2018 African Safari IV

South Africa Botswana Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) You’re invited to join Fred Theurkauf on a spectacular 20-day safari as well as a sightseeing & bridge-playing holiday throughout southern Africa. President of Finesse West Tours, Theurkauf has built the most successful land bridge touring company in the world. Although he is a Diamond Life Master and experienced bridge lecturer, his first love has always been travel. Over the last 30 years he has lead 110 groups of “wild & crazy” bridge players on sightseeing and bridge-playing holidays the world over. This is Finesse West Tours fourth African Safari adventure. From standing at the brink of Victoria Falls on the raging Zambezi River to exploring Botswana’s Okavango Delta in guided mokoros (canoes), from game drives by open Land Rover in search of lion, cheetah, leopard, elephant, giraffe, gazelle, rhino, wildebeest, Cape buffalo and zebra in the bushveld of South Africa, to relaxing walks with our South African safari guides in search of wild game, we’ll do and see it all. While staying in lavish tented camps & lodges, we’ll enjoy hot showers, haute cuisine, stories by the campfire and midday bridge sessions in idyllic natural settings. The lodges & tented camps we’re staying in on African Safari IV are literally “the best of the best” for luxury, comfort, dining & game viewing. And then there’s the exceptional sightseeing and bridge playing with locals in Cape Town &Johannesburg; in South Africa. South Africa was settled by Dutch and British immigrants in the 17th & 18th centuries. You’ll enjoy seeing the transition from apartheid to majority rule wrought by the exceptional leadership of the white Afrikaner President F.W. de Klerk and black leader Nelson Mandela. Both gentlemen shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994. Don’t miss our great safari & sightseeing holiday to South Africa, Botswana & Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Dates: April 18 to May 8, 2018 - 21 days Cost: - $14,370.00 USD Tour Schedule Day 1   Fred Theurkauf on safari ..the "modern" safari WORTH READING Cost: When Europeans colonized Africa, a “safari” meant a journey for the brave and the fleet of foot in search of great wild game. The journey was rough, and not for the faint of heart or those lacking in physical condition. In the 1900’s, the arrival of four-wheel drive vehicles and more comfortable accommodations made the safari less physically taxing. Today, trophy hunting in Africa is no longer the order of the day. Great plains and millions of hectares of game reserves have been set aside for wildlife and nomadic tribes who hunt only for food. The migration of great herds of wildebeests and zebra make their way through the Serengeti and the Masai Mara of Kenya with only cameras of the white man in pursuit. The modern safari means hunting wild game armed only with camera and binoculars. Rather than an adventure that is physically taxing, “roughing it” on the modern safari means stays at luxurious tented camps and lodges in the middle of the African savannah surrounded by beauty and rich landscapes and animals. Early morning and late afternoon GAME DRIVES are in four wheel drive vehicles accompanied by native driver-guides in search of majestic animals. You’ll be amazed as your guide catches sight of a prized specimen long before your eyes spot them. Suddenly, you stop to allow a huge ivory-tusked elephant to lumber across your path. A moment later, your guide stops again and points quietly. You raise yourself up through the open-hatched roof of your vehicle and aim your binoculars at a lioness with her cubs less than 100 feet away. Not a word is said. “Click,” “click” go the camera shutters. There’ll be stories to tell tonight back at camp. Click here for a full-color brochure.