Botswana in Depth
Botswana in Depth
Botswana in Depth
Botswana in Depth
From Delta to Desert: Savute, the Okavango Delta, and Makgadikgadi Pans National Park
Days: 10 | From: $8,820/per person
- Includes accommodations at hand picked, best in class hotels and lodges
- A range of unique, optional safari activities included at each lodge
- Three world class safari destinations for ultimate game viewing
Safari through a range of diverse landscapes on this in-depth Botswana adventure. Explore the mysterious Savute Channel, an area know for its predators, then discover the unique natural phenomenon of Botswana's Okavango Delta, where you experience exceptional game viewing on both land and water. Travel across the vast salt pans and semi-arid desert of the Kalahari in search of the rare and remarkable creatures who live there, and spend a morning with the meerkats.
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At a glance
- Johannesburg
1 night: Discover South Africa's largest city, brimming with art and culture - Savute
2 nights: Safari in the game-rich Savute region, renowned for all manner of wildlife, including incredible predator sightings - Okavango Delta
3 nights: Glide through the reeds in a traditional Mokoro canoe, and reconnect with nature as you spot wildlife with your expert guide - Makgadikgadi Pans National Park
3 nights: Quad bike or horse ride across the vast salt pans, learn secrets from a San bushman, and spend time with the habituated meerkats
All itineraries are fully customizable. We will send you a personalized variation that reflects your interests and travel dates at no extra cost. Call to discuss your travel plans with one of our Specialists who know this region firsthand.
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Sample itinerary
Welcome to Africa!
Arrive to Johannesburg, South Africa’s economic hub. This city bursts with art, history, and culture and is a great place to add some extra time to explore. Joburg combines a modern, metropolitan sophistication with historic townships, creating an ambience that has given life to some of South Africa’s greatest icons and creative minds. Your private guide will be waiting to transfer you to your boutique hotel set in the lush, upmarket suburbs of town.
Accommodations: The Peech Hotel
Set within two acres in Johannesburg’s residential suburb of Melrose, The Peech is a boutique hotel with 32 well-appointed guest rooms spread around the property’s verdant gardens. The location feels both private and central, located near the city's main shopping hubs and adjacent to the boutiques, cafés and parks of Melrose. The hotel offers two swimming pools, comfortable outdoor seating areas, and a bistro featuring locally sourced, sustainable and organic ingredients.
*Includes: BreakfastThe Safari Begins: Journey to Botswana
Fly north to the gateway city of Maun, where you catch the safari bush flight that will take you into the wilderness. Your expert safari guide will meet you and escort you to your remote, luxury lodge. After you’ve settled in, head out into the wilds of the Savute region. A relic of an inland lake, the game-rich Savute region is also the western border of Chobe National Park. It is best known for the mysterious Savuti Channel and vast Savuti Marsh, but the real star is the incredible concentration of wildlife found in this area.
Accommodations: Savute Safari Lodge, 2 nights
To ensure a private and relaxing environment, Savute Safari Lodge accommodates just twenty four guests in eleven thatched chalets built of sustainable local timber. The chalets, which have been elegantly furnished in calm neutral tones to blend with the natural environment, feature expansive private decks, a combined bedroom and lounge area and en suite facilities. Savute Safari Lodge offers a shaded viewing deck, an al fresco dining area and swimming pool with spectacular pool loungers – ideal for watching the varied wildlife – including the resident Elephants – as they make their way to the Channel to drink, bathe and play.
*Includes: All InclusiveSafari in Savute
Rise with the sun and set out with your expert guide in search of wildlife. The early morning game drives are often the most exciting, as creatures great and small are active at this time of day. The bird calls swell as it gets lighter, and you can stop out in the bush to enjoy a hot beverage and the majesty of nature.
In the heat of the day, relax at on the shaded viewing deck at your lodge, or take a dip in the swimming pool. The pool is an ideal place to watch out for animals, including the resident elephants, as they make their way to the Savute Channel to drink, bathe and play.
Into the Okavango Delta
Jet off to your next destination, taking a bush plane to a remote airstrip in the heart of the Okavango Delta. The Delta is one of the largest, most intricate and unpredictable wetlands in the world. It is a highly dynamic seasonal environment that changes from year to year, month to month, and even from week to week. This unique ecosystem carries rainwater from thousands of miles away in Angola all the way south, supporting an incredible variety of species.
The area is celebrated in particular for its water safaris. Cruise the papyrus-lined channels under an an immense sky, learning the flora and fauna of this distinctive region.
Accommodations: Kanana, 3 nights
A hidden jewel on the Xudum River, Kanana is located in the southwest of the Okavango Delta. The area encompasses a necklace of islands dotted with palms, figs, ebony and knobthorn, and is home to a myriad of birds, plants and animals. The nature of the habitat means it is the perfect place to experience the diversity of species found within the Okavango Delta.
*Includes: All InclusiveSafari in the Okavango
Explore the Okavango Delta, a unique natural phenomenon. The Delta is a paradise of grasslands, floodplains, lagoons and forests. Large elephant herds roam here, along with sable and roan antelope, kudu, wildebeest, and zebra, as well as those that prey on them: lions, hyenas and wild dogs. Hundreds of bird species also make their home here.
Cruise the vast network of waterways or hop in a custom safari vehicle for a game drive. Your expert guide will lead you to the wildlife and natural wonders of this region. You never know what you might encounter around the next bend as you adventure through the channels. Stop for a gin and tonic as you watch hippos in the lagoon, or drift silently past birds, frogs and other animals in a canoe – the quintessential Botswana safari experience. Your luxury tented camp offers a series of well-appointed viewing decks and comfortable areas in which to relax, as well as a pool, the ultimate place for an ‘armchair safari.’
Another day on Safari in the Okavango Delta
Enjoy another day in the wild, participating in an exciting game drive or in some of the water activities for which this region is famous. Explore the crystal-clear waterways of the Okavango Delta while silently gliding in a traditional Mokoro Canoe, or get a little further afield aboard a small flat-bottomed motorboat. Spotting smaller creatures in the reeds, enjoying the peaceful tranquility of this unique landscape, and cruising through the endless network of channels to spot larger game is one of the joys of a safari in Botswana.
Fly to the Kalahari
Witness a dramatic change of scenery as you fly out of the Delta and into the desert. Your lodge is located at the edge of Botswana’s sun-soaked Makgadikgadi Salt Pans and adjacent to the Makgadikgadi-Nxai Pans National Park. Around these desolate salt pans you will find dry savannah grasslands, iconic palm trees and giant ancient baobab trees.
Here you may spot some of the most fascinating and lesser-known safari animals. Be on the lookout for bat-eared foxes, brown hyenas, aardvark and aardwolves, elephants making their way across generations-old migration routes and, depending on the time of year, dazzling numbers of zebra and wildebeest. Where there is prey, there are predators: keep an eye out for cheetah and lion, hot on the hooves of the herds.
Perhaps one of the most unique wildlife encounters you will have here is an up-close and personal interaction with playful habituated meerkats.
Accommodations: Camp Kalahari, 3 nights
Just one of only three camps in a one million-acre private wildlife reserve, Camp Kalahari has 12, Meru-style tents set amongst the palms. There’s a veritable blockbuster of activities to get stuck into, including quad biking, horseback riding, bushman walks and traditional game drives. Enjoy lazy siestas in the swimming pool pavilion and, in the dry season, watch the Elephants come to drink at the water – a memory you won’t forget in a hurry!
*Includes: All InclusiveKalahari Safari
Along with a huge variety of wildlife, a stay here offers plenty of other activities. Zoom across the pans on a quadbike, take to horseback for a new perspective on game viewing, or go on a guided walk with a local San Bushman and learn about centuries of indigenous knowledge, key to their survival in this harsh climate. You can also relax in camp, take a dip in the pool, and revel in being so remote.
A final day in the Kalahari
Take part in the plethora of carefully curated activities at your luxury lodge or spend the day relishing the quiet and exclusivity of being essentially alone in such a vast tract of land. There is nothing more magical than being able to reconnect with nature in such an epic way.
Farewell Africa
After breakfast at your luxury tented camp, board your charter plane out of the Kalahari to Maun, where you can connect to your onward flight home or to your next destination.
Popular Ways to Customize This Itinerary
Choose from a selection of carefully curated lodges and hotels to ensure this trip fits your exact travel style.
Book a scenic helicopter flight over the Okavango for a superb aerial view of the intricate network of waterways and the wildlife within.
Add a night or two in Johannesburg at the start or end of this trip and dive into some touring of this vibrant city with a private Vaya guide.
Select a third safari location in Botswana for an even more in-depth look at this remarkable country.
Add some time to visit nearby Victoria Falls, the world’s largest waterfall system.
Add a beach extension and spend some relaxing downtime on the pristine white sands of the Indian Ocean. Mauritius, Seychelles and Mozambique are just a short flight away.
Contact us to learn about more options for designing and customizing your trip.
Why Travel with Vaya?
We're TRUE specialists
We’ve not only traveled there, we’ve lived there. Our smart and engaging specialists are all current or former expatriates with years of experience in the region.
Uplifting service
From the first phone call to after you get back, we're here for you every step of the way. We listen, create, customize and advocate for you, and design experiences that go beyond the expected.
Thoughtful travel
Our discerning sensibility and good taste go beyond just choices in hotels and top guides; we have a walk the walk commitment to the environment and are genuine leaders in conservation efforts.