Best of Botswana and Victoria Falls Safari

We start this unforgettable experience in Maun – a tiny town whose fame as the gateway to the Okavango Delta far exceeds its diminutive size. Your charter flight will transport you (in true Out of Africa style) to the Khwai Private Reserve in the eastern Okavango Delta.

It’s a short 40 minute flight to charming Little Sable where everything from the bar to the lounge and dining area are all concentrated under one giant thatched roof. Its all about the vistas and surrounding bushveld – and with no external walls – you’ll never miss a thing (we call that bush TV).

Most of the wildlife is concentrated in the southern part of the reserve where Little Sable is located, so you don’t have to travel far on your drives to see the large ellie herds that traverse their routes between Chobe and Moremi. There are big cats too, and loads of arguing, grunting hippo pods.

Today you have a full day to track down all the animals you're dying to see. Maybe follow wild dogs on a hunt, or track lions, but rest assured it will be one of your most thrilling days.

In the evening you will also have the choice to explore the minutiae of a safari on a mokoro (dugout canoe) piloted by a poler who is delightfully reminiscent of a gondolier from Venice – down to the singing. It’s a wonderful way to get up close to the bush, and the reed frogs and tiny jewelled malachite kingfishers.

Todays is another day to explore the area on a morning game drive and later, on a late-afternoon into the evening game drive. Do make sure you save some time to relax around camp, take in the views or do some game spotting from the treehouse (raised deck). It’s compulsory to have a refreshing plunge in the camp pool. OK, not really, but you’ll definitely want to.

There is an option to spend your last night in a most unusual way – on an out-of-the-ordinary bush sleep-out. Pack your bags and fly by helicopter on a thrilling scenic flight to the Skybeds. These are large treehouse structures built alongside a waterhole in the middle of the bush. Here you have dinner and drinks from the safety of your raised platform overlooking the dam, and quietly watching the comings and goings of everything, including unsuspecting ellies moving down to drink. Fall asleep to the sounds of the bush, all the grunting, barking, screeching, roaring feline creatures… This is a night you’ll be sure never to forget.

Today, after your morning game drive and breakfast, you’ll head off to the landing strip for your flight to the Makgadikgadi Pans in Botswana’s central-east. The flight goes via Maun and then onto the salt pans. Apart from its cool name, Camp Kalahari – or CK as it’s known around here – is an intimate and hidden lodge only 10 minutes from the landing strip. Camp Kalahari offers the warmest welcome, and from the minute you arrive you will feel at home amongst the Afrochic wooden antiques and bright fabrics. There is enough time to look around your new home before high tea and your late afternoon-evening game drive.

Getting ready for a safari with a difference, this morning you head out on a walking safari with local Bushmen as your guides. On the trip, you’ll learn how they lived off the land, about the medicinal plants, the things you can eat and the things you can’t. These, the first people of Southern Africa, have adapted to survive in this harsh environment, almost untouched by civilisation.

Back in camp, enjoy a communal lunch with your fellow travellers. At CK your hosts believe in communal dining, and you’ll always be joined by your guide and a camp manager. This is the time to swap stories and meet fellow travellers.

Your evening is a choice of either spending time studying the habituated meerkats, or for the brave, an exciting quad bike excursion, making for a most unusual safari experience. Both are a photographer’s dream. The best photos from the salt pans are in the golden hour just before sunset. But if you spend time with the meerkats, and you’re lucky, they’ll climb up on to your head for a better view of the pans (its helps if you can speak some basic Meerkat).

After two memorable days and nights, it’s time to head over to Victoria Falls for the sightseeing part of your safari. After a 50-minute charter flight back to Maun, you’ll connect to Victoria Falls by scheduled flight.

It’s a fairly long but interesting drive from the airport over the iconic gorge bridge – where you’ll get your first glimpse of the Falls. The Falls are shared by Zimbabwe and Zambia, and as your scheduled flight arrives in Zim, we drive you across to Zambia, where we’ve chosen a wonderful lodge right on the banks of the Zambezi River. The Treehouse at Tongabezi makes for an utterly delightful stay. Relax on your patio watching the Zimbabwean elephants in the national park on the opposite river bank.

It’s get up o’ clock, and time to seize the day in the most delightful way. Victoria Falls offers so much to do. It’s not known as the adventure capital of Africa for nothing, but our top picks for a truly memorable outing include a guided tour of the Falls and a stop on Livingstone Island (only possible from the Zambian side), where in low-water season you can swim in Devil’s Pool that sits right at the precipice. The Flight of Angels heli flip is an outstanding way to take it all in from above. And then, if you are not dizzy from your day of thrills and fun, head back to Tongabezi to enjoy a boat cruise on the Zambezi. It’s possible to see elephants swimming across the river or feeding along its banks.

You’ll undoubtedly wake up on a high, replete with memories, photos and an experience that has hopefully changed you a little. This safari ends at Harry Mwanga Nkumbula International Airport in Livingstone, where there are direct flights to Johannesburg.