16-Day Zimbabwe Botswana African Safari

You will leave Johannesburg at 6:30 a.m. and travel northeast into the world-renowned Kruger National Park. From Letaba to Pafuri, you’ll explore the remote and rarely visited northern region of the park. You can expect to see lions, elephants, rhinos, and other species during your morning and afternoon game drives in our safari vehicle in this symbol of wildlife preservation. Participation is a crucial component of your trip. Everything you do, from pitching your tent to loading the truck the next morning, is a part of your trip. All dinner preparation will be handled by your tour guides, although we do urge the guests to pitch in (rotationally) with the cleanup. Please be advised that despite having all the necessary documents, Sunway may experience an especially long day due to the lengthy Beitbridge border crossing into Zimbabwe.

You will go to the town of Masvingo and the Great Zimbabwe Monuments after entering Zimbabwe via the Beit Bridge border crossing. The well-preserved ruins, which date from the 11th to the 14th centuries, are among the oldest and largest stone buildings in Southern Africa. The secrets surrounding these antiquated stone monuments and the culture that constructed them will be investigated on foot.

Moving on, you will reach Bulawayo late in the afternoon and pitch up camp outside the park before taking in a sundowner and spending the evening around the campfire. You will travel to the Matobo National Park the following morning with a local guide to explore the interior of the Matopos Hills, a region of granite koppies and forested valleys. You will have a clear view of Cecil John Rhodes’ grave’s historical location and learn about the region’s peculiar rock formations during our open-vehicle game drive. You will participate in a guided walk as part of your tour to look for and perhaps spot endangered white rhinos as well as other species and see bushman rock art.

Hwange National Park, named after a native Nhanzwa chief, is the largest park in Zimbabwe, measuring around 14,650 square kilometers and situated in the north-western region of the nation. It is renowned for having an abundance of elephants. Your camp is located in the park’s exterior game management zone. With the assistance of our local guide, you will tour the park during a full-day game drive in an open 4WD game watching vehicle.

Two nights will be spent camping in Victoria Falls. You can take a breath-taking stroll through lush tropical flora to reach Victoria Falls, also known as “Mosi oa Tunya” or “the smoke that thunders.” You can go bungee jumping, white water raft on the powerful Zambezi River, or experience a “flight of angels” (at your own expense).

You’ll set up tent in the Kasane neighborhood along the banks of the Chobe River once you’ve crossed into Botswana. Some of the greatest elephant herds in Africa may be seen along the river, which slowly meanders along the park’s northern border. The afternoon “sundowner” game viewing cruise, which allows you to see a lot of elephants and other wildlife as they slake their thirst at the end of the day, is the highlight of any vacation to Chobe.

There is time for a supplemental wildlife drive in the Chobe National Park this morning, which is optional and is on your own dime. You’ll go to Gweta for an overnight stop by passing through the Kasane Forest Reserve on your way south. Your tents will be set up here, tucked under an old baobab tree for your nightly sleep.

After leaving early in the morning, you will travel to Maun, from which point you will board an open-air 4WD game-viewing vehicle and travel into the delta. On a mokoro (dug-out canoe), one of our local guides will take you deep into the Okavango Delta’s interior. An experience not to be missed is being softly pushed through the maze of channels. A fragile, green sanctuary for birds and other species, the delta is created when precipitation from the Angolan highlands spills out over the sands of the Kalahari Desert. In this incredibly dynamic setting, you’ll go wild camping on isolated islands while taking advantage of forest walks, bird watching, and swimming in the crystal-clear seas. While camping with the local guides, you will gain more insight into their way of life and culture. On day 14, you will arrive back in Maun in the late afternoon. You will have time to take an optional (own expense) game flight over the Okavango, which will show you another side of the delta.

On your way to the Khama Rhino Sanctuary from Maun, you will travel through the expansive Kalahari Desert by car. This community-based wildlife project was started in 1992 to help save the extinct rhinos, return a once-wildlife-rich area to its natural state, and benefit the local Batswana community economically through tourism and the wise use of natural resources. On an afternoon wildlife drive, you could be lucky enough to see some of the elusive rhinos.

After returning to South Africa, you will travel to Johannesburg, where the journey will come to a close in the late afternoon.