Botswana: the Okavango Delta, Chobe and Victoria Falls

1. Day 1: Arrive in Maun

   Maun Airport to your hotel on the Thamalakane River

   • Drive about 15 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Maun
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Maun Airport (MUB), the gateway to the Okavango Delta; most guests connect through Johannesburg. Plan to land by about 3 pm (the latest arrival is confirmed with your final itinerary). A driver meets you at arrivals for the short transfer to a hotel on the Thamalakane River, at the south-eastern edge of the Delta, where the flood arrives months after the rains have fallen in the Angolan highlands. Take the afternoon to rest after the long flights, watch the river birds from the garden, and repack for tomorrow: the light aircraft into the Delta take soft bags only, with a limit of about 20 kg each, hand luggage included. Your See Sight Tours guide meets the group at about 6 pm for a briefing on the camp, the flights, the border into Zimbabwe and how each safari day is paced. Then we sit down together to a welcome dinner at the hotel.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Maun Airport (MUB)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner

   Free time: Free until the evening briefing

   

2. Day 2: Fly into the Okavango Delta

   Maun by light aircraft to a camp in the Okavango Delta

   • Drive about 15 min
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Okavango Delta
   Day 2 details

   After breakfast we drive the few minutes to Maun Airport for the flight into the Delta in a small light aircraft, about 20 to 45 minutes depending on where the camp lies. From a few hundred metres up you see the shape of the place: channels and lagoons through the papyrus, islands ringed by palms, and game trails worn between them. The Okavango River rises in Angola and spreads out into the Kalahari instead of reaching the sea; the Delta was listed by UNESCO in 2014. A camp vehicle meets the plane at the airstrip. We settle into tents with their own bathrooms, then have lunch at camp and rest through the heat of the day. In the late afternoon we go out by mokoro, the Delta's narrow poled canoe, once carved from a single tree trunk, two guests to a boat, poled silently through the reeds by a local poler. Back at camp there is a fire, a sundowner and dinner.

   Included

   • Light-aircraft flight from Maun to the camp airstrip
   • Late-afternoon mokoro trip with a local poler
   • All meals at camp

   Free time: Midday free at camp

   Activity: Light aircraft take soft bags of about 20 kg each, hand luggage included; flight times and the exact limit are confirmed with your final itinerary.

   

3. Day 3: On foot in the Delta

   A full day at the camp in the Okavango Delta

   • By boat
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Okavango Delta
   Day 3 details

   Wake to coffee and a light breakfast by the fire before sunrise, then cross by mokoro to one of the larger islands for a guided walk with a licensed camp guide and your poler, in the coolest and quietest hours of the day. On foot you notice what a vehicle drives past: last night's tracks in the sand, termite mounds several metres tall that seed new islands, a red lechwe splashing off through the shallows. Your guide decides how close is safe, and the group walks in single file and talks quietly. We are back at camp by late morning for lunch, and the middle of the day is free: rest in your tent, read on the deck or watch the lagoon. In the late afternoon we go out by mokoro again, on a longer trip towards a hippo pool, keeping the distance your poler judges safe. Dinner at camp, then the sounds of the Delta at night.

   Included

   • Dawn guided walk on an island with a licensed guide and your poler
   • Late-afternoon mokoro trip towards a hippo pool
   • All meals at camp

   Easier option: Skip the walk and stay at camp, then join the gentler afternoon mokoro.

   More active option: A longer walk of about three hours on a bigger island, where the camp guide allows it.

   Free time: Middle of the day free at camp

   Activity: Walks are 2 to 3 hours on flat, sandy ground at a slow pace. Wear neutral colours and closed shoes.

4. Day 4: Channels and lagoons by water

   A second full day at the camp in the Okavango Delta

   • By boat
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Okavango Delta
   Day 4 details

   A slower start today, with breakfast at camp before we head out on the water. Depending on the flood and the camp's area, we go by mokoro or by motorboat into the larger channels and open lagoons, where hippos surface and crocodiles bask on the banks. The birdlife is at its best near water: African fish eagles calling from dead trees, malachite kingfishers on the reeds, jacanas stepping across the lily pads, and herons and storks in the shallows. Your camp guide picks the route for the conditions of the day. Lunch at camp and a free afternoon follow; it is the right moment for a nap, as tonight is your last evening in the Delta. Late in the day we go out once more, on foot or by mokoro, to a spot chosen for the sunset, with a drink as the light fades over the floodplain. Dinner at camp, and a last night with the hippos calling in the dark.

   Included

   • Morning boat or mokoro trip into the channels and lagoons
   • Sunset outing on foot or by mokoro
   • All meals at camp

   Easier option: Stay at camp in the morning and join only the sunset outing.

   Free time: Afternoon free at camp

5. Day 5: To Kasane and the Chobe River

   Okavango Delta by light aircraft to Kasane, then a boat on the Chobe River

   • Drive about 15 min
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Kasane
   Day 5 details

   Coffee on the deck, breakfast, and then the camp vehicle takes us to the airstrip for the flight north-east to Kasane, roughly an hour to an hour and a half in the air, sometimes with a short stop at another airstrip. Below, the water gives way to dry woodland and then to the green line of the Chobe River. A vehicle meets us at Kasane Airport for the short drive to our lodge near the river, where we stay two nights. After lunch and a rest, we board a boat for the afternoon on the Chobe River inside Chobe National Park, Botswana's first national park. From the water, the river edge is the show: elephants come down in family herds to drink, swim and cross to the islands, buffalo and hippos graze the floodplain, and crocodiles lie on the sandbanks. We stay out until the sun goes down over the Namibian bank. Dinner is at the lodge.

   Included

   • Light-aircraft flight from the Delta to Kasane
   • Afternoon boat cruise on the Chobe River in Chobe National Park, park fees included
   • Lunch and dinner at the lodge

6. Day 6: Chobe by land at dawn

   Kasane to the Chobe riverfront and back

   • Drive about 15 min
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Kasane
   Day 6 details

   We leave the lodge before sunrise in two open 4x4s, at most six guests in each, to be at the Sedudu gate of Chobe National Park as it opens. The first hours are the best on land: the air is cool, the cats are still active, and the riverfront track is quiet before the day visitors arrive. The drive follows the river west along the floodplain, with stops wherever the animals are: elephant and buffalo herds, giraffe, sable antelope in the woodland, and the puku, an antelope rare elsewhere in Botswana. Lions and leopards are seen here, though never promised. We are back at the lodge by late morning for brunch. The afternoon and evening are free: swim, sleep, walk into Kasane, or take the optional small photographic boat on the river for a second, lower look. Dinner tonight is your choice, at the lodge or in town.

   Included

   • Dawn game drive in Chobe National Park in an open 4x4, park fees included
   • Brunch at the lodge

   Optional experiences

   • Small-boat photographic trip on the Chobe River (priced at booking)

   Easier option: Sit the drive out and take a slow morning at the lodge.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Kasane

   Activity: Bring a warm layer and a hat: dawn in an open vehicle is cold from May to August. The dawn start is optional: sit it out and the afternoon is still yours.

7. Day 7: Across the border to Victoria Falls

   Kasane through the Kazungula border to Victoria Falls, then a cruise on the Zambezi

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Victoria Falls
   Day 7 details

   A free morning for a late breakfast or a last look at the river, then we leave Kasane at about 10 am for Victoria Falls, about 80 km and an hour and a half on the road. First comes the Kazungula border: we leave Botswana and enter Zimbabwe, where you buy your visa at the post in US dollars cash if you do not already have one (we confirm the fee when you book), and your guide steers the group through the forms. Allow up to an hour here. Past the border, the road runs through mopane woodland, where elephants sometimes cross, into Victoria Falls town. Lunch is a sit-down meal in town, then we check in to our hotel for two nights. In the late afternoon we board a boat on the upper Zambezi, above the Falls, for a sunset cruise past islands where hippos surface and elephants come down to the banks, while the spray of the Falls rises downstream. Dinner tonight is your choice in town.

   Included

   • Transfer from Kasane to Victoria Falls through the Kazungula border with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch in Victoria Falls town
   • Zambezi sunset cruise, national park fee included

   Free time: Morning free in Kasane; evening free in Victoria Falls

   Activity: Keep your passport, visa fee in US dollars and a pen in your day bag for the border.

   

8. Day 8: Victoria Falls at opening

   The Victoria Falls Rainforest, then a free day in town

   • Drive about 15 min
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Victoria Falls
   Day 8 details

   We are at the gate of the Victoria Falls Rainforest, in Zimbabwe's Victoria Falls National Park, when it opens in the morning, before the tour groups arrive. The Falls are about 1.7 km wide and drop up to 108 m into a narrow gorge, and the path on the Zimbabwe side runs along the opposite lip of that gorge, facing the water. Your guide walks you through the viewpoints, from the statue of David Livingstone at the western end past the Devil's Cataract and the Main Falls to Danger Point, where you look down into the gorge and across to the Victoria Falls Bridge. From March to May the spray can soak you and hide parts of the Falls; later in the year the view is clearer. We are back for a late breakfast, and the rest of the day is yours: a helicopter flight over the Falls, the bridge tour, white-water rafting in season, or nothing at all. In the evening we meet for a farewell dinner.

   Included

   • Guided walk of the Victoria Falls Rainforest at opening, entry included
   • Farewell dinner

   Optional experiences

   • Helicopter flight over the Falls (priced at booking)
   • Victoria Falls Bridge tour
   • White-water rafting on the Zambezi below the Falls, in season

   Easier option: The opening start is optional: sleep in and your guide helps you visit later in the day, entry still included. Or walk only to the Devil's Cataract and Main Falls viewpoints, then head back for breakfast.

   More active option: White-water rafting in the gorges below the Falls when the river is low enough, usually from about July to January (confirmed at booking).

   Free time: Afternoon free

   Activity: About 3 km on a mostly flat path with some steps, wet in high water. A rain jacket and a dry bag for your phone help from about March to June.

9. Day 9: Departure from Victoria Falls

   Victoria Falls to Victoria Falls Airport

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast
   Day 9 details

   Breakfast at the hotel, then a free morning to go back to the Falls on your own (a new ticket is needed), walk out to the Victoria Falls Bridge, or browse the craft stalls in town for carvings and baskets. Your guide stays with the group until the transfers leave and checks everyone's flight times. Victoria Falls Airport (VFA) is about 20 km south of town, roughly 25 minutes by road, and a driver takes you there in time for your flight; most flights from here go to Johannesburg for connections home. If you would like longer at the Falls, or a night across the river in Livingstone, Zambia, ask us when you book and we arrange the extra nights, the transfer and the visa advice. For the flight home, allow at least two hours at the airport for check-in and departure formalities, and choose a flight that leaves after about noon so you do not lose the morning.

   Included

   • Drop-off at Victoria Falls Airport (VFA)

   Free time: Morning free

   Activity: Book a flight leaving after about noon to keep the morning.

Wildlife and weather: May to October is the dry season. The Delta flood is usually highest from about June to August, so mokoro trips run well, and as the bush dries out the animals gather along the Chobe River. Dawns from May to August are cold in open boats and vehicles; September and October are hot, often above 35°C. Victoria Falls is fullest from about March to May, when spray can hide the view, and lowest in October and November, when the Zimbabwe side still has water.

• Maun1 night
• Okavango Delta3 nights
• Kasane2 nights
• Victoria Falls2 nights