Untamed Lands Safari
12 nights/13 days
See the wilds of Botswana and Victoria Falls, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World! This itinerary changes seasonally to give you to best opportunity to view game, specifically the zebra migrations. From the Makgadikgadi Pans and Kalahari Desert to the Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park, you will be awed by giant Baobab trees, walk with the Bushman and mokoro through the waterways.
Brief Itinerary
Days 1 & 2 Arrive in Maun, fly to Camp Kalahari, Makgadikgadi Pans
Days 3 & 4 Drive to Nxai Pan, Nxai Pan National Park
Days 5 & 6 Drive to Maun, fly to Xigera Mokoro Trails, Okavango
Days 7 & 8 Fly to Lechwe Island Camp, northeastern Okavango
Day 9 Drive to Savute Marsh, Chobe National Park
Days 10 & 11 Drive to Linyanti Trails Camp, Chobe/Linyanti
Day 12 Fly to Kasane for Chobe River boat cruise; drive to Natural Mystic Lodge, Livingstone
Day 13 Guided walk of the Victoria Falls, transfer to airport
*Please note that this safari has a slightly different routing to maximize the experience of the zebra migration. The winter itinerary above changes during the summer (December 1 to May 31) with one less night at Linyanti Trails Camp and one more night at Savute Marsh in Chobe National Park. This safari begins in Maun, Botswana and ends in Livingstone, Zambia.
Untamed Lands Safari - Price
Contact Duffle & Compass for the current price of this itinerary.
Untamed Lands Safari - Departure Dates
This safari is no longer operated with set departure dates. However we will be happy to arrange a custom-tailored version of this itinerary for small private groups. Contact Duffle & Compass for details.
Untamed Lands Safari - Detailed Itinerary
Day 1 & 2
After arrival in Maun, we drive to Camp Kalahari, situated in a private concession on the edge of the great Makgadikgadi Pans in the Kalahari Desert. The saltpans are among the largest in the world, part of a super-lake fossilized eons ago.
Surprisingly for such a harsh, lunar-like environment, life abounds, and brown hyena, oryx and springbok are just a few of the desert-adapted species that can be seen. Activities include encounters with meerkats, one of the most endearing animals in the world. Experience phenomenal geology, quad biking, authentic San (Bushman) cultural walks and fascinating Stone Age archaeological artifacts - or simply enjoy the wide-open spaces of this ancient lakebed.
Day 3 & 4
After an early breakfast, we depart overland to our pre-erected private campsite in the Nxai Pan National Park, stopping for lunch en route at the famous Baines Baobabs, which Thomas Baines painted on his exploratory expedition in the late 19th century.
These pans are fossilized, covered with short nutritious grasses and stunted acacia trees, creating wildlife-rich areas surrounded by vegetated dune savannahs. Extensive game drives explore the surrounding pans, with an excellent chance of seeing spectacular dry-season predator-and-prey interaction at the waterholes.
Day 5 & 6 
After arrival in Maun by road, we fly by light aircraft to the water-filled paradise of the private Xigera area, within the Moremi Game Reserve. Xigera is the ultimate Delta experience, with serene waters flowing through innumerable channels around remote islands and a profusion of plant and animal life.
There is no better way to experience the Okavango than to travel through it by mokoro, walking and camping out on a vegetated island - all essential elements of the Xigera Mokoro Trails experience. The experience is aimed at exposing the permanently flooded inner delta, in the serene waterways and on the islands of trees and bush. Our guest tents are smaller here than the rest of the safari, with a gauze main frame, thus enhancing the views. Key to the experience is mobility, therefore bedrolls are on the ground (and not on a stretcher) and a battery-powered lamp provides light.
Activities include mokoro and walking safaris, which enable up-close encounters with the excellent diversity of birdlife (including Pel's Fishing Owl), frogs and a myriad of game species, some specially adapted to water, such as the rare sitatunga and the familiar red lechwe. Walking activities vary in length and duration through the seasons, especially in the months when the Okavango is at peak flood where they become shorter (June, July and August) as more islands become flooded.
Day 7 & 8
Fly by light aircraft charter from Xigera Mokoro Trails directly to the north-eastern corner of the Okavango Delta at the junction to the Selinda Spillway, to our pre-erected camp. Lechwe Island Camp is located in the south-western sector of the Selinda private concession, in a seasonally flooded portion of the Okavango Delta where it joins into the Selinda Spillway. The campsite is situated on a wooded island overlooking a floodplain area, the channel in front of camp alternately flooded or dry depending on the season.
Activities concentrate around the bushy and wooded islands, open plains and the flooded and dry channels surrounding the camp. In this area seasonal congregations of wildlife (especially in the late afternoons) make this a great experience on game drives, night drives and nature walks on the private concession.
Day 9 
Departing early from camp, we travel north and east through the private concession and Chobe National Park, stopping en route for game sightings through parts of the area and lunch. This long but interesting drive gives the perfect introduction to the varying habitats of a dry and flat northern Botswana, from the geographically interesting Selinda Spillway (Great Rift Valley fault line) to the open savannah of the Savute Marsh with its granite hillocks.
We arrive at our campsite in the mid-afternoon, in time for a short sunset game drive on the open and dry, scenic Savute Marsh.
Day 10 & 11
We leave early, heading towards the Linyanti region. This can be an all-day game drive, with lunch en route at a shady place in the Savuti Channel. This game/transfer drive is specifically designed to gain an intimate view of the "Stolen River". If the guide believes the wildlife better in the vicinity of the trails camp as the permanent waters are there, we will head directly there and embark on an afternoon game drive to begin our search.
On our second day, we depart on an early morning activity in the north-eastern corner of the Linyanti, enjoying a myriad of changing landscapes, from riverine to savannah habitat with sweeping views. Lunch is at an area, with a sweeping view of the Linyanti waterways. After a siesta in hammocks, there is the possibility of an afternoon canoe trip, before returning to camp at dusk. (This activity is not always possible, depending on whether there are hippo pods moving in and out of the areas in which we canoe.)
Day 12
After a short morning drive and breakfast, we depart by light aircraft to the northern Chobe region of Chobe National Park. This area is famous for its vast herds of elephants and other unique species such as the elusive puku and Chobe bushbuck that move to the river in the hottest hours of the day. Enjoy a lunch served during the boat cruise on the catamaran-style shaded boat.
We leave Botswana and enter Zambia by way of the Kazangula border, a point where the four countries of Botswana, Zambia, Namibia and Zimbabwe meet, to stay at the Natural Mystic Lodge, arriving in the late afternoon.
Natural Mystic Lodge is located near Livingstone - the "Adventure Capital" of Zambia, 18 miles from the spectacular Victoria Falls, and 31 miles from the Kazangula border between Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
All 10 en-suite thatched chalets have a view of the Zambezi River. The chalets are built into a natural setting, and have a traditional African feel to them, while providing the necessary comfort, privacy and safety guests require. The area surrounding the lodge is covered in a dense mopane forest combined with deciduous savannah grassland. Nature's sounds of birdlife, frogs, baboons, monkeys and hippo create a mystical mood, while free-roaming elephants are frequent visitors to the grounds.
Day 13
Enjoy a guided tour of the Victoria Falls, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. This is the largest curtain of water in the world and drops 100 metres into the Zambezi Gorge. Afterward we transfer directly to Livingstone Airport and bid our farewells.
Contact Duffle & Compass to begin planning your Africa adventure.
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