22 Days South of the Zambezi Tour Package

Duration: 22 Days / 21 Nights
Priced From: $7,036 (All pricing reflects per-person Land Only expenses)
Date: Jul, Sep, Oct, Apr, Jul, Sep, Oct

Day 1 Arrival in Namibia
 
Arrival in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. As capital cities go, Windhoek is very relaxed with a whole mixture of Namibia's tribes strolling the streets. Many are in traditional dress and others are in stylish contemporary clothes often with magnificent plaited hairstyles. The city is full of trees and gardens, plus some splendid buildings dating from the turn of the century, all jumbled up with post-modernist office blocks in a swirl of ethnic mix. Overnight in Windhoek. Dinner if required. 
  
Day 2 Windhoek - Namib-Naukluft National Park
 
Today we leave the interior plateau region and head southwest through the Gamsberg Pass to the Namib Desert, through magnificent colours, pastel-basted rock formations, and waves of taupe-coloured grasses. Even the clouds are tinged orange-pink as distant dunes reflect their colour skywards. In the Nama language, Namib means vast, and this is an understatement. This park is the largest conservation area in Namibia and one of the largest in the world, at almost 50000 sq km (31,000 sq miles). It encompasses several very different landscapes, the wettest of which is the estuarine lagoon at Sandwich Harbour. At the opposite end of the moisture scale is the parched Namib Desert with endless orange dunes blown into razor sharp ridges by the sand-shifting wind. The famous Sossusvlei sand dunes at 300m (1,000 ft), are the highest in the world, towering over their nearest rivals in Arabia, and just begging to be climbed barefoot. The northern part of the park has stony plains leading to lunar landscapes, and the Naukluft Mountain massif has monumental purple-hued mountains, rock pools and wildlife. Animals, insects, and plants have adapted to live in this generally inhospitable region and apart from infrequent rains, rely on the sea mist that rolls far inland. En route we have the chance to see kudu, springbok, gemsbok and black eagles set against some of the most expansive and dramatically rugged scenery in the world. Overnight in the vicinity of the Namib-Naklauft National Park. Breakfast and dinner. 
  
Day 3 Namib-Naukluft National Park
 
Very early this morning we drive into the park to a special place called Sossusvlei, a huge dried up pan (vlei) which sporadically holds water, at the base of some of the most spectacular dunes in the Namib. We watch the morning sun light up the apricot coloured sands, the long shadows accentuating the graceful, almost feminine curves of the dune crests. These immense rich ochre sand dunes are one of the most wondrous sights in the world. Geologists say that this desert, covering most of the Namib-Naklauft Park, could be the oldest in the world. The older the dune, the brighter the colour from slow iron oxidisation and minute fragments of garnets. Dwarfed by the sheer size of the dunes, your footprints look like insect trails and each step forward forms a mini sand-slide. The solitude is immeasurable and your place in the great scheme of life takes on a curious insignificance. Visually powerful and deafeningly silent, this unforgettable experience is a high point of our visit to the Namib. Possible game sightings include oryx antelope, springbok, or ostrich. On our way back to our accommodation we will make a stop at Sesriem Canyon, located near the entry gate to Sossussvlei. It was an important source of water for early inhabitants and even during dry times there is water in the upper reaches, where deep clefts in the rock reduce evaporation. Explorers, transport riders and early travellers used to lower a bucket down to collect the water and it normally took 6 lengths of thong tied together, hence the Afrikaans name Ses meaning six, and Riem meaning thong. The canyon was formed by the Tsauchab River rising in the Naukluft and Zaris Mountains to the east, and flowing through to Sossusvlei. Walking through the canyon takes you on a journey back 10-20 million years ago when sedimentary layers of gravel and sand were deposited and cemented together by lime. The ledges are now inhabited by pigeons, raucous pied crows and chattering starlings. Overnight in the vicinity of Namib-Naklauft National Park. Breakfast and dinner. 
  
Day 4 Namib-Naukluft Park - Swakopmund
 
We continue our journey north through Namib-Naukluft Park via Solitaire. As the name suggests, this is a lonely place in the middle of absolutely nowhere. The only reason it exists at all is to service visitors to the park. It used to have one solitary tree, one petrol pump, a take away kiosk and a captive puff adder. But big things have been happening here and there are now two or three petrol pumps, a fully blown cafeteria and small shop. The dead tree is still standing stark against the flat dry landscape, but the puff adder has gone. We continue our journey through the spectacular rocky Kuiseb Canyon--with possible sightings of baboon, rock hyrax, or, if lucky, leopard--to the German colonial resort town of Swakopmund. This is Namibia's second biggest town and traditional "summer capital", and one of the most surreal places in this surreal country. You approach the town through the endless expanses of the Namib Desert, one of the world's largest wilderness areas. Then, through the mists (it is almost always misty in the morning and late afternoon) Bavarian spires and elaborate Germanic architecture rise through the fog banks. The boom of the surf on the notorious Skeleton Coast is an ever-present reminder of the icy Atlantic Ocean beyond. Overnight in Swakopmund. Breakfast and dinner. 
  
Day 5 Swakopmund
 
Today is free to wander the streets of charming Swakopmund. The town is an eclectic mixture of Bohemian and Bavarian, home to an intriguing mix of artists, hippies, strait-laced descendants of German settlers, stately Herero women in Victorian dress, and hardened miners, game rangers, safari operators and fishermen. Swakopmund exudes romance and history, a rich cultural melting pot of old and new. Nighttime entertainment ranges from sophisticated spins on the casino's roulette wheels, through raucous parties at the many pubs and restaurants, to an assortment of drama, music and cultural events. It is indeed odd to be in a little corner of old Bavaria wedged between one of the world's harshest deserts and even harsher coastlines. You might wish to take an optional scenic flight along the famed Skeleton Coast where you may get a glimpse of the Damara desert-dwelling elephants, the many shipwrecks that litter the coast, or perhaps the sea of dunes to the south. Your Tour Leader can help you organize this trip upon your arrival in Namibia (subject to availability). Overnight in Swakopmund. Breakfast and dinner. 
  
Day 6 Swakopmund - Skeleton Coast - Twyfelfontein
 
From Swakopmund we travel briefly up the desolate but beautiful Skeleton Coast, the name referring to the treacherous nature of the coast and the fact that it is a graveyard for many ships. The attraction for visitors to this region is its untouched and mysterious barren beauty, swept by cold sea breezes and often enveloped in a dense fog. This fog accounts for the many shipwrecks and the unique ecosystem which gives life to most unusual plants. The strange ?Elephant's Foot' plant anchors itself in rock crevices, while desert succulents like Lithops look exactly like pebbles until a tiny yellow flower emerges. We then head into the semi-arid environs of Damaraland, past Spitzkoppe Mountain in the distance and the soaring Brandberg Range to Twyfelfontein. Overnight at Twyfelfontein. Breakfast and dinner. 
  
Day 7 Twyfelfontein Area
 
This morning we will examine some of Africa's finest prehistoric rock art--paintings and engraving dating back some 5,000 years. We also visit a geological oddity known as the Valley of the Organ Pipes, the Burnt Mountain, and the Petrified Forest where we can also view some welwitchias, a strange looking plant reputed to live for over 1,000 years. Overnight in Twyfelfontein. Breakfast and dinner. 
  
Day 8 Twyfelfontein - Etosha National Park
 
Today we travel toward Etosha National Park. Etosha has been referred to as the best kept secret in Africa's safari world, and is one of the world's largest national parks. Its concentration of wildlife is extraordinary, and the dependence on water holes throughout so much of the year makes the wildlife readily visible. In fact, it may just be possible to enter the lives of a more spectacular array of creatures with greater ease and intimacy here at Etosha than anywhere else on the globe. Overnight in the vicinity of Etosha Park (HOTEL / LODGE). Breakfast and dinner. 
  
Day 9 Etosha National Park
 
A full day game viewing in the park will take us past the Etosha pan itself, a huge shimmering expanse of usually dry lake bed criss-crossed by myriad animal tracks. When the original lake at Etosha dried out, it resulted in a hard, dazzling white calcrete wasteland where mirages shimmer above the mineral-rich "salt desert." This salt is important to wildlife. The alkaline clay of the pan cannot sustain life, though the surrounding open savannah--acacia and mopane-- can. However, in years of exceptional rainfall, the park again resembles a lake, albeit only centimetres deep in parts. It can then briefly sustain a rich profusion of micro-organic life that entices thousands of flamingoes to breed here. Etosha was once the largest natural park in the world, but it has since been re-shaped several times until being reduced to its present size in 1967. The pan, clearly seen from space, is the park's central feature and takes up one-quarter of its area. There are no roads into the pan, but along the southern fringes is a network of trails linking the three main rest camps and natural waterholes in between. Overnight in the vicinity of Etosha (HOTEL / LODGE). Breakfast and dinner. 
  
Day 10 Etosha National Park
 
Today we are heading over to the eastern side of Etosha, so after breakfast we pack our bags and head out into the park. The National Park has over 300 types of birds and most of Africa's big game. Lunch will be at Halali Rest Camp in the centre of the park; we should reach Namutoni by late afternoon, game-viewing en route. Namutoni centres around a historic German fort dating back to 1903 and declared a national monument in 1950. We leave the park at Namutoni and travel the short distance to our lodge. Overnight in the vicinity of Etosha (HOTEL / LODGE). Breakfast and dinner. 
  
Day 11 Etosha - Windhoek
 
We leave Etosha early today and take a short drive to the Ombili Bushman Project where we can spend some time learning about the fascinating lives of today's San people (Bushmen). The village here allows a good insight into how the San of today are coping with the modern world. We continue to Windhoek on a good, paved road. The Windhoek area is at a refreshing altitude amongst rolling bush-dotted hills and is well watered by rain. It does, however, get so hot that the rain evaporates soon after each dramatic downpour. Winters are bright but very chilly at night and summers wonderfully hot. Overnight in Windhoek. Breakfast and dinner. 
  
Day 12 Windhoek, Namibia - Maun, Botswana
 
Today we fly to Maun, Botswana.* Botswana is a land-locked country about the size of Kenya, France or Texas. It is bound on the south and southeast by South Africa; in the northeast is Zimbabwe; Zambia is on the western frontier; Namibia forms the country's western and northern border. Botswana also shares 100 m (328 feet) of the Zambezi River frontage with Zambia. Lying at an average elevation of 1000 m (3,280 feet), the majority of Botswana is a vast and flat sand-filled basin characterised by scrub-covered desert or savannah. In the northwest the Okavango River flows in from Angola and Namibia and disappears into the sands, forming the 15,000 km? (5,765 sq mile) of convoluted channels which form the Okavango Delta. After a chance to shower and relax after your journey, we will enjoy "sundowners" around the campfire before dinner, as well as an orientation by your Tour Leader and local guide. Our first night is at Sitatunga camp just outside Maun, an area known for prolific resident birdlife. Though not deluxe, this safari is run on the basis of providing reasonable comfort for a camping trip. Wherever possible the camp is set up prior to our arrival allowing optimal time to view game. Mess tents are erected for dining and a competent cook produces tasty, well-balanced meals. Travelling with us means that you will be enjoying a real holiday; all duties are taken care of by our staff. Our specially designed and equipped vehicles are unequalled, and offer space, comfort and maximum pleasure in game viewing. Maintenance and service receive top priority, and we carry with us a full range of spare parts. Our camping equipment is of the highest quality, comprising refrigerator, camp showers and toilets. Accommodation is in spacious 3x3m tents, which are insect-proof and well-ventilated. All bedding facilities are supplied, including sprung stretchers, mattresses and duvets. This kind of service will challenge your notion of "camping." * NOTE: Due to ever changing local flight schedules and unreliable availability, we may travel into Botswana by road instead of by air. This option will involve an extra night of fully serviced camping in a beautiful area of Botswana. Overnight Sitatunga Base Camp. Breakfast and dinner. 
  
Day 13 Maun - Moremi
 
This morning we include a scenic over-flight for an aerial view of the Okavango Delta. Rain falling on the distant Angolan highlands drains into this legendary African paradise. Our flight takes us over reed marsh comprised of papyrus, bullrush and acacia. An abundance of bird and animal life gather around the wetlands where crocodile and hippopotamus live. We then depart by overland vehicle to Moremi passing traditional villages en-route before entering the South Gate into the Moremi Wildlife Reserve, located on one of the "fingers" that form a peninsula into the Okavango swamps. Our game drive takes us on a scenic road through the Xaxanaka Lagoons where we have time to relax before dinner is served in the dining tent (Please note that the selection of beverages is local and limited). Every year, floods pour down from the highlands of Angola into the Okavango River and flow on through a vast network of narrow waterways, lagoons and broad expanses of the Okavango Delta. The water courses through this huge, 10 000 square kilometres of flood plain and dissipates in the sands of the Kalahari. ***** IT IS IMPORTANT to note that the nature of our activities and exact camp locations over the next few days could be significantly affected by seasonal variations in precipitation and water levels. This itinerary should give a very accurate sense of what will happen over these days, but passengers are urged to be flexible and be prepared for changes at the discretion of our local agents, Tour Leader, and guides. Overnight camping Xaxanaka area. Breakfast and dinner. 
  
Day 14 Moremi Wildlife Reserve
 
Many travellers regard the Moremi Wildlife Reserve as the most spectacular and beautiful game park in Southern Africa. It covers more than 1000 sq km of grassy flood plains in the north-eastern corner of the Okavango Delta. Apart from savannah, the terrain includes winding waterways with banks of reeds, palm-covered islands, thick forest and lush, lily-covered lagoons where hippos bathe and sport. With such a wide variety of vegetation comes an incredibly wide spectrum of wild life. Huge herds of impala and tsessebe are always in the area, while in the dry season large herds of buffalo, wildebeest and zebra flock into the park from the Kalahari in search of food and water. The rare sitatunga and lechwe antelope live in the papyrus banks of the waterways. Lions, cheetahs and packs of wild dogs hunt in the open grassland. The reserve is home to an immense number of birds. Unlike most other game parks, Moremi allows visitors to approach game on foot. The park has been kept as natural as possible by the people who created it, the Tawana tribe. In 1961, worried about the increase in game hunting, the tribe under the regent, Mrs Pulane Moremi, widow of Chief Moremi III, established the reserve on their own land. It was the first time an African tribe had founded and administered a game park. We have an early morning game drive through Moremi with its magnificent scenery in search of numbers of wildlife resident in this area. We return to camp at about 11h00 for delicious brunch and time to relax in camp. An afternoon boating excursion on the Xaxanaka Lagoons take us down the papyrus fringed channels of the eastern delta, prolific in bird life. Overnight camping in Xaxanaka area. All meals. 
  
Day 15 Moremi Wildlife Reserve - Kwai
 
After breakfast we depart our campsite and travel towards Kwai River at Moremi's North Gate. The vegetation is mainly low but thick Mopani forest, with a lot of elephant activity. With lunch en route we will arrive at North Gate in the late afternoon. We overnight in view of the Kwai River. The Kwai (Khwai) River is part of the Okavango Delta's system. At a point where the river narrows to a stream and disappears into the sand you find Moremi. The Okavango is frequently called a swamp, but mostly its waters are beautifully clear and blue. Most of the Okavango waters are soaked up by the desert, or evaporate. In good years, a fraction may remain to flood Lake Ngami in the south and feed the Boteti River which runs into Lake Xau in the west and eventually into the huge depression of the Makgadikgadi Pan. The floods reach their peak in May, covering vast grass flats and making thousands of islands out of tree-covered ridges of land. Thick papyrus grows everywhere and, in the northern parts of the delta, chokes the waterways so that they are impenetrable except by canoes. Overnight camp in Kwai area. All meals. 
  
Day 16 Kwai River Area
 
Today we have early morning and afternoon game drives around the Kwai River area. This wilderness is uninhabited, except for a few river Bushmen who roam there. They still work iron with primitive bellows, making knives, axes and spears. Their canoes, called mokoros, are hand-hewn from logs. In the parts of the delta where there is perennial water there are large numbers of crocodiles, hippos and buffaloes. Animals like the sitatunga, lechwe and Chobe bushbuck, which have adapted themselves to the conditions of reed and water, live on the islands. Overnight camp in Kwai River area. All meals. 
  
Day 17 Moremi Wildlife Reserve - Savuti Channel Area
 
We have an early morning game drive for one last look at the Kwai before returning to our camp for breakfast. We leave Moremi and our route takes us on an adventurous day's drive northwards to Savuti. We will stop en-route for lunch. After a game drive past the Mababe Depression we will arrive at our campsite. Savuti's highlights are numerous--large prides of lions and immense herds of plains game such as zebra, wildebeest, Sassaby and impala. The Savuti Channel, a strange waterway, apparently seems to have a mind of its own; dry for one hundred years, it then flooded abruptly in the 1950's and remained flooded till the 1980's, when shifting of the subterranean tectonic plates caused it to dry up again. Overnight camping at Savuti. All meals. 
  
Day 18 Savuti Channel Area
 
Savuti is one of Africa's most densely populated predator areas, and well known for its bull elephants. Both the Savuti waterhole and the Savuti Pan offer an ever changing spectacle of birds and wildlife. Morning and afternoon game drives with some time to relax during the heat of the day. Overnight camping at Savuti. All meals. 
  
Day 19 Savuti - Nogaatsha
 
Leaving the plains of the Savuti Marsh we follow the Ngwezumba Valley, driving through mopane forests. Lunch en-route. In the afternoon we arrive at the remote pan of Nogaatsha, on which a variety of wildlife depend. Tonight we camp within sight of the waterhole. Overnight in the area of Nogaatsha. All meals. 
  
Day 20 Nogaatsha - Chobe National Park - Kasane
 
After breakfast we leave for the Chobe River and hopefully will see the herds of elephant for which this park is famous. In the afternoon a boating excursion on the Chobe River offers a new dimension to game-viewing. The original inhabitants of what is now the park were the San people, otherwise known in Botswana as the Basarwa. They were hunter-gatherers who lived by moving from one area to another in search of water, wild fruits and wild animals. The San were later joined by groups of the Basubiya people and later still, around 1911, by a group of Batawana led by Sekgoma. When the country was divided into various land tenure systems, late last century and early this century, the larger part of the area that is now the national park, was classified as crown land. In 1967, the reserve was declared a national park. A major feature of Chobe National Park is its elephant population, comprising what is probably the world's largest. This population covers most of northern Botswana plus north-western Zimbabwe and is currently estimated at around 100,000. This elephant population has built up steadily from a few thousand since the early 1900s and has escaped the massive illegal offtake that decimated other populations in the 1970s and 1980s. The Chobe elephant are migratory, making seasonal movements of up to 200 km (125 miles) from the Chobe and Linyanti rivers where they concentrate in the dry season, to the pans in the south-east of the park, to which they disperse in the rains. The Kalahari elephant, including Chobe, has the distinction of being the largest in body size of all living elephants, though the ivory is brittle such that you will not see many huge tuskers among these rangy monsters. Overnight in Kasane. Chobe Safari Lodge. All meals. 
  
Day 21 Kasane, Botswana - Livingstone, Zambia - Victoria Falls
 
Today we travel to the Zambian side of Victoria Falls from Kasane, the confluence of the Chobe and Zambezi Rivers and roughly the place where the countries of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, and Namibia meet, the only place in Africa where four countries do so. We make our way across the river by boat (20 minutes) and continue the rest of the way to Vic Falls by road via the town of Livingstone, once an important town in southern Africa during the first days of European settlement and the beginnings of Colonial rule. This area has been inhabited for hundreds of thousands of years. The first known name of the falls was "Shongwe," and the current name did not come into being until the Scottish missionary David Livingstone was brought to the falls in 1855 and named them after Queen Victoria. The falls and the nearby town of Livingstone are on the mighty Zambezi River, the fourth longest in Africa, and forming the border with neighbouring Zimbabwe. Overnight at Victoria Falls, Zambia. Breakfast and dinner. 
  
Day 22 Departure from Livingstone
 
Departure from Victoria Falls / Livingstone. Note: extra overnight/s in Victoria Falls can be arranged in advance at an extra cost (subject to availability). Additional optional activities could include Zambezi River rafting (seasonal), and or an excursion into the neighbouring country of Zimbabwe for more falls viewing. Note that in the case of extra night/s, your departure transfer to Livingstone Airport is not included (approximate local cost 25 USD). Breakfast.

10/09