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Namibia + Chobe + Victoria Falls (self-drive)
NCL12W

12 NIGHTS
FROM $2,107
International flights and car hire quoted separately
This wonderful self drive safari holiday takes you from Windhoek through 3 countries - including the wildlife of Africat,  Etosha National Park & the game-rich Caprivi wetlands of Namibia; Chobe National Park in Botswana, famous for its elephants and river-based game viewing; and the mighty Victoria Falls in Zambia - the "smoke that thunders".
HIGHLIGHTS
Namibia Car Hire Namibia Self Drive Safari Holidays Vacation Namibia Victoria Falls Self Drive Holiday Vacation
• Windhoek • Africat • Cheetah • Leopard
• Etosha Park • Oryx • Caprivi • Elephants
• Chobe River • Victoria Falls
Day 1
Arrive at Windhoek Airport, collect your hire car and enjoy the stark beauty of Namibia on your 3-hour drive north to Okonjima.
  
This is the home of the Africat Foundation dedicated to the preservation of Namibia’s large carnivores, but especially leopard and cheetah. Namibia accounts for 25% of the world’s population of the endangered cheetah, which can be radio-tracked on foot in the rehabilitation area where they roam freely and catch their own prey. Leopards are also frequently seen from the viewing hide or can be radio-tracked from the game viewing vehicle.
 
Check in to your lodge, settle in and relax in this wonderful wildlife centre, before enjoying an open top Game Drive in the reserve.
Day 2
Today drive northwards from Africat for 3-hours to one of Africa’s largest and greatest game parks - Etosha National Park.
  
Etosha owes its unique landscape to a vast shallow depression called the Etosha Pan. During the dry season it becomes an expanse of white cracked mud, shimmering with mirages and spiralling dust devils, with its open pans offering magnificent game viewing. Etosha is home to over 100 different species of mammals including cheetah, leopard, lion, elephant, rhino, giraffe, zebra and wildebeest.
  
Check into your game lodge near the eastern entrance to the park and enjoy dining under the stars!
Days 3 To 4
Today is devoted to self drive game viewing in the famous Etosha National Park, one of the largest wildlife conservation areas in Africa surrounding an enormous salt pan that is the size of the Netherlands. We recommend setting off early each morning as the camp gates open (05h30 to 06h00 depending on the season), to take advantage of the best game viewing conditions of the day.
  
Explore the vast Etosha Pan, which offer magnificent game viewing opportunities including springbok, oryx, black-faced impala and the small Damara dik-dik. A series of waterholes throughout the park guarantees rewarding game viewing, with Etosha being renowned for its vast arrays of plains game and its “great cats” which are more easily seen on the open pans - including cheetah and leopard.
  
The rest of the morning is free to relax by the swimming pool, before setting out again in the late afternoon for another game drive. With over 100 different species of mammals and reptiles in Etosha National Park, you can hope to see giraffe, hyena, kudu, springbok, warthogs, baboons and many other interesting animals. Etosha is also a bird watchers paradise, with hundreds of recorded bird species and many migrants during the summer months.
 
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.
Day 5
Today drive from Otavi towards Caprivi - a narrow finger of land connecting Namibia to the great Zambezi and Victoria Falls, surrounded by Angola and Zambia to the north and Botswana to the south.
 
After Grootfontein you enter baobab country and head north-east to Rundu, situated on the bank of the great Okavango River and home to Namibia’s Kavango woodcarvers. Continue along the Kavango River to your lodge near the Popa Falls.
Day 6
This morning drive eastwards along the Caprivi, passing Popa Falls to Mudumu National Park.
The Caprivi has abundant game with hundreds of elephant, large herds of rhino and many other species that migrate to the Kwando Floodplains before the onset of the summer rains. Roan antelope, kudu, impala and zebra also roam these vast plains.
 
In the late afternoon enjoy an optional sunset game viewing boat ride on the Kwando River, before checking in to your lodge in the Eastern Caprivi.
Day 7
At leisure to enjoy the wonderful wildlife and birds of Caprivi.
 
Rise early, when game viewing conditions are at their best, for an optional game viewing drive through the flood plains of Mudumu National Park. Spend the rest of the day relaxing by the lodge swimming pool or on the viewing deck overlooking the river, with outstanding bird watching. Optional tiger fishing is also available.
 
In the late afternoon enjoy an optional game viewing Sunset Cruise on the river.
Day 8
There is time for an optional game drive in Mudumu National Park before breakfast, when game viewing conditions are at their best. Outstanding bird watching is also on offer from the viewing deck overlooking the river. Then drive 4-hours through Katima Mulilo - “the place where the fires were put out” - and cross the border into Botswana.
 
After passing through immigration formalities continue through 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 immediately in this vast game sanctuary and hopefully you will see elephant, buffalo, wildebeest and many other species.
  
Check into your lodge on the banks of the Chobe River and enjoy the river-based wildlife, before dining under the stars in the atmosphere that only the African bushveld can provide!
Day 9
Rise at dawn to take advantage of the best game viewing conditions of the day and enjoy optional game drives in the great Chobe National Park, suitable for 4x4 vehicles only. 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 before enjoying an optional game viewing boat ride on the Chobe River to give you a completely different wildlife perspective. Tiger fishing can also be arranged on the river.
 
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.
Day 10
Drive 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) and are a magnificent sight.
Days 11 To 12
Today explore on foot the mighty Victoria Falls, offering magnificent views.
 
Then participate in one of the many optional activities, such as a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River to see hippos, crocodiles and the abundant bird life; a helicopter flight over the falls; or an elephant-back safari. Alternatively simply relax by the swimming pool and enjoy the facilities of your hotel.
Day 13
Drop off your hire car at Livingstone Airport for your flight home.