Day 1 - Flight to Botswana
A scheduled overnight flight takes you from London to Botswana, via Johannesburg, with South African Airways.
Includes dinner on the flight.
Days 2 to 4 - Nxai Pan National Park
You will be met at Maun airport when you arrive and driven east through rural Botswana, passing villages and cattle posts to the boundary of Nxai Pan National Park. Then swap to a safari vehicle for a game drive to your luxury mobile tented camp.
The pans found here are ancient salt lakes, ringed to the south and west with erstwhile dunes formed of Kalahari sands. These dunes are now fossilised and covered with short nutritious grasses and stunted acacia trees, creating vegetated dune savannah which attracts a variety of wildlife. This fascinating park is often underrated because of the unpredictability of its game sightings but if you take your time on game drives there's often plenty to see. Large journeys of giraffe move across the pans between the acacia groves, whilst elephant, gemsbok, blue wildebeest and a smattering of hartebeest are often seen by the waterholes as they feed on mineral salts. Nxai Pan is also one of the few areas where impala and springbok occur side by side. Predators too are well represented here including lions, leopard, cheetah and both spotted and the elusive brown hyena.
Towards the southern side of the park, on the eastern edge of the Kudiakam Pan, is an extraordinary and beautiful group of trees known as Baines' Baobabs. These trees have changed little since they were painted in May 1862 by Thomas Baines, the renowned Victorian explorer and artist. They aren't the only baobabs found in the park but they are certainly the most famous.
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Days 5 to 7 - Khwai Reserve
After breakfast, you begin your game drive back towards the main road and on to Maun where you board a light aircraft flight to northeast Moremi. Your destination is Khwai, a community-run private reserve that borders Moremi Game Reserve, separated only by the Khwai River. All proceeds from tourism to this reserve go directly to help the local people and projects set up through the Khwai Community trust.
You'll spend three nights at the small Khwai luxury tented camp situated on the banks of the Khwai River and overlooking Moremi Game Reserve. Stay in one of only four walk-in tents furnished with comfortable twin beds, chairs and canvas wardrobes. Each tent has an en suite bathroom with a flush toilet and an open-air bucket shower. During your stay you will explore along the tracks that run beside the Khwai River and around the floodplains on 4WD safari drives, and, because your camp is on a private reserve and not in a national park, you are also allowed on guided walks and night drives.
Khwai marks the northeastern boundary of the Okavango Delta so is often the closest drinking water for large numbers of animals coming from the north and east. This means that there are frequently impressive wildlife spectacles to be seen here, especially in the dry season (typically Jul to Oct). It is also one of Botswana's most scenic areas with some of the region's most beautiful, mature riverine forest along the edge of the floodplains - an especially good habitat for spotting leopards!
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 8 - Okavango Island Night
After breakfast you head out early to make the most of the cool morning air, a time when animals are most active. You transfer through Moremi Game Reserve to Mboma boat station - a relatively leisurely game drive all the way. Here you board a motorboat to your next camp, situated on an island in the heart of the Okavango Delta. Wend your way through channels lined with evergreen trees such as water figs and African mangosteens, passing the ever-present papyrus reed banks. These reeds and the underlying Kalahari sands act as natural filters, which is why the waters of the Okavango Delta are so clear and sparkling.
The bird life in the Delta is abundant and there's even a chance that you may see elephant crossing the channels. After exploring the secret lagoons and numerous channels, you will arrive at the island for your night fly-camping under the stars. Here, accommodation will be in smaller 3x3 metre tents with comfortable stretcher-beds, bedrolls, bed linen, duvets and towels. Facilities are not en-suite. Between every two tents there's a small enclosure with a bucket shower filled with water at your chosen temperature when needed, and an enclosure with a 'bush' toilet.
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Days 9 to 11 - Linyanti Walking Camps
Make your way back through the winding channels of the Okavango Delta by motorboat and then board a safari vehicle for the short game drive to Xakanaxa airstrip. From here you fly north in a light aircraft to the private Chobe Enclave reserve, bordering the western boundary of Chobe National Park. Once landed, your luggage is transported by vehicle to your camp whilst you enjoy a guided walk with your expert guide.
The private Chobe Enclave reserve stands on the edge of the Linyanti marshes which have been largely dry for many years. More recently, shifting fault lines and heavy summer rains combined in a natural phenomenon causing the Linyanti River to flow into the marshes, and it looks like the water is there to stay for a while. The open marshland lined with riverine woodland and groves of tall cathedral mopane trees are home to a variety of wildlife and countless bird species.
You spend three nights here on the only true mobile walking safari available in Botswana. Distances walked each day will vary depending on your interests and energy levels - there are always plenty of stops to discuss the many interesting sightings along the route. Throughout your stay you'll be led by a knowledgeable walking and wildlife guide whose first passion is to interpret and bring to life every aspect of the African bush for you. The camp is likely to move at least once during your stay depending on where the wildlife action is. Each night you will stay in spacious en-suite tents with comfortable beds.
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 12 - Flight to London
There's time for a final morning activity before you board a light aircraft to Maun, arriving in time to meet your scheduled flight back to the UK.
Includes breakfast. Dinner is on the flight.
Day 13 - Arrive in London
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