Victoria Falls, Chobe and Okavango Delta
A wonderful ‘safari’ exploration of the pristine wilderness habitats and spectacular wildlife of Botswana, whilst enjoying some wonderfully luxurious accommodation along the way.
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Wildlife Travel leaflet Botswana 2025
Dates
17th – 28th March 2025
Leader
Price
£7,915
Single Room Supplement – £725
Included
Return flight London Heathrow to Kasane/Livingstone. Local transport as specified in itinerary. Nine nights accommodation, full board.
Not included
Refreshments. Gratuities. Travel insurance. Visa costs. Covid tests and associated costs.
Group size
Minimum 4, maximum 12.
The Okavango Delta, a wetland paradise in north-eastern Botswana, is made up of a vast mosaic of clear-flowing channels, large stands of papyrus and reeds, permanent and seasonally-flooded areas, lagoons and hundreds of palm-studded islands of varying size. This unique inland delta has areas of both permanent and seasonal water with different habitats prevailing.
Our journey begins on the Chobe River, with its amazing density of elephants and other large mammals. We visit the famous National Park by both land and water: a sunset river cruise here may be one of the trip’s highlights. A short charter flight takes us on to the Okavango Delta itself, where we will take safari drives in open vehicles and experience the quiet waterways by dug out ‘mokoro’.
Our journey ends in Livingstone, across the border in Zambia, with a visit to the magnificent Victoria Falls and a cruise along the mighty Zambezi river.
This region boasts some of Southern Africa’s finest wildlife, and we can expect some excellent viewing, especially in Chobe where large herds of Elephant, Buffalo and a wide variety of antelope gather. The Delta is amongst the best places to find the rapidly declining African Wild Dog, along with the chance of finding all three of Africa’s big cats. Birding too is most rewarding: the Delta is one of the last refuges of the endangered Wattled Crane and the near endemic Slaty Egret, as well as being one of the best places in Africa to see the magnificent Pel’s Fishing Owl.
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Please note that holidays change, although sometimes only slightly, from year to year and previous trip reports may not reflect the planned itinerary, or other holiday details, for the current trip. Please ask us if you would like to know of any significant differences.
Day 1 Our evening flight takes us from London, arriving in Johannesburg early on Day 2, where we transfer to a flight to Kasane in Botswana.
Days 2 and 3 Our accommodation at Chobe Elephant Camp, overlooks the famous national park. Along with many species of big mammals, Chobe National Park boasts the largest concentration of Elephant in Africa, with over 80,000 in the park! Safari drives within the Park offer the opportunity to view the abundant elephants and other big mammal species up close: Giraffe, Sable and Cape Buffalo are all present, as well as the possibility of an encounter with one of the large predators. We will have the opportunity to go on night drives nearby, where Galago and White-tailed Mongoose may show themselves. One of our days will include a cruise on the river, surely one of the finest large mammal viewing experiences in Africa. Pods of Hippopotamus wallow in the deeper water, large
Nile Crocodiles will be seen sunning themselves on the banks, while large herds of elephants come down to the waters edge to drink and sometimes swim across to feed on the lush vegetation on the low lying islands.
Days 4 to 6 From Kasane, we will fly by light aircraft to Sango Safari Camp, situated in the north eastern area of the Okavango Delta, just outside Moremi Game Reserve. Opened in 2010, the Camp is within the Khwai Community Concession, not far from the border of Botswana’s Moremi Game Reserve – and its proximity to these two areas allows us to explore both. Sango is a small and quite traditional camp, focussing on the wilderness safari experience. With just six tents, we will have the Camp to ourselves. The Khwai floodplain gives us our best chances of finding Leopard, lounging in the shady trees. The nearby ‘Mopane Tongue’ of open drier woodland offers our best chances of encountering the beautiful and increasingly scarce African Wild Dog, as well as Lion. The dominant antelope here is Red Lechwe, sometimes in herds of up to 100 animals, but we may also find zebra, Kudu, Reedbuck and Tsessebe. During our time at Sango, we will take at least one night drive: sightings could include Springhare, Serval, African Civet or Honey Badger.
Days 7 and 8 From Sango we take another short charter flight into the ’pan handle’, where the Cubango River empties into the Delta. Setari Camp will be our home for the next two nights of our trip, is located on an island surrounded by superb wetlands: Hippos and elephants feed in the lagoon, while Pel’s Fishing Owl roosts a short walk away. Accommodation is in spacious ’tree house’ tents, connected by winding walkways and giving panoramic views of the wetlands and papyrus beds beyond. The Okavango Delta is fed by the floodwaters of Central Africa and covers an area of 16,000 square kilometers as the waters fan out into a system of palm-fringed channels, lagoons and islands that support a wealth of fauna and flora alike. The Delta is home to over 450 bird species and the full spectrum of African animals – the Okavango deserves its reputation as one of the world’s premier wilderness areas. Experienced polers will take us out in a mokoro (dugout ‘punt’) and stop at islands to view wildlife and birds on foot (subject to water levels). A variety of wetland birds may be seen during the mokoro trips, along with technicolour frogs and iridescent dragonflies while we should encounter hippos and crocodiles in the deeper water.
Days 9 and 10 All too soon, it’s time to bid farewell to the Okavango Delta, and travel across the border to neighbouring Zambia. Our guesthouse, where we spend the next two nights, offers a peaceful river setting adjacent to the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park. From here we will visit the magnificent Victoria Falls and take a cruise along the mighty Zambezi river. A wildlife drive through the Park could provide sightings of Giraffe, Impala, Warthog, Bushbuck, Waterbuck and while we are here we will have the chance to take a walking safari to see the park’s population of White Rhino at their only site in Zambia, an awe-inspiring experience
Day 11 After one last morning on the riverbank, we head back into Livingstone, to board our flights home, via Johannesburg, arriving back in London early on Day 12.
Please note that the itinerary may be changed to suit the weather or other practicalities at the discretion of the leaders.
Accommodation is at a mixture of lodges and permanent, luxury ‘tented’ camps. Single occupancy is possible but very limited on this itinerary: please speak to us before booking.
We will be travelling by open-sided 4X4 safari vehicle and small charter plane. Luggage is restricted to 20kg per person, including hand luggage. We will also be taking several boat trips, including narrow dug-out ‘mokoro’ in the Delta.
Group flights
Group flights are with British Airways from London Heathrow to Johannesburg.
17th March depart London Heathrow 18.25, arrive Johannesburg 07.25 (18th)
18th March depart Johannesburg 11.50, arrive Kasane 13.35
27th March depart Livingstone 13.25, arrive Johannesburg 15.10
27th March depart Johannesburg 19.45, arrive London Heathrow 05.00 (28th)
Time zone
South Africa, Botswana and Zambia are all two hours ahead of UK time.
Entry requirements
For UK passport holders, your passport must be valid for at least 6 months after the end of the holiday with at least three blank pages. UK passport holders do not require a visa to visit Botswana, Zambia or South Africa.
We will be travelling just after the wet season: the days will be warm to hot, in the mid to late 20s and should be mostly dry, although there is a chance of some rain, most likely short heavy showers, especially in the late afternoons. Nights can be surprisingly cold – warm jackets and long trousers may be needed on early morning game drives!
We will be visiting areas where malaria is present. you should consult your GP for current advice on travel health as soon as possible, at least 8 weeks before the trip.
You will need to have a reasonable level of general fitness to be able to participate in the holiday. Travelling in the tropics can be tiring if you are not used to it. We will be taking safari drives in open-sided vehicles, often over dusty and uneven ground, as well as several boat trips. You will need to be able to step up into the high-clearance safari vehicles, step down into boats, and sit comfortably in both.