Botswana & Vic Falls Safari

Arrive in Johannesburg any time and make your way to the joining point hotel. A brief departure meeting will be held in the hotel reception area in evening on Day 1 of your tour. Upon arrival look for information from your tour leader on the hotel bulletin board regarding the meeting time (approx 6-7pm).

Our starting hotel is located outside of the city of Johannesburg, but take some time on an optional excursion to Soweto or to the famous Apartheid Museum, if you arrive a day earlier or two.

George Harrison discovered gold near present-day Johannesburg in March 1886 on the Witwatersrand. Surveyors were instructed by the government to lay this farm out as a future town. They completed their work on 03 Dec 1886. The name Johannesburg was written for the first time on their plans of streets and stands.
Only five days after the completion of the survey the first 986 stands were auctioned, and the first building to be erected was a corrugated iron hut. Within 12 months, Johannesburg was the second largest town in Transvaal, and by the middle 1890s there were 20 separate mining companies working from headquarters in Johannesburg.
The Transvaal government granted Johannesburg municipal status in 1897. Later, the city became almost deserted with the advent of the Anglo-Boer war on 11 Oct 1899, as trainloads of refugees fled. Johannesburg was placed under martial law, to protect the existing claims. After the war, the labour shortage led to a proposed suggestion to import Chinese labour. The first load of 1055 Chinese labourers arrived in 1904. By 1905 they numbered 46,895. In December of 1905 the British liberal party ( who just won the national elections) suspended the Chinese recruitment. Between 1903 and 1997, 55,877 miners had been killed in mine accidents. In the same period 47,229 tons of gold had been produced.
Johannesburg officially became a city in 1928, and by 1960 it had more than 1 million inhabitants. Today, Johannesburg is fondly known as eGoli, or place of gold.

Approximate Distance: 524 km
Estimated Travel Time: 8 hrs

Today's travel takes us through a very desolate part of central-eastern Botswana. We cross into Botswana and finish the day at the Khama Rhino Sanctuary, a unique community-based initiative in wildlife conservation.

The Khama Rhino Sanctuary is centred around the Serowe Pan, a large grass-covered depression with several natural water holes and covering about 4,3000 hectares of Kalahari sandveld. The Sanctuary lies 25km north of Serowe, one of the largest traditional villages in Africa.

The Khama Rhino Sanctuary was started by a group of Serowe residents in 1989 who had conceived the idea of a wildlife reserve near Serowe. It was established to safe-guard both the white and black rhino population, which had been severely depleted by indiscriminate poaching. This area was chosen as it was an excellent habitat for rhinos, and because of its central location close to a Botswana Defence Force base, which was to provide 24-hour protection for sanctuary. In 1995, a 28 km electric fence and this was completed, and all the rhinos were released and now roam freely within the sanctuary.

Serowe is one of the largest and most attractive villages in Botswana, and the traditional home of the paramount chiefs of the Ngwato people. The Khama III Memorial Museum houses memorials to the Khama family along with historical artefacts and interesting local sculpture. Thathaganyane Hill at Serowe is a National Monument and royal cemetery set on a rocky enclave with sweeping views. A local business venture manufactures and promotes arts and crafts for the tourist market. Serowe is also well known for high quality basketry. Serowe is also the birth place of Botswana’s first President, Seretse Khama.

Maun, although officially still a village, is the fifth largest town in Botswana. It is an eclectic mix of modern buildings and native huts. Maun is the "tourism capital" of Botswana and the administrative centre of Ngamiland district. Maun has developed rapidly from a rural frontier town and has spread along the Thamalakane River. It now boasts good shopping centres, hotels and lodges as well as car and 4-wheel drive vehicle hire. It still retains a rural atmosphere and local tribesmen continue to bring their cattle to Maun to sell. This community is now distributed along the wide banks of the Thamalakane River where red lechwe can still be seen grazing next to local donkeys, goats and cattle.

After one night in Maun and leaving some of our luggage in Maun, we begin our exciting 2 day/1 night excursion into the delta as we drive about 1-2 hours (depending on which dock we go to) to the "dock" where we hop into a mokoro, a traditional dug-out canoe, that'll take us deep into the delta. After a couple hours in mokoro, we arrive to our basic “bush camp”. Please note that there will be no shower for those two days but you will be compensated by the incredible landscape (we recommend you bring a 5l bottle of water into the Delta, for drinking and cleaning purposes). For 1 1/2 days, enjoy game walks, mokoros (occasionally unavailable due to seasonality), birdlife and game viewing in the pristine wilderness area of the Okavango Delta, the world's largest inland delta. Don't forget to bring a book with you as there is plenty of time in between the early morning and afternoon game drive where you relax at your camp, read a book or have a nap. In the evenings count the shooting stars, sing with the locals or just unwind and enjoy your sundowner and sit around the campfire.

"Where all this water goes is a mystery", Aurel Schultz, 1897

The area of the delta was once part of Lake Makgadikgadi, an ancient lake that dried up some 10,000 years ago. Today, the Okavango River has no outlet to the sea. Instead, it empties onto the sands of the Kalahari Desert, irrigating 15,000 km_ of the desert. Each year some 11 cubic kilometers of water reach the delta. Some of this water reaches further south to create Lake Ngami. The water entering the delta is unusually pure, due to the lack of agriculture and industry along the Okavango River. It passes through the sand aquifers of the numerous delta islands and evaporates/transpirates by leaving enormous quantities of salt behind. This precipitation processes are so strong that the vegetation disappears in the center of the islands and thick salt crusts are formed. The waters of the Okavango Delta are subject to seasonal flooding, which begins about mid-summer in the north and six months later in the south (May/June). The water from the delta is evaporated relatively rapidly by the high temperatures, resulting in a cycle of cresting and dropping water in the south. Islands can disappear completely during the peak flood, then reappear at the end of the season.

Approximate Distance: 200 km
Estimated Travel Time: 3 hrs from Maun.

Enjoy one last sunrise over the Delta, get up early for your last game walk, set out on foot to explore the delta area in search of game. Cruise back down the crystal clear channels of the Okavango Delta. We return to Maun to our overland vehicle and continue our journey to Gweta, an ideal base for an optional sunset trip into the Makgadikgadi Pans (Nxasini pan - one of the smaller pan).

When the rain comes, it brings life to the pans, as it fills just a few centimetres awaking the dormant fish and aquatic shrimps from the mud. The surrounding grasslands also team with life and are home to an impressive number of antelope that attract a wide variety of predators.

Makgadikgadi Pans National park is situated 162 km east of Maun and 143 km west of Nata (to the left of the Makgadikgadi pans). It was declared a game reserve in 1970, but in December 1992 it was enlarged and declared a national park. Today it comprises 4900 square km. It was initially state land. Although it is totally devoid of any water, people used to live there before it was declared state land. Villagers where allowed to graze their livestock inside the boundaries during dry season.
As the largest expanse of 'nothingness' on earth, the pans have an area the size of Switzerland, and are clearly visible from outer-space. What is known today as the Makgadikgadi Pans is only a relic of what used to be one of the biggest inland lakes Africa has ever seen-Lake Makgadikgadi. The Makgadikgadi pan consists of two main pans, Namely Ntwetwe and Sowa pan, both of which are surrounded by myriad smaller pans. Although it is totally devoid of any water, people used to live there before it was declared state land. Villagers where allowed to graze their livestock inside the boundaries during dry season.

Day 6:
Approximate Distance: 200 km
Estimated Travel Time: 3 hrs
We stay at Elephant Sands tonight. It is well known for the elephants which roam the area and they even get into the camp for a quick drink of water out of the swimming pool.
We leave our overland vehicle and hop onto open safari vehicles which will lead us to our basic bush camp for the night (approx 45 minutes on open safari vehicles). Enjoy your dinner in the middle of the bush tonight. Tonight is non-participating, which means you can relax, unwind and enjoy the sunset in middle of the bush, truly an unforgettable experience. There will be no shower tonight and only a basic “dig-out toilet but with proper seating” but you will be compensated by the incredible landscape. Enjoy an included conservation walk tonight.

Approximate Distance: 324 km
Estimated Travel Time: 5 hrs

Cross the Zambezi River to enter into Zambia and continue to Livingstone. We will spend the next two days of our tour here, a great base to see both some natural wonders and take part in some exciting activities. Get up close (and wet from the spray) while awing at the immense Victoria Falls, raft the whitewater of the mighty Zambezi, for the more adventurous, bungee jump with the Victoria Falls in view.

David Livingstone was born on March 19, 1813 in the village of Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. He first studied Greek, medicine, and theology at the University of Glasgow and while working in London, joined the London Missionary Society became a minister. He originally planned to gain access to China through his medical knowledge. The Opium Wars, which were raging at this stage with no signs of peace on the horizon, forced Livingstone to consider other options. From 1840 he worked in Bechuanaland (present-day Botswana), and in the period 1852–56, he explored the African interior, and was the first European to see the Mosi-oa-Tunya waterfall (which he renamed Victoria Falls after his monarch, Queen Victoria). Livingstone was one of the first Westerners to make a transcontinental journey across Africa. The purpose of his journey was to open the routes, while accumulating useful information about the African continent. In particular, Livingstone was a proponent of trade and Christian missions to be established in central Africa. His motto, inscribed in the base of the statue to him at Victoria Falls, was “Christianity, Commerce and Civilization.”

The town of Livingstone is a regional transport center, being located near the borders of Botswana and Zimbabwe, and serves as a base for the many visitors to see this part of Africa, and the impressive Victoria Falls, a mere 12km from Livingstone.

The Victoria Falls waterfalls occur in a country that is perfectly flat. From its source on the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Zambezi River meanders for 1300 km across the wooded plateau of Zambia, eroding for itself a shallow valley on its mild descent to the site of the falls. The river eventually found a weak spot on the lower lip of the surface over which it passed, and forced a passage which was steadily deepened into an exit gorge. During the last half million years the river has scoured out eight of these cracks across its bed. The Victoria falls occurs where the river is 1688 m wide, presents the spectacle of an average maximum of 550 million liters of water a minute tumbling over the lip of the trench in five main falls, the Devil’s Cataract, Main falls, Horseshoe Falls, Rainbow falls and the Eastern Cataract. The highest of these is Rainbow falls, on an average 108 m high. A peak flood sees 750 million liters of water in one minute hurtling over the falls.

The name Zambezi comes from the Tonka tribe, also meaning Great River, but the Sotho-speaking Kololo people of the upper reaches of the river gave it the well-known name of Mosi o a Thunya (smoke that rises). The Lozi people call it by the same name but translated it into smoke that sounds. The Ndebele call it aManza Thunqayo (the water that rises like smoke). The Namibian people call it Chinotimba (a noise-making place like the distant sound of digging).

Approximate Distance: 86 km
Estimated Travel Time: 3 hrs

Proceed towards Chobe National Park in the morning and stay just outside of the park near the town of Kasane. Take an optional game drive in the park, or an afternoon sunset boat cruise along the Chobe River - your best opportunity to view hippo, crocodiles and watch many elephants wallow in the water.

Kasane is situated on the banks of the Chobe River, near its mouth. This is where the Chobe and Zambezi rivers meet, creating a border area of four countries – Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Chobe National Park is Botswana’s first national park, and is situated along the Chobe River. It has one of the largest concentration of wildlife in all the Africa continent and one of the world's last remaining sizeable wilderness area. By size, this is the third largest park (11,000 sq km) of the country, though it is definitely the most diverse and spectacular.
The park is probably best known for its spectacular elephant population: with over 120,000 it has the highest elephant concentration of Africa. Moreover, most of them are probably part of the largest continuous surviving elephant population on Earth. The elephant population seems to have solidly built up since 1990, from the few initial thousands. By chance, they have not been affected by the massive illicit exploitation of the 1970's and 1980's. Elephants living here are Kalahari elephants, the largest in size of all known elephant species. Yet they are characterized by rather brittle ivory and short tusks. Damage caused by the high numbers of elephants is rife in some areas. In fact, concentration is so high throughout Chobe that culls have been considered, but are too controversial and have thus far been rejected. During the dry season, these elephants sojourn in Chobe River and the Linyanti River areas. During the rain season, they make a 200 km migration to the south-east region of the park. Their distribution zone however outreaches the park and spreads to north-western Zimbabwe.

Approximate Distance: 200 km
Estimated Travel Time: 3 hrs

Cross into South Africa and head for Polokwane, the provincial capital of Limpopo. Polokwane was founded in 1886 by Voortrekkers and is now a busy centre serving the surrounding agricultural and mining communities.
We overnight at Polokwane Game Reserve. The Reserve is characterised by open savannah and almost entirely dominated by themed grass with the odd smattering of acacia trees. Since its proclamation in the early 70s the Polokwane Game Reserve has established itself as one of the leading municipal conservation projects in South Africa. It supports viable populations of rare game species including Tsessebe, Sable Antelope and the White Rhino. Go and explore the park on foot by yourself (it is not guided) and unwind after a long day’s driving or sip a sundowner while listening to the wild sounds of Africa.

Approximate Distance: 450 km
Estimated Travel Time: 5 hrs

Your CEO will drop you off at the Main Bus Station in Polokwane in the morning of day 12. He or She will make sure that you will get on the right bus driving you back to Johannesburg Central Station. Please note that only the bus ticket from Polokwane to Johannesburg is included in the tour price.

The bus from Polokwane to Johannesburg takes around 4 hours and leaves Polokwane almost every hour. The bus is very comfortable, with air conditioning, TV and toilet on board. We normally use "Translux" or "Greyhound" bus line.