Sample Safaris & Tours
Best of Botswana to Victoria Falls
- Pricing From $6,500.00 per person sharing
- 14 Days / 13 Nights
- Safari starting in Johannesburg with a Hot Air Balloon Safari over Magalies River Valley and Wildlife Viewing in Pilanesberg National Park.
- Journey into the Living Kalahari Desert to experience San Culture, then onto Okavango Delta to meet the Tswana people and explore floodplains by Mokoro.
- Interaction with Meerkats at Ntentwe Pan.
- Culmination at Victoria Falls, including a 20-minute Helicopter Flight over the falls and Batoka Gorge.
- A thrilling adventure from start to finish, possibly requiring another holiday to recover!
Fully guided Safari with a highly experienced professional Safari Director taking care of all the details.
CULTURAL INTERACTION
- San (Bushman) Culture in the Kalahari
- Tswana Culture in the Okavango Delta
ADVENTURE ACTIVITIES:
- Hot Air Balloon Safari over the Magalies River.
- Game drive & tracking with the San hunters.
- Scenic Flight over the Okavango Delta.
- Mokoro Excursion in the Okavango Delta.
- Meerkat Interaction at Ntwentwe Pan.
- Helicopter Flight over Victoria Falls.
WILDLIFE VIEWING IN:
- In Pilanesberg National Park
- The Kalahari Living Desert
- Okavango Delta
- Kgalagadi & Nwentwe Pans
- Chobe National Park
- Mosi oa-Tunya National Park
Welcome dinner and accommodation on the day of arrival in Johannesburg.
All entrance and conservation fees.
All included activities as listed.
All meals and varied accommodation as listed.
Transport in a spacious, fully airconditioned tour vehicle with a luggage trailer.
Scheduled flight from Livingstone to Johannesburg at the end of the Safari.
Hand sanitizer provided to all guests with water and snacks provided in the tour vehicle while traveling between destinations.
All Covid health & safety protocols applied as prescribed by the WHO in terms of cleaning and sanitizing of vehicles and all equipment used.
Fully inclusive 14-day Safari with the best activities included from USD 6500 per person sharing.
Seasonal rates apply - Based on 6 guests travelling.
Cost of Visas and Travel Insurance.
Pre- and Post- Safari international flights.
Best of Botswana to Victoria Falls
Tour Description
On your arrival in Johannesburg at OR Tambo International, you will be met by your Safari Director and we will take the complimentary shuttle to the hotel located 10 minutes drive from the airport.
Check in to your rooms and relax till you meet your Safari Director for the full Safari briefing this evening before you proceed to The Kubatana Restaurant for your Welcome Dinner that is included in your Safari price.
This morning you will need to rise very early for your transfer to the Hot Air Balloon Safari. The transfer driver will take you out of the city to the Magalies River where you meet the Balloon Pilot preparing the balloon for the flight that launches around sunrise.
You will need to pack your luggage at the hotel and store it with the concierge as your Safari Director will retrieve it and pack the vehicle in order to meet you after your Champagne breakfast that is provided when you land after your exciting Hot Air Balloon Safari.
We then leave Johannesburg and travel to the Safari area of Pilanesberg National Park located three hours drive from Johannesburg. We arrive in time for a light lunch and then check into your rooms. You have your first Game Drive in the Pilanesburg National Park this afternoon to view the wildlife in their natural environment.
Today you will enjoy an early morning Game Drive at sunrise returning to the lodge for Breakfast and time to relax around the pool during the day.
In the afternoon, you will do a second Game Drive with your Ranger till just after sunset and return for dinner at the hotel.
You have the choice this morning of sleeping in or rising early again for a short Game Drive returning for an earlier breakfast than yesterday. We have a long drive today to reach our destination in the Kalahari.
Our journey takes us in a Westerly direction to the border with Botswana. We cross into Botswana and continue into the beautiful Kalahari region that becomes increasingly arid with sparse vegetation. We will stop along the way to enjoy our picnic lunch in the shade of a Camel Thorn Tree and continue our journey to reach the village of Kang in the late afternoon.
Our accommodation tonight at the Kang Ultra Stop is a very comfortable and convenient overnight stop to break the journey across the vast Kalahari.
The journey today is quite short, in African terms. We will enjoy a hearty breakfast in Kang and depart for the drive to our destination, Grassland Bushman Lodge in time for lunch.
This afternoon you may enjoy a game drive to enjoy the beautiful Kalahari and the abundant wildlife that live in this arid area.
Today you get to meet the descendants of the earliest inhabitants of this region, the San also known as the Bushmen.
There a variety of cultural activities with the Bushmen that you may enjoy today while you immerse yourself in their amazing culture.
End the day with a dinner served under the beautiful night sky. This is a star-gazers delight with the beautiful Milky Way at its brightest out here in the Kalahari Desert where there is no light pollution of any kind.
We may enjoy a last early morning Game Drive in the Kalahari before having a hearty breakfast. We say our farewell to the Bushmen after breakfast and travel to the sprawling town of Maun located at the southern edge of the Okavango Delta.
We will have lunch at a delightful little restaurant where they make the most amazing milkshakes. The perfect thirst quencher on a hot day. After lunch, we cross over the road to prepare for the hour-long included Scenic Flight over the Okavango Delta in small six or eight-seater aircraft.
The Okavango Delta is the largest inland delta in the world and covers an area of up to 11,000 square kilometers when in full flood. The one-hour-long scenic flight is the ideal way to view this vast landscape flying at a height of 500 foot where you can still view the animals with ease.
We return to Maun Airport and travel to our destination for the next two nights. The very comfortable Thamalakane River Lodge located on the outskirts of Maun.
This morning you have a more leisurely start and you will meet and experience a different culture in Botswana. We will do Mokoro Safari where the polers of the Tswana tribe native to Botswana, will pole you along over the shallow floodplains in their traditional dugout canoe named the Mokoro.
The Mokoro was traditionally constructed from wood and construction of it was part of the young Tswana man's transition to manhood. This meant that a tree of 80 years old and older, would be felled to create one large Mokoro. Things have changed today and you will be transported in a glass fiber replica of the original Mokoro in order to preserve the natural environment.
There is nothing quite as enjoyable, and enriching, as the opportunity to be one with nature while peacefully floating across the shallow floodplains of the Okavango Delta on a Mokoro.
We have a very leisurely start to our day today and enjoy a peaceful and casual breakfast.
After breakfast we may pack up and visit some of the Tswana Craft Markets in Maun before enjoying an early lunch. Remember those milkshakes?
After lunch, we travel in an easterly direction from Maun traversing the vast Makgadigadi Pans National Park. We may be fortunate enough to encounter amongst others, Elephant, Zebra, and Giraffe along the route as we travel through the unfenced wildlife areas.
We arrive at the village of Gweta and check in to our Rondawel rooms. The rooms are built in the round traditional African construction with thatched roof known as a Rondawel. In the late afternoon giving you the opportunity to wander around the Gweta village and experience the beautiful sunset as it sets behind the gigantic Baobab trees.
Today you experience one of the true highlights of this Safari. You get to meet the colony of habituated Meerkats.
It will be an early start today as we travel from our lodge in the village to the edge of Nwentwe Pan where we find the Meerkat burrows. This Meerkat colony has been habituated to humans over a long period of time. At no time was any effort made to feed the animals or entice them in any way. The Meerkats became accustomed to humans sitting passively around the opening to their burrows as they emerged soon after sunrise each morning.
Over time, they became so relaxed with the human presence that they will now climb onto your body to get a higher vantage point to look around. This is your special opportunity to interact with the Meerkats as long as you remain passive at all times.
In the afternoon you have the opportunity to relax around the pool and catch your breath after all the excitement on the last few days.
We have a leisurely breakfast this morning and then depart for the exciting drive to the Northern Border of Botswana at the Zambezi and Chobe Rivers.
Exciting because we travel along the road we affectionately know as "Elephant Alley". This is not a reserve or a national park, but the area has a high wildlife population and it is possible to encounter any number of species along this unfenced road.
My personal record stands at counting 210 Elephants along this 300km stretch of road. Can you beat that today?
We arrive at Chobe Safari Lodge for a late lunch on the pool deck and then check in to our beautifully appointed Safari Rooms. This afternoon you have a scheduled Boat trip with a specialist guide to explore the Chobe River and find the many species of animals and birds that live around the river.
This morning we have the last scheduled Game Drive of this trip going into the Chobe National Park on the open Safari Vehicles to find a few more species of wildlife to add to your (by now) extensive list. Keep an eye open for the Puku antelope that is endemic to this area.
We return in time for breakfast and check out of the Safari Rooms. and we then transfer across the border into Zambia. We arrive at the Avani Victoria Falls Resort for lunch on the pool deck. Do not be surprised when you see a few Zebra or Impala Antelope close to your table. They love to graze on the manicured lawns around the complex.
We start the day with a guided tour of the Victoria Falls World Heritage Site followed by a guided tour of Mukuni Village to learn about the Toka Leia people that have inhabited this area for centuries.
We return to the hotel for lunch at the poolside and maybe a little siesta.
At around 15h30 your guide will meet you in the hotel foyer and he will take you to the Livingstone waterfront where you board the beautiful vessel, The African Queen to enjoy a wonderful sunset cruise on the Zambezi River with a Gin & Tonic in hand in true colonial style.
This morning you may take to the sky and view Victoria Falls and the magnificent Batoka Gorge from the air on a 20-minute helicopter ride.
We return for breakfast at the hotel and check out in time for the transfer to the airport. You will fly to Johannesburg arriving mid-afternoon to connect to your home-bound flight OR you may continue on to Cape Town for a five-night extension to this safari.
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