Guests traveling on Tauck’s new “Botswana, South Africa & Zambia” safari next year will be given the chance to actually walk among a pride of juvenile lions as they play, relax and begin to develop the skills they’ll use later to survive in the wild.

Guests will also travel offshore from Cape Town, South Africa, to nearby Seal Island, with the chance to witness great white sharks dramatically snatching fur seals from the waters surrounding the island.  They’ll also explore a meerkat colony on Botswana’s Makgadikgadi Pan, and they’ll view wildlife in a range of other settings, ranging from open-top, six-passenger safari vehicles to a lavishly restored Pullman lounge and dining cars during a private steam train journey through Zambia’s Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park.

The itinerary will also traverse a variety of landscapes, from the dramatic coast of the Cape of Good Hope to deserts and salt plains, and from rainforests and Victoria Falls to marshlands and savannahs.

Price for the 12-day journey is from $8,890 per person, double-occupancy, plus international and on-tour air.  Included in the price are all safari excursions, guides, most meals, accommodations in five-star hotels and luxury safari camps, airport transfers, luggage handling and more. Tauck will operate departures from April through November next year.

Tauck, 800-468- 2825,  www.tauck.com