This morning you fly to Victoria Falls where our local guide, Mortimer greets and accompanies you on the short drive into town. Your accommodation is located in a quiet and leafy area, still within earshot of the constant roar coming from Mosi oa Tunya, the “Smoke that Thunders”. Upon checking-in, Mortimer is available to discuss your stay in Victoria Falls and make any arrangements you may require.

The town of Victoria Falls – just minutes from the falls and on the fringes of the Zambezi National Park – is a bustling hive of activity, with the village rightly claiming the title of ‘Adrenaline Capital of Africa’. Although home to a seemingly endless variety of adventure sports, “Vic Falls” – as the town is called – still has a pioneering and colonial atmosphere, and has remained relatively unaffected from Zimbabwe’s economic and political troubles.

We are pleased to offer you a complimentary guided visit to the Victoria Falls during your stay (Zimbabwean and Zambian sides; includes entrance fees). We have not included any other activities in your safari, allowing you the freedom to choose what you’d like to do and when you’d like to do it. The plethora of activities on offer includes Zambezi river cruises and white-water rafting or canoeing, rhino and elephant walking safaris, helicopter and microlight scenic flights, African township and village tours, adrenaline activities like bungee jumping and zip sliding, and much more. We especially recommend “Tour the Township” with our local guide, Mortimer who introduces you to his home turf and often invites our travelers to lunch with his wife and family. Dining options include African-style feasts with accompanying tribal entertainment at The Boma or Jungle Junction restaurants, as well as an afternoon High Tea at the Victoria Falls Hotel.

Mortimer now transfers you to Hwange National Park, where you begin your safari with a game drive into a remote section of the park. Your camp is set in a prime location, inside the national park but also within a private wildlife concession. This unique setting allows for game drives after sunset and guided bush walks with a qualified Big Five guide. During your stay, you’ll have the chance to explore on early morning, afternoon and evening safaris, and can also spend quiet time at the camp’s well-known waterhole hide — a favourite spot for wildlife viewing.

Home to some of Africa’s largest elephant herds and renowned for its wild dog population, Hwange National Park is Zimbabwe’s largest safari wilderness. This massive national park (14,650km²/5,657mi²) is easily accessed from Victoria Falls and is a year-round option, although perhaps at its very best in the dry season (from August to early November). Home to 108 mammal and more than 400 bird species, the sheer size of wildlife populations gives it an edge over other places.

This morning you travel to Botswana and the small safari town of Kasane, located on the banks of the wildlife-rich Chobe River. The private road transfer passes through bushveld that is home to wildlife such as elephant and giraffe, sightings of which often occur during the drive. You are accompanied by Mortimer who will assist with the cross-border formalities. After freshening up, you embark on a private boat safari on the Chobe River followed by a congenial dinner back at the lodge. This evening you are ‘serenaded’ to sleep by the grunts coming from the local hippos as they venture out of the water to graze on the lodge’s lush lawn.

Your day revolves around morning and afternoon private game drives within the Chobe National Park interspersed with some delicious home-style meals, some quality lazing by the pool and perhaps even a midday siesta. Should you prefer, you can choose to embark on a private half-day game drive that travels deeper into the national park (at additional cost).

The Chobe National Park covers about 11,600km² (4,500mi²) of the northern Kalahari, much of it impenetrable thorn bush growing on deep sand. This is an old safari area – Dr. David Livingstone visited it in the 1850s, as have countless big-game hunters since. The most accessible and frequently visited of Botswana’s wilderness areas, the Chobe riverfront is most famous for its large herds of elephants and buffalo and large prides of lion that prey on them.

This morning’s private boat safari on the Chobe River offers a serene and tranquil beginning to another day on safari. You are then transferred the short distance to Kasane Airport for your flight into the wild expanse of the Okavango Delta. The flight travels in a light aircraft deep into the delta floodplains and is part of a daily route that often stops at a number of bush airstrips to deliver/collect other travellers. Upon arrival you are greeted by your camp guide who provides a game drive on the way to your camp. After a late lunch and short rest, you embark on an afternoon/evening game drive.

You stay here for three nights immersed in the absolute serenity of one of the world’s last true wildernesses. After evenings backed by a chorus of night time sounds in the African bush, your days include game drives and bush walks as well as mokoro safaris and boat excursions. You may also be able to try a spot of fishing and visit a local village, or you might prefer to relax by the pool and enjoy the expansive views from your luxury tented suite.

One of the world’s last true wildernesses, the Okavango Delta’s mosaic of channels, islands, lagoons, and forests supports a wealth of wildlife. Each year the waters flood, usually between May and September, before receding again and the wildlife has adapted itself to these seasonal changes. Slipping into ‘Delta time’, your stay here is taken up with excellent wildlife viewing interspersed with fine dining and sunset drinks.

You now journey eastwards into the vast expanse of Botswana’s Kalahari Desert Basin. The flight is again in a light aircraft and your destination is Nxai Pan National Park, where you stay in the only lodge located within the park.

Located in the northern Kalahari, Nxai Pan is a flat, salt-encrusted landscape that transforms with the seasons — stark and dry for much of the year, then lush and green after the rains. The park offers a rare sense of isolation and beauty, with sightings of bat-eared foxes, jackals, ground squirrels and, in the wet season, large herds of wildebeest, oryx, springbok and giraffe. 

This afternoon and tomorrow you can expect great wildlife viewing of the renowned “zebra migration” that arrives in the pan during the summer rains. A guided bush walk with the camp’s San Bushmen guides is also offered, as is a day trip to the Baines’ Baobabs, though this is only practical for a stay of three nights or longer.

After an early morning game drive and a hearty brunch, we say tsamaya sentle (“goodbye and go well” in the local Setswana language) as you board your light aircraft and fly to the safari hub of Maun for your connecting flight to South Africa and onward travels.