Camping Tours
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12-Day Southern African Highlights Safari
| Details: | This is a comprehensive tour that would see you cover a lot of Southern Africa’s most popular and sought-after destinations in only two weeks. This safari offers exceptional wildlife viewing, as well as unique historical, cultural, and geological experiences. | |
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| Departures: | Any day of the week. | |
| Price: | Starting from as low as N$49,700 pp sharing. | |
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Itinerary Details
Along the wild and deserted land of Namibia, the Etosha National park lies as one of the popular and magnificent nature reserves. Housing the rare, the endangered and endemic and the common species, wildlife at Etosha creates unique biodiversity to explore. The entire region of Etosha national park is known for the thick vegetation and the grassland that makes it an ideal habitat for elephants and the giraffes. You will be collected at 08:00, as our journey takes us to the northern part of Namibia. A lengthy drive to the Etosha National Park this morning will see us traversing farmland, with a few stops in towns of Okahandja, Otjiwarongo and Outjo. Etosha National Park is one of southern Africa’s most stand-out safari destinations because it is so unique, as the name, “Etosha,” translates locally to “Great White Place.” The name of the park is derived from the Etosha pan which accounts for 23-25% of the national park area. We begin to explore the area as we depart for our first official game drive in the Etosha National Park with our vehicle, attempting to spot all of our favorite animals!
We get a little more acquainted with the routes around the southwestern and north-eastern end of the Etosha National park. The eastern third of the 22 000 square kilometre national park (8 600square miles) is the Etosha Pan. Visible from space and considered one of the most inhospitable places on the planet, the pan is 130km (81miles) long and 50km (31miles) wide in some areas. Nothing can survive out there except for the dust devils that have free reign of the great, flat, white expanse. The majority of the park is thus arid, and sparse with plant life making it easy to see free roaming wildlife of the area from far away. The salt pans and abundance of salt splattered into the desert landscapes attracts animals who are in search of the nutrients, and the wildlife takes advantage of frequent visits to lick the salt concentrated places. Etosha hosts one of the largest populations of large game species in all of Africa; more than 100 mammal species and 340 different species of birds are found here.
In the western part of the park, 5 natural and 27 artificial water holes are found, whereas 29 natural and 12 artificial water holes are found in the eastern part of the park. These form the livelihood for the animals in the Etosha and also serve tourists for game viewing. Today we depart to our next destination in the later hours of the morning, as our guests will enjoy a final drive through the park until we exit this sanctuary via the Lindequist Gate on the eastern end of the park. We continue heading east to the Grootfontein area. A farmer had discovered a 66-ton iron meteorite in 1920, the largest single meteorite ever found, and the largest piece of iron ever found near Earth’s surface. It is tabular in shape and about 9ft (2.7m) long, 9ft (2.7m) wide and about 3ft (0.9m) thick. It was given the name “Hoba” because it was discovered on a farm named “Hoba West” 20km (12.4miles) west of Grootfontein. Hoba is thought to have fallen to Earth about 80,000 years ago. A local guide will familiarize us with this site before we arrive at our camp in the late afternoon. Our camp is a cozy place, and we’ll enjoy a lovely dinner here at the restaurant.
Our camp was started in 1995 and was built for Cattle Farming and Tourism as the main industries. We leave this lovely place as we head north-east to Namibia’s panhandle area. Our base for this evening will be the remarkable lodge, which offers something completely different and unique from what the campers are accustomed to. The camp was built on an island in the northern reaches of the Okavango Delta panhandle in the Caprivi strip of Namibia and offers En-suite treehouses where your feet are ‘in’ nature – on the river. Here we will have a chance to spot hippos in the famous Okavango River from your tree houses and matchless bush huts. Our dinner will be at the delightful dining area overlooking the Okavango river.
We’ve taken the liberty to book you on a birding safari this morning, after which you can enjoy a lovely breakfast before we set out the town of Kasane in Botswana. Forming the northern boundary of the Chobe National Park as well as much of Botswana’s border with Namibia’s Caprivi Strip, the Chobe River is an integral part of the Botswana safari experience and combines easily with the Okavango Delta and Kalahari. Herds of elephant and buffalo move between the woodlands of Botswana’s Chobe National Park and the vast grassland floodplains across the river in Namibia and a thriving tourism industry has developed. Tonight, we will enjoy another lovely dinner in Kasane.
The Chobe National Park has one of the greatest concentrations of game in all of Africa. You are booked for a game drive in this famous park early this morning. We will cross the border into Zimbabwe in the late morning hours, as we set off from Kasane after a late breakfast. Our destination for today is the world-renowned Victoria Falls, one of the seven wonders of the natural world. ‘No one can imagine the beauty of the view from anything witnessed in England. It had never been seen before by European eyes; but scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight.’ David Livingstone upon his discovery of Victoria Falls in 1855 This afternoon your guide will assist in booking the many optional activities available in Victoria Falls. These include ziplining, white-water rafting, sunset cruises, bungee jumping, crocodile cage diving, lion walks, other excursions on the Zambezi river. This afternoon will be a relaxed one, and exploring the town Victoria Falls, and curio shopping is recommended. Dinner tonight will be at a local restaurant. Today will be action-packed with activities of all sorts. The adrenaline junkies can indulge in activities like the bungee jumping, gouge swings, crocodile cage diving and white-water rafting, while the others can enjoy the finer and more relaxing activities like scenic flights over the falls, game drives, lion walks, elephant interactive safaris and much more. A short walk for some High Tea at the Victoria Falls Hotel is a great idea, with this grand Five Star hotel which boasts impressive views of the Victoria Falls Bridge and the magnificent Victoria Falls themselves. If it is Colonial grandeur you are looking for, then the Victoria Falls Hotel really is the perfect place. It is a wonderful place to relax and enjoy the breath-taking scenery. Dinner this evening will be at a local restaurant, perhaps the unique Boma Restaurant.
We make our way back into Botswana again this morning, as we say our goodbyes to Victoria Falls after breakfast. Our accommodation for this evening is situated in Botswana’s beautiful Makgadikgadi Salt Pans area. Makgadikgadi Pans Landscape is located in the north-east of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and south-east of the Okavango Delta. It is linked to Okavango Delta by the Boteti River and supplied with water from Zimbabwe by the ephemeral Nata River. The Makgadikgadi Pans is a place like no other place on earth. Mile upon mile of shimmering white salt pan stretches endlessly to the horizon. The pans are the relics of Africa’s ‘super-lake’ that covered the Kalahari several million years ago and are littered with the fossils of the changing ecosystems that followed. Nowadays, the wildlife is both hardy and highly nomadic. Meerkats, mongooses, brown hyena, aardvark and aardwolf are present all year round. You have been booked for a sunset drive to the Makgadikgadi Pans this afternoon. Dinner will be at the lodge.
Maun, the tourism capital of Botswana lies on the southern fringes of the Okavango Delta and is one of the famous tourist attractions in Botswana. The city of Maun is the third largest in Botswana and it is a perfect mix of modern buildings and native huts. Maun is famously known as the ‘gateway to the Okavango Delta’, but Maun is also the administrative centre of Ngamiland District and the seat of power of the Batawana people. We make our way to the busy town of Maun this morning. As the tourism capital of Botswana, Maun is home to the headquarters of numerous safari and air-charter operations that run trips to and from the Okavango Delta.
Chief’s Island is famous for its game concentrations and rightly so. There are many large herds of impala, red lechwe, zebra, wildebeest and buffalo whilst tsessebe, giraffe and reedbuck are also often seen. Warthogs seem to be everywhere, as do big troops of baboon, vervet monkeys and banded mongoose. The lagoons are home to surprisingly large crocodiles and a number of noisy hippos. This 2-Day Chief’s Island trip departs from our accommodation early this morning, as this trip heads north for approximately 45 minutes by boat to the Boro village. Once past the village you enter game viewing mode for the rest of your journey. Depending on where our campsite is situated, and what game sightings you experience along the way, this trip should take approximately 3-5 hours with a packed breakfast and lunch en route. On arrival at our campsite the activities will include setting up camp and preparing for the night, with a late afternoon/sunset cruise returning to camp in time to prepare the evening meal and sit around the fire appreciating our surroundings.
This morning, after enjoying a wholesome breakfast, embark on the return journey to Maun. Enjoying the channel’s game and bird viewing en-route back to Maun. Ghanzi, which is popularly known as “The capital of the Kalahari” and is undoubtedly one of Botswana’s most intriguing towns, situated in the middle of nowhere and separated from the rest of the world by hundreds of kilometers of roads. The Kalahari Desert forms part of a huge sand basin, which extends from the Orange River in the north of South Africa all the way through Botswana and into Angola. To the west it deviates into Namibia and to the east all the way into Zimbabwe. It is semi-desert and does support some wildlife, as some of it is not true desert. There are small amounts of rainfall each year. The Kalahari is raw, authentic, and always worth a visit. No matter which time of year you choose to explore it, or how many times you have visited it before. We will continue our journey west toward Ghanzi, passing through a few villages along the way.
This morning requires an early start. We set off after breakfast from Ghanzi today to make provision for border control as we cross into Namibia today, making our way back to the Namibian capital, Windhoek traversing the Kalahari in the eastern part of Namibia. The Kalahari Desert in Namibia is often overlooked by travelers in favor of the Namib Desert. A Kalahari Desert holiday, however, offers travelers something completely unique. The Kalahari is one of the ancestral homes of the San/Bushmen, who have lived here for approximately 20,000 years. Traditionally, the San lived a nomadic, hunter-gatherer lifestyle in small cluster groups, stretching across Southern Africa. We expect to arrive in Windhoek in the late afternoon hours.Programme Overview
| Day | Location | Accommodation | Food |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Etosha National Park, Namibia | Camping | D |
| Day 2 | Etosha National Park, Namibia | Camping | B, D |
| Day 3 | Grootfontein area, Namibia | Lodging ★★★ | B, D |
| Day 4 | Divundu area, Namibia | Treehouses ★★★ | B, D |
| Day 5 | Chobe National Park, Botswana | Camping | B, D |
| Day 6 | Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe | Lodge ★★★ | B |
| Day 7 | Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe | Lodge ★★★ | B |
| Day 8 | Nata, Botswana | Tented Camp ★★★ | B, D |
| Day 9 | Maun, Botswana | Camping | B, D |
| Day 10 | Okavango Delta, Botswana | Camping | B, L, D |
| Day 11 | Ghanzi, Botswana | Lodge ★★★ | B, D |
| Day 12 | Windhoek, Namibia | B |
B – Breakfast
L – Lunch
D – Dinner
SC – Self Catering
Price Per Person
Per person sharing from : N$49,700
Single Supplement : N$2,400
Solo travelers and groups welcomed
Prices Effective From:
Nov 1, 2020 – Oct 31, 2024
