Botswana & Victoria Falls: Wetlands, Waterways & Waterfalls

This evening you will be flying overnight to Johannesburg, connecting on to Maun in the morning.

You will be met at Maun airport and escorted to the light aircraft hub for a short flight in to the Khwai Concession. You will be met at the airstrip and transferred to Khwai Bush Camp where you will be spending the next 3 nights. A late lunch will be served after which you will have some time to relax before heading out for an afternoon game drive. With all of the wildlife that makes Botswana such a desirable destination, Khwai is the ultimate spot to start off your safari adventure.

The Khwai Concession supports an amazing array of wildlife and is especially good for predator sightings, with lion, leopard and wild dog regular visitors to the region. The choice of activities on offer is the big draw of staying here, with day and night game drives, guided walking safaris and mokoro canoe safaris all on offer. Keen walkers can also pre-book full day walks with a private guide – a truly magical experience and one not to be missed if you like exploring the bush on foot.

The morning and afternoon activity schedule allows for plenty of time to be out exploring, but also gives you the chance to relax and enjoy the stunning surroundings of the camp. The lounge and bar area is a lovely spot to spend an afternoon with a good book taking in the views out over the bush. In the evenings they light a fire on the deck where guests congregate to enjoy a drink and share tales of their day exploring the bush – the perfect prelude to the delicious dinners for which the camp is renowned.

You will be able to enjoy a morning game drive in the Khwai Concession this morning before breakfast in the lodge. You will then be transferred back to the airstrip for a flight up to the Linyanti Region where you will be spending 3 nights at Linyanti Bush Camp, a sister property to Khwai and a wonderfully complementary experience. Enjoy some time relaxing in the camp this afternoon before meeting your guide to head out to explore this incredible part of Botswana.

Game drives, guided walks and mokoro canoe safaris are all on offer in Linyanti, meaning an incredibly varied range of experiences are on offer. The area is a wetland, so you will note how many of the predators have adapted to hunting their prey in the often wet underfoot conditions, meaning some unique wildlife interactions take place. If the weather conditions allow there will also be the chance to book a helicopter flight over the area which offers a completely different perspective on the areas you have been exploring.

In between your activities there is plenty of time to enjoy the wonderful surroundings of the camp and the warm, natural hospitality for which it is renowned. The food is especially good and belies the remote location, with many ingredients sourced from the lodge’s vegetable garden. The swimming pool is a popular spot to soak up the afternoon sunshine and they also have a small gift shop where you can pick up forgotten essentials and mementoes of your trip to beautiful Botswana.

There will be a final morning activity on offer or you can sit back and relax by the pool before being collected and transferred to the airstrip. A short flight will take you to Kasane where you will be met and transferred across the border in to Zambia and on to Thorntree River Lodge, a wonderful spot on the banks of the Zambezi River where you will be staying for the next 3 nights. Enjoy an afternoon sitting on the deck and relaxing after what will have been a very busy but doubtless exhilarating safari.

Thorntree offers an amazing array of activities through which you can explore Victoria Falls and the surrounding area. Of course, guided tours of The Falls are one of the highlights of staying here no matter what time of year you visit, as are sunset boat cruises, canoeing trips and the chance to visit a local village supported by the lodge. You can also head to the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park for more wildlife viewing the chance to see rhino which you won’t have seen in Botswana.

Of course, you will want to spend plenty of time relaxing and enjoying the stunning surrounds of the lodge in addition to exploring. The swimming pool is beautifully located overlooking the river and has plenty of sun loungers for guests to relax on. The spa offers a huge range of treatments so you can be pampered to your heart’s content, whilst the food and wine offering are amongst the finest of any lodge in the region – a reason to head to this stunning lodge in itself.

You will have some time to relax in the lodge this morning and take in the stunning views of the river before you are collected and transferred to Livingstone airport where you will catch a flight to Johannesburg and an overnight connection to your home airport.