Botswana

8-Night Okavango Delta Safari: Explore Botswana’s Iconic Wetlands

Hidden Africa | Safari Tour Ideas | 8-Night Okavango Delta Safari: Explore Botswana’s Iconic Wetlands
Travel Logistics

Travel Logistics

Starts: Maun
Ends: Maun
Itinerary

Itinerary

Visits: The Okavango Delta
Timing

Timing

Duration: 8 nights
Price Guide

Price Guide

From USD $20985
per person

Botswana, then & now Ultimate Okavango Delta safari

To experience the ultimate Okavango Delta safari, combine traditional safari pleasure and sublime luxury in equal measure. Imagine your own designer lodge filled with great art, good food and indulgent wellness. Park that. Your safari begins in a simple yet luxurious mobile tented camp, and ends with a blow-your-socks off stay at the Delta’s newest and most indulgent camp, Xigera. From start to finish, it’s a well-rounded bucket-list experience. 

We’ve handpicked three of Botswana’s most epic safari retreats, starting with a romantic front row seat to all the action at Selinda Explorers. This mobile camp is situated in a remote area smack bang centre of the Selinda Spillway. A classical explorer-style experience awaits with first-class game viewing and simple pleasures like your own private hammock and bucket shower. Next, we take you to Duba Plains for an authentic 1920s-style safari experience, complete with your own private plunge pool and a copper bath with a view. We end with pure luxury, high design, commissioned artworks, delightful foodie experiences, star-studded treehouse sleepouts, and the best place to revive worn souls, Xigera. Here, you’ll spend your days exploring the game-rich floodplains and waterways of the delta, searching for rare sitatunga and photographing reed frogs from a glass-bottomed mokoro.

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Highlights

  • Sleeping in a hammock in the shade of the riverine trees.
  • Enjoying some of Botswana’s best game viewing on water and land.
  • Luxuriating in a soul-nourishing spa treatment while the elephants look on.
  • Birding along the waterways of the delta, spotting rare species at every turn.
  • Gliding through a sea of waterlilies and tiny reed frogs in a glass-bottomed mokoro.

Cool & Unusual

  • Sleeping under the stars in Xigera’s romantic baobab treehouse.

Break it down Itinerary overview

Your safari begins at Selinda Explorers camp, your home for the next three nights. Located within the one-hundred-and-thirty-thousand-hectare Selinda Game Reserve in the northern Delta, the romantic Meru style tents give this safari an authentic, nostalgic feel. And because it's a mobile camp, abundant wildlife and a front row seat come standard. From here, you’ll explore the Delta’s meandering, papyrus-fringed waterways and splash across the floodplains in a custom 4x4 game vehicle. In the evening you’ll revel in your first hot water bucket shower. (Nothing to worry about, they’re completely private and highly effective.)

You’ll catch a short flight in a Cessna Caravan (we call them bush taxis), and head off to the seclusion of Duba Plains in the northern part of the Delta. It's straight out of a National Geographic. Here, in wonderful luxury, you’ll drift through another three extraordinary Okavango nights. Duba Plains is home to large herds of buffalo, sometimes over 600 strong. You’ll get up close to elephants, big cats and plenty of hippos, and, if you’re feeling adventurous, book a scenic helicopter flip.

You’re off to an exquisite corner of the Okavango Delta where the natural world and the art world meet beneath the fan palms at Xigera. Fashioned out of more than 4000 commissioned art pieces from some of Southern Africa’s most talented designers, artists and artisans, there’s nothing else quite like it. Over three priceless, wildlife-filled days, you’ll be wined and dined, and pampered to your heart’s content.


Your stay Camps & lodges

3 Nights

Selinda Explorers Camp

If you’re after endless miles of wilderness in every direction, where time all but stands still, you’ll fall in love with Selinda Explorers. Tucked away under a shady canopy of African ebony trees, on the banks of the Selinda Spillway...

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3 Nights

Duba Plains

Duba Plains is hands-down one of Botswana’s most extraordinary safari experiences. Straight out of the pages of National Geographic, its home to thronging herds of Cape Buffalo* trailed by hungry lions, who are remarkably unfazed by all the water. Thoughtfully...

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2 Nights

Xigera Safari Lodge

Beloved by the jet set and adored by romantics, Xigera* is a love letter to the world, to be read by only a very select few. From its collectible Kassena-patterned pieces, chunky Ardmores, and Pierneef-inspired Baobab Treehouse, to bespoke works...

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Itinerary gallery

Ultimate Okavango Delta Safari Dates & Rates

SeasonDatesPrice Guide
Green seasonApril, 1 Nov – 19 Dec 2025from $20,985 per person sharing

Pricing intended as a guideline. Subject to availability, airfare and rate of exchange fluctuations. E&OE

Bang for your buck What’s included

3 nights’ accommodation at Selinda Explorers Camp

3 nights’ accommodation at Duba Plains

2 nights’ accommodation at Xigera

All internal flights from Maun to the lodges and lodge transfers

All meals at safari lodges (typically brunch, high tea and dinner)

Local wines and beers, soft drinks and bottled water at meal times

All game drives and standard lodge activities

Experienced Safari Guides and Trackers on safari

Snacks and drinks during game drives

Conservation fees for game parks and reserves

Complimentary laundry service while on safari unless specified

Frequently asked Questions

You’ll explore three distinct regions of Botswana’s wilderness: the Selinda Spillway, a remote and game-rich corridor between the Okavango Delta and Linyanti; the northern Okavango Delta around Duba Plains, famed for its big game encounters; and the central floodplains at Xigera, where crystal-clear channels wind through papyrus beds and open lagoons.

It’s a combination of water and land-based camps, giving you the full Delta experience. Selinda Explorers offers a romantic, mobile-style tented camp in a remote land-based setting. Duba Plains blends land and water access with classic safari glamour. Xigera Lodge brings elevated water-based luxury, with treehouse sleepouts, art-filled suites, and exceptional design.

Expect Botswana’s big names — lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, and hippo — along with rarities like packs of African wild dog. Birdlife is spectacular, from malachite kingfishers to Pel’s fishing owls, and the waterways teem with crocodiles and reed frogs.

You’ll enjoy mokoro rides (including Xigera’s glass-bottom version), boat safaris, game drives (day and night), and guided walking safaris. Add in birding excursions, star-bed sleepouts, and photography opportunities at every turn.

From June to October (winter), water levels are at their highest as the delta is in flood. Wildlife congregates along the floodplains — ideal for both water-based activities and game viewing.

Yes! All light aircraft flights and camp-to-camp transfers are included, making travel between these remote areas seamless and scenic.

It’s perfect for couples seeking romance, solo travellers wanting a fully hosted adventure, and families with older children who enjoy nature and exploration. Some camps have age restrictions for walking safaris and mokoro trips.

Absolutely. We can extend your journey to include Linyanti’s predator-rich woodlands, Chobe’s elephant herds, or a finale at Victoria Falls. Ask and you shall receive!

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