13-Day Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, Okavango Delta & Chobe

Throughout your stay each day will follow a similar pattern. You rise just before daybreak for a light breakfast and set off at dawn to discover what promise Nxai Pan holds for the new day.

Nxai Pan has great bird watching opportunities, especially in the wet months. There are many raptors in the area and Kori bustards, Korhanns and Red necked falcons can all be spotted.

Nxai Pan is one of the best places in Botswana for excellent cheetah sightings. The flat expansive landscape is perfectly suited to these swift animals which can outrun any prey in these conditions. There are regular good sightings all year around, but cheetah activity also reaches a peak during the green season.

During your stay at Nxai Pan you will also go for afternoon safari drives. You will always come back to a campfire under the river of stars and a delicious campfire cooked dinner. Go to bed listening to the song of barking geckos and, in the distance, the roar of the lion reverberating across the night.

Today after breakfast you will drive through Nxai Pan. This drive is actually meant to be a game drive that provides farewell to the area’s magnificent landscapes and mammals. Eventually, you will head further southwards to Makgadikgadi Salt Pans for a one (1) night stay.

These salt pans span over 16,000 square kilometers in the Kalahari Basin and are the largest network of salt pans in the world. For the true lover of remote experiences, by standing in the middle of these vast, flat, dusty, endless and salt-encrusted pans, you will experience true remoteness and pure isolation.

At night the vast Makgadikgadi landscape feels like a planetarium. You will have a 360-degree view of both the pans and star-filled skies. The endless horizon and dramatic lunar expanse that stretches as far as the eye can see simply create an amazing and unforgettable experience!

Look out for the stars, as they utterly dominate the land and their brilliance and immediacy are totally arresting.

You wake up this morning to a hearty breakfast. Afterwards, you will leave the great Makgadikgadi landscape and head to Maun for a one (1) night stay at a comfortable lodge.

The afternoon is left for you to spend at leisure or to go shopping for curios. You can also take an optional scenic flight over the Okavango Delta (at an extra cost). This activity offers an aerial view of the Okavango Delta, giving you the opportunity to see the Delta's unique water system from a different perspective. It is even possible to spot large game animals such as elephants, hippos, etc. from high above during the scenic flight.

Today, we will pick you up very early in the morning and journey with you northwards to Moremi Game Reserve for a (2) night stay.

Moremi is situated in the central and eastern areas of the Okavango Delta and covers about a third of the total land area of the Okavango Delta. At about 3900–square kilometres Moremi as a reserve is unfenced. This allows for free movement of animals within the Delta according to their seasonal migrations. Moremi boasts of diverse ecosystems ranging from floodplains, lagoons, grasslands and riverine to mophane woodland. Thus, with such a wide variety of vegetation comes a diverse spectrum of wildlife.

You will enjoy your breakfast at Moremi's south gate. This breakfast typically consists of coffee, tea, juice, cereals, rusks, fruits, etc.

Thereafter, you will enter into game drive mode and spend the day searching for the wide variety of wildlife and birds that this area is famous for before being taken to your camp to spend the night.

Today, you will wake up to enjoy an early breakfast. Shortly after breakfast, you will go for a morning game drive. On this safari drive, you should look out for the large herds of African elephants in the mopane scrub. Also keep an eye out for the elusive African wild dogs, lions, leopards, etc.

You might also encounter birds of prey on this safari drive such as the mighty martial eagle, tawny eagle, the majestic African fish eagle, and that incredible aviator, the bateleur, and many others.

We will return to our camp around noon for lunch and a much-needed rest. In the afternoon, we will set off once again in our safari vehicle for more birding and game viewing.

Come back to our camp just before sunset to have a shower and thereafter enjoy a campfire-cooked dinner. We have two (2) nights at a wilderness campsite to marvel at this exceedingly diverse reserve that offers an untouched wildlife experience.

Wake up today to enjoy an early breakfast. Shortly after this breakfast, you will take a slow game drive through Moremi Game Reserve - a game drive that provides farewell to the area’s magnificent landscapes and mammals.

Finally, you will head northeast toward the Khwai Concession for a two (2) night stay.

The Khwai Concession, with a size of about 1,800 square kilometres, is situated in northeastern Okavango next to the Moremi Game Reserve. It is a wildlife–prolific and varied ecosystem dominated by a patchwork of lagoons, grasslands, permanent floodplains, and large areas of mopane woodland forests. Therefore, Khwai is undoubtedly one of the most scenic areas of the Okavango. It is a predator–rich area and as such, has a marvelous selection of predators such as lion, leopard, serval, and African wild cat.

In the afternoon, you will go for your game drive and possibly watch the sunset unfold over the Khwai River.

Once again, each day of your stay in Khwai will follow a similar pattern. You rise just before daybreak for a light breakfast and set off at dawn to discover what promise the Khwai Concession holds for the new day.

Your journey will follow the Khwai River’s watercourse weaving from the riverside and floodplains into the mophane veld and woodlands that make Khwai one of the most scenic areas of the Okavango.

The Khwai area boasts an excellent population of African elephants, both solitary bulls and breeding herds. The swampy areas are home to the red lechwe. Other resident species include the southern giraffe, Burchell’s zebra, tsessebe, greater kudu, impala, etc. The whole of Khwai is also one of Botswana’s birding meccas. As such, the raptors and waterbirds are particularly abundant and make for some great photography.

You will leave again in the afternoon to explore other areas of the Khwai Concession. Return to the camp in the evening whereupon you will take a shower and thereafter enjoy a scrumptious dinner prepared by your safari chef.

Day 8: Mokoro (traditional canoe) Excursion

The highlight today is a mokoro excursion along the Khwai River, part of the Okavango Delta system. During this mokoro experience you will paddle past an array of aquatic birdlife as well as the smaller plains game drinking at the river’s edge while sitting mere centimetres above the smooth, clear water, as you silently pass by unsuspecting wildlife. A mokoro experience is therefore a truly “unparalleled aquatic adventure”.

You will leave again in the afternoon to explore other areas of the Khwai Concession. Return back to camp in the evening to take a shower and thereafter enjoy a scrumptious dinner prepared by your safari chef.

This morning, you will rise very early. Greet the fresh African morning with coffee and a light breakfast before heading out on your last safari drive in the Khwai Concession. The early mornings normally offer an improved opportunity to view the predators.

Eventually, you will leave the Khwai Concession and travel northeast to Savuti for a two (2) night stay.

Savuti is best known for its predators, both big cats (lion, leopard, and cheetah) and birds of prey (raptors, vultures, etc.) that soar over Savuti’s landscape in search of food. Perhaps the strangest phenomenon of all is the 100–kilometres Savuti Channel. At times it will stop flowing and remain dry for years at a stretch. When the channel recommences its flow, it changes the entire ecosystem, transforming the Savuti Marsh and Mababe Depression into wetlands. This creates an oasis that provides water for thirsty wildlife herds and acts as a magnet for a profusion of waterbirds.

You wake up early to freshen up with some hot water in the face basin. This is followed by a light breakfast of some coffee, tea, rusks, cereals, bread, etc.

After breakfast, you head out for your morning game drive to explore the Savuti and its marsh. The Savuti Marsh is a vast expanse of grasslands dotted with dead acacia trees, creating an intriguing, almost ghost-like landscape. You will return to the camp around midday for lunch and some siesta time.

Another point of interest in Savuti is the Bushman rock paintings, thought to be well over a thousand years old. These are paintings of giraffe, elephant and eland. If time permits, we will pay these rock paintings a visit.

In the afternoon, you head out for your afternoon game drive and return to camp just before sunset. Dinner will follow before you turn in for the night to rest or as you talk about the day's events around the campfire.

Wake up early morning for some breakfast. Shortly thereafter, you leave for a slow game drive around Savuti, and then travel northeast to Chobe National Park for a two (2) night stay and more game drives.

Tucked up in Botswana’s far northeastern border with Namibia, Chobe National Park is one of the great wildlife destinations in Africa. At approximately 11,900 square kilometers, Chobe is made up of rich ecosystems and pristine landscapes consisting of savanna plains, rivers, swamps, and scrubs.

With such varied environments and habitats, Chobe provides a magnificent array of wildlife. It is the ultimate haven for vast herds of elephants – as many as 120,000 of the animals depend on the Chobe River’s life-sustaining waterways when the dry season kicks in.

Other resident game species are large herds of buffalo, zebra, wildebeest, the rare puku, roan, and sable antelopes. These are normally trailed by the notoriously fearless lions of the Chobe, leopard and cheetah.

You wake up early to freshen up with some hot water in the face basin. This is followed by a light breakfast of some coffee, tea, rusks, cereals, bread, etc. before heading out into Chobe National Park for your morning game drive.

Chobe is one of the best places to see and photograph roan and sable antelopes. Puku antelope occurs nowhere else in Southern Africa but only on the Chobe floodplains. On the other hand, the massive herds of African buffalo that inhabit Chobe are constantly flanked by the ever-hungry lions of the Chobe.

You will return to your camp around noon for lunch. If desired, this is also the time to take a nap or to just sit and relax, or perhaps read a book and ready yourself for an afternoon safari drive.

Head out again into Chobe National Park in the late afternoon for your game drive and return to your camp just after sunset.

You will go for your usual morning game drive after breakfast today and finally leave Chobe National Park as you head out to Kasane.

Day 13: Chobe River boat cruise

The highlight today is a boat cruise in the Chobe River. This boat cruise gives you the chance to experience the animals of Chobe from a different perspective and therefore, you might get up close and personal with hippos, crocodiles and a mind–boggling array of water birds.

Your safari ends in Kasane immediately after the Chobe River cruise. You will be dropped off at your hotel or to Kasane Airport for your onward travel.