Botswana and Victoria Falls Wildlife Adventure By Tented Camp

Arrive Victoria Falls airport. Met on arrival and transfer to your lodge. Enjoy a sunset cruise in the quiet waters of the Zambezi River above the falls. Enjoy the beautiful sunset whilst being served complimentary drinks and snacks by the attentive boat crew. Wildlife highlights can include a large number of waterbirds, hippos and elephants coming to the water’s edge to drink and bathe.

Enjoy a shared guided walking tour of Victoria Falls in the morning, to see the cascade of waterfalls from the Zimbabwe side. The sheer mass of water cascading down the 100m drop across nearly 2km makes a thunderous roar and creates a magnificent spray of water that can be seen for miles - hence the local name 'mosi oa tunya' meaning ' the smoke that thunders'. OPTIONAL: scenic helicopter flight over the falls (pay when there).

Transfer by road into Botswana and check into your lodge on the banks of the Chobe River. Enjoy an afternoon river cruise on the Chobe River to see elephants, hippos, crocodiles and a large number of riverine birds and animals. Return to your lodge at sunset.

Enjoy a morning river cruise on the Chobe River and then start your overland safari (maximum group size 7) south through the Chobe National Park. The first section will be on sealed roads before continuing on dirt roads through the dense teak woodlands of the northern part of the park (stop for picnic lunch en route).

Passing through the Savuti Gate, the landscape quickly opens-up to reveal wide grassy plains, thickets of mopane tree and forested hills (the last hills you will see before heading into the flat lands of the Delta). Here, you can spot elephants, kudu, plains zebra, buffalo and even the very rare roan and sable antelopes. Continue driving (stopping to see wildlife as you go) until you reach your first campsite where you will spend your next three nights.

Enjoy the first of two days exploring the Central Chobe and Savuti areas. This is a beautiful patchwork of open savannah and small woodland thickets, all backed by the beautiful Ghoha Hills. This is prime lion country and the area is famed for its large prides that have perfected hunting elephants at night. Other carnivores can include leopards, wild dogs and a small number of chetah.

Another day of exploring the Central Chobe and Savuti areas. Drier than many of the other parks, the few water holes in the park attract a wide range of game and often large flocks of sand grouse and other dessert birds to drink water in the early mornings. The long grasses of the Savuti marsh hides shyer mammals like bat eared fox, black-backed jackal and smaller cats such as African wildcat, serval and caracal.

Today, you will cross the Mababe Depression - a large ancient inland sea that has now dried to sandy mopane thickets and nutrient-rich grasslands. Along the way, you will pass permanently wet marshes fed by the Mababe River. The lush grasses and water reeds here are particularly favoured by older elephants which can no longer digest the tough grasses and woody shrubs found in the rest of the park. You can come across carnivores at any point on this journey as the patchwork of different landscapes favours lions, leopards and cheetah in equal measure. The rich soils are perfect for seed-bearing grasses, attracting large numbers of seed-eating birds and associated raptors. In the longer grasses, you might encounter Botswana’s weighty national bird: the kori bustard.

Cross into the Mababe Private Reserve and settle into your next camp on the banks of the hippo-filled Mababe River.

Today, will be the first of two days exploring the Mababe Private Reserve. The reserve has strict limits on the number of vehicles and offers activities such as night drives and walking safaris which are usually reserved for the more expensive private lodges (please note that walking safaris are seasonal and weather dependent).

The park itself is a haven for wildlife. The Mababe river meanders through the park, providing much needed permanent water throughout the year. A patchwork of grassland, Kalahari scrub and towering mopane trees provides the perfect hunting ground for leopards and rare African wild dogs. Seasonal herds of savannah buffalo are followed by prides of lion and even oryx can be found in the dryer eastern parts of the park.

Enjoy your second full day in the Mababe Private Reserve. The rivers here are home to numerous hippos and elephants, including some particularly large bulls. Other herbivores include abundant impala, plus tsessebe, wildebeest, giraffe, kudu and both sable and roan antelopes. Night drives can reveal hunting leopards, diminutive pearl-spotted owlets and the huge Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl (Africa’s largest owl).

Today, you will follow the meandering Khwai River into the Khwai Concession where you will enjoy a mokoro canoe excursion in quiet backwaters filled with water lilies, diminutive frogs and flamboyant dragonflies. Here, you have excellent chances of spotting both African jacanas and African fish eagle. You should also start seeing your first red lechwe antelopes which typify the wetter areas of the Delta.

Enjoy a picnic lunch and then cross into the famous Moremi Game Reserve. This is Botswana’s oldest and most diverse national park with a wide range of different habitats ranging from towering mopane forests around Xakanaxa, through to smaller forest thickets, marshes, lagoons, papyrus fringed channels and extensive grasslands, which become inundated by the seasonal Okavango floods.

The fact that the floods typically arrive during the peak of the dry season (June, July and August), means that animals travel from miles away to take advantage of the fresh grazing and abundant water, creating some of the world’s best wildlife watching.

The varied landscape means that the park supports an amazing diversity of wildlife. The woodlands are the perfect hunting grounds for leopards and African wild dogs. With a number of different wild dog packs having territories that cross into Moremi, Khwai, Mababe and even as far as the northern reaches of the Chobe National Park. The wide grasslands are the perfect hunting ground for cheetah when dry, and fill with elephants and red lechwe during the flood. The marshlands provide lush grazing for elephant throughout the year and the park is home to some particularly large bulls. The large resident herd of savannah buffalo is often stalked by lions, with zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, hippo and a range of antelopes also being on the menu.

Kori bustards stalk the longer grasses of the flood meadows as do the elegant secretary bird and beautiful ground hornbill. The mopane woodlands host mixed breeding flocks of smaller birds such as Red-headed Weaver and beautiful Scarlet-chested Sunbird, often under the watchful gaze of raptors like the Gabar Goshawk and Shikra.

Today will be the first of two days exploring the Moremi Game Reserve. Moremi provides superb wildlife viewing throughout the year. During the drier months, the predators have the run of the dry woodlands, thickets and open grassland; with hippos, red lechwe and older elephants restricted to the permanent marshland and smaller tributaries of the Maunachira River.

Fortunes reverse during the seasonal flood, with the flooded grasslands bursting with new life and a proliferation of water-loving red lechwe antelopes, large herds of elephants, buffaloes and abundant game. At this time of year, cheetah are pushed to the drier fringes of the park and lions, leopards and wild dog have to be content with hunting on the drier islands. However, the abundant prey more than makes up for this.

Enjoy a second day exploring the spectacular wildlife of the Moremi Game Reserve. As well as big game, this is an exceptional area for birdwatching particularly during the wetter summer months (December to March).

Enjoy breakfast and a final private game drive. Say goodbye to your private guide and camp crew. Take light aircraft to MAUN and fly home.