Best Value Victoria Falls and Botswana Safari

Transfer from the quaint Livingstone International Airport through dense African bush to Thorntree River Lodge on the edge of the Zambezi River inside the game reserve, 15km upstream from Victoria Falls Victoria Falls
Victoria Falls - also called Mosi-oa-Tunya which means the smoke that thunders
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Enjoy two nights at Thorntree overlooking the Zambezi River surrounded by a forest of birds and dense riparian brush. Elephants amble past the lodge most days along ancient feeding paths making a rather enjoyable routine of it.

Thorntree is inside the Zambian Mosi-oa-Tunya Game Reserve and offers a unique safari experience on board trained elephant orphans. Elephant-back safaris are a not-to-missed wildlife experience as you learn and experience these magnificent beasts and discover their world from their point of view.

The other activity you have to do is to visit Victoria Falls a short drive downstream. One of the seven natural wonders of the world, the falls are a majestic and humbling sight.

Many other activities are available including beautiful river cruises timed to catch the magical African sunset.

Accommodation: Thorntree River Lodge
Includes: All meals, river cruise and Victoria Falls tour (excludes the elephant safari, which is an optional extra and well worth the money, excludes drinks, excludes ever-fluctuating park entry fee, which was US$10 last check we made)

From Victoria Falls you will transfer by road and boat to another elephant hideout at Elephant Valley Lodge in the Kasane Forest next to Chobe National Park Chobe National Park
Chobe National Park has one of the highest concentrations of wildlife in Africa.
More... in Botswana.

Elephant Valley Lodge is an intimate and charming safari lodge with private Meru-style tented suites with en suite bathrooms and private decks. The living area and swimming pool look out over a waterhole that, despite the abundance of the Chobe River nearby, attracts a regular herd of elephant and all manner of plains game and birdlife. You hardly need leave the lodge to see the famed Chobe elephants.

However, there is much to do and more to see in the Chobe National Park: guided game drives, night drives in the Chobe Forest Reserve and safari boat cruises on the Chobe River where you glide past elephants enjoying mud-baths and marveling at the nimble African skimmer dart over the water.

Accommodation: Elephant Valley Lodge Elephant Valley Lodge
Elephant Valley Lodge is an affordable and comfortable safari lodge alternative to the premium-priced options elsewhere in the Chobe National Park area.
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Includes: All meals, park fees and two activities per day

From Elephant Valley, you will go deep into the Okavango Delta Okavango Delta
The Okavango Delta is a network of waterways and flood plains in Botswana
More... to a place so remote and wild, you can only fly there. Enjoy a scenic seat charter flight over the Delta, giving you bird's eye view and a lasting impression of the immensity of this massive inland delta.

Touch down and transfer to Kwara Camp, a magnificent safari lodge in a vast private concession bordering the Moremi Wildlife Reserve in the Okavango Delta. Accommdation is in luxurious tented suites, each with a private deck looking over the permanent water and the flood plains beyond. The en suite bathrooms have double showers - inside and out - double vanities, hot running water and flushing toilets - pure luxury in this million-plus hectare wilderness of waterways, rivers, channels and impenetrable islands.

At Kwara the wildlife experience is surreal. With private traversing rights across a 1000km square reserve, you can walk, drive, paddle and motorboat around to your heart's content - or at least to the content of your professional guide and his tracker. Famous for their exceptional guides, the Kwara reserve is where to go for a full blast of Africa's famous and fearsome animals. And then a second dose of myriad creatures you never knew you wanted to see.

Accommodation: Kwara Camp Kwara Camp
Kwara Camp is a comfortable unassuming safari lodge in a large private concession in the Okavango Delta, Botswana.
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Includes: Transfers, fully inclusive accommodation, all activities

You will have to drag yourself away from your post-safari breakfast to board the short flight to your next destination. But you need not worry, Pom Pom Camp, while completely different, is equally amazing.

Pom Pom Camp also enjoys the luxury of an exclusive private concession, this time on the western edge of the Moremi Game Reserve, deep into the Okavango Delta's permanent waterways.

Activities are both land and water-based with game drives, night drives, mokoro outings, water safaris and guided bush walks on offer. Big predators and plains game abound year round - and why with good reason the Okavango Delta is paradise for them, as close to unspoilt as you will ever get.

Accommodation: Pom Pom Camp Pom Pom Camp
Being in a private concession in the Okavango Delta means Pom Pom Camp and its (maximum) 18 guests have exclusive access to Africa's most pristine and unspoilt wilderness area.
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Includes: Transfers, fully inclusive accommodation, all activities

And now for something completely different. You may have become immune to the lush abundance of the Delta and its ever present wildlife nonchalant and carefree in this land of plenty.

After breakfast, which follows your early morning outing, fly back to Maun and drive about 1.5 hours to the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park Makgadikgadi Pans National Park
Makgadikgadi Pans is an amazing place that rewards the intrepid traveller willing to head off the beaten tourist track
More... - the remnants of a superlake now an eerie expanse of unforgettable experiences.

But if you think you're heading to a barren wasteland. Don't. The Boteti River, dry since 1995 is thinking about flowing again, and whether it flows or not, this game viewing country as water is scarce and life out here is lawless - compared with the gentle English countryside manner of the previous Okavango Delta scenes.

On the edge of the Makgadikgadi and near the Nxai Pan National Park, Meno a Kwena is an authentic safari camp with simple - though comfortable - tented suites, each with private bathroom facilities and central tented living area. The whole camp looks out from its escarpment vantage point over the Boteti River while a well-attended waterhole creates a dramatic and ever-changing spectacle below.

Activities include game drives, nature walks, game viewing from the hide and cultural displays and interaction with the well-engaged local community. The mood at Meno a Kwena is a mixture of reverence and unpretentious joy celebrating the spectacle of raw nature. Many visitors prefer the un-glossed wildlife experience on offer here with safari activities arranged around the movements of the animals - you could spend the entire day in the Makgadikgadi watching zebra migrations or you could spend the entire day at the lodge if the waterhole is humming.

Accommodation: Meno a Kwena Meno a Kwena
Meno a Kwena Tented Camp is a rustic safari camp on the edge of the Boteti River overlooking the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park in Botswana.
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Includes: Transfers, fully inclusive accommodation, all activities

From Meno you will transfer by road back to Maun where you can fly out to connect to your long-haul home. Or…… you can extend your trip further with a visit to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve Central Kalahari Game Reserve
Central Kalahari Game Reserve - Botswana's vast savanna wilderness area
More... - more open wilderness and yet more variety.

Talk to your Travel Expert and create the Botswana and Victoria Falls holiday of your dreams.