Upon arrival at Cape Town Harbour off the Cunard, you will be met by your driver, who will transfer you to your hotel, where you spend two nights. You can leave your bags at reception and then join the Hop On Hop Off City Bus Tour.

Explore the Mother City and the Fairest Cape – from the oldest buildings in South Africa to trendy waterfront shopping; from majestic Table Mountain to sun drenched beaches; and from dramatic seascapes to verdant vineyards. Cape Town regularly tops many lists of world must-visit destinations and Cape Town’s iconic Table Mountain has recently been voted one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Cosmopolitan and fashionable, the relaxed atmosphere and pavement café culture give Cape Town a Southern European feel – but with a distinctive African twist.

After breakfast, you check out and your driver will meet you in reception. From here you are transferred to the Cape Town Airport for your flight to Maun, Botswana.

Here you will be met by our representative, who will assist you to your light aircraft for your flight into the Okavango Delta. On arrival at the airstrip, you are met by your ranger and transferred to Shinde Camp, where you spend three nights.

Flight time: Cape Town to Maun – ± 2½ hours
Flight time: Maun to Shinde Camp – ± 20 minutes

The Okavango Delta in Botswana with its richly diverse wildlife species is one of the premium destinations in the world for a dynamic safari experience. This 22,000 square kilometre area offers a truly unique wilderness safari in Africa. The Delta forms where the Okavango River disappears beneath the sands of Botswana. Although the periphery is semi-arid, the Okavango Delta itself is a patchwork of cool clear streams, lagoons, floodplains and forested islands. In the dry winter season vast numbers of wildlife flock to where the floodwaters infiltrate the delta, providing one of the world’s most spectacular sights.

The world-renowned Moremi Game Reserve covers part of the Delta and is known as the ‘predator capital of Africa’. It is also home to the Big Five and large herds of elephant and buffalo. Famed for its big cat and bird population, the Delta is a peaceful haven where animals have been protected for decades. Watch giraffe and other plains game march across the savannah. You might even catch a glimpse of rare wild dogs stalking the plains.
Wide grassy floodplains are host to a magnificent array of wild animals, including the specially adapted sitatunga and lechwe antelopes. Within this lacework of channels, game viewing and bird watching is frequently guided from mokoro (dugout canoes) or more commonly, environmentally-friendly fibreglass replicas. In these slender flat-bottomed craft, guests are propelled by expert polers, many of whom were born in the Okavango Delta and know the winding waterways and their inhabitants intimately.

After your morning game activity and breakfast, your ranger will transfer you to the airstrip for your light aircraft transfer to Savute airstrip. On arrival at the airstrip, you will be by your ranger and transferred to the lodge, where you spend three nights. You have time to settle into your room, enjoy High Tea and then depart for your afternoon game activity.

Flight time: Okavango Delta to Savute – ± 30 to 45 minutes
Transfer time: Savute Airstrip to your lodge – ± 20 minutes

The Savuti area forms part of the southern section of the Chobe National Park on Botswana’s North West border and links up to the Okavango Delta & Moremi Game Reserve.

This pristine wilderness of open plains, baobab trees, ancient woodland, swamps and flood plains, is home to the greatest concentration of game in the entire southern African subcontinent.

The Savuti Channel has a fascinating history of flooding and drying up independently of good rainy seasons and flood levels elsewhere – a mystery that has intrigued geologists and other researchers for many years. It is generally believed that tectonic activity deep below the Kalahari’s sand bed is responsible. Others argue that its flow is primarily dependent upon the rainfall in the Angolan highlands which feeds the Okavango and Chobe River basins and the channel.

In 2008, the Savuti Channel, having been dry for many years, once more became a deep, clear waterway harbouring Hippo and other aquatic life with a large variety of waterbirds.

Wildlife, from plains game to predators, has had to adapt to a new source of water and all the opportunities and menaces it has brought with it. How long will it be before the water dries up again? Judging from historical records it could be more than a hundred years or less than ten.

The dead Camelthorn trees on the Savuti Marsh have become one of the most prominent features of the landscape – skeletons of trees drowned in the flood-waters at least 40 years ago. The shallow basin of the Mababe Depression is now the waterless bed of an ancient lake and the marsh itself is grassland that is home to large numbers of animals. The western edge of Savuti is formed by the Magwikhwe sand ridge, which is approximately 100 km long and 20 m high. This is the ancient shoreline of a super-lake that once covered most of Northern Botswana. It is hard to imagine that this harsh, dry landscape was once submerged under an enormous inland sea. Another part of the Savuti is characterised by the Gubatsa Hills, which were formed millions of years ago during volcanic movement. These hills rise to a height of about 90 meters out of an otherwise completely flat landscape.

Birdlife is also amazing, with Secretary Birds and Kori Bustards often seen around the Savuti Marsh. Summer migrants and water birds include Abdim’s Storks, Carmine Bee-eaters, Fish Eagles. Red-billed Queleas, which gather in their thousands, are a spectacular sight as they wheel and turn in unison.

After breakfast and your morning activity, you will be transferred to the Savute Airstrip for your light aircraft flight to Kasane Airport. On arrival at the airport, you will be met by your driver and from here transferred across the border to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, where you spend two nights. The afternoon is at leisure.

Flight time: Savute to Kasane – ± 30 to 45 minutes
Transfer time: Kasane to Victoria Falls – ± 2 hours

Today is at leisure and you can explore the Victoria Falls. You can also take a walk into the village and shop for a few local curios.

The Victoria Falls is considered to be the largest waterfall in the world. See the mighty Zambezi River as it thunders over the 1700 metre wide Victoria Falls and plunges 100 metres into a narrow gorge below. The great columns of spray rising from the tumultuous falls can be seen from 80 kilometres away on a clear day. If you are lucky enough to be there at full moon, a “moonbow” can be seen in the spray instead of the usual daylight rainbow.

The Victoria Falls is located on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, and travellers can access the falls through either the town of Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe side or from Livingstone in Zambia.
The Falls’ local name, Mosi-Oa-Tunya – “the Smoke that Thunders” – more accurately defines the essence of the place: the rising, shining spray that can be seen 30km away. This vapour has the effect of adding moisture in the form of humidity to the air in the “splash zone”, so that a unique, small rainforest ecosystem clings to the edge of the Falls, providing a toehold for no less than 70 shrub and 150 herbaceous species, as well as trees such as pod and Natal mahogany, ebony, Cape and strangler fig and Transvaal red milkwood.

This morning your driver will meet you in reception. From here you are transferred across the border into Botswana. You will be dropped off at the Immigration office in Botswana and after clearing through here, you are transferred to the Namibian Immigration. From here you are transferred via tender boat to the Chobe Princess, where you check in and spend two nights on the houseboat.

Experience the tranquil sights and quiet sounds of river life aboard the Chobe Princess – a luxury houseboat that takes small groups of guests along the Chobe River, docking each night at a unique location. Sleep soundly as the water gently laps at the boat, and listen for the faint sounds of grumbling hippo or elephant, and the occasional roar of a far-off lion.

Water-based game viewing in Chobe National Park has never been more luxurious or comfortable – sip on a drink in the plunge pool while nature passes by, and have the pleasure of viewing elephants, hippo, crocodiles and birdlife from large glass windows in the comfort of your own suite. After finding the perfect location to spend the night, you are invited to embark on angling, game viewing or sunset cruises on one of the smaller tender boats tethered to the Chobe Princess, before returning in the evening for a three course meal.

The Chobe River is flanked by Botswana on one side and Namibia on the other, and is also close to the Zambian and Zimbabwean border, allowing easy access to the Chobe Princess from a variety of destinations, including the nearby Victoria Falls.

Chobe National Park on Botswana’s North West border is a pristine wilderness of open plains, baobab trees, ancient woodland, swamps and flood plains and is home to the greatest concentration of game in the entire southern African subcontinent. One of Africa’s most beautiful rivers, the Chobe River forms the Park’s northern boundary. The Chobe riverfront area is most famous for its large herds of elephants and buffalo, which come down to the river in huge herds to drink during the dry winter months. During this season, one may see hundreds of elephants at one time. Other species include waterbuck, lechwe, puku (this is the only part of Botswana where they can be seen), giraffe, kudu, roan and sable, impala, warthog, bushbuck, monkeys and baboons, along with the accompanying predators lion, leopard, hyena and jackal. Over 460 bird species have been recorded in the park, making it one of Africa’s premier venues for bird Safaris. A highlight of Chobe is taking a river cruise, which allows you to get up close with hippo, crocodile and a mind-boggling array of water birds. You also get really close to animals that come down to the river.

After your morning leisure activity and breakfast, you are transferred back to Kasane via tender boat to both Namibian and Botswana Immigration. From here you are dropped off at Kasane Airport, where you connect with your flight to Johannesburg. On arrival in Johannesburg, you are met by your driver and from here transferred to your hotel, where you spend the night.

Johannesburg, South Africa’s biggest city and 2nd largest city in Africa, with more than 3 million people, began as a 19th-century gold-mining settlement. It was established as a small village controlled by a Health Committee in 1886 with the discovery of an outcrop of a gold reef on the farm Langlaagte. The population of the city grew rapidly, becoming a municipality in 1897. In 1928 it became a city making Johannesburg the largest city in South Africa. Joburg, or Jozi as some prefer to call it, offers visitors an experience as unique and diverse as the city itself.

Today is at leisure. Your driver will meet you in reception for your transfer to OR Tambo Airport, where you connect with your flight home.