BRP10B: Okavango + Savute + Makgadikgadi + Chobe Safari + Victoria Falls

Day 1

Arrive Maun Airport, Botswana and after completing customs formalities connect with your 30-minute light aircraft flight to your game lodge situated in the heart of the Okavango Delta.

You will be met at the landing strip and transferred to your lodge. Check in, settle in and relax in this pristine water wilderness under spectacular blue African skies.

Day 2

The seasonal Okavango Delta is flooded annually by the great Okavango River, whose waters flow inland from Angola into the vast Kalahari – never finding the sea, but instead forming a great inland delta whose waters are absorbed by the desert.

Comprising 6,000 square miles of crystal clear channels, serene lagoons and a myriad of islands, the Okavango Delta forms a natural oasis that sustains a vast variety of wildlife and birds of all descriptions. The waters are at their height from July to October, forming an amazing wetlands ecosystem that is one of the greatest natural wonders of the world.

Activities at your lodge centre on game viewing and bird watching, with experienced local guides. These include exploring the delta by mekoro canoe and river craft, as well as guided nature walks on the islands of the delta to track some of the larger species that inhabit this water wilderness - including buffalo, hippo and elephants. Optional angling for tiger fish and wild bream is also available.

Each evening relax around a blazing fire under balmy African skies, whilst exchanging notes about your game sighting!

Day 3

Enjoy some final game viewing in the Okavango Delta, before  breakfast and your 30-minute light aircraft flight to Savute.

You will be met at the landing strip and transferred to your Savute lodge in Botswana’s premier land-based game park, situated on the vast Savute Plains surrounded by open savannah and camelthorn trees. After settling in, enjoy an afternoon game drive with your ranger to view elephants and other wildlife.

Day 4

The Savute Plains offer world-acclaimed game viewing – including the famous Savute lion prides, leopard, wild dogs, bull elephants, black-backed jackal, bat-eared foxes, hyena, cheetah, tsessebe, kudu, impala, ostrich and much more.

The summer rains bring a feast for lion, hyena and cheetah, as migrating zebra and wildebeest assemble in a chaotic pattern on the marsh. Cape buffalo herds arrive and migrant birds swell the resident population of over 300 different species, making this a bird watchers delight. Carmine bee-eaters perch on the back of kori bustards, red-crested korhaans plummet from the sky in daring mating displays and marabou stork roost in the trees whilst woodland kingfishers sing you to sleep.

Game drives are conducted twice a day (early morning and late afternoon) in open-top safari vehicles. Each evening enjoy Savute’s enchanting sunsets, before dining overlooking the waterhole.

Day 5

After some final game viewing in the Savute, transfer to the landing strip for your light aircraft flight to your game lodge situated in the Makgadikgadi Pans.

These magnificent salt pans are the largest flat salt complex in the world, covering over 6,000 sq.miles (16,000 sq. Km) with some pans frequently covered in water during the wet season. After settling in to your lodge, enjoy an afternoon of Game Viewing - usually on quad bikes, travelling in single file on the fragile plains.

Day 6

Today is free to relax and enjoy the wonderful geological phenomenon of the remote and inaccessible Makgadikgadi Pans, which are home to the largest population of zebra in the whole of Africa.

Fed by the Nata River, the Makgadikgadi Pans are dramatic both at their driest and when transformed by the rains (from November to April) into a water wonderland, with a spectacular array of water birds including large breeding flocks of flamingo.

After the rains, from April to November large herds of antelope, wildebeest and zebra then migrate from the south east pans towards the Boteti River in the west - an amazing sight.

Day 7

After some final game viewing in the Makgadikgadi Pans, transfer to the landing strip for your 30-minute light aircraft flight to Kasane Airport, where you will be met and transferred 15-minutes to your game lodge overlooking the Chobe River.

In the afternoon enjoy a safari drive in an open-top game viewing vehicle accompanied by a ranger into Chobe National Park, Botswana’s premier wildlife reserve uniquely situated at the confluence of the Zambezi and Chobe Rivers, where four African countries meet – Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Game viewing opportunities should present themselves almost immediately in this vast game sanctuary and hopefully you will see elephant, buffalo, zebra, wildebeest, antelope and other river-based wildlife. Later dine overlooking the river in the atmosphere that only the African bushveld can provide!

Day 8

Rise at dawn to take advantage of the best game viewing conditions of the day and enjoy a thrilling open-top game viewing drive into the great Chobe National Park. This region is home to some of Botswana’s most spectacular wildlife, as well as abundant bird life.

Chobe is home to vast herds of buffalo and elephant, as well as numerous other species which roam in profusion and diversity. During the dry season, vast elephant herds migrate from both south and north to congregate in their thousands along the Chobe River – the largest concentration of elephants in the whole of Africa! Also hope to see lion, leopard, cheetah, giraffe, hippo, kudu, crocodiles, antelope, waterbuck, warthogs, baboons and many other interesting animals before returning to your lodge for breakfast.

The rest of the morning is free to relax by the lodge swimming pool or enjoy bird watching by the river. Optional Tiger Fishing can also be arranged. In the late afternoon enjoy a game viewing boat ride on the Chobe River to give a completely different wildlife perspective.

After a beautiful African sunset, enjoy the balmy evening and pristine stars of the Milky Way as you have never seen them before – as well as the spectacular Southern Cross.

Children < 12 are not allowed on open top game drives

Day 9

Transfer 15-minutes to the Chobe River ferry to Kazangula on the Zambian border. After completing immigration formalities, continue 1-hour to your hotel on the banks of the Zambezi River, near the mighty Victoria Falls.

Check in, settle in and relax whilst you catch your first glimpses of the magnificent Smoke That Thunders first discovered by Dr. David Livingstone and still one of the greatest natural wonders of the world.

The flow of water over the Victoria Falls is greatest during the wet months (February to June) but the falls are a magnificent sight at any time of year.

Day 10

Today explore on foot the mighty Victoria Falls, offering magnificent views. Then participate in one of the many optional activities such as a helicopter flight over the falls, an elephant-back safari or relax by the swimming pool and enjoy the facilities of your hotel.

In the late afternoon enjoy a Sunset Cruise on the Zambezi River to see hippos, crocodiles and the abundant bird life.

Please note that Zambia visa charges apply on each entry into the country, so if visiting Botswana or Zimbabwe (even if only as a day visit) but flying out from Livingstone Airport, you will need to pay again to re-enter Zambia

Day 11

Transfer to Livingstone Airport for your flight home.