Botswana camping safari in the Okavango Delta

Itinerary in brief: 

• 2 nights Victoria Falls
• 2 nights River area of Chobe NP
• 2 nights Savuti area of Chobe NP
• 2 nights Moremi Game Reserve
• 2 nights Kalahari Desert

Day 1: Depart UK 

Depart the UK from your chosen airport. 

Included: International flights

Day 2: Arrive Victoria Falls 

On arrival in Victoria Falls, you'll be met at the airport and driven to your hotel, checking in for two nights. 

Included: Transfers, 4* hotel 

Day 3: Victoria Falls 

Spend the day exploring this beautiful area. Visiting Victoria Falls is a truly awe-inspiring experience – the sight, the sound and the smell, it’s overwhelming. No photograph can begin to depict the majesty of Victoria Falls but luckily, you’ll have all day to create some memories. If you want to add in any activities, we can do that - whether you'd like to learn about the history of the area from a guide or just head out to cruise along the Zambezi River. Looking for hippos and crocodiles as you float beneath the spectacular African sunset is a wonderful welcome to Zimbabwe.

Included: 4* hotel 

Day 4: Travel to Chobe National Park 

This morning you'll be driven to the border to enter Botswana, travelling to Kasane, the gateway to Chobe National Park, where you'll embark on a river cruise. Watch buffalo drinking at the waters edge, hippos snoozing in the mud and fish eagles calling out across the river. After the cruise, you'll enjoy a leisurely game drive to your camp in Chobe National Park. You’ll arrive at camp before dark, welcomed by the safari team to your home for the next two nights, staying at private sites with ensuite bush ablutions. Relax by the pop up bar with a local beer, watching the elephants enjoying their own sundowners at the waterhole, as the sun sinks slowly below the horizon. 

Note - this is a premium camping safari that does not require any participation from guests. All camp set-up and camp chores are carried out for you. There is one guide  with the guests at all times and a backup team (camp assistants/chefs) in a backup vehicle setting up and breaking camps, cooking meals, etc. 

Included: All meals and shared touring, private tent camping with ensuite bush ablutions

Day 5: Chobe National Park 

Today you'll enjoy a game drive in the morning and afternoon, looking for wildlife in this magical location. At sunrise, you'll spot elephants emerging from the woodlands to drink and bathe at the misty river’s edge. Impala, and kudu often graze in the cool early hours, while fish eagles call from the treetops and pods of hippos grunt from the reeds. By the afternoon, the park feels different: heat draws animals back toward the riverfront and large herds of buffalo  gather on the floodplains, stalked by lions that use the tall grasses for cover. Soak up the sunset over the water as the sky turns pink, ending a wonderful day of wildlife viewing in Chobe. 

Included: All meals and shared touring, private tent camping with ensuite bush ablutions

Days 6 & 7: Savuti 

After breakfast at camp, you'll be driven south towards Savuti, in the drier area of Chobe National Park, away from the river. You'll spend the next couple of days enjoying game drives in this region of the huge national park, discovering the more rugged side of the region, where rocky outcrops and vast plains await. In the cool morning hours, you might lions lounging near their most recent kill or watch hyenas skulking nearby as they scavenge for scraps. Spot elephants moving across the plains in long lines, while leopards watch from their perch in the acacia trees. It's a great area to spot wild dogs as well, and your guide will help you try and find the animals you'd most like to see. As the heat intensifies in the afternoons, zebra and wildebeest gather to graze, bull elephants drink at the waterholes and kori bustards stride through the grass looking for caterpillars. 

Included: All meals and shared touring, private tent camping with ensuite bush ablutions

Days 8 & 9: Moremi Game Reserve in the Okavango Delta 

Leaving Chobe behind, you'll venture further south to the Okavango Delta, one of the worlds richest and most varied ecosystems. You'll spend two nights here camping, exploring the floodplains with your guide. Watch zebra wading through the water, spot giraffes munching on the acacia trees and wild dogs sloping off home after a night of hunting. As you enjoy your game drives, you'll learn about the herds of buffalo and the hippos that wallow lazily in the delta, looking out for leopards snoozing in the shade of the fig trees. 

Included: All meals and shared touring, private tent camping with ensuite bush ablutions

Days 10 & 11: Kalahari Desert

Leaving the delta behind, you'll spend the next couple of days exploring an entirely different landscape - the Kalahari Desert. This vast wilderness of open plains and valleys dotted with ancient fossils is home to a surprising abundance of wildlife, as well as the San people who have lived here for thousands of years. You'll be staying at Deception Valley Lodge, where you can relax in spacious, comfortable suites that offer private decks, local style interiors and views over the waterholes.

Spend your days here enjoying early morning game drives, looking for oryx and bat-eared foxes in the cool morning light. After breakfast, you can explore on foot with San guides, who will teach you their traditional tracking skills and shared their local way of life. Spend time admiring the wildlife at the waterhole, where zebras come to drink and secretary birds stroll through the nearby grass. As the sun sets, you'll head out again to experience the desert at dusk, looking for cheetah stalking their prey in the twilight and elephants rustling the trees as they search for food. Back at camp, you can enjoy a delicious dinner under the star-strewn sky.

Included: All meals and shared touring, Deception Valley Lodge

Day 12: Depart Maun

Day 13: Arrive UK