Tours

Accommodation

Safari for All Seasons

Southern Africa offers seasons of contrast. In summer, rains brings the profusion of new life - antelope and plains game give birth to their young and hence an opportunistic time for predators, colourful migrant birds arrive, dormant plants burst through the soil and flowers and fruits abound. In the drier months, animals are gripped in the epic struggle of survival along major wetlands and rivers that are lifelines at this time of year.

The Safari for all Seasons lives up to its name - a year-round experience that takes in three countries and a variety of ecosystems with their attendant wildlife and scenery. This amazing 8-night package begins with our newest camp, Kalahari Plains in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, moves on to Jacana, Xigera or Seba in the Okavango Delta, then Lianshulu Lodge in Namibia's Caprivi Strip and ends at Toka Leya Camp or The River Club near Livingstone and the stupendous Victoria Falls. This safari is valid from September through to November 2009.

Days 1, 2 & 3: Kalahari Plains Camp, Central Kalahari Game Reserve

After arrival in Maun, you are met and assisted with your air transfer to the Kalahari Desert to Kalahari Plains.

Kalahari Plains Camp is located in a new concession within the productive and diverse area of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR). Kalahari Plains is at present a private Explorations-style camp, containing 6 spacious Discoverer Meru-style tents with a central main canopy tent that provides shaded comfort, couches, a reference library and central bar. The tents are spacious and well designed - richly coloured wooden furniture, pure linens of heavy cotton, en suite flushing toilet and shower and comfortable camp features all adding to the atmosphere.

Within this massive Game Reserve and as a result of the diversity of habitats, healthy game populations move seasonally between dune and valley depending on the season. During the summer months though (November through to end April) the northern part of the CKGR, where Kalahari Plains Camp is situated, offers some of the best wildlife viewing in Botswana. At this time of year these verdant flatlands are alive with aggregations of gemsbok, springbok and blue wildebeest. As a result of these aggregations on the fossil riverbeds, predator concentrations are also high. At other times, the Kalahari is more typically a desert-type system: warm and dry. Game viewing remains productive and moves into the vegetated dune belt and pan systems surrounding the valleys - a series of ecologically placed waterholes further ensuring that game viewing remains interesting.

The big game includes the sensational black-maned Kalahari lion, as well as one of the highest concentrations of cheetah in southern Africa, leopard, brown hyaena and even caracal. Small predators include meerkats (suricates), Cape fox, honey badger, black-backed jackal and a myriad of mongoose species. General game viewing is fantastic and this is a premium desert game location year round.

Days 4 & 5: Jacana, Xigera or Seba Camp, Okavango Delta

The Okavango Delta represents the extreme contrast of a water-filled world in an otherwise arid desert: abundant water, sunlight and soil combine to form a paradise bursting with life. The difference between the Kalahari and the Okavango becomes amazingly clear even as we fly from the one to the other. Accommodation on this leg of the trip is at Jacana, Xigera or Seba Camp, all situated in the heart of the Okavango Delta's myriad waterways.

Days 6 & 7: Lianshulu Camp, Kwando River, Mudumu National Park, Namibia

We depart by aircraft to the Kwando airstrip from where we enjoy a boat ride on the magnificent Kwando River to scenic Lianshulu Lodge situated inside Namibia's Mudumu National Park.

Many typical savannah species occur in the area including buffalo, zebra, wildebeest and waterbuck with elephant and hippo being particularly abundant. Predators are sometimes encountered and around 400 bird species have been recorded in the East Caprivi. Hippo, crocodiles and fish such as bream, tigerfish and catfish can be seen from the lodge's deck.

Day 8: Toka Leya Camp or The River Club, Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park, Livingstone, Zambia

After a light breakfast, we depart by road to Livingstone, Zambia. This interesting 5-hour drive takes us across the Caprivi Strip and into Zambia via the border town of Katima Mulilo in Namibia. After crossing into Zambia, we drive through beautiful teak forests and African villages, stopping to visit the old cathedral of Mwandi.

We arrive in the early afternoon at the new Toka Leya Camp or the Edwardian-style River Club, both situated on the banks of the Zambezi River in the eastern sector of the Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park, upstream from the Victoria Falls. This is an area of spectacular scenic beauty: from the Falls themselves to the broad, picturesque course of the Zambezi River upstream, the rainforest adjacent and the stark jagged gorge downstream. At 1708 metres wide, Victoria Falls is the most expansive curtain of water in the world and drops more than 100 metres into the sheer Zambezi Gorge. The Tonga and Makalolo peoples lived here for centuries before the Falls were 'discovered' by David Livingstone in 1855, who named them after his queen. Its local name - after which the national park is named - is Mosi-Oa-Tunya, "the Smoke that Thunders," which accurately describes the huge spirals of spray.

At The River Club, ten luxury chalets are spread out amongst the riverine vegetation, comprising luxurious bedrooms and en-suite bathrooms, most being split-level. The main area is a well-appointed residence, with a comfortable lounge, large dining room, impressive library and wide veranda on which breakfasts and teas are taken. At Toka Leya Camp the accommodation consists of 12 en-suite safari-style tents (3 of which are family rooms), each with a view of the magnificent Zambezi River. The dining and bar area are under a canopy of trees overlooking the River and there is a swimming pool. Activities here include game drives, river cruises and fishing.

Day 9: Victoria Falls, Transfer to Livingstone Airport

The grand finale is a guided tour of the Victoria Falls, one of the seven Natural Wonders of the World. Later, we transfer to Livingstone Airport and bid farewell to the adventure.