Okavango Delta Safari

Welcome to Botswana! On arrival at the Maun Airport, you’ll be met and escorted through customs. Board your light aircraft for a flight over the furthest fingers of the Okavango Delta, touching down at a remote airstrip. Your guide will be there to meet you and immediately you’ll head off on a game drive through this wildlife paradise, ending at your camp, Chitabe.

Chitabe is located at the heart of a mosaic of habitats meaning that wildlife experiences here are prolific. Day and night drives and guided walks showcase the varied wildlife and landscapes of the Okavango margins. With only eight tents connected by elevated walkways, this camp is the perfect base from which to explore.

Each of the next few days brings the opportunity to explore your corner of the Okavango Delta. Lion, leopard, elephant, and buffalo, along with extensive plains game, are always close by, waiting to be discovered. Birds of all kinds also call this paradise home, like herons, goshawks, fish eagles, sunbirds, hornbills, francolins, and rollers. Rare antelope species like sable, tsessebe, sitatunga, and lechwe can also be seen here, as can the predators that hunt them like wild dog and leopard. No two days are ever the same and the anticipation each morning is palpable.

After a morning wildlife activity, you’ll fly even further out into the Delta to your next camp, Little Vumbura.

Little Vumbura is a small, intimate, six-tent camp embodies all that is best about the Okavango Delta. The permanent wetland island habitat around camp abounds with treed islands of all sizes, surrounded by permanent waterways created by the summer rains and the annual flood of the Delta. Game drives here are incredibly productive, with guests often sighting amazing wildlife on the transfer from airstrip to camp. Float along a crystal-clear Okavango waterway by mokoro as you scan for reed frogs and waterlilies.

Exploring the Delta each day, you’ll be treated to an array of wildlife. Elephants trumpeting or taking a mud bath, mating lions, the rare cheetah on the prowl, plains game always wary and alert for signs of predators creeping up on them. Your expert guide will know just where to find all these critters and explain what they are doing and why. As much as a safari is about seeing wildlife, its the learning about everything that takes the experience to another level. Enjoy fresh coffee around the campfire each morning and gourmet meals served under the stars each night.

After a final morning wildlife activity, head to the airstrip bound for Victoria Falls, known locally as Mosi-oa-tunya (the smoke that thunders). A transfer by boat will lead you to Toka Leya, an exceptionally well-positioned camp overlooking the Zambezi River, with easy access to Victoria Falls.

Toka Leya sits just upstream from the falls on the Zambian side of the Zambezi River. The camp is far enough from Livingstone to ensure a tranquil, authentic bush experience, yet close enough for guests to enjoy all the many activities in the greater Victoria Falls area. Wash off the dust from the bush, enjoy a spa treatment, and toast the sunset on an evening cruise upriver. Local village tours are possible, as is catch and release fishing.

Today is yours to decide. Spend the morning on a tour of the Victoria Falls – sunrise here can be spectacular and it is much less crowded right at dawn. For those who are keen, take to the skies by helicopter to get a bird’s eye view and tour of the Falls. Victoria Falls and Livingstone both offer ample opportunities for shopping for gifts for those back home. Look no further than the on-site spa or gym to practice yoga, work out or just get a massage and relax.

Bid farewell to southern Africa as you head to the Victoria Falls airport in time for your international departing flight.