14 Day Best of Botswana Safari
14 Day Best of Botswana Safari, this trip combines the highlights of Botswana’s wildlife areas and gives opportunity to see both the wetland and Kalahari species in one trip.
Please note that this tour can be combined with some days before in Victoria Falls or Livingstone (not included in price but we can organise this stay for you ) hence the 2 days “pre-trip” mentioned in the tour description as day 1 and 2 bringing this trip then to 14 days.
How to get there
- This tour starts in Windhoek, Namibia and ends in Victoria Falls Town, Zimbabwe
- This operator can help select your international flights, but you’ll have to book them yourself
- Fly to Hosea Kutako Airport (WDH) near Windhoek
- Fly back from Victoria Falls Airport (VFA)
- A transfer from and back to the airport is included
- Additional accommodation before and at the end of the tour can be arranged for an extra cost
Day 1: Optional day in Victoria Falls
Please note that the following 2 days are an optional extension prior to the 12 day tour. The price below covers the 12 days and these 2 pre-days are not included, please contact us for arranging this and pricing.
You will be collected at the airport and transferred to your hotel. The afternoon is free for visiting the falls at leisure. A’Zambezi River Lodge is situated outside the town center boarding the Zambezi National Park so expect to see visitors on the lawn: warthog, impala, hippo, buffalo are regular “lawn mowers”. Dinner at own expense.
Day 2: Victoria Falls
Today is free for chosen activities in Victoria Falls: the list of possibilities is long but the most popular are helicopter flights over the falls, sundown cruises on the Zambezi, “walk with lions” or elephant rides. If you haven’t done so the first day then you can visit the falls today, combining with lunch or high tea at the colonial style Victoria Falls Hotel. A visit to the local craft markets gives ample possibilities for buying souvenirs. Dinner can be at the hotel or at one of the other restaurants of which “The Boma” is the most popular.
Day 3: Start of the safari
Your guide will meet you at the Kazungula border where you arrive into Botswana and will transfer you to your lodge.
After a relaxing brunch or lunch and a short briefing by your guide we head for a 3 hour boat trip on the Chobe river where large amounts of game come to drink in the late afternoon.
You will have the time to shower and relax with a drink before dinner is served.
During dinner you’ll have a complete explanation by your guide about the rest of the tour and you can ask all you want to know about the country and its people.
Day 4: Visit the salt pans
After breakfast we drive South towards Nata where we arrive in time for lunch. After checking in and time for siesta and shower we make an excursion to the Nata Bird Sanctuary where we experience the vastness of the saltpans, a hidden gem is that when the pans hold water there are thousands of flamingo around and the sundown on the pans is always a highlight.
We are back in the lodge after dark and enjoy dinner with possibility to try out local dishes.
Day 5: Nxai Pan and the Kalahari
Today we leave Nata and a 3 hour drive brings us to our camp in Nxai Pan National Park. Here we get acquainted with our camp-staff and the camping material used. Lunch is served on arrival and in the afternoon we make a game-drive to spot the Kalahari specials like black-mane lions, cheetah, honey badger, brown hyena, aardwolf, springbok, oryx, etc. We also visit the majestic Baines Baobabs, a natural cathedral at the edge of a large salt pan. After dinner we enjoy bush tales around the campfire.
Day 6: To Maun, the gateway to the Okavango
We leave camp on a morning game-drive trying to spot more specials on the way. We leave the park by 11 AM to arrive in Maun in time for lunch at a cozy restaurant. After lunch we check into our hotel and the afternoon is free for rest, swimming, or an optional game-flight over the Okavango Delta can be arranged. Dinner at leisure.
Day 7: To the Moremi Game Reserve
We rise early and after a healthy breakfast we board our game viewing vehicle.
A game drive takes us to the Moremi Game Reserve, famous for its big concentrations of game, where we set up camp for the next 3 nights in a plain wilderness area.
An extensive lunch is served en route and arrival in camp will be mid-afternoon. A late afternoon drive leaves for game viewing until sunset, when we head back to camp.
After dinner is served, there is time to chat and relax around the campfire.
Day 8: The Moremi Game Reserve
This morning we make an extensive game-drive in the park to see the abundance of wildlife in this pristine area. We aim to be back in camp by noon but if we are lucky and see specials this might even be later. After lunch there is time for shower and siesta before setting of for an afternoon game-drive till sundown. After dinner we enjoy the campfire and listen to the bush-noises.
Day 9: The Moremi Game Reserve
Today is a typical safari day with extensive morning game-drive followed by lunch and a short rest period before leaving on an afternoon drive. We visit a different area from the first day to have a better idea of the vastness of the reserve, sometimes called “The jewel of the Kalahari”. Dinner and drinks around the campfire and thousands of stars above.
Day 10: To the Savuti area
An interesting game drive takes us away of Moremi, traveling north via the Khwai River and the Mababe Depression to Savuti, our camp for the next 2 nights.
The Savuti area with wide open grassy plains and scattered rocky outcrops is the perfect area for large herds of elephants, zebra and wildebeest and giraffe families, not forgetting the many predators that follow them.
We enjoy a picnic lunch in the bush and arrive in camp mid-afternoon in time to still make a short sundown drive.
Our staff has again prepared a superb bush-dinner and the campfire will welcome us.
Day 11: The Savuti area
As the Savuti area is vast we can opt for a full day trip or a combined morning and afternoon drive, this depending on where animals are concentrated. Your guide will advise you the day before so you can organise accordingly. The plains are always a highlight and the area is known for its great concentration of predators. We also make a short climb to see some Bushman rock paintings, beautiful vistas from the hill. Back in camp after sundown.
Day 12: To the Chobe river
Today we make a last game-drive in the area and then head North to the Chobe river. We pass some traditional villages along the road and have plenty possibilities for a “lunch with a view”. Arrival in camp is around mid-afternoon and we still have time for a sunset drive along the river. This area has the largest population of elephants in the world and seeing several hundreds a day is normal, expect them to visit the camp.
Day 13: The Chobe riverfront
Today we explore the Chobe river and make an extensive game-drive along its borders. The area really has one of the densest animal concentrations in Africa and expect to see many different species: roan antelope, sable antelope, puku, red lechwe, giraffe are commonly seen and the possibility of seeing lions – leopard – wild dogs is high, Chobe never disappoints.
Lunch is taken at a restaurant and in the afternoon we make a 3 hour boat trip as this is the time when most animals come to the river to drink. After dinner we enjoy our last campfire of the safari.
Day 14: To Kasane and end of the mobile safari
Today we say goodbye to our camp staff and make a last game-drive along the Chobe river to arrive in Kasane around 11 AM. You will be transferred to the airport for any further transfer be it by road or by air or you can be brought to any chosen accommodation in Kasane for an add-on to this tour. We can also arrange an optional extra day or days to Victoria Falls.
Please contact us for the best price of this tour : info@africajoytours.com
Included
- Park fees (for non-residents)
- All activities (unless labeled as optional)
- All accommodation (unless listed as upgrade)
- Camping equipment
- A professional driver/guide
- All transportation (unless labeled as optional)
- All Taxes/VAT
- Roundtrip airport transfer
- Meals (as specified in the day-by-day section)
- Drinks (as specified in the day-by-day section)
- Bed linen
- Bath towels
Excluded
- International flights (from/to home)
- Additional accommodation before and at the end of the tour
- Tips (tipping guideline US$10.00 pp per day)
- Personal items (souvenirs, travel insurance, visa fees, etc.)
- Government imposed increase of taxes and/or park fees
- Some meals (as specified in the day-by-day)
