On arrival at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, you clear customs and immigration. You then make the short walk across the road to the Intercontinental Hotel, where you will spend the night. The hotel is located directly opposite international arrivals.
The balance of the day is at leisure.
Overnight - Intercontinental Hotel
After breakfast at the hotel you return to the airport and check in for your flight to Maun.
On arrival at Maun Airport, you will be met and transferred by road to Meno A Kwena. The transfer will take about 2 hours.
Meno a Kwena is a hidden gem of a camp perched on a rocky clifftop above the Boteti River in Botswana. With a glittering roster of activities, including day trips to the Makgadikgadi Pans, guided walks with the San bushmen, and wildlife-watching boat trips, there’s plenty to get your teeth into.
On arrival at camp you settle in before heading out on your first game viewing activity.
You return to the lodge for dinner.
Overnight - Meno a Kwena
All meals, selected beverages, laundry and scheduled game viewing activities
If you were to go on a game drive around the Makgadikgadi Pans and look for a picture-perfect picnic spot, then it would be Meno’s exact location, perched above the river bend, gazing down at the wildlife. But when you’re staying at Meno a Kwena, game viewing isn’t just a snatched hour over lunch; it’s all day. Just sit back on the veranda and watch the zebra and antelope from your cliff-top position (G&T optional).
Meno also has a great mix of bush birds in camp, waterbirds by the river, and desert species as you head on a drive. The camp also has an abundance of owls, including barred and Verreaux’s.
If you can drag your eyes away from the view, hop on a game drive to find desert-adapted animals that can’t be found elsewhere in Botswana. There’s an antelope with comically twisted horns and a remarkable desert elephant. The rumble of hooves heralds the arrival of Africa’s second-largest migration. A stonking spectacle of 30,000 zebra and wildebeest migrate across the Makgadikgadi Pans alongside other hooved beasties. As the pans dry from April onwards, the zebra complete their journey at the river in an explosion of black and white stripes, followed closely by the predators: lion with their impressive black manes, leopard and cheetah using the surrounding bushes as cover, packs of wild dog, and mischievous jackal.
Overnight: Meno a Kwena
All meals, selected beverages, laundry and scheduled game viewing activities
After an early morning activity and breakfast before being collected and transferred by road to Camp Kalahari. This transfer will take about 4 hours.
The laidback little sister of Jack’s and San Camp, Camp Kalahari is one of only three camps in a one million-acre private wildlife reserve of the great Kalahari. Set amongst the waving palms and acacia trees of Brown Hyena Island, the camp is an ideal base for discovering the charms of the desert and the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, a landscape that’s as surreal as it is sublime, and as mysterious as it is magical.
You arrive in time to settle in an enjoy high tea, before and afternoon activity.
Return to the lodge for dinner.
Overnight - Camp Kalahari
All meals, selected beverages, laundry and scheduled game viewing activities
Brown Hyaena Island, the palm-dotted island that Camp Kalahari calls home, took its name from ... the brown hyaena. Bashful yet brilliant at foraging and scavenging, this is the third rarest large carnivore in Africa and an animal that’s virtually impossible to see elsewhere on the continent. But that’s just the beginning of what you might see in the Makgadikgadi: look out for bat-eared foxes, aardvark and aardwolves scampering across the salt, elephants plodding through on their nomadic journey (the swimming pool is a welcome refreshment stop!), and dazzling numbers of zebra and wildebeest.
And where there’s a zebra, a predator will never be far away, so keep an eye out for cheetahs and lions close on the hooves of the herds.
Not to be forgotten are our cheeky, habituated meerkats, a constant source of amusement and a regular feature of a safari at Camp Kalahari.
Activities include:
- Up-close encounters with the habituated meerkats
- Join the Zu/’hoasi Bushmen on bush walks through the desert
- Take game drives and night drives in custom built 4x4s to see the unique desert wildlife
- Embark on an adventurous two-hour horseback safari (for all levels of riders; additional charge). Multi-day riding safaris are also available for experienced riders
Overnight - Camp Kalahari
All meals, selected beverages, laundry and scheduled game viewing activities
After an early morning activity you drive back to Maun, a four-hour transfer.
Once you're at Maun Airport, you board your light aircraft for the 25-minute flight over the Delta to Khwai airstrip.
On arrival at the airstrip, you guide will meet you and transfer you to Little Sable Camp, a 30 minute drive.
Little Sable provides an authentic and rich Okavango safari experience. This intimate, tented safari camp is located amid the shimmering grasslands of the Khwai Private Reserve, one of the best-managed private concessions in the greater Okavango Delta. There’s something to see around every corner and a different activity to enjoy every day, from classic game drives to mokoro trips and boat safaris.
Enjoy a delicious afternoon tea, followed by an afternoon game drive. You return to camp for dinner.
Overnight - Little Sable Camp
All meals, selected beverages, laundry and scheduled game viewing activities
The varied habitats of Khwai support an equally impressive cast of animals, and all the stars of the wildlife show are present – as well as a few extras. The wetlands and rivers host impressive quantities of lechwe, hippos and crocodiles, whilst on dry land, big cats lurk along treelines and sometimes right through camp.
Sable, roan, impala, and kudu dot the grasslands, alongside giraffe and zebra, an abundance of elephant and buffalo, and of course, the occasional jackal. The birdlife is fantastic and guests can expect everything from giant eagle owls to lilac-breasted rollers.
Khwai also has an excellent reputation for the rarer species of the African savannah, including wild dogs, serval cats, honey badgers, and the elusive pangolin.
You have the next two days at Little Sable.
Overnight - Little Sable Camp
All meals, selected beverages, laundry and scheduled game viewing activities
After a game drive and breakfast, you will head back to the airstrip for your light air flight to Duke's Camp. This is a quick 20-minute hop. The time of the flight will be advised to you the previous evening.
On arrival you will be met at the airstrip and transferred to camp.
Duke’s Camp draws its inspiration from the crystal-clear channels of the Okavango Delta, which wind sinuously around this permanent camp. The camp is named in honour of Sarefo ‘Duke’ Sarefo, the custodian of this bountiful piece of wilderness. Duke was born 80 years ago on the very island that the camp now occupies, and his ancestral roots run deep into these sandy soils.
Enjoy high tea on the main deck, then head out on your evening game drive.
Return to camp for dinner.
Overnight - Duke's Camp
All meals, selected beverages, laundry and scheduled game viewing activities
Where the prey goes, the predators will follow. And with the high carrying capacity of this concession, guests can look forward to impressive wildlife sightings throughout the year. Lush grasslands sustain large herds of herbivores – including African buffalo – while the Okavango’s iconic elephants are abundant here, with guests often enjoying thrilling sightings on vehicle, mokoro, and boating excursions.
This diverse habitat is also exceptional in sustaining a diversity of wildlife, from healthy populations of herbivores to leopards, lions, African wild dogs and smaller carnivores, including serval and caracal. In fact, this corner of the Okavango Delta is said to have some of the highest concentrations of lions in the Delta.
The birdlife in this region is equally remarkable, with more than 350 species recorded in the region. The trademark cry of the African fish eagle is the soundtrack to many a game drive as twitchers tick dozens of new species off their life list.
You have two days at Duke's enjoying day and afternoon into evening game drives, mokoro excursions (restricted in the dry season).
Overnight - Duke's Camp
All meals, selected beverages, laundry and scheduled game viewing activities
Today you bid farewell to the Okavango Delta and head back to Maun by light air transfer. You are met on arrival and transferred to Thamo Telele.
Thamo Telele is a safari lodge located within a 250-hectare private game reserve on the outskirts of Maun, the iconic safari town which is the gateway to the Okavango Delta.
where you have the opportunity to not only meet their resident giraffe but experience Botswana beyond wildlife and go on a cultural tour of the safari town of Maun. You’ll get great insight into the rich history and culture here and see, touch, smell, taste and enjoy the richness of life in this vibrant little place.
Dinner at Thamo Telele.
Overnight - Thamo Telele
All meals, selected beverages, laundry and scheduled game viewing activities
Today, you have a leisurely morning before being transferred back to the airport for your flight to Johannesburg.
On landing in Johannesburg, you check in for your home bound flight and depart Africa.
End of arrangements
Breakfast