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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 the wildlife of the 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: Hartbeespoort (South Africa)
We depart early morning driving further south crossing the border into South Africa where we stay the night at a backpackers lodge in the valley below the Magaliesberg mountains, just outside Hartbeespoort town. Your guide will stop en-route for breakfast and lunch (own cost).
Included meals: No meals included
Day 13: Panoramic route - Blyde river canyon (South Africa)
The tour departs early morning from Hartbeespoort. We will stop en-route for breakfast (own cost), after which we continue to Nelspruit (if there are clients to pick up) or alternatively through Dullstroom and Lydenburg to Graskop where we stop for lunch (own cost). After lunch we drive through the panoramic route in the northern Drakensberg mountains, where we stop at God's Window, Bourke Luck Potholes and the third largest canyon in the world - the Blyde River Canyon, where we stop at the Three Rondawels view point.
Accommodation (Camping): Camping at a private lodge
Accommodation (Bedded): Private lodge
Included meals: Dinner
Day 14: Kruger National Park (South Africa)
A very short drive takes us to Orpen gate which is the most central gate to Kruger national park, where we arrive as the gates open. Kruger is home to 147 mammal (including the Big 5), 114 reptile and 502 bird species. You will be transferred to open sided 4 x 4 game viewing vehicles (on arrival at the park) in which we will do game drives. Kruger national park is the same size as Israel, Wales or Netherlands and contains different vegetation types, that attracts different animals to different areas of the park. Therefore we spend as much time on game drives as possible, so that we give ourselves a better chance of seeing different animal and bird species. We concentrate the game drives around the central region of the park, where we have a better chance of seeing the big cats and a large variety of animals.
Breakfast and lunch will be prepared by your guide and enjoyed at one of the many picnic sites inside Kruger national park. The guides will also stop at various view points and hides inside the park.
At sunset you will start with a 3 hour night drive, done in a Kruger national park open sided game viewing vehicle with a Kruger guide.
Accommodation (Camping): Camping inside Kruger national park
Accommodation (Bedded): Private lodge
Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 15: Kruger National Park (South Africa)
We start the day with a cup of coffee or tea, before heading out on a game drive in an open game viewing vehicle shortly after the gates open. You will be on a game drive for the majority of the day, searching for as many animal species as possible. Breakfast and lunch will be enjoyed at picnic sites inside Kruger national park.
Accommodation (Camping): Camping inside Kruger national park
Accommodation (Bedded): Private lodge
Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 16: Return to Nelspruit, Johannesburg & Pretoria (South Africa)
This is our final morning in Kruger national park. This morning you have the opportunity of doing an optional game walk inside Kruger national park with two Kruger park armed guides. Game walks is not about seeing the animals, as you are guaranteed to see much more animals and much closer on a game drive than on a game walk. Game walks are about the smaller things normally not seen from the vehicles.
The clients who are not doing a game walk, will head out on a final short game drive (done in a closed vehicle), searching for the animals not yet seen or photographed.
We then head for a private lodge just outside Kruger national park, where we will enjoy a home cooked breakfast. From here we drive to Johannesburg, Pretoria and Nelspruit where the guide / driver will drop you at any backpackers hostel, hotel, guest house or the airport in Johannesburg.
Included meals: Breakfast
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