Fascinating Botswana

Your transfer driver greets you with a smile at your hotel in the late morning and you begin the drive from Victoria Falls to Kasane. We recommend that you spend at least one night in Victoria Falls, before starting your journey. Should you require any assistance in booking the ideal pre-safari accommodation, please let us know. After crossing the border from Zimbabwe into Botswana it is only a short drive to your accommodation and upon arrival, you will meet your English-speaking safari guide. Your temporary home overlooks the mighty Chobe River and is a green oasis where after your check-in, you have some time to relax and look forward to your boat cruise on the Chobe later in the day. Here you will have your first opportunity to revel in your beautiful surroundings and observe the wildlife that comes to the riverbank for an afternoon drink. After the perfect start to your classic Botswana safari adventure, you return to your accommodation in Kasane, the Chobe River Lodge, for a delicious dinner.

Enjoy a tasty breakfast before heading out on safari. With your guide by your side and in the optimal 4×4 safari vehicle, you enter the Chobe National Park. No other park is better known for its elephant population. With more than 40,000 elephants calling the Chobe National Park home, it is the region with the highest density of elephants in the world. It is for this reason that the Chobe National Park is also known as “The Land of Giants”. You spend the whole morning in the park, taking time to also admire lions, buffalos, antelopes as well as the smaller creatures that you may come across. As your lodge is only a short distance from the park, you can return to the lodge for lunch and spend some time lounging by the pool. Later in the day, you go on an afternoon game drive to potentially find any animals not seen on the morning game drive. You spend another night at the Chobe River Lodge.

A day filled with game viewing awaits you. On your game drive today, you will follow the length of the Chobe River from Kasane to Ngoma. First you enter the Chobe National Park once more and continue where you left off the day before. Watch as the elephants come to the water to drink, cool down and play by splashing about. You may also want to keep your eyes open for the water-loving red lechwe and the rare puku antelope on today’s morning game drive. After exiting the park at the Ngoma gate, you continue towards the Chobe Forest Reserve. Along the way we make use of the wonderful outside setting to enjoy a picnic lunch. With quite possibly many new safari impressions, you arrive at your lodge, the Thobolo’s Bush Lodge in the mid-afternoon. End the day by enjoying a cool sundowner on the viewing deck and gaze over the waterhole as elephants, buffalos and other resident wildlife arrive for a drink of their own.

You have an exciting day ahead of you and one which must therefore start very early. Before the first light, you will be up and going already, heading towards the Savuti region. The Savuti is renowned for its fantastic game viewing and its varied landscapes. The region is particularly famed for its predators, so be on the lookout for any lions, leopards, or hyenas about. During the morning hours, these hunters can sometimes be spotted returning from their night-time activity. The surreal Savuti landscape was formed and is constantly being reformed by the mysterious Savuti channel. The channel can flow for many years, bringing water to the region and then unexpectedly dry up and remain dry for an undefined period of time. Nature, however, always finds a way to show its impressive resilience. This makes every safari in the Savuti fascinating. After potentially many new wildlife sightings, you leave Savuti through the Mababe gate. After a long and wonderful day of game viewing, you arrive at your accommodation for the next two nights, the Nokanyana Camp, where a tasty dinner awaits you and a good night’s rest.

Look forward to another exciting day on safari. Depending on the time of year and presence of wildlife, you will explore either the famous Moremi Game Reserve, the bordering Khwai Region or the slightly lesser known but equally wildlife rich Mababe Depression. The whole region is home to a tremendous amount of wildlife, including the Big Five. It is also one of the best places in Africa to spot African wild dogs. The Moremi, with its surrounding private concessions, provides the wide-open spaces which these rarely seen animals require to roam. Further highlights you may encounter here are antelope species such as the tsessebe, the roan and the sable, as well as lions, leopards, elephants, giraffes and if you are lucky, you may find a cheetah. Your guide has well trained eyes and his spotting skills will help make it an incredible safari. In the afternoon, you return to your camp. As the sun sets on another memorable day, be sure to sit on the camp’s lookout deck and watch as the animals come to drink at the Khwai River under the beautiful night sky. You spend another night at the Nokonyana Camp.

You set out on another morning game drive in the region surrounding your camp, taking advantage of the cool morning temperatures just like the animals do. Who knows, perhaps you encounter something today which you have never seen before! Your journey follows a general southerly direction through Botswana’s bush landscape. In the early afternoon, you will arrive at your accommodation, the Thamalakane River Lodge and you have the rest of the afternoon to spend at your leisure. The lodge is beautifully located on the banks of the Thamalakane River, just outside of Maun and you are invited to take a refreshing swim in the lodge’s swimming pool. If you are not planning on continuing your travels into the Okavango Delta, then perhaps you would like to take a scenic flight over the delta as an afternoon activity. If so, please contact us for further information. Conclude this wonderful day with another delicious dinner before you sit around the campfire and overlook the river.

After a hearty breakfast it is time to pack your bags. Your guide or a transfer driver will bring you to the Maun Airport where you say your farewells. From here, you can start your return journey or continue your adventure by flying into the Okavango Delta. Please get in touch with us and we will be happy to assist you further. No matter what you choose, we are certain that your time amongst Botswana’s nature and wildlife will have left a lasting impression and we hope to see you again!