Road Trip – Exploring the flora and forna around the Okavango Delta. The rivers and game reserves that only Africa can offer.
Day 1
Departing Johannesburg head for the border with Botswana. After border formalities continue to Khama Rhino Sanctuary for overnight camping. Self drive afternoon game drive.
Day 2
Drive across the lower end of the Makgadikgadi Pans to arrive on the banks of the Boteti River. We check into a Lodge, our base for 2 nights.
Day 3
At leisure to self drive explore the Makgadikgadi Pans.
The Makgadikgadi Pans, the world’s largest salt pans, are the most visible remnants of a superlake that was formed formed more than five million years ago. The lake was once 30 metres (100 feet) deep and covered a massive area of 80,000² km (30,888² miles), but as recently as 10,000 years ago, climatic shifts started to dry up Lake Makgadikgadi. Further evaporation turned the lake into large pans with a surface glistening with salt. Today The Makgadikgadi provides one of the most dramatic African safari travel experiences.
Day 4
Drive to Maun the gateway to the Okavango. Afternoon flight over the Okavango included. Overnight at lodge.
Day 5
Travelling anti-clockwise around the Delta we head for the Panhandle and the Okavango river where it enters the delta. Overnight at lodge alongside of the Okavango river.
The Okavango Panhandle is the main watercourse supplying the Okavango Delta. The Panhandle is a stretch of approximately 70km of the Okavango River from where the river enters Botswana until it fans out.
Day 6
Today we enter Namibia before arriving at the Caprivi Game Reserve. We drive through the reserve before turning after we cross the Kwando River and our overnight camping adjacent to the Mudumo National Park.
Day 7
At leisure to explore the Mudumo National Park.
The Mudumu National Park is a vast 1 010km² expanse of dense savannah and mopane woodlands, with the Kwando River as its western border. In contrast to the rest of Namibia, the area is lush with marshes, riverine forests, dense savannah and mopane woodland.
430 species of bird have been recorded in the Mudumu National Park which is nearly 70% of Namibia’s total. Visitors can expect to see buffalo, elephant, zebra, antelopes, hippopotamus, crocodile and the rare sitatunga and red lechwe.
Day 8
Drive along the Linyanti River region to Katima Mulilo. Check into lodge along the banks of the mighty Zambezi River.
The Zambezi is Africa’s fourth largest River system, after the Nile, Zaire and Niger Rivers. It runs through six countries on its journey from central Africa to the Indian Ocean. Its unique value is that it is less developed than others in terms of human settlement and many areas along its banks enjoy protected status.
Day 9
Today we re-enter Botswana and head for Kasane through the Chobe National Park. We camp for 3 nights on the banks of the Chobe River.
The Chobe riverfront, situated in the extreme Northeast of the park, has as main geographical features lush plains and dense teak forests. The Chobe River, which flows along the Northeastern border of the park, is a drinking spot for elephants and buffaloes at dry season. The famous bee-eater is also spotted here, along the river. This is probably the most visited park section, partly because of its proximity to the Victoria Falls. The town of Kasane, situated at the river, is the most important town of the region and serves as northern entrance to the park.
Day 10
At Leisure to self drive explore Chobe Game Reserve and to find some of the vast herds of Elephant that roam in the area.
Day 11
Day trip to Victoria Falls. Today we join a scheduled trip entering Zimbabwe to view the magnificent Victoria Falls.
The Victoria Falls constitutes one of the most spectacular natural wonders of the world. The Local people call it “Mosi-oa-Tunya” — the smoke that thunders and the Falls are remarkable.
There is a magic about them manifested in the towering column of spray when the river is high, the thunder of the falling water, the terrifying abyss and tranquil lagoons upstream in which hippo and deadly crocodiles lurk.
The Victoria Falls is 1 708 meters wide, making it the largest curtain of water in the world. It drops between 90m and 107m into the Zambezi Gorge and an average of 550,000 cubic metres of water plummet over the edge every minute.
Remarkably preserved in its natural state, Victoria falls inspires visitors as much today as it did David Livingstone in the 1860’s. The falls and the surrounding area have been declared National Parks and a World Heritage Site, thus preserving the area from excessive commercialization.
Day 12
Departing Kasane we drive deep into Chobe Game Reserve then through the Chobe Forrest Reserve before entering Savuti. We camp here for 3 nights.
Day 13 and Day 14
At leisure to self drive explore Savuti. This wilderness area is teeming with wildlife.
Recognized as a prime game viewing area, the Savuti covers almost 1,930 sq. miles (5,000 square km) in the south west of Chobe National Park.
The western edge of Savuti is encircled by the Magwikhwe sand ridge, 156 miles (100km) long and 65 feet (20 metres) high, which is the ancient shoreline of a super-lake that covered much of northern Botswana. It is difficult to imagine that this harsh dry landscape was once submerged beneath an enormous inland sea. A channel from the Linyanti River once fed the now dry Savuti Marsh, which is the deepest part of the Mababe Depression and is the only part to have filled with water in recent history. .
This marsh has something of a mystical renown as it can dry up or flood regardless of local rains. David Livingstone, on his way to ‘discover’ the Victoria Falls in 1851, commented, that it was a “dismal swamp,” but sometime around 1888 it started to dry up and remained completely parched until 1957. Camel thorn acacia trees established themselves in the channel and along the banks and grew to full size. During unexpected floods these trees were drowned but as the channel and marsh dried out again, the dead trees became one of the most prominent features of the landscape.
Day 15
Today we enter Moremi and head for a lodge on the edge of the delta. Afternoon game drive with a qualified ranger.
Day 16
At leisure in Moremi, either relaxing at the lodge or self drive exploring Moremi Game Reserve.
Covering a sizeable portion of the Okavango Delta the Moremi Game Reserve, generally considered Africa’s most beautiful wildlife sanctuary, was established by the Tawana people to protect the wildlife that was being decimated by hunters – making the reserve unique in Africa. Named after the Tawana chief Moremi the reserve today consists of a wide variety of habitats that support one of Africa’s greatest concentrations of wildlife including one of the largest populations of the endangered wild dogs in Africa.
Day 17
Drive south towards Maun before checking into lodge on the banks of the Thamalakane River.
Day 18
After replenishing supplies we head out of Maun and enter Nxai Pan. We camp overnight alongside Baines Baobabs.
Day 19
Drive towards Francistown via Nata before crossing the border into South Africa. Our last overnight is spent at a lodge in the Waterberg region.
Day 20
We head for Johannesburg and the end of the trip.
From R1500.00 P/P/D
