You arrive at Maun airport at 1.30pm where you will be met by your driver who will transfer you to Royal Tree Lodge which is a short distance from the town.
.The lodge is situated on the banks of the Thamalakane River with an abundance of wildlife including giraffe, zebra, springbok, ostrich, eland, gemsbok and kudu as well as an extensive variety of bird life.
Your overnight stay will be in one of the well appointed, private and spacious tented chalets and dinner will be served by candlelight on the lodge’s expansive teak deck, is the perfect way to start your safari.
Airport transfers
This morning you can enjoy a 60 minute Helicopter Flight over the Okavango Delta - "Doors Off" for superb photographic opportunities
Your driver will take you back to Maun Airport where you will meet your pilot before enjoying your breathtaking flight over the Delta.
This is a photographic opportunity not to be missed, with doors off the aircraft your vision will be unimpeded and you will be able to take unique images of Botswana's famous wetlands and its wildlife.
You return to Maun Airport where you will board your charter flight to Moremi Game Reserve for the start of your 5 night all inclusive mobile safari
Okavango Delta & Moremi Game Reserve - The Okavango is a unique ecosystem, a river delta located in the middle of the world’s largest stretch of continuous sand – the Kalahari basin. An oasis in an otherwise arid and inhospitable landscape, the Okavango Delta supports an incredible diversity of mammal and birdlife. Where land and water meet, a mosaic of pans, grasslands, forests and lagoons provides an extremely varied range of habitats which is home to one of Africa’s greatest concentrations of wildlife. The Okavango is one of the natural wonders of the world, a still pristine yet fragile ecosystem that richly rewards exploration.
The day starts with the rising of the sun. Your wake-up call will be between 5am and 6am – a gentle “koko” (knock knock in Setswana) at the entrance of your tent. One of the team will be on hand to fill your wash-hand basin with steaming hot water and freshly made tea and coffee will be served around the campfire. A light breakfast will be served before the early morning game drive which consists of tea, plunger coffee, juice, rusks, fruit, cereal, toast and jams. The best time of day to enjoy game viewing is in the early morning and late afternoon as most animals retreat to the shade to rest during the heat of the day. Having spent the morning exploring the surrounding wilderness in search of Botswana’s hidden treasures.
The Moremi Game Reserve lies in the eastern corner of the Okavango Delta. One of the most beautiful and diverse of all the great game reserves of Africa, it protects both huge concentrations of wildlife and incredible scenery. The reserve consists of both seasonally-inundated areas such as Xakanaxa, and drier areas such as Khwai. On this safari, we will set out to reveal some of the secrets of this dynamic ecosystem.
We carry on north today to the beautiful area of Khwai which is sandwiched between Savuti in the north and Moremi in the south. The Khwai River forms a boundary between the reserve and the community area. We will spend the next three nights at a campsite in the community area, exploring the Khwai floodplains on game drives both during the day and at night.
What happens on a moving day? - We will leave camp after breakfast and the crew will pack up the camp and meet us at the next private campsite where you will find your tent re erected and your bags all in place.
En route we will stop for a picnic lunch out in the bush before we continue our journey to our new campsite in the next National Park.
The Khwai area is excellent for both wild dog and leopard although, to be honest, it is excellent for all wildlife species.
The Khwai River is a deep channel that is home to many hippo pods and elephants come here in large numbers to drink and bathe.
In the Khwai reserve you have the opportunity to explore after dark with spotlights which offers you an opportunity to experience some of the nocturnal animals that are rarely encountered during the day and it is dusk when the carnivores are most active. Sightings include porcupines, leopard, lions, owls, grazing hippos and many more species.
The African Bush at night is dark - very dark. Although your tents and the central mess tent will be well lit a head torch can be a useful addition.
With its perennial river, Khwai is an excellent area to see hippos and large Nile crocodiles and is known also for its birds. There is an area of once flooded trees that the elephants have ravaged leaving a tangle of branches and uprooted trunks over a large area. Here is one of the best areas to see leopard as they hunt between the tangle of wood.
Later on today you have the opportunity to enjoy a mokoro ( dug out canoe ) trip along the main river. Your poler is an expert on the area and will help you identify the many birds that feed around the reed beds and it is here that you will see Botswana's famous reed frogs. A tiny but very loud amphibian.
Mokoros - your dug out canoe trip is one of the highlights of the Khwai area. The canoe is very low in the water so you have a real sense of gliding along just a few centimetres from the surface. Just your poler's low voice and the occasional "plop" of the pole in the water breaks the silence.
You have your final game drive this morning before returning to Maun via charter aircraft where you will transfer to your direct flight to Windhoek in Namibia.
Your guide will be there to meet you and drive you the short distance to your overnight accommodation. Olive Grove is a lovely guesthouse and has an excellent restaurant.
We leave Windhoek after breakfast and drive north on the main tar road until we reach the Andersson Gate in Central Etosha where we begin your safari in this world famous wildlife sanctuary. This huge park is home to an amazing diversity of wildlife and just outside the gate lies the Ongava Reserve and our camp for the next two nights - Andersson Camp.
Newly refurbished our lodge has superb glass fronted chalets with extensive decks and the main lodge has both open area seating and a lounge area with one way glass within a few metres of the camp's waterhole.
There is an underground hide at the waterhole which is just a short walk from the main lapa
At Ongava we have a choice of staying within the private reserve which has a wealth of wildlife or driving into Etosha and exploring the central area around Okaukuejo Camp.
We have a whole day today to drive through Etosha to the Eastern Von Lindquist Gate stopping at waterholes all the way.
The Eastern, wildlife rich acacia woodland around Fischer’s Pan. is not only to home some of Etosha’s largest lion prides, cheetah sightings here are frequent, this area is home to the majority of the park’s giraffe and it is one of the best places in Africa to see the world’s smallest antelope, the diminutive Damara Dik-Dik.
In order to explore this area fully we will stay at Onguma Game Reserve for 3 nights. Onguma borders the park and has several waterholes as well as an underground hide.
Within a few kilometres from camp there are several excellent waterholes and two in particular are productive all day. There is a very large hyena clan near one of the waterholes and the members are often seen returning to their den early in the morning. All the main carnivores are often spotted in this area and cheetah are often seen hunting around Fischer’s Pan. Good area for lion, hyena, leopard, cheetah, elephants, black rhino, damara dik-dik, all plains game, warthogs and mongooses. Flamingos and pelicans can be seen in Fischer’s Pan after the rains
Early mornings will give us the best opportunities to try and find cheetah who hunt along the Pan's Edge on the road to Twee Palms. From this waterhole The Fort is easily visible and you will see elephant tracks on the pan that cross between Etosha and Onguma.
Evening drives are best spent at two productive waterholes,: Chudop is good both early morning and all day for herbivores, especially giraffe. For the last hour Klein Namutoni waterhole is often very rewarding and has perfect photographic light and offers the added bonus of a perfect African sunset on the way back to camp
After a final game drive we leave the peace and quiet of Etosha and head south on the tar road until we reach the gates to Okonjima. The lodge lies a further 24km into the middle of the mountains and it is here we will spend our last night searching for some of the Africa’s biggest carnivores. On our game drives out in the 54,000 reserve we will have the opportunity to track leopard and brown hyena with the aid of a telemetry and visit the Africat Foundation. With its magnificent rooms, excellent cuisine and genuine conservation story, Okonjima is always a highlight of any trip to Namibia
Okonjima is not only a luxury lodge and a wonderful place to spend your last night in Namibia it is also home to the AfriCat Foundation.
Africat is a non-profit organisation set up to support conservation through education and to help secure the future of Namibia's endangered carnivores.
With opportunities to track leopard in the 54,000 acre reserve and the new Endangered Wildlife Trail. Okonjima gives you chances to see some of Africa's rarely seen animals such as brown hyena, aardwolf, aardvark and pangolin
Whilst staying at the lodge you will be able to actively observe part of this programme and understand how Africat aims to protect and rehabilitate these endangered carnivores.
At the Carnivore Care Centre you will have the opportunity to photograph cheetah in their natural habitat within their large enclosures while your guide explains in detail how the programme works.
AM and PM activities in the 54,000 acre reserve
You have the option this morning to enjoy your last morning trail or enjoy a relaxed morning before we head back to Windhoek Airport in good time for your onward flight
