Fascinating Botswana

Welcome to Africa! A driver will greet you at Victoria Falls Airport and take you to Batonka Guest Lodge, where you will spend the first two nights of your experience. Once you have checked in, you can relax from your journey in the garden or by the swimming pool. Later, you will meet your guide and fellow travellers and be briefed on the upcoming safari. Settle back and enjoy the first dinner and night in Africa.

We start early with a guided tour along the famous Victoria Falls, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to enjoy the best light and avoid the crowds. With a width of 1.7 km and a height of 108 metres, the falls is considered one of the largest waterfalls in the world. After the tour, you can stroll through the town of Victoria Falls or visit the large souvenir market. If you are interested in a scenic flight over the waterfalls or a bungee jump, you can also book this on-site. In the late afternoon, you will reunite with the group and embark on a boat trip along the Zambezi River. Enjoy the gentle motion of the boat and experience the unique surroundings while the sun sets. You return to land with a glow on your face and spend the evening in a local restaurant (at your own expense). Back at Batonka Guest Lodge, you can rest and recharge for the second night.

Today, your safari through Botswana begins. Accompanied by your guide and the other participants, a transfer driver will take you across the border into Botswana. A short drive later, you will arrive on the outskirts of Kasane, where you’ll find Chobe Bush Lodge on the bank of the Chobe River. Having checked in and enjoyed a light lunch at the lodge, the first highlight of your safari awaits. You will board a riverboat to cruise on the Chobe River into the Chobe National Park. Here, you can observe animals coming down to the river to drink, and with luck, you may see elephants splashing and playing in the water. After an unforgettable experience, you will return to Chobe Bush Lodge to enjoy a delicious dinner and a peaceful night’s sleep.

After breakfast, you can look forward to a morning game drive in the Chobe National Park. As no day on safari is like the other, you never know what wildlife you will see. The anticipation of what waits ahead is the exciting part of game drives. Park under the shade and watch herds of elephants come and go from the river, allowing you to witness their family dynamics and modes of communication. You may also see rarer species like the water-loving red lechwe and the puku antelope. Your experience gets even better when you enjoy a picnic lunch in this beautiful park. As the day continues, you exit the park at Ngoma Gate and drive through the Chobe Forest Reserve to arrive at Thobolo’s Bush Lodge by mid-to-late afternoon. Once settled in, enjoy a cool sundowner on the deck overlooking a waterhole where resident wildlife, such as elephants and buffalos, come to quench their thirst. The sounds of the night are your orchestra as you enjoy a romantic dinner in the wild.

You have an exciting yet long day ahead. In the twilight before dawn, you join your guide in the safari vehicle to drive towards the Savuti region, famed for its fantastic game viewing and varied landscapes. The Savuti is renowned as a superb region in which to spot predators, such as lions, leopards, and hyenas. During the morning hours, these hunters can sometimes be seen returning from their nighttime activity. The unique Savuti landscape is also a wonder to behold. It was created and continues to be shaped by the enigmatic Savuti Channel. The channel can flow for many years, supplying water to the area, and then unexpectedly dry up, remaining without water for an indefinite period. However, nature always finds a way to display its remarkable resilience, making every safari in the Savuti region genuinely captivating. After a long and wonderful day of game viewing, you arrive at a private concession north of Khwai, where you’ll find Mmatsebe Camp on the banks of the Mbudi Channel. You will spend the next three nights enjoying fantastic cuisine and hospitality here.

Waking up early on a safari is normal as the animals are most active in the cool morning. However, you can sleep a little longer today since you’re on vacation. After breakfast, you’ll head to the nearby Poler station, leaving the vehicle behind and switching to mokoros, traditional dugout canoes used to explore the Mbudi Channel and its tributaries. While mokoros are now mostly made of fibreglass or plastic instead of wood, the method of transport remains the same as it was centuries ago in the Okavango Delta. You can relax and enjoy the views as you glide across the water while your poler, a member of the nearby village community, shares their knowledge of the plants and animals in and around the Khwai area. After an extraordinary safari experience, you’ll return to camp for lunch. A short nap is followed by another game drive, during which your guide, with their trained eyes, can point out things you might have missed. Return to Mmatsebe Camp for a second dinner and a relaxing overnight stay.

An early start rewards you with an exhilarating day on safari in the Moremi Game Reserve. With open windows and an open roof, you will explore the reserve and, with some luck, spot some of the Big Five (elephants, lions, leopards, buffalos, and rhinos). The Moremi Reserve and the surrounding private concessions are home to a remarkable population of Africa’s most successful hunters, the African wild dog. These fascinating animals are pack hunters and have a higher success rate than lions, leopards, or cheetahs when hunting impala, waterbuck, warthog, and even full-grown wildebeest in this region. Around midday, you will reach the Xakanaxa Lagoon, where you can enjoy a boat trip on the reed-lined waterways and have a picnic lunch, all while taking in the size and beauty of the Okavango Delta. In the late afternoon, you will return to Mmatsebe Camp, where you will again enjoy a delicious dinner before falling asleep to the sounds of the African bush.

You will start your day with a morning game drive near the camp. The chances of animal sightings are very high as the wildlife takes full advantage of the cool morning temperatures. After a fulfilling morning with multiple memories stored in your camera, you’ll return to camp for a delicious brunch. Your safari will head south to Mogogelo Camp in a private concession on the southern edge of the Moremi Game Reserve. After you arrive, you can take in the views of the area. Since it’s your final evening on safari, you can savour every moment. On the camp’s deck, you can enjoy a sundowner and observe the animals gathering at the nearby waterhole. One last delectable dinner awaits before spending a memorable night in spacious safari tents.

After enjoying a hearty breakfast, it will be time to pack your bags. Your guide will then drive you to Maun Airport, where you will bid farewell. You can start your return journey or continue your adventure by flying into the Okavango Delta. Depending on your onward journey, you may have enough time for an optional helicopter flight across the delta in the morning. Please reach out to us if you need further assistance. We hope that your time in Victoria Falls and Botswana will leave lasting memories, and we look forward to welcoming you back to Africa one day.