16 Days Zimbabwe and Botswana Safari

You will leave Johannesburg at 6:30 a.m. and travel northeast into the world-renowned Kruger National Park. From Letaba to Pafuri, you'll explore the park's isolated and rarely visited northern region. You can expect to see lions, elephants, rhinos, and other species during your morning and afternoon game drives in our safari vehicle in this symbol of wildlife preservation. Participation is a crucial component of your trip. Everything you do, from pitching your tent to loading the truck the next morning, is a part of your trip. All dinner preparation will be handled by your tour guides, although we do urge the guests to pitch in (rotationally) with the cleanup. Please be advised that despite having all the necessary documents, Sunway may experience an especially long day due to the lengthy Beitbridge border crossing into Zimbabwe.

You will go to the town of Masvingo and the Great Zimbabwe Monuments from the border crossing at Beit Bridge. The well-preserved ruins, which date from the 11th to the 14th centuries, are among the oldest and largest stone buildings in Southern Africa. The secrets surrounding these antiquated stone monuments and the culture that constructed them will be investigated on foot.

Moving on, you will reach Bulawayo late in the afternoon and pitch up camp outside the park before taking in a sundowner and spending the evening around the campfire. The following morning, you will go to the Matobo National Park with a local guide to explore the interior of the Matopos Hills, a region of granite koppies and forested valleys. You will have a clear view of Cecil John Rhodes' grave's historical location and learn about the region's peculiar rock formations during our open-vehicle game drive. You will participate in a guided walk as part of your tour to look for and perhaps spot endangered white rhinos as well as other species and see bushman rock art.

Hwange National Park, named after a native Nhanzwa chief, is the largest park in Zimbabwe, measuring around 14,650 square kilometers and situated in the north-western region of the nation. It is renowned for having an abundance of elephants. Your camp is located in the park's exterior game management zone. Together with our local guide, you will take a full-day game drive in the park in an open 4WD game viewing vehicle.

You will spend two nights camping in Victoria Falls. You can take a breath-taking stroll through lush tropical flora to reach Victoria Falls, also known as "Mosi oa Tunya" or "the smoke that thunders." You can go bungee jumping, white water raft on the powerful Zambezi River, or experience a "flight of angels" (at your own expense).

You will travel to your camp, which is situated in Kasane, a town on the banks of the Chobe River, after entering Botswana. The river gently meanders along the park's northern border, drawing some of the biggest elephant herds in Africa. The afternoon "sundowner" game viewing cruise is the highlight of any vacation to Chobe, where you may see a lot of elephants and other wildlife as they satisfy their thirst at the end of the day.

This morning, there is opportunity for an optional (at your own expense) wildlife drive in Chobe National Park. You will make your way to Gweta for an overnight stop by traveling through the Kasane Forest Reserve in the south. Your tents will be set up here, at the base of centuries-old baobab trees.

After an early start, you will travel to Maun, where you will be transferred to the delta by an open 4WD game viewing vehicle. On a mokoro (dug-out canoe), our local guides will take you deep inside the Okavango Delta. The experience of being softly pushed through the maze of channels is priceless. A beautiful, green sanctuary for wildlife and birds, the delta is created when precipitation from the Angolan highlands spills out over the Kalahari Desert sands. In this marvelously dynamic setting, you'll go wild camping on isolated islands and take part in activities like bushwalking, bird watching, and swimming in crystal-clear lakes. While camping with the local guides, you will discover more about their way of life and culture. On day 14, you will return to Maun in the late afternoon. During this time, you can choose to take an optional (own expense) game flight over the Okavango to see the delta from a fresh perspective.

On your way to the Khama Rhino Sanctuary from Maun, you will travel through the expansive Kalahari Desert by car. This community-based wildlife project was started in 1992 to help save the extinct rhinos, return a once-wildlife-rich area to its natural state, and benefit the local Batswana community economically through tourism and the wise use of natural resources. On an afternoon wildlife drive, you could be lucky enough to see some of the elusive rhinos.

You will travel to Johannesburg, where the tour will end in the late afternoon, after crossing back into South Africa.