Overview
- Day 1 and 2: Okavango Delta (mokoro and walk)
- Day 3, 4 and 5: Nxai Pan or Makgadikgadi (game drives)
- Day 6, 7, 8, and 9: Central Kalahari Game Reserve
- Day 9: End of trip. (back to Maun)
Day 1
Professional guides of Unlimited Safari will meet you right when you arrive at Maun Airport (MUB). Should you wish, you can be taken straight into Maun for shopping and an opportunity to exchange currencies.
Depending on the time of your arrival and preferences, you can then be transferred to a mokoro canoe station. There, you will be introduced to Unlimited Safari's professional "polers" and begin your mokoro canoe experience as you travel to a delta island. En route, you will enjoy a smooth ride and melodious birds welcoming you to the region. You will find a secluded spot to set up camp and enjoy lunch. In the afternoon, you'll take an adventurous walk in the bush before enjoying dinner and your rest.
Please note that on your mokoro excursion into the delta due to weight restrictions on the canoes, you cannot carry your full-service equipment, so you will use 3x3-meter dome tents with the mattress on the ground. You will have a separate shower and toilet enclosure near your tent.
Day 2
After breakfast, Unlimited Safari breaks up camp and takes you back to the mokoro canoe station, where your game drive vehicle will pick you up for your departure to Nxai Pan or Makgadikgadi Pans National Park. It takes about 4 hours to reach the salt pans. You will bring packed lunches and snacks. Upon arrival, the camp will already be set up for you and there will be time for you to relax and refresh yourself after the trip. After the siesta, you will join your professional guide for a short game drive around the pan until sunset. Come back to camp in time for a shower before dinner under the African sky.
Day 3
Wake up in the morning and have a light breakfast before your day trip, a game drive to explore Nxai Pan or the Makgadikgadi Pan. You'll expect to see elephants, giraffes, impalas, wildebeest, zebras, and some of the big predators. You'll bring along packed lunches and snacks as you'll be spending the whole day in the bush. Per usual, you'll return to the camp in the evening for a shower and your delicious dinner.
Day 4
Wake up in the morning for a light breakfast before heading to a nearby ancient super lake, the Makgadikgadi Pan, where the open landscape is breathtaking as far as your eyes can see. You will visit the ancient lake which is home to Kubu Island, one of Botswana's national monuments. Ghostly baobab sentinels on the shores of Kubu Island will accompany yet another serene Makgadikgadi sunset. At sunset, the beautiful baobabs change to striking golden shades of yellow and orange.
If you opt to stay in Nxai Pan, you will do a trip to Baines Baobabs. Baines Baobabs were named after the famous 20th-century painter and explorer who painted this unusual group of baobabs during his journey through southern Africa in 1862. The baobabs stand on the edge of a large salt pan which, although dry for most of the year, transforms into a massive sheet of water dotted with water lilies during the rainy season from December to March. During those wet months, water birds abound at the lagoon and create a spectacle of great beauty. You will drive back to the camp in the evening, just in time to relax and take a shower before a superb fire-cooked dinner.
Day 5
Wake up around 06:00 for a light breakfast and a game drive through the areas you did not get the chance to cover during the previous few days. You will depart from Nxai Pan or Makgadikgadi Pan between 09:00 and 10:00 to head for the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, about a 4-hour trip. Packed lunches and snacks will be prepared and enjoyed along the way. Upon arrival in the Kalahari, Unlimited Safari will set up tents so that you can relax after a long day and enjoy dinner before it's time for a safari sleep.
Day 6
Wake up in the morning for a light breakfast. Join your professional guide for a full‐day game drive, during which you will enjoy a packed lunch and snacks under a beautiful acacia tree. Return late in the evening for a shower and dinner under the stars.
Day 7
Wake up for a light breakfast and get ready for a guided full-day game drive, with packed lunches and snacks during the day, then return to camp at sunset for a shower, dinner, and your safari sleep.
Day 8
Wake up in the morning for a light breakfast. Go for a morning game drive and return to the camp for brunch and a rest before heading back out for the afternoon's game drive. You take things easy since you have a long trip to Maun ahead of on day 9!
Day 9
Wake up in the morning for a full breakfast. Break the camp as you head back to Maun Airport (MUB) where you will connect to your Johannesburg flight. The safari ends.
You have learned quite a lot about these destinations and you are willing to tell your friends and family to come to witness the real nature of Botswana in Africa with Unlimited Safari in Maun.