"Discover the thrilling beauty of the wilderness"
Dumela / Hello! Welcome to Botswana! We will be there to give you a warm Botswana welcome when you land at Maun Airport. From the airport we shall have a drive to our first destination which is Nxai Pan. Your camp will already be set by your capable Crew who would have left Maun earlier than you. Your expected time of arrival at camp is around 1700hrs.
Nxai Pan National Park lies just north of the Maun-Nata main road and adjoins Makgadikgadi Pans National Park on its northern border. The pan itself is a fossil lake bed of approximately 40 km2 in size.
It is home to the cluster of millennia-old baobab trees, which owe their name to Thomas Baines, who first described them for Western botany. Baines’ Baobabs, as they are known today, are a sight sought by many travelers venturing into this untamed terrain of Botswana. Nxai National Park is the habitat of elephant, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, lion, leopard, cheetah, kudu, springbok, impala, ostrich, Cape wild dog, jackal, hyena, bat-eared fox, aardwolf, and honey badger.
You stay 2 nights. Activities: Game drives, Birding.
You are woken up early in the morning on day 7. After breakfast, we head out for game viewing along the Boteti River. We later leisurely head out to the next point within the Park at the Makgadikgadi Pans, with a picnic lunch along the way. Time allowing we may do another introductory game viewing in and around the Pans before we get into camp.
We do get up close and personal with the coolest residents of the desert, the Kalahari meerkats.
The national park forms a unity with the Nxai Pan National Park only separated by the Maun – Nata tar road from each other. In the south west its border crosses the Ntwetwe Pan, in the west the Boteti River forms the border. The Makgadikgadi Pans National Park and the Nxai Pan National Park are situated on the western border of the large Makgadikgadi salt pans, south east of the Okavango Delta. The Makgadikgadi Pans are one of the biggest salt pans worldwide. They are formed by two large and thousands of small pans with an area of more than 8400 km². The complete area of pan systems covers an area of more than 16000 km².
The formation of the salt pans started with the evaporation of a huge inland lake in central Botswana, which covered an area of about 60000 km². As a result of plate tectonics, the feeding rivers were cut off. As Makgadikgadi forms the lowest point, salt concentrated here and formed layers up to five metre deep.
You stay 1 night in Makgadikgadi Pans. Activities: Game drives, nature walks.
You wake early in the morning to start your journey to the Makgadikgadi National Park; Kumaga is situated within this Park. You will have a picnic lunch enroute as well as good game viewing before your arrival in camp later in the afternoon. Your camp crew will break camp, and move it to Kumaga where it will be functional upon your arrival late in the afternoon.
This site offers stunning views of the Boteti River and the village of Kumaga. Witness the mesmerizing sight of zebras, wildebeests, and elephants, as well as a diverse array of wildlife throughout the year.
In Kumaga, the rhythm of life beats to the pulse of the pans, where vast salt flats stretch as far as the eye can see, and the horizon seems to touch the heavens. Here, amidst the lunar-like terrain, wildlife congregates in astonishing numbers, drawn by the promise of water and sustenance.
You stay 1 nights. Activities: Morning Game drives, Afternoon Game drives.
Your Guide will pick you up in the morning to start your journey to Central Kalahari Game Reserve. You will have a picnic lunch enroute as well as good game viewing before your arrival in camp later in the afternoon. Your camp will already be set by your capable Crew who would have left Maun earlier than you. Your expected time of arrival at camp is around 1700hrs.
The magic of a mobile camp becomes apparent as the sun sets and you enjoy drinks around the fire before a starlit dinner and a great night’s rest after falling asleep to the sounds of the African bush. Spending our first 3 nights camping in CKGR, we explore the surrounding wilderness on game drives during the day. The Central Kalahari Game Reserve is not only one of Africa’s largest game reserves but one of the largest in the world at about 53,000 km2. The sands of the Kalahari cover almost two thirds of Botswana – perhaps an odd thought for a country which is particularly known for its delta waterways.
The Central Kalahari reserve is made up of salt pans, vast grasslands and acacia forests. There are dunes, but these are mostly vegetated dunes, rather than the kind of sand dunes you find in the Sahara. It is also famous for its ancient fossil river beds, which form valleys through the bush. Deception Valley is the most famous of these (valleys).
You stay 2 nights: Activities: Morning Game drives, Afternoon Game drives, stargazing, birding.
You are woken up early in the morning on day 7, after breakfast you are taken back to Maun.