Overview
This trip offers not only the opportunity to visit one of the jewels in Africa’s wildlife photography crowns in the form of Botswana, but also the chance to experience it in the traditional way of a mobile safari: we will be moving camp as we travel from the Khwai/Moremi region on the edge of the magnificent Okavango Delta through iconic places such as Savuti and Chobe National parks and ending up on the shores of the mighty Chobe River itself.
It’s a trip that offers an amazing variety of habitats from dry mopane forests and riverbeds, to lush wet swamplands and waterways. We’ll explore by our own 4WD vehicles throughout, enjoy a boat trip on the Chobe River, have the opportunity for some night drives in one area and all the time be camping under the stars as we go in our comfortable tents with good home cooking and support throughout.
With iconic prides of lion, packs of wild dogs, excellent cheetah country, good cover for a healthy leopard population, hyenas, elephants, giraffe, specialist antelope including red lechwe, sable and roan and over 500 species of bird that we may encounter this really is a classic mobile safari in a fantastic corner of the continent.
Itinerary Open +Close -
Day 1: We will look to catch our overnight flights to Johannesburg – full details/recommendations will be advised nearer the time.
Day 2: On our early morning arrival in Johannesburg, we will look to catch our short connecting flight to Maun, Botswana. We plan to then head to the fringe of the magnificent Okavango Delta area on a short chartered scenic flight as this will give the best possible views of the amazing habitat as well as the chance to take some dramatic aerial images as well. Our initial base will be ion the border of the Kwai community area and Moremi Game Reserve, and we will be based here for 4 nights, so after a busy day’s travel and no doubt some additional photography as we drive to our base, we will be ready for the first night in our mobile camp setup.
Days 3 – 5: We will spend 3 full days in and around the Khwai/Moremi area. It’s one that is particularly good for leopard as well as painted dogs and boasts good numbers of lion prides. When outside the park it is also an area where we can stay out in our vehicles after which provides additional opportunities for dusk and night photography. Elephants come from miles around to drink at pools here and pods of hippos are common too, the latter at the magnificent Dombo Hippo Pools in particular.
The pattern of our days will be similar throughout the whole trip, with early morning wake-up followed by a morning game drive and returning to camp for a late breakfast, rest in the middle of the day and then an afternoon drive through to sunset and night drives on our return to camp.
Day 6: After our morning drive we will again break camp and head slightly further north into the justifiably renowned Savuti region of Chobe National Park and where we will base ourselves here for 5 nights with the first two in the marsh area to the south of Savuti and the latter three more centrally, allowing us time to work the whole region well. It will be immediately apparent that the habitat has changed as this is a much more arid area without the waterways of the delta, but it is an excellent area for game generally with an array of different antelope species and an equally good density of all the big cats and predators.
Days 7 – 10: The Savuti Marsh and Savuti Channel areas were an integral part of the BBC’s Planet Earth series with particular focus on the lion prides here who have learned to hunt elephant, and along with the high densities of hyena to be found here these will almost certainly form a large part of our attention when out on our morning and afternoon game drives, along with cheetah once again as this is prime habitat for them as well. It is also an excellent area for wild dogs and the chances of finding a den are as high here at this time of the year as anywhere we know.
Day 11: After a final morning in Savuti, we will continue our drive northwards into the heart of the Chobe National Park which is topped by the great Chobe River and where we will be based for a final 3 nights.
Day 12: The Chobe area, as well as supporting the full array of species is particularly rich with elephant that regularly make their way to the river each day to cross to the islands to feed as well as drink and bathe. From our base in the centre/east of the park (away from the busier Kasane end) we will be able to explore many stretches of the riverfront which in the afternoon become a Mecca for the many herds of elephant here who come to drink. The woodlands here are also an excellent place to see the rarer sable and roan antelope and we have always enjoyed good lion and leopard sightings here as well.
Day 13: A final mornings drive in the area near our camp and we will then head west through the park and on to the town of Kasane from where we will have a private boat trip on the river to see the elephant, buffalo and array of bird species from a different perspective before settling into our small and comfortable boutique hotel to fully freshen up at the end of the trip and before the journey home.
Day 14: On our final morning, we will return for our flights from Kasane to Johannesburg and from where we will catch our overnight flights back to Europe.
Day 15: Arrive back in the UK/Europe.
What our customers say
“The wild dogs and their pups at the den were an added bonus”.
“Squeezed as much out of the day as possible on photography especially early morning and evening light which was great”.
“The pleasant staff worked really hard throughout to make the time in camp a
welcoming and a pleasure and relaxing. We all remarked how brilliant the food
was”.
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