Medicine in South Africa with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

Itinerary at a glance

• Day 1: Cape Town (Mon, 1 Apr) Arrive Cape Town and transfer to the hotel. Dinner at local restaurant.
• Day 2: Cape Town (Tues, 2 Apr) Take a cable car ride up to Table Mountain for spectacular views. Continue on to the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean, for wonderful views across False Bay and visit the penguin colony at Boulders Beach. Enjoy dinner on the V&A Waterfront.
• Day 3: Cape Town (Wed, 3 Apr) Tour of Cape Town before a visit to Groote Schuur Hospital, internationally renowned as a medical training ground. Take part in an escorted tour of the Heart of Cape Town Museum, which tells the history of the world's first heart transplant that took place here in 1967. Visit Stellenbosch and take part in a winelands lunch followed by cheese, chocolate and wine tasting. Return to Cape Town.
• Day 4: Cape Town / Durban (Thurs, 4 April ) Fly to the coastal city of Durban and transfer to the hotel. Visit a local community clinic in Durban and meet local GP's or at leisure. Enjoy a local Indian meal in the evening.
• Day 5: Durban / Mkuze (Fri, 5 April) Take a stunning coastal drive to into Zululand and continue to the green oasis town of Mkuze and the lovely Ghost Mountain Inn. Spend the rest of the day at leisure, perhaps visiting the spa, pottering in the garden or enjoying a gin and tonic on the jetty.
• Day 6: Mkuze (Sat, 6 Apr) Take a boat trip across Lake Jozini to view elephants and hippos in the water amidst spectacular scenery. Return to the hotel for lunch on the terrace and some time at leisure before taking part in a safari at Mkuze Game Reserve with rolling acacia savannah, swamps, woodlands and riverine forest. Wildlife includes black and white rhino, elephant, giraffe, leopard, cheetah, buffalo and plains game. Return as the sun goes down.
• Day 7: Mkuze (Sun, 7 Apr) Spend the following morning on professional visits with a visit to Bethesda Hospital, a small rural hospital where you will learn about rural health care and the local Zulu culture. That afternoon head up into the Lebombo Mountains and visit the homestead of the respected Justice Myeni and his family – an authentic Zulu homestead where you will have the opportunity to spend time with members of his family and learn more about their life and culture. This day will provide a much greater understanding of contemporary Zulu culture.
• Day 8: Mkuze / Hazyview (Mon, 8 Apr) Drive to Mpumalanga through some beautiful scnerary and into safari country. Arrive at Hippo Hollow and transfer into the hotel and at leisure to relax around the pool or go on local nature walks.
• Day 9: Hazyview (Tues, 9 Apr) Rise before sunrise the next day for a morning game drive in the Kruger National Park in open safari vehicles. It isn’t unusual to spot all of the 'big five' in a single day along with a superb range of mammal, bird and reptile species. Have a bush lunch and return to the lodge in the early evening. Hear a talk from Kruger Park veterinarian, Peter Buss on his work in the Kruger National Park.
• Day 10: Hazyview (Wed, 10 Apr) Next morning explore some of the most spectacular scenery on offer in South Africa as you take a tour along the aptly-named Panorama Route. The mountainous escarpment of Mpumalanga provides stunning views of the Lowveld and your tour includes sights such as God’s Window, Bourke's Luck Potholes with its extraordinary rock formations, the Blyde River Canyon, the famous Three Rondavels and the historic gold rush town of Pilgrims Rest. Dinner at the lodge.
• Day 11: Hazyview / Johannesburg / Hazyview (Thur, 11 Apr) Transfer to Johannesburg. Visit the Adler Medical Museum for a fascinating glimpse into South Africa’s medical, dental and pharmacological past, from the 20th century polio epidemics, to the first ECG machine in the country. Continue to the hotel in Sandton.
• Day 12: Johannesburg (Fri, 12 Apr) Drive to Soweto and visit a community health clinic and meet doctors and nurses and learn about primary care in Soweto. Lunch at a shebeen. Sightseeing tour of Soweto including the Baragwanath taxi rank area, Freedom Square and Nelson Mandela's former home. Farewell dinner.
• Day 13: Johannesburg (Sat, 13 Apr) Depart for return flights OR take the extension to Victoria Falls (below).

Post-tour extension to Victoria Falls: 13 – 15 April 2024

• Day 13: Victoria Falls (Sat, 13 Apr) Fly from Johannesburg to Victoria Falls and transfer to the A’Zambezi River Lodge. At leisure.
• Day 14: Victoria Falls (Sun, 14 Apr) Guided tour of Victoria Falls after breakfast.Afternoon at leisure before an evening cruise during a beautiful Zambezi sunset.
• Day 15: Victoria Falls / Johannesburg (Mon, 15 Apr) Fly back to Johannesburg after breakfast. Connect for onward flight or transfer to the airport hotel for flights the following day.