Day 1 - Flight to Zambia
Begin your adventure to Africa with an overnight flight from London Heathrow to Johannesburg, and on to Livingstone in Zambia.
Includes dinner on the flight.
Day 2 - Victoria Falls, Zambia
On arrival at Livingstone Airport in Zambia you are met and embark straight onto a tour of the spectacular Victoria Falls. At 1,708 metres wide in full flood, the Victoria Falls is the largest curtain of water in the world, and one of its seven natural wonders. After you've had your fill of the Falls you drive west, to spend a very comfortable night at the lovely River Club. Set along the Zambezi's riverbank, each of the split-level chalets here has a large bedroom with spectacular views and a small toilet upstairs, and a large bathroom downstairs. The main areas are decorated in an Edwardian style and contain some fascinating artefacts and there is a well positioned swimming pool with views over the Zambezi River. The only variance from this itinerary is during the safari departing on the 20th July which overnights at another very good lodge on the Zambezi River's banks - Toka Leya.
Includes breakfast and lunch on the flight and dinner at the lodge.
Day 3 - Chobe River and Linyanti Reserve
After an early breakfast you leave Zambia and the Victoria Falls behind to enter Botswana at Kazungula: the point where Botswana, Zambia, Namibia and Zimbabwe meet.
Along the riverfront area of Chobe National Park the game viewing is often better from the river than from a safari vehicle, as the animals come down to the water during the heat of the day. Therefore we settle you aboard a shaded boat for a stunning morning adventure along Chobe River - watching the area's vast herds of elephant and buffalo come to drink alongside a host of antelope. Sable antelope are often found here and you'll have your first opportunity to see puku - an antelope only found in a select few areas of Africa. There's also a good chance of spotting the shy Chobe bushbuck.
Arriving back at the boat station around midday you will climb into your safari vehicle once again and begin the drive to Botswana's private Linyanti Reserve. This is a fairly long but interesting journey that begins by passing small rural villages dotted along the border of Botswana and Namibia's Caprivi Strip, before turning southwest through the Chobe Forest Reserve and back into Chobe National Park. Your guide aims to get you to your comfortable mobile camp at around 5pm, depending on the wildlife sightings you enjoyed along the way. If local conditions make it better to fly rather than drive this route you might take a light aircraft flight from Kasane Airport to the Linyanti Reserve.
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Days 4 & 5 - Linyanti Reserve
During your stay here you explore each corner of Botswana's private Linyanti Reserve, searching for wildlife around its mopane woodlands, lush riverine forests and open floodplains. This incredibly diverse region plays host to an array of animals, most notably to nursery herds of female elephants and their young during the dry season (August to October) who slake their thirst in waters of the Linyanti River.
You might spend one whole adventurous safari day away from camp, beginning with an early morning drive before enjoying a picnic lunch with sweeping views of the Linyanti waterways then, after a siesta in a hammock, you explore the Savuti channel and its surrounding woodland before returning to camp at dusk. On another day you might make shorter sorties to track a leopard's footprints or follow the dawn call of a lion.
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Days 6, 7 & 8 - Khwai Reserve
The safari group will board a light aircraft and fly south to Khwai and the north eastern reaches of Botswana's Okavango Delta. The comfortable camp here is located in a wildlife area north of the Khwai River, the border between Khwai Community Reserve and the Moremi Game Reserve. This region of the Okavango Delta is one of the most diverse in northern Botswana with safari and wildlife experiences that rarely disappoint. Riverine woodland and open floodplains flank the Khwai River and attract herds of plains game and the predators that hunt them - you should also look out for leopard resting in tall acacia and leadwood trees! Away from the river the fauna changes to mopane woodland dotted with open grasslands which, together with the abundance of water, attracts herds of elephant and buffalo and the lion that stalk them.
Travelling in an open-sided safari vehicle, you spend time with your knowledgeable guide exploring the game trails alongside lily-filled pools and through woodland, open plains and forests near the camp. Being in a private part of this wilderness area allows you to make the most of this fantastic wildlife viewing location, and you can enjoy game drives, night drives, seasonal mokoro (dug-out canoes) excursions and nature walks - the latter three activities are not permitted in Botswana's national parks.
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Days 9 & 10 - Moremi Game Reserve, Okavango Delta
Fly by light aircraft deep into Moremi Game Reserve. Seeing the Okavango Delta from the air is a real part of your Botswana safaris experience, allowing you a fascinating view of the Delta as a whole, and insights into how its magical landscapes were formed.
Your destination is Xigera (pronounced 'keejera'): a private site within Moremi Game Reserve. This is a permanently flooded area where you'll find a profusion of plant and animal life, all within a paradise of remote islands ringed by clear-water channels.
Although there is game around, including red lechwe, sitatunga and elephant, this isn't your focus. You travel to Xigera to experience one of the Okavango Delta's lushest and most tropical areas, and to seek the particularly spectacular birdlife. Expect endless herons, egrets, cranes and smaller water-birds - and if you're lucky, sightings of rarities like the Pel's fishing owl.
Spend your time here on a watery adventure, travelling by mokoro (the traditional Botswana dug-out canoe) or motorboat, and camping on a small vegetated island. Usually a longer boat excursion is included allowing you to explore parts of the Okavango Delta not reached by most other visitors to this area.
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 11 - Flight to London
From Xigera you transfer by light aircraft to Maun. It's the end of your Botswana & Victoria Falls Adventure and you bid farewell your camping safari guide and the rest of your group before taking your scheduled flight home.
Includes breakfast. Dinner is on the flight.
Day 12 - Arrive in London
Arrive home having made new friends on a fantastic Botswana safari adventure.
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