UNCHARTED AFRICA SAFARIS, BOTSWANA
Okavango Delta, Moremi Reserve, Jack’s Camp, 7 nights Safari
Our Luxurious mobile-tented camps on exclusive sites, place you in the heart of Nature in Greatest comfort, Safety, Security and Serenity.
From US$ 6,880.00 per person sharing
DAY 1
On arrival, you will be met at Maun Airport by a representative and transferred by light aircraft into the Moremi
Game Reserve where you will be met by your guide. Once in the Moremi, a slow meandering game drive to familiarise yourselves
with the area, then into your first camp in good time to enjoy sundowners and dinner.
DAY 2
Breakfast in the first light of day and head out in the safari cars for your introduction to some of the animals of the
dry floodplain environment, looking for zebra, wildebeest, impala and predators such as wild dog and cheetah.
Return to camp for lunch and a siesta. After consuming an embarrassingly large spread of tea and cakes, head off
for sundowners. Park at the edge of a lagoon and watch herds of elephants and a myriad of birds coming down to drink whilst the sun sets and you are given an informal talk on the geological history of the area.
Return to camp for a sumptuous dinner.
DAY 3
After a hearty breakfast; set out for the whole day to explore the wider area around camp. Search out the creatures and plants
typical of the ecosystem and explore the interrelationships of species and the systems in which they live. Seek out the elusive predators such as lion, cheetah and leopard and observe and interpret their behaviour. Picnic and enjoy a siesta under a shady
mangosteen. Spend your afternoon indulging yourself completely in seeking out your favourite species.
Leopard spotting, lion tracking, cheetah chasing and dog discovering; if you want to watch lions mating for two hours
or prefer to watch bee-eaters hawking insects on the wing then so be it. Return to camp for dinner – tired, but happy.
DAY 4
After breakfast, take a slow drive to the lagoon’s edge and board a boat to explore the waters of the Delta.
The deep open lagoons provide a wonderful contrast in habitat after the dry forest areas and floodplains of your first
camp. Putt along the maze of channels, stopping to admire rare birds and the diversity of aquatic life.
Spot small crocodiles basking in the sun on sparkling white sandbanks and hippos jousting for territories with spectacular
splashes and clashes of jaws and some serious dental equipment. Learn about the ecology of the waters and look at all
the important components of the ecosystem. Have a picnic lunch on a sandy bank in the river and cool off at a safe swimming
spot. Arrive at your private, lantern-lit camp on an island, deep in the delta, just after sunset. Shower and relax around the fire
before dinner under the stars. Sleep in a mosquito net tent and luxuriate in the freedom of a night in the open, surrounded
by nature at her very best.
DAY 5
Rise early and after a short walk around the island, hop back into your boat for a meander through the waterways, absorbing
the tranquillity of the lagoons and narrow, papyrus-fringed, hippo trails and immersing yourself completely in the incredible spectacles that the Delta has to offer. Search out hippo and bathing elephants to understand the importance of the Okavango
to these enormous creatures. Marvel at the majesty of elephants from only a few yards away as they wash and feed on the roots of aquatic plants. Drift back to the vehicles. Enjoy a final game drive and picnic lunch en route to Xakanaxa airstrip, before you say
your farewells to the Delta. Transfer out of the Delta to Jack’s Camp.
Arrive at Jack’s Camp, pitched on a low grassland knoll amongst an oasis of dignified desert palms and Kalahari acacia. The camp’s hub is a romantic canvas pavilion of low spires and finials with a fluttering valance beneath its eaves and could be the site for a medieval jousting tourney were it not a deciduous green. Three poles support the main chamber where everyone meets for meals at a long communal dining table.
Ten green roomy and stylish canvas tents with en-suite bathrooms, indoor and outdoor showers (for those who want to feel the
Kalahari breeze on their skin) have been fashioned in classical 1940’s style creating an oasis of civilization in what can be the harshest of stark environments. Persian rugs underfoot, cool cotton sheets and mahogany and brass campaign-style kit from
the family safari stores form a striking contrast with the rugged wilderness viewed from the comfort of one’s own veranda.
After settling in to your tent, join your Guide for tea before driving into the grasslands and the beautiful evening light. Stop to
watch the sun set and listen to an explanation of how the Makgadikgadi pans, the remnants of the world’s largest ever superlake,
were formed. Return to camp for dinner in the elegant mess tent, a designated national museum of Botswana.
DAY 6
Set off in the morning to visit some of the Kalahari’s most fascinating inhabitants, the meerkats. As a meerkat’s wake up time is weather dependent, breakfast might be enjoyed in camp on cooler and rainy days, or as a picnic on warmer, sunnier days.
Due to an ongoing habituation programme, it’s possible for Guests to get up close and personal with these captivating creatures.
Remember, they are not tame – just used to our non-threatening presence. On chilly mornings, you might well find a
meerkat snuggling up to you for warmth, or in the absence of a termite mound or tree, using your head as a sentry lookout post…
By spending quality time with these incredibly social, superbly adapted animals, you will be able to see how they interact with
each other and their environment. You also get the chance to see the desert through the eyes of a meerkat – which, despite the
fact that it’s only a foot off the ground, is a pretty spectacular vantage point, and definitely one of the most special and memorable
game experiences you will encounter in Botswana. Leave the meerkats as they continue with their eternal foraging, to visit a remote cattle- post. Here you will learn about the traditional culture of the Batswana people.
Close by is the site of Chapman’s Baobab (Also known as the Seven Sisters) which was acknowledged to be the third largest
tree in Africa until it recently fell to the ground, and was the campsite of early explorers like Livingstone and Selous when
they pioneered the area. Return to camp for a rest and refreshing lunch. After tea, travel down to the pans where
you will be given a brief safety talk before mounting your trusty quad bike to head off across the pans. Watch the sun set and the stars rise. This is one of the only places in the world where the silence is so complete you can hear the blood circulating through your ears. There is not one visual landmark to be seen and one swiftly loses one’s sense of perspective – 16,000 square kilometres of baking soda void, are inhabited only by you and a few gazillion invisible brine shrimp!
DAY 7
Early in the morning comb the edge of the extinct lakeshore to find some of the many stone tools and fossils that litter
the pan surface and learn of the origins of early man. Return to camp for a huge brunch.
After another decadent tea, head off to see some unique desert species such as springbok, gemsbok, red hartebeest
and the elusive brown hyaena; these consummate desert specialists survive in arid areas where both food and water are
scarce. The brown hyaena is a timid nocturnal, solitary forager, rarely seen by humans, but in spite of this, are very social animals,
living in clans of up to 10-12 hyaenas. Enjoy a night game drive back to camp, and with the aid of a spot light, look for
nocturnal desert inhabitants such as aardvark, bat eared foxes, aardwolves, porcupine, honey badgers and perhaps even a black maned Kalahari Lion.
Arrive at Jack’s Camp in time for dinner.
DAY 8
Spend the morning walking with the Zu/’hoasi Bushmen. Time for one more delectable lunch; before
you bid farewell to Jack’s Camp in preparation for your air transfer to Maun Airport for your onward journey.