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After arriving in Livingstone you will be met by a representative, you start off on a high note with a guided tour of the Victoria Falls, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. With a width of 1708 metres, it is the largest curtain of water in the world and the falls drop 103 metres into the sheer Zambezi Gorge.
We stay at Chundukwa River Lodge on the banks of the Zambezi River. The Lodge is 25km upstream from the mighty Victoria Falls with elevated open-fronted chalets that blend in with the surroundings. Enjoy the beautiful views of the mighty Zambezi, the Zambezi National Park (on the opposite bank) and an island called Chundu Island. Chundukwa accommodates a maximum of 10 guests in camp at any time. This ensures a personal and private experience.
Sightings of hippo and crocodile are spotted regularly. The setting of the lodge is a birders dream, with an abundance of birdlife around the lodge and on the Zambezi.
After breakfast, you depart Zambia and enter Botswana's Chobe National Park. The borser is at a point where 4 countries meet - Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
We enjoy a relaxed boat cruise on the Chobe River, with a light lunch. This river cruise offers a unique opportunity to observe puku, large herds of elephant, numerous pods of hippo and large crocodiles. The area also supports a diverse birdlife.
Our safari takes us to the Linyanti region by road. This interesting drive allows us an insight into the rural way of life along the northernmost tip of Botswana. The journey includes beautiful views across the Chobe and Linyanti Rivers into Namibia's Caprivi Strip. As we come closer to the Linyanti, we enjoy a game drive that takes us to our set up Linyanti Adventurer Camp.
This part of the Linyanti is famed for its myriad of changing landscapes, from riverine to savannah and from forest to plains.
The Linyanti region's life-giving perennial waters attract herds of wildlife that slake their thirst in the dry season. Predators are always close by, which makes for exciting wildlife viewing.
Over the next two days you will stay at the Linyanti Adventurer Camp in spacious and comfortable dome tents. Enjoy early morning activities that explore the changing landscapes in the Linyanti. Relax in hammocks after a hearty lunch next to the tranquil waterways.
The water ensures great game viewing year round.
Today we enjoy an early morning game activity before breakfast. Then we drive to the airstrip for a light aircraft transfer to our next destination - Khwai Adventurer Camp, located in a private concession just north of the Khwai River above the Moremi Game Reserve.
The Khwai Concession is one of the most diverse areas in northern Botswana which generally produces exceptional wildlife experiences. The life source for this area is the Khwai River - the northernmost "finger" of the Okavango Delta, which provides a vital life source to the wildlife in this area.
This area offers a wide range of exciting wildlife habitats - some of the most varied to be found in the entire Okavango Delta: a combination of wetland, forests, floodplain and grasslands. The narrow Khwai Channel is home to large mammals such as hippo and crocodile with herds of buffalo and red lechwe often seen grazing along the fringe. The 'picture beautiful' woodland found along the rivers edge provides sanctuary to birds, a variety of primates and leopard. Our activities mainly focus on the diverse wildlife - we enjoy day and night game drives, nature walks and mokoro excursions (seasonal).
As we explore the areas that lie away from the river we find a mix of acacia and leadwood trees that leads into mopane woodland. The mopane trees, in combination with the permanent water of the Khwai River, ensures a year round presence of large numbers of elephant. The predators regularly seen include lion, wild dog and spotted hyaena. The birdlife thrives in this paradise of varied habitats.
A short flight by light aircraft takes us to the Xigera area - water-filled paradise in the Moremi Game Reserve. Xigera is the an exceptional experience. The Okavango Delta's serene waters flow through a maize of channels around remote islands. The plant and birdlife are spectacular.
The best way to discover the Okavango Delta is by mokoro, on foot and by camping out on an island - all part of the Xigera Mokoro Trails. This is a water wonderland and this part of our journey focusses on the permanently flooded inner Delta, in the serene waterways and on the islands of trees and bush.
Activities include mokoro and walking safaris on remote islands, which enable up-close encounters with an excellent diversity of birdlife (including Pel's Fishing-Owl), frogs and some game species, some specially adapted to water, such as the familiar red lechwe. Walking activities vary in length and duration depending on the height of the Okavango's peak flood (especially from June to August).
We bid farewell to the Okavango Delta and the wilds of Botswana as we transfer by light aircraft to Maun Airport.
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(from 23 January 2011 to 29 December 2011)
The Migration Routes concentrates on the savannah ecosystem. Visiting the Kalahari Desert is an ideal opportunity to experience a very different ecosystem while in Botswana. This extension links effortlessly after certain Migration Routes departures, adding a three-night stay at Deception Valley, Central Kalahari Game Reserve.
During the winter months (May to August), the Kalahari is typically a desert-like ecosystem, mostly warm and dry. Game viewing is good with the animals moving into the vegetated dunal belt and pan systems surrounding the valleys. A collection of ecologically placed waterholes attracts wildlife and enhances the viewing. Gemsbok (oryx), springbok and blue wildebeest are common in the Kalahari. Exceptional lion sightings are possible as predator concentrations can be good. The Kalahari is known for some of the best cheetah viewing in Africa. Leopard and wild dog are also spotted with black-backed jackal and bat-eared fox occuring regularly. Other mammal possibilities include red hartebeest, giraffe and steenbok. The very social meerkats (suricates) and ground squirrels also ensure for lots of entertainment. |
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