15 day small group non-participation Classic safari
OVERVIEW
You’ve got a lot of footsteps to follow. Trace elephant migration routes across Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, visiting Hwange National Park, Moremi Game Reserve, the Okavango Delta, and Chobe National Park, which is noted for its large elephant herds.
- Max 12 people
- Professional Safari Guides
- Transport in minibus/safari truck & 4WD
- 14 Breakfasts 7 Lunches & 9 Dinners
- Entrance Fees
- 14 nights in 3+ star lodges
Highlights
- Victoria Falls – natural wonder of the world
- Hwange – game drives in open vehicle
- Matobos – game drive
- Nata - salt pan visit
- Moremi game reserve – game drives
- Okavango Delta – river cruise
- Chobe National Park – sunset river cruise
Non Participation: This is an adventure tour, and as such please expect to get involved. Where there are porters, they’ll help you, otherwise you’ll need to carry your own bag. Included meals are all lodge or camp provided. If you have a particular interest, please let your safari leader know, and he/she will endeavour to make your journey more rewarding.
Itinerary
This classic journey covers Botswana, Namibia & Zimbabwe & the core of the international Kavango Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area. This initiative is a multi country effort to create a vast network of interlinking reserves and provide corridors for wildlife movement along natural migration routes, particularly for elephants. The lodges are beautiful, comfortable & make for a great adventure safari.
DAY 01
DAY 02-03
DAY 04-05
DAY 06
DAY 07
DAY 08-10
DAY 11-12
DAY 13
DAY 14
DAY 15
DAY 01
VICTORIA FALLS [hotel – – -]
The majestic sight of the mighty Zambezi River plunging over the Victoria Falls, welcomes you to your Zimbabwe and Botswana adventure. We check into our lodge before we explore the falls and tropical rain forest surrounds on foot in the afternoon before heading out to a local restaurant for dinner (own expense).
DAY 02-03
HWANGE NATIONAL PARK [chalet Bx2, Lx1, Dx2]
(B=Breakfast L=Lunch D=Dinner)
Hwange National Park is a wildlife jewel, famous for its big game and large herds of elephant. Hwange is home to a wide variety of habitats, from it’s western regions on the edge of the Kalahari through large grass plains to the forested woodland in east Hwange. Our comfortable lodge for two nights is situated on the private concession on the eastern boundary of the park, our time is spent on a full day game drive, in open 4WD vehicles, in the park in search of big game.
DAY 04-05
MATOBOS NATIONAL PARK [chalet Bx2, Lx1, Dx2]
The rounded granite boulders and undulating valleys of the Matobos National Park are home to some of the last of the rhino in Zimbabwe. We spend our day on an excursion into the park that includes a game walk to see the rhino, discovering the ancient Bushmen paintings that adorn the rocks, and admiring the landscapes from Worlds View, the site of Cecil John Rhodes’ grave.
DAY 06
NATA [chalet B–]
This morning we leave Matobos and head west towards the Botswana border, we cross at Plumtree and we make our way to the Nata area for our overnight stop. In the late afternoon we will head out onto the Makgadikgadi Pans, vast saltpans that seem to stretch on to infinity. We will explore the area and have some fun taking photographs before the sun sets golden over the horizon.
DAY 07
MAUN [lodge B–]
Maun’s name is derived from a San word meaning “place of the short reeds” is nestled at the southern end of the Okavango Delta where our lodge overlooks the beautiful Thamalakane River. Here we prepare for our trip into Moremi Game Reserve and our afternoon is free to bird watch along the river, relax around the pool or take a optional scenic flight over the Okavango Delta (own expense).
DAY 08-10
MOREMI GAME RESERVE [2x tented bushlodge, 1x lodge Bx3, Lx3, Dx2]
Startling and unexpected contrasts are created as the waters of the Okavango flood into the drier Kalahari creating the magnificently rich wilderness area with amazing wildlife of the Moremi Game Reserve. Rivers, lagoons, savannah, woodland, Moremi offers some excellent game viewing. With over 400 species of birds, Moremi is also a great place to sight leopard, lion, wild dog, elephant, giraffe and a variety of antelope. We spend our time on game drives in Moremi GR and the surrounding concession along the Khwai River where the lagoons attract the thirsty animals to drink in the late afternoon. Our lodge is on a private concession north of Moremi, where we enjoy our meals while watching the animals drinking and enjoy the wilderness far from civilization.
On the morning of day 10 we have a game drive on the concession before heading back to our lodge in Maun.
DAY 11-12
OKAVANGO DELTA [lodge BLD]
We drive around the Okavango Delta, and north to our lodge on the banks of the Okavango Pan handle. From the lodge we’ll explore the Okavango by mokoro and motor boat. Tranquil reed lined rivers, crystal clear water and abundant bird life. Time to rest, relax and enjoy the views of the Okavango Delta.
DAY 13
CAPRIVI [chalet B-D]
Crossing out of Botswana into Namibia and the Mahango Game Reserve. We game drive through the reserve to our lodge on the Kavango River. We spend our afternoon exploring on a river cruise.
DAY 14
CHOBE NATIONAL PARK [chalet B–]
The Caprivi Strip, Zambezi Region, is a thin wedge of Namibia, which separates Botswana in the south and Angola in the north. We cross the Caprivi, back into Botswana at Ngoma and head to our lodge in the town of Kasane. The Chobe river attracts large herds of elephant as it flows lazily along the northern boundary of the Chobe National Park. Our final afternoon is spent on arguably the best wildlife activity in Southern Africa, the game-viewing cruise. See herds of elephants, large crocodiles, pods of hippo and other wildlife as they quench their thirst at the end of the day. The magnificent river sunset is a photographer’s dream.
DAY 15
VICTORIA FALLS ZIMBABWE – TOUR ENDS [-B–]
Enjoy an optional early morning game drive (own expense) before our last breakfast together. We bid a sad farewell before we embark on a road shuttle transfer to either Kasane airport in Botswana, or Victoria Falls airport in Zimbabwe, in time for midday flight departures. Our tour ends at 11:00am.
Dates & Prices
This tour departs Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe at 14:00. Most flights into VFA and LVI arrive in the morning. We recommend that you fly into Victoria Falls airport (VFA) in Zimbabwe on the day the tour starts, or Livingstone airport (LVI) in Zambia – but this will require an additional visa (the Uni-visa applies for most nationals from the EU).
The tour ends after breakfast at 08:00 in Kasane, Botswana. Clients then have a road shuttle transfer to either Kasane airport (BBK), Botswana, or Victoria Falls airport (VFA), Zimbabwe or the town of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Post-tour accommodation is not needed if you wish to depart the same day.
| Start Date | End Date | Tour Code | Language | Departure Status | Price | Trip Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-07-09 | 2023-07-23 | BZac15 | German | Guaranteed | €4,790.00 | Available | BOOK NOW |
| 2023-07-23 | 2023-08-06 | BZac15 | English | Guaranteed | €4,790.00 | Fully Booked | FULL |
| 2023-08-13 | 2023-08-27 | BZac15 | German | Guaranteed | €4,790.00 | Fully Booked | FULL |
| 2023-11-05 | 2023-11-19 | BZac15 | German | €4,790.00 | Available | BOOK NOW | |
| 2023-11-12 | 2023-11-26 | BZac15 | English | €4,790.00 | Available | BOOK NOW | |
| 2023-12-10 | 2023-12-24 | BZac15 | English | €4,790.00 | Available | BOOK NOW | |
Information
Overnight
Meals
Transport
Age Policy
Best Time to Visit
Overnight
 | Overnight: The accommodation throughout this classic journey is of 3+ star style and are chosen not only for their service and comfort level but also for their wonderful locations and local wildlife viewing opportunities. All rooms have private en suite facilities. The Moremi lodge on a private concession between Chobe NP and Moremi GR is a particular highlight. |
Meals
 | Meals: 14 breakfasts, 7 lunches and 9 dinners are included. All of which are provided by the lodges at which we are staying. Due to travel arrangements or game viewing activities, 2 of the lunches will be packed picnic lunches. Where meals are not included there will be an opportunity to buy a meal en route, but these are mostly travel days so a quick stop is required. |
Transport
 | Transport: for the majority of this safari you travel in a Mercedes Benz Sprinter with 12 forward facing seats and air conditioning; or (on 30% of tours) in a Sunway Safari truck with 12 seats. For the game drives in Hwange, Matobos, Moremi and Chobe we use open sided 4WD vehicles with local guides. |
Age Policy
We accept children 12-18 with accompanying adults on scheduled tours (for private groups we can accept younger children).
If the clients are older than 65 years, then we require a medical certificate too (stating client is fit and healthy to embark on a multi-day tour covering long distances etc).
Best Time to Visit
Botswana is centrally located in Southern Africa and mostly has a sub-tropical climate. Largely Kalahari desert, there are sizable differences between the day and night temperatures and virtually no rainfall. In the Delta temperatures are more moderate due to the abundance of water. Botswana is a wonderful destination all year round…
Dry season is from May to October: The game viewing is superb and wildlife is very easy to spot.
May:- Autumn temperatures are typically 10°C/50°F to 28°C/80°F.
June, July & August:- Winter morning game drives can be cold at around 6°C/42°F, but it warms to +-25°C/78°F.
September & October:- Spring begins and temperatures warm up to +- 34°C/100°F. The migration of the Southern Carmine Bee-eaters is a sight to behold and a must-see for this time of year.
Green season is from November to Aprill: Baby season and nothing beats seeing a lioness with her cubs, or other young animals at play.
November & December:- Typically cooler than October and between 20°C/69°F and 33°C/91°F. The more desert areas can still have very hot days.
January & February:- The Summer or “Green” months, with occasional storms in the afternoon. Temperatures are around 32°C/90°F in the day.
March and April:- The waters of the Delta start to rise and large herds of elephant and buffalo begin to make their way back to the Okavango as winter approaches. Lovely, clear weather and few clouds prevail, but the nights are cooler and the days very comfortable at around 30°C/87°F.
Booking Form
Please note: This is merely a provisional reservation. One of our Safari Experts will be in contact with you to confirm and finalise your chosen reservation. PLEASE do not book any flights or make ANY travel arrangements until we have confirmed your reservation.
A 20% deposit secures your space and then the balance is paid 60 days prior to departure. If you have any queries, contact our Safari Experts today on 0203 4759929.