Countries: Botswana
Destinations: Maun , Makgadikgadi Salt Pans & Nxai Pan National Park , Okavango Delta
Group Size: 2
Duration (days): 8
Number of Adults: 2
Number of Children: 0
This eight-day safari adventure is aimed at guests who want a rich variety of game activities as well as a comfortable lodge-to-lodge safari experience. Your adventure starts along the Thamalakane River in Maun at Thamo Telele, then takes you to the vast salt pan desert and surreal landscapes of the Makgadikgadi at Camp Kalahari. From here you venture to the big elephant action at Hyena Pan, ending it all with a classic Okavango Delta experience at Little Sable.
Itinerary Outline
Day 1 : Maun
Spend your first night at Thamo Telele, a little bush haven conveniently close to Maun. Set amongst the lush forest of old growth leadwood, bird plum and acacia trees, this is a safari style camp located in a 250-hectare private reserve on the banks of the Thamalakane river, an area packed with plains game. A hot spot for bird lovers and wildlife enthusiasts – here you can enjoy a giraffe experience, horse riding, mountain biking, and a scenic flight over the Okavango Delta (if booked at an additional cost).
Well known as one of the great safari destinations in Africa, Botswana offers some of the most beautiful, luxurious, and active safari experiences in Africa.
A Botswanan safari can never be long enough, and never experienced often enough. Although one of the flattest countries you will ever visit, Botswana is blessed with an incredible variety of landscapes and eco-systems.
It is the very flatness of Botswana which has created some of the world's most special wilderness areas, and exploring the Kalahari, Okavango Delta and Makgadikgadi Salt Pans rewards you with memories for a lifetime.
Easily accessible from Johannesburg, and simply combined with Victoria Falls, Botswana needs to be on your safari list if you are planning a visit to Southern Africa.
As soon as you land in Maun or Kasane, you will know that you have arrived in a country which operates like nothing you have experienced before.
With the warthogs running through the streets of Kasane, and the hippos grunting in the Chobe River, your welcome to Botswana is one which tells you straight away you are in Africa's wilds.
Botswana’s tourism capital lies on the southern fringes of the Okavango Delta, and still, despite recent modernisations, carries the feeling of a dusty, frontier town. For many tourists, Maun is the point of entry into the Delta, and often into Botswana, with direct flights from both Johannesburg and Gaborone.
Maun is the administrative centre of Ngamiland District, which is home to a fascinating variety of ethnic groups: the Hambukushu, Basubiya and Bayei – all of central African origins, who know the Okavango intimately, having expertly exploited and utilised its abundant resources for centuries. There are also the Banoka – the River Bushmen, who are the Okavango’s original inhabitants, the Bakgalagadi, and the Baherero, who originate from Namibia, and whose women can be seen wearing brightly coloured victorian style dresses as they stroll along the town roads, or sit outside their traditional rondavels.
Frequently, the ‘people’ side of the Okavango is overlooked, with tourists merely using Maun as a transit point to embark for the Delta. However, exploring the traditional villages along the western fringes of the Delta, in the panhandle area, is worth the time and effort, and for many tourists, becomes a real highlight of their travels in Botswana.
The dramatic surge in the numbers of tourists coming to Botswana in the 1980s brought equally dramatic changes to Maun. Safari companies abound, and their signposts dot the sandy parking lots. Modern malls, shops, hotels and guesthouses have sprung up everywhere; and now virtually any food item – from champagne, French cheeses, and chocolates down to commonplace necessities – can be purchased.
Today you can enjoy wilderness and wildlife by day and watch high tech DvDs by night, or walk into old government offices straight out of the colonial era.
Meanwhile, the timeless Thamalakane River meanders lazily through the town, setting the scene and mood for what lies ahead.
Thamo Telele is a 250-hectare private game reserve located on the outskirts of the iconic safari town of Maun, the gateway to the Okavango Delta.
This intimate and comfortable lodge was recently refurbished and opened its tent-flaps again in March 2022. With an enviable location bordering the Thamalakane River, Thamo Telele can accommodate 22 guests and offers space for relaxation and tranquillity, making it the ideal stop-over either side of any safari.
Set amongst a lush forest of old growth leadwood and acacia trees, each luxury safari-style tent and thatched chalet is a little bush haven. Surrounded by habitats of river, riverine, woodland and dry savanna this wildlife sanctuary is full of life and brimming with plains game and birdlife.
The abundant bird life will set any twitcher twitching and anyone with a soft spot for giraffe will be in a state of pure bliss as they get up close and learn more about our resident herd from our team of naturalists. In fact, the lodge was named after our littlest resident giraffe, born during our refurb in 2021. Surprisingly tall from birth, she was soon called Thamo Telele, meaning ‘long neck’ in Setswana. As we observed her growing day-by-day, she captured our hearts in such a profound way, that we decided to rename our ‘new’ lodge after her.
A night or two at Thamo Telele is all you need to discover why this little lodge has some cool safari style and soul!
Day 2 : Makgadikgadi Salt Pans & Nxai Pan National Park
The next morning you will be taken to Maun Airport for your flight to Camp Kalahari. Only one of three camps in this million-acre wildlife reserve, Camp Kalahari is an understated base in the heart of the great Kalahari. This afternoon enjoy a wildlife view activity.
Makgadikgadi Salt Pans & Nxai Pan National Park
Pronounced "Makgadikgadi," these salt pans in the centre of Botswana are the remnants of the largest lake in Africa, which dried up thousands of years ago. The shimmering white, deadly landscape adds to Botswana's adventurous reputation, with only the bravest of early explorers having the courage to try and cross the seemingly endless wasteland.
We are fortunate nowadays to explore these pans from the comfort of a 4x4, and the luxury of lodges with swimming pools and shaded tents. However, even with these amenities, the Makgadikgadi Pans evoke a sense of adventure in travellers. Including the salt pans in a Botswana safari adds to the remarkable variety of your holiday, and to the beauty of your photo album.
North of the main pans is Nxai Pan National Park, which is a stunning destination for nature lovers and safari enthusiasts. The park is famous for its vast grass plains, seasonal salt pans, and diverse wildlife, including elephants, zebras, bat-eared foxes, leopards and lions. During the wet season, the landscape transforms, attracting migratory animals and a wide variety of birdlife, making it a prime spot for birdwatching and wildlife photography.
A highlight of the park is the ancient Baines' Baobabs, a cluster of majestic baobab trees that offer a striking backdrop for visitors. The dry season reveals a different beauty, with golden plains and wildlife gathering around scarce water sources, creating serene and memorable moments.
Nxai Pan is a hidden gem in Botswana, offering an authentic African safari experience where untamed nature and breathtaking scenery provide the perfect escape for adventurers and travelers alike.
The laidback little sister of Jack’s and San Camp, Camp Kalahari is our understated and affordable base in the heart of the great Kalahari. Set amongst the waving palms and acacia trees of Brown Hyena Island, the 12 funky Meru tents are perfect for families, groups and couples, and are an ideal base for discovering the charms of the desert and the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, a landscape that’s as surreal as it is sublime, and as mysterious as it is magical.
And if you’re looking for adventure, then look no further! We’ve got quad bike adventures, across the otherworldly salt pans, walks with the Zu’/hoasi bushmen to discover the amazing creatures that somehow manage to survive (and thrive) in this harsh environment, and our very own ‘’Kalahari cool cats,’’ the habituated meerkat family who like nothing more than to use unsuspecting guests as lookout points. Come for a day, and you’ll be wowed by the landscape and the people; stay for a few days and you might never want to leave…
Day 3 : Makgadikgadi Salt Pans & Nxai Pan National Park
With a hive of activities to dive into, from quad biking across the salty flats, seeing the world through the eyes of the Bushmen on nature walks, meeting the habituated meerkats, horse riding in the desert, going on game drives, or catching the zebra migration, the focus in the Makgadikgadi is on learning, appreciating and being humbled by this vast and ancient landscape.
Day 4 : Okavango Delta
After a morning activity and breakfast you will be taken back to the airstrip for your flight to the Khwai Private Reserve.
The very word "Okavango" evokes a sense of adventure and exploration, and this is exactly what the Okavango Delta is about. Often called the Okavango Swamps, this intricate maze of waterways and sandy islands is an explorer's dream, and the destination should be on the wishlist of anyone looking for a unique travel experience.
The geology of the Delta is fascinating, with its creation being attributed to tectonic plate action from thousands of years ago causing the Kavango River to flow from Angola into the Kalahari Desert as opposed to the Atlantic Ocean.
So while the vegetation is lush, and the wildlife plentiful, the waterways are actually cutting through Kalahari Desert sand, and the entire delta is an enormous oasis.
Termites are credited with the creation of the many islands around which the water slowly flows, as their mounds, common features of the landscape, are responsible for the formation of sand and foliage around them.
There is a continuous scurry of life in the Delta, from the smallest of creatures to the largest of elephants, and every twist and turn of the channels brings some new form of life into view. The Okavango Delta is truly one of nature's greatest creations.
We’re all about the wildlife at Hyena Pan. First up is its phenomenal location in Khwai Private Reserve. Positioned between Moremi Game Reserve, Chobe National Park and the Khwai River, our exclusive concession is a meeting point for more animals than you can shake a stick at. Think nomadic herds of elephant and buffalo, lion, leopard and wild dog fiercely defending their territories, as well as kudu, red lechwe and herds of dainty antelope dotted across the plains.
And then there’s the camp itself. From its lofty position amongst a grove of cathedral mopane trees, the eight tents at Hyena Pan look over a watery lagoon of the same name. In the morning, you’ll open your tent flaps straight on to the trumpeting elephant in the lily-filled waters below, spend your siesta watching herds splash and snort, and fall asleep to antelope grazing just outside your canvas walls. This isn’t a place for those looking for opulence and extravagance; it’s a private piece of big-game Africa, where the wildlife encounters are authentic, intimate and always wild.
Day 5 : Okavango Delta
Hyena Pan is set amongst a forest of mopane trees and a very productive game watching waterhole in front of camp. Being the only permanent water source for miles around, it is a magnet for wildlife – particularly elephant. You’ll literally open your tent flaps straight on to the trumpeting elephant, spending your siesta watching herds splash and snort. This is a private piece of big-game Africa, where the wildlife encounters are authentic, intimate and always wild.
Day 6 : Okavango Delta
Your third and final stop will be Little Sable Camp. This intimate, tented safari camp is located amid the water channels and shimmering grasslands of the Khwai Private Reserve. Up here, there’s something to see around every corner and a different activity to enjoy every day, from classic game drives to mokoro trips and boat safaris.
As authentic as it gets
Little Sable is a firm favourite at Natural Selection providing an authentic and rich Okavango safari experience. This intimate, tented retreat is located amid the shimmering grasslands of the Khwai Private Reserve, one of the best-managed private concessions in the greater Okavango Delta. Up here, there’s something to see around every corner and a different activity to enjoy every day, from classic game drives to mokoro trips and boat safaris. And the best bit of all is that this iconic safari experience is all yours at great value. So, what are you waiting for?
