n u Chad Chad Etosha NP g i U b a n ANGOLA NAMIBIA MEDITERRANEAN SEA SEA g i U b a n DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO o o n g n g C o C o Alexandia Alexandia Caio Caio Lusaka Lusaka Kaiba Kaiba Livingstone Livingstone Haae Haae Victoia Falls Victoia Falls Okavango Delta Okavango Kasane Delta Kasane SOMALIA UGANDA Tukana Tukana Albet Kampala Kampala KENYA Masai Maa NP Victoia Victoia Naiobi Naiobi Kigali Kigali Amboseli NP Lamu Lamu AushaTsavo Ausha NP Seengeti NP, Mt KilimanjaoMt Kilimanjao MombasaMomba Zanziba Zanziba Tanganyika Tanganyika Dodoma Dodoma Da es Da es Salaam Salaam Bulawayo Bulawayo Maun Maun Vilanculos Vilanculos Swakopmund Swakopmund BOTSWANA Windhoek Windhoek Kuge NP Madikwe NP Gaboone Gaboone Namib Naukluft NP Petoia Petoia Sun City Sun City Maputo Maputo Johannesbug Johannesbug Mbabane Mbabane SWAZILAND an an Fish Rive LESOTHO Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Np Canyon Maseu Maseu SOUTH SOUTH Duban Duban ATLANTIC ATLANTIC SOUTH AFRICA OCEAN OCEAN O g e O Chobe & Moemi NP g e ZAMBIA EGYPT Queen Elizabeth & Bwindi NP Volcanoes NP RWANDA u k a g a Mweu Albet u k a g Lowe Zambezi NP Hwange NP Luxo Knysna Knysna Pot Elizabeth Pot Elizabeth Cape Town Cape Town Luxo Aswan Aswan Nasse a N i l e Noth Mweu & South Luangwa NP Z a m b ZIMBABWE Z a m b Amman Sham El Sham Sheikh El Sheikh N i l e Ngoongoo Cate & Manyaa NP e zi TANZANIA Nasse Chie RED SEA Addis Ababa Addis Ababa Mt Kenya Selous Game Reseve Nyasa (Malawi) Nyasa (Malawi) e zi Amman JORDAN ETHIOPIA Mt Kenya MALAWI Lilongwe Lilongwe MOZAMBIQUE Chie RED SEA Pemba Pemba G M Font cove image: Pavi Patel, Sabi Sabi Pivate Game Reseve Bench Afica Offices
PERSIAN PERSIAN GULF GULF Dubai Dubai Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi UAE Muscat UAE Muscat OMAN OMAN ULF OF GULF ADEN OF ADEN ALIA KARIBU Welcome to ou new 2018 Afica bochue, ou 49th yea of oganising safais fo thousands of Austalians to Afica. We ae committed to ensuing that ou bochue offes the widest possible choice of safais in many diffeent counties in Afica. We have seen a lage incease of Austalians visiting Afica ecently, so we have intoduced a section at the beginning of the bochue with ou best selling safais this should help those of you visiting Afica fo the fist time. This significant incease in tavelles means you need to conside booking as ealy as possible to ensue you get exactly the safai you want. Howeve, please emembe that ou specialty is tailo made safais whee we design an entiely pesonalised safai, just fo you. Ou company motto is excellence though expeience and we stive to achieve this in eveything we do. Ou consultants all tavel to Afica evey yea to keep thei immense knowledge fesh. Thei passion is oganising you holiday of a lifetime. This yea we have new small goup tous in South Afica, Botswana and Namibia and have intoduced a whole new county Malawi. I am vey poud that Bench Afica was selected as a finalist in the Best Specialty Wholesale categoy at the National Tavel Industy Awads and I would like to thank eveyone who voted fo us. Lastly, if you ae inteested in eading what ou past customes have to say about thei tavel expeiences with Bench Afica, then please visit the independent eview website TustPilot. We look fowad to seeing you in Afica. EQUATOR EQUATOR sa SEYCHELLES SEYCHELLES Mahé Mahé INDIAN INDIAN OCEAN OCEAN Mike Kikland Chaiman WEATHER CHART MONTH & AVG TEMP Jan Feb Ma Ap May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec KENYA (Naiobi) 14-25 14-26 15-26 16-24 15-23 13-22 12-21 12-22 12-24 14-25 15-23 15-23 Antananaivo Antananaivo ADAGASCAR MADAGASCAR MAURITIUS MAURITIUS Pot Louis Pot Louis Saint-Denis Saint-Denis REUNION REUNION IMPORTANT PLEASE NOTE: Pices ae coect at the date of publication 14 August 2017 and ae subject to change in accodance with ou clause on page 115 Special Note Regading Pices. Please ead the tems and conditions caefully, and check with you tavel agent o ouselves when booking fo the cuent pice of any tous in this bochue. www.benchafica.com.au N. AFRICA & ARABIA SOUTHERN AFRICA EAST AFRICA TANZANIA (Noth) 10-28 10-28 11-27 13-25 11-22 8-21 9-20 8-22 8-24 10-26 10-27 10-27 RWANDA (Kigali) 18-23 18-23 18-23 18-22 18-23 18-23 18-24 19-25 18-25 18-23 18-22 18-23 UGANDA (Kampala) 9-24 11-24 11-23 11-23 11-23 9-23 8-23 9-23 11-23 10-24 11-23 10-23 ETHIOPIA (Addis Ababa) 15-24 16-24 17-25 17-25 18-25 17-23 16-21 16-21 16-22 15-23 14-23 14-23 SOUTH AFRICA (Cape Town) 17-25 17-25 15-24 13-22 11-19 8-17 8-16 8-17 10-18 12-20 14-22 16-23 SOUTH AFRICA (Kuge) 18-28 18-28 17-27 14-26 9-25 6-23 6-23 8-24 11-26 14-26 16-27 17-28 ZIMBABWE & ZAMBIA 18-29 18-29 17-29 15-30 10-27 7-25 7-25 10-27 15-32 19-34 19-32 18-30 MALAWI (Lilongwe) 17-26 17-26 17-26 16-26 13-26 10-25 7-23 6-25 7-27 11-30 14-30 16-27 BOTSWANA (Maun) 18-32 18-31 17-31 14-30 9-27 5-25 5-25 8-28 12-32 17-35 18-34 18-33 NAMIBIA (Windhoek) 20-28 18-27 17-26 15-25 11-22 8-20 7-20 10-22 15-26 17-27 20-29 21-30 MADAGASCAR 16-25 16-26 16-25 15-24 12-22 10-21 10-20 10-20 11-22 12-25 15-26 16-25 MOROCCO (Maakech) 4-18 6-19 9-22 11-23 14-27 17-31 19-36 20-36 17-32 14-27 9-22 6-19 EGYPT (Caio) 8-19 9-21 11-24 14-28 17-33 20-35 21-36 22-35 20-32 18-29 14-24 10-20 JORDAN (AmmAN) 5-15 5-15 6-16 9-21 12-22 15-30 18-30 18-30 15-19 13-25 9-19 4-13 OmAN (muscat) 16-23 16-23 21-29 25-35 27-36 29-37 31-38 27-33 26-33 25-35 20-30 18-27 uae 12-24 14-25 17-29 20-33 23-28 25-40 24-40 29-42 26-40 22-36 18-31 15-26 KEY Geat time to tavel Good time to tavel Can get vey hot o wet
EXPLORE AFRICA WITH BENCH AFRICA Hee at Bench Afica in conjunction with ou paent company Southen Coss Safais in Kenya and ou office in Cape Town, South Afica, we can plan and facilitate you vey own safai expeience. Southen Coss Safais in Kenya is one of the oldest owne-managed safai tou opeatos in East Afica, a company dedicated to poviding the utmost quality of sevice and client cae second to none. Poviding stylish and memoable safais since 1969 to liteally thousands of clients, ou eputation and philosophy is excellence though expeience. ON LOCATION With offices in Cape Town and Mombasa, we have expeienced eyes and eas on the gound. This means that all of ou Afica holiday packages and tailoed itineaies ae well eseached. It also means that we can guide and help you aange the pefect tip and guaantee you will glide effotlessly though both the booking and safai expeiences. THE BENCH TEAM Due to the endless amount of infomation that is available to tavelles today, Afica can seem like a daunting destination when tying to piece togethe you safai. The Bench team have all eithe tavelled extensively thoughout Afica o have lived thee and can shae this knowledge with you. We use this pesonal expeience in the planning and discussions of tailoed itineaies to suit all individuals o goups, fom honeymoones to multi-geneational families and fiends, special inteests and adventue seekes, and select the pefect mix to maximise you enjoyment on safai and ealise you once in a lifetime deam to tavel to Afica. CHOOSING YOUR SAFARI The type of safai expeience you choose is a vey pesonal decision. Consideations include the standad of accommodation, the style of tavel, and the wildlife you hope to see. Kenya and Tanzania ae geat fo viewing the Big Five (lion, leopad, hino, elephant, buffalo) as well as the annual wildebeest migation, whilst Uganda o Rwanda is the ideal place to tek endangeed mountain goillas. South Afica is pefect fo combining a safai with luxuious accommodation and fine dining, Namibia fo its incedible sceney, and Botswana fo exploing the many wateways of the Okavango Delta. Finally, visiting the majestic Victoia Falls on the bode of Zambia and Zimbabwe offes the pefect end to any visit to Afica. Ou dedicated team of Afica expets will help you choose you deam safai. ELEPHANT RATINGS EXPLAINED Thoughout the bochue we have given each tou o expeience an Elephant Rating fo you to use as a guideline. This ating system slightly diffes fom the intenational sta ating system. Afte all, how can you compae a five sta city hotel in Austalia with a game lodge in the heat of the Masai Maa? In addition to the standad and sevice available at a popety, ou Elephant Rating also takes into account the mode of tavel, the safai expeience on offe, the exclusivity of the egion o how much paticipation is involved. SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY With a esponsibility to ensue the futue development in Afica and to make a diffeence on the gound, ove the many yeas, Bench Afica has ceated a numbe of links with oganisations devoted to the welfae of the Afican people, wildlife and envionment. Rhino Ak is a chaitable tust founded in 1988 to suppot consevation in Kenya. Alongside the building of a game-poof fence encicling Mt Kenya, and ceating jobs in local communities, Rhino Ak suppots consevation education pojects in local schools. www.hinoak.og New Hope Childen s Home in Mombasa is home to abandoned o ophaned childen aged between thee and 16 yeas of age. Many of them ae fom homeless single paent families whilst othe childen s paents have died fom HIV. www.newhopechilden.og WHAT TO EXPECT ON A SAFARI? No two safais will eve be the same. Typically, you will begin ising at dawn and afte a efeshing coffee, you will depat on you moning game dive (ealy in the moning is when the animals ae at thei most active). Retun to you popety fo a evitalising beakfast and then take the oppotunity to elax and enjoy the facilities. Following lunch you will enjoy an aftenoon game dive etuning back to you popety afte sunset fo a scumptious dinne and a good night s sleep. PEACE OF MIND Bench Afica is a membe of CATO (Council of Austalian Tou Opeatos #TO1008) and is an appoved licensed Austalian wholesale with AFTA (Austalian Fedeation of Tavel Agents) and ATAS Accedited (#A10677). Futhemoe, when tavelling with Bench you can have complete peace of mind knowing thee is a 24-hou emegency phone with one of ou expets on hand. Satao Eleai Nusey School educates young Maasai childen who would not othewise have the chance to attend school. www.communityandwildlife.og The East Afican Wildlife Society is the voice of consevation in East Afica. www.eawildlife.og The Tsavo Tust is a non-pofit oganisation that assists the Kenya Wildlife Sevice in aeial and gound monitoing of the big tusked elephants in Tsavo whee 80% of the wold s big tuskes live. www.tsavotust.og GREAT PLAINS CONSERVATION 4 CALL US ON 1300 AFRICA (237 422)
TAILOR MADE SAFARIS Why not conside you vey own pivate safai? We have the flexibility to tailo a pesonalised tip to suit you needs, tavelling when and whee you wish and choosing fom a ange of small boutique camps and lodges off the beaten tack. No matte whee you go you will still find elegance, ambiance and top quality sevice, anging fom luxuy Out of Afica styled tented safai camps to the lage game lodges and moe modeately piced hotels. RAIL JOURNEYS Southen Afica is blessed by the legacy of compehensive ail tacks left by fome colonists, with a lage netwok coveing South Afica but also stetching into neighbouing counties and as fa noth as Tanzania in East Afica. Highlights include the Rovos Rail, efeed to as The Most Luxuious Tain in the Wold, and the South Afican tavel icon, The Blue Tain. With jouneys fom two to 15 days, why not conside incopoating a ail jouney into you Afican expeience. SMALL GROUP TOURS Bench Afica offes small locally escoted goup tous in Afica, fom weekly depatues in East Afica, with a maximum of seven passenges, to those wanting to join a select goup of only 12 guests in Southen Afica. Tavelling with a dedicated pofessional, discove some of ou favouite places and stay at exclusive popeties in comfot and style. Rest assued you will be taken cae of fom the vey moment you aive until you depat with some tuly memoable expeiences. HONEYMOONS Afica is one of the most omantic continents in the wold fo honeymoons! Whethe you want to find pivacy in the Afican bush unde mosquito nets, in a secluded tee top hideaway, be teated like oyalty with pivate dinnes on white sandy beaches lapping the Indian Ocean, o toast you life togethe with a glass of Champagne at the wold enowned Victoia Falls, we can aange it all, and leave you with memoies neve to be fogotten. FLYING SAFARIS Tavel to Afica on a jouney that is as exceptional as the destination. In Kenya, expeience a unique combination of adventue, elaxation, sevice and culinay delights amid the Afican wildeness, on safai in ou luxuy Cessna Caavan taking you to some of Kenya s best National Paks and Reseves. With ai-conditioning, pesonal intecom system and qualified safai guide onboad, this offes something vey diffeent to any othe ai safai in Afica. FAMILIES The populaity of family safais to Afica is booming with paents and gandpaents wanting thei families to expeience a fun-filled holiday with the added educational aspect of the animals, bush envionment and Afican cultue. In South Afica thee ae seveal malaia-fee aeas that add to the attaction of taking young childen on safai without woying about cetain medication. Many of the lodges and camps thoughout East and Southen Afica now welcome and cate fo families. SELF-DRIVE Hiing a ca in eithe South Afica o Namibia is much easie than you would expect. With a ange of vehicles available and the ease of diving on the left, self-diving between aeas gives guests the flexibility to move at thei ideal pace and stop fo sightseeing detous wheneve desied. Tailoing an itineay, a self-dive jouney will allow you to make the absolute most of you holiday at an affodable pice. GROUPS If you d like to exploe destinations with you family o a goup of fiends, Afica won t disappoint. Thee ae a numbe of wondeful locations in Afica pefect fo goup tavel. We specialise in aanging vaious types of packages fo goup tavelles. We can caft a tavel plan that s ideal fo you hed. You can choose fom diffeent types of tavel itineaies, escoted o independent, photogaphic o special inteest. We can also modify you package to cate to you specific needs. www.benchafica.com.au 5