Day 1: Kasane to Savuti River. Travel Day (5 hours)
Your safari will start in Kasane at 09h00, should you be spending pre-nights in Kasane, your guide will collect you directly from your lodge before 09h00. For guests who are transferring across from either Livingstone or Victoria Falls Town, your transfer should be organized to arrive at Chobe Safari Lodge by 09h00 in time for the boat cruise. Enjoy a morning boat cruise along the Chobe river before your guide drives you through Chobe National Park to your camp site in Savuti.
Habitat: The habitat on today’s drive takes us from the Chobe River through the wonderful Zambezi teak woodlands of the Chobe Forest Reserve, across the sand-ridge and into the stunted mopane scrub of the Goha clay basin.
Wildlife: While there are community areas that we pass through that are settled by local tribes, for the vast majority of the day’s drive we pass through wild country where wildlife moves un-inhibited by fences or man. Roan and sable antelope thrive in the teak woodlands where the low density of predators and lack of competition for food by other ungulates makes this prime habitat for these large ungulates. Leopard occur in these woodlands in low numbers but they are highly secretive and seldom seen. The Goha region has natural waterholes that hold water well into the dry season and herds of buffalo, Burchell’s zebra, greater kudu and elephant come down to drink.
Birding: The most unusual species are to be found in the teak (Baikea plurijuga) woodlands. This broad-leafed woodland, or miombo as it is locally known, provides good pickings for insectivorous birds that favour canopy habitat. Grey Tit-Flycatcher, Ashy Flycatcher, Paradise Flycatcher, Pallid Flycatcher, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, Amethyst Sunbird, Yellow-throated Petronia, Red-headed Weaver and Violet-backed Starling are only some of the species that move around in the “bird parties” in the canopy. Dickenson’s Kestrel, Red-necked Falcon, Peregrine Falcon* and Lizard Buzzard are some of the raptors to keep an eye out for, while the diminutive White-faced Owl can often be seen roosting in the road-side vegetation. Flappet Lark, Fawn-coloured Lark, Dusky Lark*, Olive-Tree Warbler* and Neddicky are species more likely to be enjoyed by the birding enthusiast.
Accommodation: Mobile Tented Camp
Activities: Game Drive and boating
Meals: All meals and drinks (mineral water, soft drinks, beer, wine and G&T) whilst in Tented Camps
Day 2 & 3: Savuti (Chobe National Park) Exploration Days
Habitat: Unlike the vast majority of the country, Savuti is not flat landscape. Large outcrops of volcanic rock reach up out of the Kalahari sands, towering over the endless savannah. These hills provide habitat for a completely different array of small wildlife, birds and plants. The Savuti Marsh has been the stage for many of the most dramatic wildlife documentaries in Africa. The wide open country, good ungulate populations and particularly strong prides of lion and hyaena clans make for dramatic wildlife interaction and excellent viewing opportunities. The now dry Savuti Channel runs through this landscape linking the drysand-veld, the waterholes, the hills and the grassland that was the Savuti Marsh.
Wildlife: Undoubtedly it is the interaction between lion and elephant that is the most interesting aspect of Savuti. The area is inhabited by a huge pride of lions with numbers fluctuating from 20-30 members. These remarkable lion have learned over the years how to hunt these massive pachyderms that are supposedly above predation. Launching their attack under darkness and using their numbers, they manage to kill adolescent and even young adult elephant. The marsh is prime cheetah country and in the wet season it is not unusual to have the wild dog hunting here in Savuti.
Birding: The surface water that is pumped by the Government here provides a major attraction for birdlife. In the dry season thousands of dove and sandgrouse come down to drink in the mornings and are under constant surveillance by Yellow-billed Kite*, Tawny Eagle and African Hawk-Eagle. Red-crested Korhaan are common in the Kalahari Apple-leaf (Lonchocarpus nelsii) veld. The marsh is the summer home for good numbers of Caspian Plover* and Montague’s Harrier* as well as Chestnut-backed Sparrowlark, Grey-backed Sparrowlark, Northern Black Korhaan, Rufous-naped Lark, African Pipit and Desert Cisticola. Dickenson’s Kestrel, Amur Falcon* and Red-necked Falcon are found along the perimeter of the marsh.
Accommodation: Mobile Tented Camp
Activities: Game Drive and Bushman Painting Walks
Meals: All meals and drinks (mineral water, soft drinks, beer, wine and G&T) whilst in Tented Camps
Day 4: Savuti to Khwai. Travel Day (4-5 hours)
Leaving the parched landscape, we continue our journey south to the Khwai Community Area.
Habitat: A fascinating days drive looking at some of the evidence of the Paleo-Lake Makgadikgadi that dried up some ten thousand years ago. The most challenging part of the trip is crossing the Magwikwe Sand-ridge that formed the shoreline for this massive inland sea. The winding track through this deep sand makes for interesting travel in the early summer! The old lake bed is now the Mababe Depression. The dense clay floor of the depression result in high protein feed for wildlife and the area teams with game after the rains. During the rainy season the depression is impassable due to the “cotton soil” and alternative routes must be used.
Wildlife: A day when anything could happen. The range of habitat that is covered encompasses most of the habitat types of northern Botswana. We pass through excellent lion country and some of the best cheetah country that our safari will cover. Elephant occur throughout the drive but are more common at the start and end of the drive where permanent surface water can be found.
Birding: The Mababe Depression is a birder’s paradise. The nutritious grasses that grow on the rich soils provide excellent seed for an impressive array of estrillids and viduids. Among these are the magnificently coloured Violet-eared Waxbill, Black-cheeked Waxbill, Village Indigobird, Shaft-tailed Whydah and Paradise Whydah. These in turn provide a good food source for small raptors such as the Little Sparrowhawk, Shikra, Gabar Goshawk, Red-necked Falcon and Lanner Falcon. It is not only the small birds that feed on the grass seeds, but rodents too. There are annual outbreaks of huge numbers of rats and mice. As a result huge numbers of Secretary Bird, Tawny Eagle, Black-shouldered Kite, Steppe Eagle*, Lesser-spotted Eagle*, Wahlberg’s Eagle* and Steppe Buzzard* can be found.
Accommodation: Mobile Tented Camp
Activities: Game Drive
Meals: All meals and drinks (mineral water, soft drinks, beer, wine and G&T) whilst in Tented Camps
Day 5 & 6: Khwai Exploration Day
The Khwai River forms a boundary between the reserve and the community area. We spend the following two nights camping at an exclusive campsite in the community area, exploring the Khwai floodplains on game drives both during the day and at night. Exploring after dark with spotlights offers you an opportunity to experience some of the nocturnal animals that are rarely encountered during the day. We will also have the opportunity to explore the surrounding wilderness on foot and mokoro and enjoy an up close and personal encounter with Botswana’s flora and fauna. It is important to note that night drives and guided walks are not permitted within the national parks and reserves. These activities are conducted outside the boundaries of the Moremi Game Reserve in the Khwai community area.
Habitat: We spend our time between the dry-land habitats of the lead-wood and camel-thorn woodlands and savannahs and the riverside and marshy back-waters of the Khwai. Time permitting we may visit the lagoons and waterways of Xakanaxa where the largest heronry in southern Africa exists.
Wildlife: The Khwai region boasts excellent populations of both bull elephant as well as breeding herds. Lion, leopard, serval and African wildcat are common predators of the region with wild dog and cheetah being less common. Buffalo use this area seasonally with large herds moving in during the summer rains. The swampy areas in the west are home to red lechwe. Other ungulates include tsesebe, blue wildebeest, giraffe, kudu, sable antelope, roan antelope and impala.
Birding: Truly one of Botswana birding Mecca’s. The western reaches are prime habitat for the uncommon Rosy-throated Longclaw. The entire length of the river is hunting domain for the Bat-Hawk. Other interesting raptors here are Cuckoo Hawk (rare), Long-crested Eagle and Black Sparrowhawk. More commonly Tawny Eagle, Steppe Eagle*, Lesser-spotted Eagle*, Martial Eagle, Bateleur and African Hawk-Eagle. The waterways host Africa Rail, African Crake*, Greater Painted Snipe, Allen’s Gallinule*, Lesser Jacana and Lesser Moorhen*.
Accommodation: Mobile Tented Camp
Activities: Game Drive, Walking Safaris (conditions permitting), Night Drive and mokoro excursion
Meals: All meals and drinks (mineral water, soft drinks, beer, wine and G&T) whilst in Tented Camps
Day 7: Khwai to Xakanaxa. Travel Day ( 3-4 hours)
Habitat: The Manuchira Channel is known as the Khwai River at its eastern most extremity. The day’s journey follows this water course, with the track weaving from the riverside and floodplains into the mopane veld and the woodlands that make Khwai one of the most scenic areas of the Okavango. We pass the magnificent Dombo Hippo Pools in the morning stopping to enjoy the scenery and the antics of the resident hippo.
Wildlife: The western mopane veld is home to mostly breeding herds of elephant whilst the eastern reaches of Khwai is home to some impressive old bulls. The mature bulls revel in the cool waters of the Khwai and are far more approachable while drinking and bathing than the breeding herds. The river has an unusually high density of hippo as well as some huge crocodile. Leopard, cheetah, serval and lion are common predators along this route and both Xakanaxa as well as Khwai are included in the home ranges of 2 different packs of wild dog. General game includes southern giraffe, Burchell’s zebra, tessebe and red lechwe with roan and sable antelope being less common residents.
Birding: In the mopane woodlands African Hawk-Eagle, Tawny Eagle, Gabar Goshawk, Little Sparrowhawk, African Harrier Hawk and Shikra are common raptors. Mixed bird parties move through the canopy and include Red-headed Weaver, Stierling’s Wren-Warbler, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, Neddicky, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Chin-spot Batis, Diederik Cuckoo* to name but a few. The verges of the swamp form breeding grounds for the Rosy-Longclaw, Black Coucal*, Long-legged Bustard and the African Crake*
Accommodation: Mobile Tented Camp
Activities: Game Drive
Meals: All meals and drinks (mineral water, soft drinks, beer, wine and G&T) whilst in Tented Camps
Days 8 & 9: Xakanaxa Exploration Days Moremi Game Reserve
Habitat: Moremi lies on the eastern extremity of the Okavango Delta. Habitats here range from wide-open floodplains, marshes, lagoons, papyrus fringed channels, vast reed-beds of Miscanthus and Phragmites, woodland and savannah. As a result of the extremely variable habitat the diversity of both wildlife and birdlife is excellent.
Wildlife: Every type of mopane habitat is well represented in this drive from the towering cathedral woodlands Xakanaxa to the classic climax mopane woodland and in the drier and harsher habitats, extensive stretches of scrub mopane. The San-ta-Wani region has scattered ephemeral water pans with large floodplains and camel-thorn woodlands. 40 km of the drive is in Moremi Game Reserve with a further 40 km in areas designated for wildlife management where animals roam freely to and from the Game Reserve.
Birding: A good day for raptors with African Hawk-Eagle, Gabar Goshawk, Shikra, Little Sparrowhawk, Dark Chanting Goshawk, Tawny Eagle, Lesser Spotted Eagle* and Steppe Eagle* all inhabiting the mopane and adjacent woodlands. Other birds common along this route includes most of Botswana’s hornbills including Red-billed, Southern Yellow-billed, African Grey, Bradfield’s and the Southern Ground Hornbills. A large number of brood-parasites may also be seen. Diederick Cuckoo*, Levaillant’s Cuckoo*, Jacobin Cuckoo*, Great-spotted Cuckoo*, African Cuckoo*, Common Cuckoo*, Shaft-tailed Whydah, Pin-tailed Whydah, Eastern Paradise Whydah, Greater Honeyguide, and Lesser Honeyguide.
* Denotes species of a migratory nature
Accommodation: Mobile Tented Camp
Activities: Game Drives
Meals: All meals and drinks (mineral water, soft drinks, beer, wine and G&T) whilst in Tented Camps
Day 10: Xakanaxa to Maun. Travel Day 30 minute charter flight
Following breakfast and an early morning game drive, you will be taken to the airstrip for your charter flight back to Maun at approximately 12:30.If you are organizing any post safari accommodation, please ensure that the company meets you at Maun Airport off Mack Air for any transfers, alternatively, if you are flying in to one of the many safari lodges, you can fly directly from Xakanaxa to your lodge of choice but please request a departure from Xakanaxa no later than 14h00.
Meals: Breakfast
NOTE: Although we make every effort to adhere to schedules and itineraries, these are subject to change subject to weather (specifically with current flood conditions, the driving times may differ between the areas quite considerably depending upon the time of year), roads, and animal movements and availability. You will be notified of any changes.
Your Safari Includes:
Spacious and comfortable tented accommodation, including beds, bed linen and towels, with a private bathroom en-suite.
Services of a professional guide, safari chef and camp assistants, complete with a supply vehicle.
Game drives and local transfers in customised safari vehicles
Exclusive camping in private campsites within the national parks and reserves
All entrance and camping fees within the national parks and reserves
All meals and drinks (mineral water, soft drinks, beer, wine and G&T) whilst in Letaka Tented Camps
All activities as specified in the itinerary
12% Value Added Tax
Your Safari Excludes:
Travel Insurance
All flights unless otherwise indicated
Items of personal nature
Toiletries
Staff gratuities
Optional safari extensions
Any drinks at lodges or accommodation other than Letaka Tented Camps.
Important:
Please note that there is a limit of 20kg in soft bags included hand luggage on all charter flights included in safaris & Passangers over 100kg or with excess luggage may have to purchase an extra seat on the charter plane – please inform us when booking if this is applicable
Highlights:
Chobe National Park (Savuti & Chobe River Front)
Boat cruise on the Chobe River
The freedom of the Khwai Concession Area
The Moremi Game Reserve
Exploring the fringes of the Okavango Delta by mokoro
Charter flight over the Okavango Delta
