9 Day Northern Botswana Safari

Day 1
Today you will meet your flight from Johannesburg to Maun. On arrival in Maun you will board your light aircraft transfer to Deception Valley Lodge for (2) nights on a fully inclusive basis.

Deception Valley Lodge
Discover an oasis in the Kalahari of Botswana not far from the famous Okavango Delta a luxury safari lodge called Deception Valley Lodge. The best African - Kalahari experience, with Bushman at hand, to share their knowledge, while you can relax in total luxury at this unique safari lodge. Combining your visit of the Kalahari with the well-known area of the Okavango Delta in the north and the famous Victoria Falls would ensure that your safari to Africa would remain a treasured memory. The Kalahari, Okavango Delta combination, give the traveller the chance to experience the best of the Kalahari and the Moremi Game Reserve in the Okavango Delta. This delta - desert combination ensures the visitor the experience of the big game roaming in the Moremi Game Reserve of the Okavango Delta and the well-adapted animals found in the Kalahari of Botswana. Bushman remains the highlight at this luxury safari lodge. The Bushman is believed to have inhabited Botswana for at least 30,000 years. Get to know the Bushman's ways of life, survival and hunting skills. Interact with the Bushmen of the Kalahari on one of the Cultural walks with Bushmen at Deception Valley Lodge. At Deception Valley Lodge you can experience the vastness of the Kalahari while enjoying some of the most prolific bird life or do some star gazing at night.

Day 2
At leisure at Deception Valley Lodge.

Day 3
Today you will take a light aircraft transfer back to Maun. Here you will be met and will take another light aircraft transfer to Xigera Camp for (2) nights on a fully inclusive basis.

Xigera Camp
Xigera Camp (pronounced Keejera) is situated in the heart of the Okavango on Paradise Island, within the Moremi Game Reserve. Xigera is a superb, luxury tented camp, located in an area that is surrounded by permanent water. The new Xigera opened in May 2000 and consists of eight new luxuriously furnished walk-in tented rooms, with en-suite facilities, built within a shady forest. Each room is raised off the ground offering superb views of the floodplain to the east of camp and its attractive waterhole. Each guest’s room has a great view directly onto this floodplain. The dining and pub area is under thatch overlooking the river that flows past the front of camp. Activities focus mainly on mokoro rides through the quiet waterways, as well as short walking safaris. Many guests are lucky enough to get good views of the elusive Sitatunga antelope. Game drives are also offered if water levels are low enough, as are boat trips on the river, if water levels are high enough. Game drives are best here in our summer months. Birding in the area is excellent, with Pels Fishing Owl, Slaty Egret and Wattled Crane amongst the many species of birds regularly sighted. Xigera has exclusive rights to this area, providing a tranquil and private setting for its guests. It also has a unique feature: the footbridge in front of camp is the only way predators can cross from island to island without having to swim. A “long-jump pit” has been built with soft sand, which each animal is forced to walk over when they use the bridge. Every evening the sand is raked smooth. Each morning guests are able to read the “newspaper” and see what animals have walked through camp. Almost every night Lion, Hyena and Leopard stroll through camp!

Day 4
On safari at Xigera.

Day 5
Today you will meet your light aircraft transfer to Vumbura Camp for (2) nights on a fully inclusive basis.

Vumbura Luxury Tented Camp
Vumbura (pronounced Vuumbera) is a 16 bedded luxury tented camp situated to the north of Mombo, in a private concession bordering the Moremi Game Reserve in the extreme north of the Okavango Delta. Vumbura offers both water and land activities. Mekoros (dug-out canoes) traverse the flood plains under the guidance of polers from the BaYei tribe, who have been using mekoros as their traditional form of transport for hundreds of years. Boats take guests onto the larger and deeper areas of water (water levels permitting). Open 4x4 Land Rovers allow close proximity to animals in the savanna areas. This is possibly the only area in the Okavango where one can see Red Lechwe from a mokoro in the morning, then a Sable antelope from a game vehicle in the afternoon. Add in Lion, Leopard, Elephant and Buffalo along with all the plains game, and one has an excellent all round game experience in a remote corner of the Okavango. Walks on the islands give guests the opportunity to enjoy Africa from a different perspective. Each one of the rooms has en-suite facilities with hot and cold running water, a shower, and flush toilets. Each room has an outdoor shower under the stars! The main dining, lounge and pub area is tucked beneath a canopy of indigenous trees with a superb view across the floodplain. The camp has a plunge pool. Access into this area is only by aircraft and then by vehicle to camp. if the waters are high in winter, we may have to access the camp by mokoro.

Day 6
On safari at Vumbura.

Day7
Today you will board your light aircraft transfer to Savuti Camp for (2) nights on a fully inclusive basis.

Savuti Camp
Savuti Camp is situated in the Linyanti Reserve along the Savuti Channel in northern Botswana. The camp is built about 17 kilometres ‘downstream’ from the source of the Savuti. The channel stopped flowing in 1980 and what was a Hippo-filled river, is now wide, open grasslands. Savuti Camp is a comfortable eight bedded camp providing accommodation in five large walk-in tented rooms with en-suite facilities. Three of the bathrooms are within the tents and two tents have bathrooms with wonderful open fronts facing onto the Savuti Channel. Each room is raised off the ground on wooden decks. The camp has a thatched dining area, pub and plunge pool, all on raised wooden decks. There is a waterhole close to camp and this attracts large numbers of animals which guests can view from the camp. Activities include game drives in open 4x4 Land Rovers, hides, night drives and walks with an armed guard. Game in the area includes all of Botswana's big game, and is one of the best areas in the country to see predators. There are also good concentrations of plains game in the area.

Day 8
On safari at Savuti.

Day 9
Today you will meet your light aircraft transfer back to Maun Airport. Here you will board your flight back to Johannesburg.