Detailed Itinerary

DAY 1: WELCOME TO BOTSWANA - SAFARI DESTINATION

Dumela / Hello! Welcome to Botswana!” We will be there to give you a warm Botswana welcome when you touch down at Maun Airport. The exact departure time from Maun Airport to your accommodation and check in and then meeting our guide to discuss the safari.

MAIN DESTINATION: Maun

OPTIONAL ACTIVITY: Flight over the Delta

ACCOMMODATION BUDGET LEVEL: Affordable/ Mid-Range

MEAL PLAN: Dinner

DAY 2: INTO THE OKAVANGO DELTA & MOKORO EXCURSIONS

We will pick you up from the Lodge and take you to Okavango Delta, a landscape that is unique and an ever changing web of crystal clear waterways. On your arrival at the Mokoro Station you will be met by experienced mokoro polers. Boarding your mokoro around 0800 hrs, you are silently poled along the Okavango Delta' s quiet waterways to one of its many islands where you will set up camp for two nights. On your way expect to be rewarded with splendid sightings of a variety of bird life among the more than 400 species that occur in this watery wonderland. At this island you will set off on foot, as soon as the heat of the day relents, on your first guided safari walk within the Okavango Delta. Expect to encounter a fantastic variety of large game during these safari walks such as elephants, hippos, giraffes, zebras, etc. Arrive back from your safari walk shortly before dark to a warm bucket shower and a hearty campfire cooked dinner.

MAIN DESTINATION: Okavango Delta

ACTIVITY INCLUDED: Mokoro Excursion, landscape Photography, Animal Tracking, Bird Watching

ACCOMMODATION BUDGET LEVEL: En-suite Camping will be in private designated campsites with bush ablutions

MEAL PLAN: Breakfast Lunch Dinner & Beverages non Alcoholic drinks i.e soft drinks, Juice, bottled water & Alcoholic drinks includes House wine, local beer

DAY 3: OKAVANGO DELTA EXPLORATION ( Mokoro Rides & Safari Walks)

Wake up early morning for coffee/tea, cereals, rusks and cooked breakfast. After breakfast you will set off with your guide for your morning safari walk in the Okavango Delta. As you explore the Okavango on foot you will once again be searching for game as the Okavango is world famous for its rich biodiversity. These safari walks are led by local guides who are part of the community that lives on the fringes the Delta. On these outings you may come across a combination of game animals and you will also be presented with excellent photographic opportunities to capture the beauty of the Okavango. It is possible to spot game such as elephants, hippos, zebras, etc. during these safari walks. Come back from the safari walk around midday to chill and enjoy your lunch. In the afternoon you will set off once again to explore the Okavango Delta either on foot or in a mokoro. Return to camp in the late afternoon to have a shower and thereafter enjoy a campfire cooked dinner.

MAIN DESTINATION: Okavango Delta

ACTIVITIES INCLUDED: Safari Walks, Canoeing, Wilderness Trail, Bird Watching, Landscape Photography

ACCOMMODATION BUDGET LEVEL: En-suite Camping will be in private designated campsites with bush ablutions

MEAL PLAN: Breakfast Lunch Dinner & Beverages non Alcoholic drinks i.e soft drinks,Juice, bottled water & Alcoholic drinks includes House wine, local beer

DAY 4 to 5: EXPLORING XINI LAGOON, PLAINS OF BLACK POOL, CHIEFS ISLAND AND THE MOREMI TONGUE

The sounds of the bush will wake you up as well as the smell of the freshly brewed coffee. While enjoying a cup of coffee and some biscuits, your guide and chef will prepare a delicious breakfast, to fuel you for the exciting days then head onto the open plains of the "Black Pools" area for some hours game viewing drive en-route to camp. Our guide will choose a good shady place to stop and set up our picnic lunch. This area boasts some classic seasonal and permanent swamp landscapes and is a good area in which to view Cheetah, Buffalo and Wild dogs.

The Moremi/ Khwai Concession area covers much of the Okavango Delta and combines permanent water with drier areas, which create some startling and unexpected contrasts. Some prominent geographical features of the Reserve are Chiefs Island and the Moremi Tongue. Moremi is the home to nearly 500 species of birds ( from water birds to forest dwellers) and a vast array of other species of wildlife, including buffalo, giraffe, lion, cheetah, hyena, zebra, leopard, impalas, red lechwe and African Wild dog.

MAIN DESTINATION: Xini Lagoon ( Moremi Game Reserve)

ACTIVITIES INCLUDED: Birding Watching, Morning Drives, Afternoon Drives, Landscape Photography, Animal Tracking

ACCOMMODATION: En-suite Camping will be in private designated campsites with bush ablutions

MEAL PLAN: Breakfast Lunch Dinner & Beverages non Alcoholic drinks i.e, bottled water, soft drinks, Juice, & Alcoholic drinks includes House wine, local beer

DAY 6: INTO SAVUTI MAGIC

This morning you will rise very early, greet the fresh African morning with coffee and some light breakfast, before heading out on your last safari drive in the Moremi wilderness as the early mornings normally offer an improved opportunity to view the predators.

Eventually you will leave the Moremi ecosystem and travel off to Savuti for a two night stay.

Savuti is best known for its predators, both big cats (lion, leopard and cheetah) and birds of prey,raptors, vultures and all manner of birds of prey that soar over Savuti’ landscape in search of food. Perhaps the strangest phenomenon of all about Savuti is the 100 kilometres Savuti Channel. At times it will stop flowing and remain dry for years at a stretch. When the Channel recommences its flow, it changes the entire ecosystem, transforming the Savuti Marsh and Mababe Depression into wetlands and thus creating an oasis that provides water for thirsty wildlife herds and acts as a magnet for a profusion of water birds.

MAIN DESTINATION: Savuti Channels & Marshlands

ACTIVITIES INCLUDED: Animal Tracking, Morning Drives, Afternoon Drives, Landscape Photography, Bird Watching

ACCOMMODATION BUDGET LEVEL: En-suite Camping will be in private designated campsites with bush ablutions

MEAL PLAN: Breakfast Lunch Dinner & Beverages non Alcoholic drinks i.e Bottled water, soft drinks, Juice & Alcoholic drinks includes House wine, local beer

DAY 7: EXPLORING SAVUTI CHANNEL & MARSH

You wake up early in the morning to freshen up with some hot water in the face basin. This is followed by a light breakfast of some coffee, tea, rusks, cereals, bread, etc.

After breakfast you head out for your morning game drive to explore the Savuti and its marsh. The Savuti Marsh is a vast expanse of grasslands dotted with dead acacia trees, creating an intriguing, almost ghost–like landscape. You will return to camp around mid–day for lunch and some siesta time.

Another point of interest in Savuti is the Bushman rock paintings, thought to be well over a thousand years old. These are paintings of giraffe, elephant and eland. If time permits, we will pay these rock paintings a visit.

In the afternoon you head out again for your afternoon game drive and return to camp just before sunset. Dinner will follow before you turn for the night to rest or as you hold some discussions about events of the day around the camp fire.

MAIN DESTINATION: Savuti Channel & Marsh

ACTIVITIES INCLUDED: Animal Tracking, Morning Drives, Afternoon Drives, Landscape Photography, Bird Watching

ACCOMMODATION BUDGET LEVEL: En-suite Camping will be in private designated campsites with bush ablutions

MEAL PLAN: Breakfast Lunch Dinner Drinking Water & Beverages non Alcoholic drinks i.e Bottled water, Juice, soft drinks & Alcoholic drinks includes House wine, local beer

DAY 8: CHOBE EXPLORATION & BOATING SAFARI

You wake up early in the morning to freshen up with some hot water in the face basin. This is followed by a heavy breakfast of some coffee, tea, rusks, cereals, bread, etc. before heading off Chobe National Park for your one night game drive.

Chobe is one of the best places to see and photograph Roan and Sable Antelopes. Puku Antelope occurs nowhere else in southern Africa but only on the Chobe floodplains. On the other hand the massive herds of African Buffalo that inhabit Chobe are constantly flanked by the ever–hungry lions of the Chobe.

CHOBE RIVER BOAT CRUISE

The highlight on these two nights is a boat cruise on the Chobe River. In this way we are giving ourselves a very different angle and aspect for seeing and photographing Chobe’s wildlife.

This boat cruise gives you the chance to experience the animals of Chobe NP from a different perspective. Therefore, with this boat cruise, you might get up close and personal with hippos, crocodiles and a mind-boggling array of water birds.

MAIN DESTINATION: Ihaha Camping Area, Chobe National Park.

ACTIVITIES INCLUDED: Animal Tracking, Morning Drives, Bird Watching, Afternoon Drives, Landscape Photography, Boat Safari

Accommodation Budget Level: En-suite Camping will be in private designated campsites with bush ablutions

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch , Dinner & Beverages non Alcoholic drinks i.e Bottled water, soft drinks, Juice & Alcoholic drinks includes House wine, local beer

DAY 9: SMOKE THAT THUNDER & DINNER SUNSET CRUISE

In the morning, put your feet up and relax on a shuttle to Victoria Falls town down to the local craft market where you can bargain for the iconic local soapstone carvings, masks, jewellery, and Batik fabric and an afternoon tour of the falls. Optional Activities you can enjoy such as helicopter flights, micro lighting, Bungee Jump, White Water rafting and many more.

Late afternoon we will do a sunset dinner cruise after tour of the Falls on the 4th largest river in Africa ( Zambezi River), which has national parks on both the Zambian and Zimbabwean sides. All soft drinks, wine, beer and dinner are included in the cruise.

ACTIVITIES INCLUDED: Tour of the Falls, Sunset Dinner Cruise

OPTIONAL ACTIVITIES: Helicopter flight, Batoka Gorge Hike, Zip lining, Sunset Dinner Cruise

ACCOMMODATION BUDGET LEVEL: Affordable/ Mid-Range

MEAL PLAN: Breakfast, Sunset Dinner Cruise

DAY 10: ON LAST SUNRISE & HOMEWARD BOUND

After a good night’s sleep you will awake to a vibrant, fresh breakfast with a freshly brewed pot of hot coffee and enjoy your last breakfast in Smoke That Thunder and enjoy the scenery surrounding the lodge one last time. You will squeeze in a morning sunrise photo over the falls before your transfer to the airport for your onwards travel arrangements. What an adventure. Let's do it! Ok maybe not right now, but we know will be back again. It gets everyone.

MEAL PLAN: Breakfast