Botswana & Zimbabwe - Ivory Route

The majestic sight of the mighty Zambezi River plunging over the Victoria Falls, welcomes you to your Zimbabwe and Botswana adventure. We check into our lodge before we explore the falls and tropical rain forest surrounds on foot in the afternoon before heading out to a local restaurant for dinner (own expense).

Hwange National Park is a wildlife jewel, famous for its big game and large herds of elephant. Hwange is home to a wide variety of habitats, from it’s western regions on the edge of the Kalahari through large grass plains to the forested woodland in east Hwange. Our comfortable lodge for two nights is situated on the private concession on the eastern boundary of the park, our time is spent on a full day game drive, in open 4WD vehicles, in the park in search of big game.

The rounded granite boulders and undulating valleys of the Matobos National Park are home to some of the last of the rhino in Zimbabwe. We spend our day on an excursion into the park that includes a game walk to see the rhino, discovering the ancient Bushmen paintings that adorn the rocks, and admiring the landscapes from Worlds View, the site of Cecil John Rhodes’ grave.

This morning we leave Matobos and head west towards the Botswana border, we cross at Plumtree and we make our way to the Nata area for our overnight stop. In the late afternoon we will head out onto the Makgadikgadi Pans, vast saltpans that seem to stretch on to infinity. We will explore the area and have some fun taking photographs before the sunsets golden over the horizon.

Maun’s name is derived from a San word meaning “place of the short reeds” is nestled at the southern end of the Okavango Delta where our lodge overlooks the beautiful Thamalakane River. Here we prepare for our trip into Moremi Game Reserve and our afternoon is free to bird watch along the river, relax around the pool or take a optional scenic flight over the Okavango Delta (own expense).

Startling and unexpected contrasts are created as the waters of the Okavango flood into the drier Kalahari creating the magnificently rich wilderness area with amazing wildlife of the Moremi Game Reserve. Rivers, lagoons, savannah, woodland, Moremi offers some excellent game viewing. With over 400 species of birds, Moremi is also a great place to sight leopard, lion, wild dog, elephant, giraffe and a variety of antelope. We spend our time on game drives in Moremi GR and the surrounding concession along the Khwai River where the lagoons attract the thirsty animals to drink in late afternoon. Our lodge is on the private concession north of Moremi, where our boma overlooks a large pan where we enjoy our meals while watching the animals drinking and enjoy the wilderness far from civilization. On the morning of day 10 we have one last game drive on the concession before heading back to our lodge in Maun.

We drive around the Okavango Delta, and north up to Shakawe where we will board the //Kabbo house boat and embark on a voyage on the Okavango Pan handle. Tranquil reed lined rivers, crystal clear water and abundant bird life. Time to rest, relax and enjoy the views of the Okavango.

Crossing out of Botswana into Namibia and the Mahango Game Reserve. We game drive through the reserve to our lodge on the Kavango River.

The Caprivi Strip is a thin wedge of Namibia, which separates Botswana to the south and Angola in the north. We cross the Caprivi, back into Botswana and head to the town of Kasane and our lodge on the edge of Chobe River. The river attracts large herds of elephant as it flows lazily along the northern boundary of the Chobe National Park. Arguably the best wildlife activity in Southern Africa is the afternoon game-viewing cruise where we hope to see large herds of elephants, crocodile, hippo and other wildlife as they quench their thirst at the end of the day. This is a photographers dream as the magnificent sun set across the river.

Enjoy an optional early morning game drive (own expense) before our last breakfast together. We bid a sad farewell before we embark on a road shuttle transfer to either Kasane airport in Botswana, or Victoria Falls airport in Zimbabwe, in time for midday flight departures. Our tour ends 11:00am.