Day 1 - Flight to Botswana
Your Botswana Wilderness Safari begins with an overnight flight from London, via Johannesburg in South Africa, to Maun: the gateway to the Okavango Delta.
Includes dinner on the flight.
Days 2 to 4 - Okavango Delta
On arrival in Botswana you meet your safari guide and fellow travellers before embarking on your wilderness safari proper. Board a light aircraft for the flight deep into Botswana's Okavango Delta. Your destination is a safari camp situated in a permanently flooded region of this watery landscape. Spend the next three nights in relative luxury at a true water camp: Jacana or Xigera safari camp. The setting represents the essence of Botswana's Okavango Delta as abundant water; sunlight and soil combine to form a paradise bursting with life.
Activities from the safari camp include year-round mokoro excursions (traditional dug-out canoes used by tribes in Botswana's Okavango Delta) as well as island bush walks and, water level permitting, motorboat cruises. Safaris by 4WD are also possible when water levels are low, typically from September to May.
The luxury safari camp is set in one of the Okavango Delta wetland areas most densely populated with the elusive sitatunga antelope and more common red lechwe. Wildlife concentrations depend on the water flow and volume, so change from season to season, but all the large animals can be found in this exclusive wilderness area including elephant, lion, leopard and buffalo. Birds such as Pel's fishing owl can be seen here as well as the greater and lesser jacanas and a variety of kingfishers.
Accommodation will be in a spacious en suite room linked by pathways through the vegetation. Each is on a wooden deck overlooking the floodplains or surrounding waterways. The safari camp has a plunge pool for cooling off from the midday sun, a dining area and a lounge with a view. It's a lovely small camp offering relaxed comfort with a touch of luxury during your wilderness safari in Botswana.
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Days 5 to 7 - Khwai Reserve
Fly by light aircraft to the northern banks for the Khwai River, north of Moremi Game Reserve. Khwai overlaps the north-eastern reaches of the Okavango Delta and is one of the most diverse regions northern Botswana with regular exciting wildlife sightings. Riverine woodland and open floodplains flank the Khwai River. Herds of plains game are attracted by this water source followed by the predators that hunt them. Away from the river, mopane woodland dotted with open grasslands stretch for miles and provides cover for large buffalo herds and large numbers of elephant.
Spend your time exploring the game drive trails alongside lily-filled pools and through woodland, open plains and forests here. Your guide will lead you on nature walks, mokoro excursions (seasonal and dependent on water levels), spot-lit night drives and the more traditional game drives - the first three activities are not permitted in Botswana's national parks but are possible in Khwai which is a private community reserve.
Your base will be the Khwai Discoverer Camp where you'll sleep in large walk-in canvas tents each with its own en-suite bathroom. The furniture is made from teak and the beds are covered with luxurious and comfortable linens.
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Days 8 to 10 - Linyanti Reserve
After a light breakfast, you fly northwards to the Linyanti Reserve. From the airstrip it's a short game drive to the exclusive Linyanti Tented Camp. Set up under African ebony and knobthorn acacia trees, the safari camp overlooks the Linyanti Marshes which attract a variety of animals as they come down to slake their thirst.
The landscape of the Linyanti includes open floodplains beside the water, an adjacent band of riverine forest, and dense (mostly mopane tree) forests stretching away to the south. This variety of habitats creates a wilderness paradise for a high diversity of wildlife and bird species. Activities include day and night safari drives in the northern sector, where this private reserve borders Botswana's Chobe National Park, exploring a range of habitats from riverbanks to scrub and forest.
Also on offer is an all-day game drive to the usually dry Savuti Channel. This experience gives you an excellent view of the wildlife found in what's sometimes known as the 'stolen river'. Your safari guide will discuss the options with you: if he believes the wildlife viewing to be better in Linyanti's northern sector, due to seasons and animal movements, you will probably concentrate your safari drives in that area.
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 11 - Chobe River & Zambia
After a final short morning drive and breakfast, you will be transferred by light aircraft to the town of Kasane, on the northern edge of Botswana's Chobe National Park. Experience tells us that the game-viewing is often better from the Chobe River than from a vehicle, as animals come down to the water to drink during the heat of the day. So a light lunch is arranged aboard a shaded boat whilst you enjoy a stunning cruise. Large herds of elephants and buffalo come to drink, and occasionally swim across the river to feed on the islands. There's also the chance to spot the relatively rare puku antelope and shy Chobe bushbuck. Bird lovers will be awed by the amazing array of bird species to be seen, from goliath herons to small bitterns.
Later in the afternoon, you cross from Botswana into Zambia at the Kazungula border, traversing the Chobe River by boat before travelling the remaining 70km or so by road. Your last safari accommodation is a lodge situated in Zambia about 12km upstream from the Victoria Falls and hidden away from the hustle and bustle of Livingstone town. Each of the tented rooms has an en suite bathroom and a view across the mighty Zambezi River.
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 12 - Victoria Falls / Flight to London
At 1,708 metres wide in full flood, the Victoria Falls is the largest curtain of water in the world and drops more than 100 metres into the sheer Batoka Gorge. After breakfast you have time for a guided tour of this spectacular natural feature, deservedly one of the world's natural wonders, before transferring to the airport for your scheduled flight to the UK and the end of your wilderness safari.
Includes breakfast. Dinner is on the flight.
Day 13 - Arrive in London
Arrive home after an unforgettable luxury camping safari to some of the best wilderness areas Botswana has to offer.
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