Okavango Delta, Chobe & Victoria Falls

Departure every Wednesday

Depart from: Johannesburg, Pretoria Any Backpackers hostel, hotel, guest house

End in: Johannesburg, Pretoria Any Backpackers hostel, guest house, hotel or airport

Day 1: Nata (Botswana) The tour departs early morning from Johannesburg and Pretoria from where we pick clients up from any backpackers hostel, guest house or hotel. Your guide will stop en-route for breakfast (own cost), banks and last minute shopping while still on the South African side of the border. The guide will assist you with changing money after you have crossed the border into Botswana. From where we head further north to Nata, where we camp the night. Accommodation: Camping with the option to upgrade to bedded accommodation. Included meals: Dinner

Day 2: Maun (Botswana) The day starts with an early morning breakfast, before heading west along the northern border of the Kalahari Desert to Maun, a small town on the edge of the Okavango Delta. This is a fairly short drive, which means that we arrive early enough to do all the shopping for things needed in the Okavango Delta. We stay the night at Sitatunga campsite, which is a few kilometers outside Maun.

This afternoon you can relax by the pool & pool bar or visit the crocodile farm where you will see hundreds of Nile crocodiles, ranging from small to 16 foot crocks. Accommodation: Camping with the option to upgrade to bedded accommodation. Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Days 3, 4, 5: Okavango Delta (Botswana) The Okavango Delta must be one of the greatest experiences on offer in southern Africa. The Okavango Delta is a series of flood plains, waterways and rivers, that gets its water from Angola 6 months after the rain season. The Okavango Delta is not only extremely beautiful and peaceful, but also home to a large variety of animal and bird species. The best time to visit the Okavango Delta for game viewing is in the winter months, when the water levels are at its highest. The summer months attract a large variety of bird species and is a wonderful experience with less mammals, as they migrate north to larger quantities of water.

We start the day with a breakfast, before heading into the Okavango Delta with 4x4 open-sided game viewing vehicles which will take us all the way into the park to the edge of the water channels. Here we meet the local guides (polers), and we transfer all the equipment and our personal belongings into mokoros (traditional dug out canoes), which we use to glide down the water channels deeper into the Delta. Camping in the Okavango Delta is an amazing experience in its own. There are no campsites in the concession that we visit, which means that we do free or bush camping. There will be no fences, no running water, no showers, no buildings and no electricity. We camp in the wild with only what we take with us. We enjoy a light lunch after setting up camp. It is normally very warm by this time of the day (especially in the summer), which means that we will have to cool off. The Okavango Delta offers fantastic natural swim pools in the smaller rivers, with white sand and crystal clear water. Every day we will do early morning and late afternoon game walks, searching for as many different animal species as possible. The guides will explain more about all the animals, their tracks, the vegetation and the Delta during these walks. You may have the opportunity to get close (safety first) to wildlife of the Okavango Delta. After dinners you can relax around a campfire, while listening to the nocturnal animals calling out in the night. We often hear elephants rumbling, lions roaring and jackals and hyenas crying out in the night. You start your last morning in the Okavango delta with a cup of coffee before doing your final game walk. After the walk you will enjoy a quick breakfast, break down camp, and then return with the mokoros to the place where the 4x4 vehicles will meet you. Your guide will prepare a light lunch on return to camp in Maun. This afternoon you have the opportunity to do an optional one hour game flight over the Okavango Delta. This is another fantastic experience. It is amazing how much distance the small planes cover in an hour, and how much wildlife you see from the skies during the flight. Remember to take your camera, as you can take good photos during a flight. Accommodation - Days 3 & 4: Free bush camping Accommodation - Day 5: Camping with the option to upgrade to bedded accommodation. Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 6: Nata (Botswana) After breakfast we head to Nata or Elephant Sands (depending on availability and the guide). The afternoon is spent at own leisure. Accommodation: Camping with the option to upgrade to bedded accommodation. Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 7: Chobe National Park (Botswana) An early morning start gets us off heading further north through the Kasane forest where we always see herds of elephants and often see a variety of antelopes and sometimes lion, hyena and wild dog. We arrive mid-day in Kasane where we will be staying at a campsite on the shores of the Chobe River, that is close to the gate of Chobe National Park. You will have the opportunity to change money or / and relax at the swimming pool. This afternoon we do a game drive in an open vehicle inside Chobe national park, which is well known for its large variety and numbers of wildlife. These game drives are always very successful with spotting large numbers of wildlife. Dinner will be served on return to camp. Accommodation: Camping with the option to upgrade to bedded accommodation. Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 8: Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) We depart early morning (at sunrise) on another game drive into Chobe national park, searching for the animals that we have not seen on the previous game drive. Livingstone Trails is the only budget overland tour operator to include two game drives into Chobe national park on a scheduled tour departure. After breakfast we take a short drive to the border where we cross into Zimbabwe. From here we drive another hour to Victoria Falls where we will be staying the next three nights. The camp is situated in the middle of town, within 10 minutes walking distance of just about everything. Your guide will assist you with the bookings of optional activities and changing money. During one of these three days we visit the magnificent Victoria Falls waterfall (included in the tour price), which is one of the seven natural wonders of the world and 1700 meters (1,1 mile) wide, making it the largest sheet of falling water in the world.

Later this afternoon we depart for a sunset cruise on Zambezi river. The river forms the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, with national parks on either side of the river. This creates a great opportunity to see animals coming down to the river for a drink, as well as a reasonable variety of bird life. We often see elephants, zebra, blue wildebeest, rhino, buffalo and a variety of antelope species. Obviously hippo and crocodile are plenty-full in this region. All soft drinks, wine and beer is included while on the boat. Most days you will have fantastic photo opportunities of the sunset, depending on the weather. Accommodation: Camping with the option to upgrade to bedded accommodation. Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Days 9 & 10: Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) Victoria Falls and the surrounding areas offer a great variety of things to see and do. You will have plenty of free time to explore the town, meet the locals, visit the African markets with its wide variety of very affordable arts and crafts made from wood, stone and beads, or to relax by the pool in the heat of the day. The Victoria Falls region is nicknamed the adventure capital of Africa for a reason. It is well known for the large variety of fantastic activities (optional excursions) such as the best one day white water rafting in the word, the 111 meters bungi jump off the bridge between Zimbabwe and Zambia, elephant back and horse safaris, flights over the waterfall, canoe safaris, day trips to national parks, fishing safaris, game walks and much more. Day 10 is dinner out at a local restaurant (own cost). Accommodation: Camping with the option to upgrade to bedded accommodation. Included meals - Day 9: Breakfast, Dinner Included meals - Day 10: Breakfast

Day 11: Palapye (Botswana) We leave Victoria Falls after a light breakfast, crossing back into Botswana and driving south to Palapye, where we stay the night. You will stop for lunch (own cost) on the way. Accommodation: Camping with the option to upgrade to bedded accommodation. Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Day 12: Return to Johannesburg & Pretoria (South Africa) We depart early morning driving further south crossing the border into South Africa. The guide will drop you at any backpackers hostel, hotel, guest house or the airport in Johannesburg & Pretoria. Your guide will stop en-route for breakfast and lunch (own cost). Included meals: No meals included

Included:
All transport
All accommodation
Qualified and registered guide
All camping and other equipment
Meals as specified
Entrance & conservation fees to Okavango Delta
Open vehicle transfers into & out of Okavango Delta
Dug out canoes (mokoros) in the Okavango Delta
Local guides in the Okavango Delta
Game walks inside the Okavango Delta
Entrance & conservation fees to Chobe national park
2 x Chobe national park game drives (open vehicles)
Entrance fees to Victoria Falls waterfall
Sunset cruise on Zambezi river (drinks & snacks incl)

Excluded:
All drinks (except coffee & tea with meals)
Meals not specified
Optional 1 hour game flight over the Okavango Delta
Optional activities in Victoria Falls (Book on tour)
Visas if required

Vehicles used on this tours
In-between destinations Toyota Quantums 12 clients plus 1 guide / driver
Transfers in and out of Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park. Open sided game viewing vehicles 10 clients plus 1 guide / driver
Transport inside the Okavango Delta Mokoro 2 clients plus 1 poler

Important tour / safari information

Participation tours: All tours are participation tours. This means that the clients are responsible for pitching their own tents (except inside Kruger Park), and washing up after every meal, which is social event where people chat and get to know each other. Some guides may ask the clients to assist with the chopping and cleaning of vegetables, while the guide prepares the meals.

Group sizes: We operate a variety of different vehicles. Our largest vehicles seats a maximum of 14 clients. Therefore , except for our open vehicles inside Kruger National Park which are not allowed to seat more than 10 clients. It occasionally happen that we will have two vehicles on the same tour.

What to take on tour: Clothing and personal effects Comfortable shoes for walking Warm clothing for the evenings Basic first aid kit Insect repellent Anti-Malaria medicine Sunblock and cap or hat Comfortable shoes for walking Slip slops or trainers Camera with extra film & batteries Torch with extra batteries

Tent, sleeping bag and roll matt: We provides all the camping equipment including a roll matt with cover that is washed after every tour, and a 2.2 x 2.2 (meters) or 2.4 x 2.4 (meters) tent with built in mosquito netting over the door and windows, as well as a built in floor. You must have a sleeping bag on all of the camping tours, which you can rent from us at R50 per person per tour, if you do not have one of your own. Inside Kruger National Park we have a permanent camp. We do not use roll matts on these tours, but have single bed mattresses with fitted sheets that are washed after tour.

Malaria areas: Many of the areas and destinations in southern and east Africa are malaria areas. It is the responsibility of the client to ensure that you have insect repellent and a course of anti-malaria tablets. Consult your local doctor or pharmacist.

Water: All drinks (except coffee & tea with meals) are excluded from the tour price. All tap water in areas where we do tours to, are 100% safe to drink, and tastes very good. Bottled water is freely available (every day), for those who prefer bottled water.

Laws and clients: We expect our clients to uphold the laws of each country that we visit while on tour. We do not accept any responsibility for any client on our tours, who breaks the laws of any country visited during a tour.

Be considered: Sometimes our guides are asked to stop at local villages along the road, so that clients can take photos. Nothing wrong with that, but then we often see the people just walking into a village taking photos, instead of doing it from the road. Keep in mind that a village will normally be a family living together. How would you feel if a stranger just walks into your yard or home and start taking photos?

Our clients:  All our clients are international travellers from different countries. The ages of our clients range from 18 to 60, with the majority being between 20 and 40. All that we require from our clients is that they must enjoy travelling and be fun-loving people. You do not need to be super fit to participate in any of our included activities or adventures.

Our crew (guides & drivers): All our guides and drivers are registered with the authorities as per government regulations.

Our vehicles:  All game drives inside Kruger National Park will be done in open sided game viewing vehicles.

Our tours: We offer a variety of tours and safaris to a variety of destinations, from 3 days to 16 days. You have the option of camping or lodge (bedded) accommodation, while on any of our tours / safaris.

Important: Before you travel please check your Tour Voucher and Arrival Information for the latest joining instructions. This will be sent to you upon receipt of final payment.

All itineraries are subject to change without prior notice.

Prices for - Botswana Safaris