‘‘Safari Za Mwituni – A Journey In The Wilderness’

A Private Safari Guided by Gary Strand
Botswana and Zambia: Okavango Delta, Kalahari Desert and ‘Mosi O Tunya’ (Victoria Falls)
31st October thru 11th September 2010 (Date TBC)

Monday 31st October
On arrival at Maun airport please proceed to Immigration and Customs for entry formalities.

You will then be met by Gary and assisted with your onward light aircraft flight to Duma Tau in the Linyanti region of northern Botswana (flying time approximately 40 minutes) where we stay for the next 3 nights.

Consisting of a total of 125,000 hectares the magical Linyanti Reserve is bordered to the north by the Linyanti River and to the east by the Chobe National Park. Two thirds of the Savuti Channel runs through the reserve. Boasting a variety of habitats including grassland, acacia and mopane forests, there are also numerous waterholes along the Savuti Channel which are excellent for game viewing. Large numbers of elephant enter the area during the winter months, whilst Savuti is also well known for its lions, which have been featured in several wildlife documentaries.

Duma Tau Camp is built under cool and shady mangosteen trees overlooking an enormous lagoon to the east of the source of the Savuti Channel. Accommodation is in nine luxurious raised tented rooms under thatch with en suite facilities, as well as an additional outdoor shower. The rooms are cooled by fans. Meals are taken in the open-air dining room whilst the camp also boasts a lounge, bar, plunge pool and fantastic guest ‘loo with a view’!

Duma Tau offers boating, day and night game drives along the Linyanti and Savuti, as well as short nature walks, all with expert guides. The pontoon allows guests access to the waterways in order to observe the hippos at close range. There are also a number of hides in the area to allow quiet and undisturbed game viewing and photography.

Elephant are the area’s biggest attraction along with red lechwe, zebra, wildebeest, impala, waterbuck, sable, roan, eland and buffalo. Lion, leopard, cheetah and wild dog are all found here whilst you have the chance to spy lesser known animals such as spring hares, serval and genet cats on night game drives. Bird life is also fantastic in the Linyanti Reserve with Okavango ‘specials’ such as the Slaty egret and Wattled crane to be seen here.

We enjoy game activities from the camp this afternoon before returning for dinner and overnight.Overnight: Duma Tau Camp

Tuesday 1st & Wednesday 2nd September
Exploration of the Linyanti Reserve and the Savuti Channel Overnight: Duma Tau Camp

Thursday 3rd September
This morning we will be transferred to the airstrip for your light aircraft flight to the Okavango Delta and Little Vumbura Camp where we stay for the next 3 nights.

Little Vumbura Campis situated just to the north of Chief’s Island in its own private reserve in the Okavango Delta. The camp offers both land and water activities as the area has scenic waterways and is also close to the Delta’s outermost savannah plains. The water levels around the camp change each year depending on the level of the floodwaters from central Africa. The privacy of the area is one of Vumbura’s main attractions, along with its great wildlife and superb all-round Okavango experience.

Little Vumbura is a small camp of five guest tents positioned in the shade of ancient Okavango trees and attractive palms give the island a wonderful tropical feel. Each is large and roomy with en suite facilities (including an outside shower). The dining room and bar are under canvas and have been built in and around existing trees. There is also a pool in which to cool down during the heat of the day.

From the camp we enjoy mokoro excursions, walks, boating and game drives conducted in open 4X4 vehicles with experienced guides. Night drives are possible nearly all year and the variety of wildlife is stunning: we can go out by boat in the morning and see hippos, crocodiles, red lechwe and other aquatic wildlife, whilst in the afternoon from the vehicle we can see the dry savannah game, including sable, kudu, wildebeest, buffalo, elephant, lion, leopard, cheetah and wild dog. Overnight: Little Vumbura Camp

Friday 4th & Saturday 5th September
Exploration of the Okavango Delta from Little Vumbura. Overnight: Little Vumbura Camp

Sunday 6th September
Today we will be transferred down to the airstrip for our light aircraft flight into the Kalahari Desert and the Makgadikgadi Pans, where we stay at San Camp for the next 3 nights.

San Camp combines 1920's East African panache with scientific exploration of desert biology and adaptation, Stone Age archaeology, bushman anthropology and the unique geology of the Makgadikgadi.

The Camp is set on the very edge of the Makgadikgadi Pans. Facilities include private toilets and bucket showers. The camp is fitted with polished copper water jugs, paraffin lamps, white cotton sheets, and feather bedding. Excellent meals are provided on damask clothed tables under the ink-black African skies.

We visit early hominid settlements and find stone tools, which litter the shore of the pan; visit the Seven Sisters or Chapman’s Baobab, the largest tree in Africa and the beacon and campsite of early explorers such as Livingstone and Selous; walk with a Bushman tracker who will explain the fascinating links between their people and the wilderness environment; and we also have a unique and sensitive insight into the fast-disappearing traditions and culture of the Bushmen people.

At Makgadikgadi we may also observe the only natural wildlife migration that still occurs in Southern Africa, the herds of wildebeest and zebra that move south from Chobe and Moremi every year after the rains have brought new grass to the Kalahari. This destination offers a rare insight into an Africa that few ever dreamed existed.

The Makgadikgadi Pans, the remnants of a great lake that once covered most of Botswana and where early hominids once roamed among herds of now extinct giant zebra and hippopotamus, dried up only 10,000 years ago due to the continued shifting of the earth's crust and are largest of their kind in the world.. These pans have an unparalleled serenity and peace. You may come across lion, cheetah and herds of gemsbok and springbok, and the occasional black backed jackal and hyena.

More importantly, San is an experience that is simply different and unique! Enough said. Overnight: San Camp, Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, The Kalahari Desert

Monday 7th & Tuesday 8th September
Exploration of the San environment. Overnight: San Camp, Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, The Kalahari Desert

Wednesday 9th September
Today we will be transferred down to the airstrip for our light aircraft flight to Kasane Airport where you pass through the Botswana Immigration and Customs formalities and depart by light aircraft flight to Livingstone Airport in Zambia (flying time approximately 25 minutes) plus, we have a beautiful flight over the Victoria Falls en route.

On arrival at Livingstone Airport we proceed through Zambian Immigration and Customs for the entry formalities. Overnight: Tongabezi, Victoria Falls

Thursday 10th September
We now have one full day to discover the majesty of the Victoria Falls, enjoy game drives and cultural activities, go walking, fishing or simply relax by the pool and enjoy the tranquillity of Tongabezi.

OR: what about Bungee jumping from the bridge over the falls????

The Victoria Falls are the most spectacular cascades in the world, plunging over 100 metres into an enormous chasm and sending up great clouds of spray into the sky, and the surrounding lush rain forest through which a
scenic path winds. A visit to the awe-inspiring falls where the mighty Zambezi River tumbles into the churning waters below is essential as this is truly one of the world’s great wonders.

There is also a wide range of optional activities we can enjoy here and these can either be pre-booked or we can arrange them with our representatives on arrival.

It is possible to go on a half or full day horseback safari, a ‘Flight of the Angels’ (a flight over the falls by light plane or helicopter), canoeing, kayaking and white water rafting on the Zambezi River. Overnight: Tongabezi, Victoria Falls

Friday 11th September
Today we will be transferred to Livingstone airport for our flight back to Johannesburg and onward international connections.