Top travel treats on DStv this holiday season

News 01 December 2025

From Brazil with The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip – Africa, to the Formula 1 Grand Prix Abu Dhabi.

Top travel treats on DStv this holiday season

Everyone gets a holiday ticket to adventure on DStv this December! All our DStv Family and Access subscribers have been Upsized to Compact, and all Compact and Compact Plus subscribers can now access every Premium channel until midnight on 31 January 2026.

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No exchange rate tears, no passport trauma or missed flights, just pick your show and off you go! Whether you’re headed for sunny Brazil with The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip – Africa, love a romantic Christmas in the snow with penguins and polar bears, you’re looking for a leap of faith like Madu, Pilgrimage: The Road Through Portugal or Jesus Crown of Thorns, or you have your heart set on the world’s fastest road trip in the Formula 1 Grand Prix: Abu Dhabi, we’re ready to ride.

South America

The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip KA 2025

The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip – Africa

Destination: Brazil. Africa’s most extra, most iconic Housewives – Annie, Angel and Jojo (Durban), Madam and Christall (Joburg), Dr Catherine and Zena (Nairobi), Princess Jecoco (Abuja), and Mariam (Lagos) – have landed in Rio with all the energy of Nairobi, the glamour of Lagos, and the bold charm of Mzansi. This cross-cultural sisterhood will share their world and their stories as new friendships form over cocktails, sunshine, salsa and samba lessons, and manhunting expeditions along the Copacabana.

Stream The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip – Africa Season 1 from Saturday, 6 December at 5:30PM on Mzansi Magic Channel 161. Also on Showmax each Friday.

Incas: Secrets of the Empire of the Sun

Destination: Peru. Take a four-episode dive into the history of the Inca Empire, from its rise and expansion, to the time of the 10th Inca king, Tupac Yupanqui, who crushed rivals along the Pacific coast, and ruled the empire from Cuzco; and his successor, Huayna Capac, who reigned for 30 years as the Incas reached their golden age, building monuments, homes and temples that still stand today – before civil war and Spanish conquest toppled them from the mountains.

Stream Incas: Secrets of the Empire of the Sun Season 1 from Friday, 12 December at 6:50PM on National Geographic Channel 181

Expedition from Hell: The Lost Tapes

Destination: A cross-continental trek through South America. Drawing on 700 hours of footage, this HBO documentary takes us on a journey into insanity as survivalist Mickey Grosman leads hikers on a 6 437-kilometre expedition through the Amazon for a charity fundraiser. Aside from dehydration, supply issues, and a growing suspicion that Mickey isn’t a safety-first kind of guy (which leads one person to turn back just two hours into the expedition), there are also kidnappings and pirate attacks ahead.

Stream Expedition from Hell: The Lost Tapes Season 1 from Sunday, 14 December at 9:10PM on Travel Channel 179

Let it snow

Race To Winter

Destination: Scandinavia. If our sunny festive season is giving you heat stroke, come cool off with this beautifully shot nature documentary. It takes us inside the lives of arctic animals like brown bears, puffins, reindeer and polar bears, as they race to mate, raise their young, and eat everything in sight from the first light of spring, to the depths of winter under and on the ice. By the end of this, you’ll be ready to bask in the nearest pool.

Stream Race To Winter on Sunday, 28 December at 6PM on National Geographic Wild Channel 181.

Living on Green Ice

Destination: The Arctic and Antarctic. Beneath and inside the white polar ice, hidden blooms of green algae form the foundation of the entire ecosystem’s food supply. Join a series of expeditions with scientists who’re studying polar biodiversity and the impact of recent climate change. And along the way we’ll meet some of the region’s extraordinary inhabitants, including Adélie penguins and polar bears.

Stream Living on Green Ice on Thursday, 25 December at 11PM on Curiosity Channel Channel 185.

Winter of the Bear

Destination: Finland. A mother bear wakes from a long winter’s slumber to raise her cubs. This single mom is one of around 2 300 Eurasian brown bears in Finland, and she’s the country’s national animal. But she’ll start her journey thin and exhausted, having lost around a quarter of her body weight after months of nourishing her cubs while being unable to hunt. And with wolves and lynxes scouting the still-snowy forests for easy prey, she’ll have stiff competition.

Stream Winter of the Bear on Sunday, 7 December at 6PM on National Geographic Wild Channel 182.

Desert destinations

Formula 1 Grand Prix Abu Dhabi

Destination: Abu Dhabi. The final race of the season is set to take place on the Hermann Tilke-designed Yas Marina Circuit on Yas Island in the UAE. Practice takes place on 5 December at 11:30AM, 3PM, 6 December at 12:30PM, followed by the Qualifier at 3:55.

Stream the Formula 1 Grand Prix Abu Dhabi on Sunday, 7 December at 1:30PM and 2:55PM on SuperSport Motorsport Channel 215 and SuperSport Maximo 1 Channel 241.

Gordon Buchanan: My Epic Camel Adventure

Destination: Mongolia. Gordon is on a life-or-death mission to make friends with two camels, Squeaks and Chewy, before they set off together to cross the Gobi Desert and navigate Bumbat Mountain in search of the elusive Gobi bear. Along the way, Gordon will need to find food and water for his camels, while he depends on them for their warmth and endurance. Gordon’s journey will also explore how climate change is driving further desertification, threatening all the desert’s inhabitants.

Stream Gordon Buchanan: My Epic Camel Adventure on Friday, 26 December at 8PM on BBC Earth Channel 184. Available on DStv Stream.

Join Mr Worldwide

Martin Clunes: Islands of The Atlantic

Destination: São Tomé and Príncipe, the Bijagos islands, Madeira, the Azores, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland. Actor Martin Clunes takes us on a three-episode trip to meet the creatures and people living on islands from the tropics to the Arctic Circle. Prepare to cook in a volcano, take a wild ride with a mountain rally driver, watch a village theatre performance, walk on glaciers, go whale watching, explore Viking heritage and Inuit traditions, taste historic wines, and see ancient rituals.

Stream Martin Clunes: Islands of The Atlantic from Friday, 5 December at 7PM on BBC Earth Channel 184.

The World's Most Scenic Railway Journeys

Destination: New Zealand’s South Island, Taiwan, Norway, and Austria. Okay, so it’s not the Hogwarts Express, but come along as actor Bill Nighy narrates a series of spectacular rail journeys, starting with Dunedin Railway's Inlander and Seasider trains, before we board Taiwan’s network, including the magical Alishan Forest Railway, head to Norway to try the super-fast train from Bergen to Oslo, and end with an Austrian adventure that’ll take us through the Alberg tunnel.

Stream The World's Most Scenic Railway Journeys Season 3 from Thursday, 11 December at 8PM on BBC Lifestyle Channel 174

A leap of faith

Madu

Destination: Lagos to London. This documentary follows 12-year-old Anthony Madu as he leaves his family and community to go study at Elmhurst Ballet School. Anthony goes from practising in the street, to the stage, and from his dreams seeming impossible, to becoming a viral sensation. Having never left his family home in Ajangbadi, though, the culture shock is real, and we see the extraordinary resilience and passion it takes for Anthony to find his place in a strange country.

Stream Madu on Sunday, 14 December at 9PM on National Geographic Channel 181.

Pilgrimage: The Road Through Portugal

Destination: From Valenca to Fatima Along Portugal’s Northern Way. Seven modern-day travelers from differing religious backgrounds – actor Su Pollard (raised Church of England); actor Rita Simons (Jewish); Boyzone singer Shane Lynch (Pentecostal Born Again Christian); reality TV star Vicky Pattison (agnostic), mathematician Bobby Seagull (Catholic), comedian Nabil Abdulrashid (Muslim), and Paralympian skier Millie Knight (raised Church of England) – travel 364km by foot, road, and train for 14 days while living as pilgrims.

Stream Pilgrimage: The Road Through Portugal from Monday, 22 December at 9PM on BBC UKTV Channel 134.

Jesus Crown of Thorns

Destination: Ancient Judea. This series blends dramatic reimaginings of Biblical incidents with commentary and context from scholars. Season 2 centres on the unrest and political intrigue sparked by Jesus’s teachings, while Season 3 centres on the final week in Jerusalem, the crucifixion and resurrection. You might need your own biblical scholar on hand, as the first season had Jesus saying the fictional "Ezekiel 25:17” verse from the Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction.

<TX>Stream Jesus Crown of Thorns Season 2 from Sunday, 14 December at 8:15PM on History Channel 186, Season 3 from Sunday, 28 December at 8:15PM, and Lost Secrets of Jesus on Monday, 22 December at 9:05PM.

Board the friend-ship

Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing

Destination: Peak fishing spots in the UK. Catch one of the UK’s favourite fishing shows for the first time in South Africa. Paul, an experienced angler, invites his lifelong friend, comedian Bob Mortimer, to join him on a tour of the countryside including Dorset, Derbyshire and Norfolk. Both are recovering from recent heart surgeries and while the fish make an appearance now and then, the show is really about friendship, reflections on ageing, all shades of humour, and tranquillity outdoors.

Stream Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing Season 1 from Saturday, 27 December at 6PM on BBC Earth Channel 184.

Tiffany Haddish Goes Off

Destination: Cape Town, to Victoria Falls, to Zanzibar. This six-part docuseries follows comedy superstar Tiffany Haddish and her three closest childhood girlfriends – Selena, Shermona, and Sparkle Clark – during their four-week-long holiday in Africa, as they explore their connection to the continent. The genuine friendship between the women shines through in everything they do, as they discuss Tiffany’s recent challenges and how they’ve survived everything from miscarriage, to sexual assault, to romantic heartbreak, while visiting sacred places like Split Rock.

<TX>Stream Tiffany Haddish Goes Off from Thursday, 4 December on Showmax.

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