Natural Marvels, Soothing Luxury
Botswana’s Okavango Delta, a world-unique oasis of smoothly meandering waterways, lagoons bubbling with hippos, idyllic minisavannah islands, the “most unexpected of wonders,” as Frans Lanting wrote, “water in the desert,” gently pulsing water that brings life to a dazzling population of wildlife. Victoria Falls, Mosi-oa-Tunya, “The Smoke That Thunders,” far and away the planet’s grandest waterfall—as we like to say, one of the planet’s grandest anythings— brimming with “scenes so lovely [they] must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight,” rhapsodized David Livingstone, the first outsider to succumb to the Falls’ immense charisma. And not far from the colossal cascade, Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park’s archetypal African landscapes, roamed in natural freedom by the fabled Big Five and five score other mammals and 20 score colourful avians, making Hwange one of the continent’s finest game-viewing, traveller-enchanting destinations.
Highlights
- Two invariably amazing nights in the miraculous Okavango Delta, exploring its waterways and nearby plains, marveling at its bountiful, varietal wildlife.
- The set-piece, animal-attracting, bubbling-with-hippos lagoon at Khwai Private Reserve’s Sable Alley camp.
- Exploring the Delta’s varied landscapes on foot and in 4wheel drive vehicles, and gliding in profound peace through its intricately lovely waterways.
- Eventful visits to animal-thronged waterholes in Zimbabwe’s classically African Hwange National Park.
- Based from the lovely Thorntree River Lodge, a fully engaged encounter with the world-marvelous Victoria Falls, on guided walks to its many viewpoints, on a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River as it prepares for its plunge, on a thrilling helicopter flight, and at high tea on the veranda of the colonial era Victoria Falls Hotel.
Day 1
En route
Day 2
Sandhurst, Johannesburg’s leafy suburb
After arrival, we’ll be met and whisked out to the halcyon Saxon Hotel, Villas and Spa in Johannesburg’s verdant suburb of Sandhurst.
Days 3 & 4
The world-unique Okavango Delta’s Duke's Camp
It’s hard to be more enthusiastic about the “vast, mesmerizing oasis” of the Okavango Delta than we are. Suffice to say—until you experience it—that the Delta is in the topmost rank of world wonders (and more sweetly accommodating than most).
We fly north from Johannesburg to Maun and on to the Kadizora airstrip, where we’ll hop on a helicopter for a quick but scenically superb flight to Duke’s Camp, set in solitude deep in the beautiful braided waterways of the Northern Okavango. Our camp for two nights is named after Sarefo “Duke” Sarefo, custodian of this lush parcel of African wilderness, who was born on the very island that the camp now occupies. Duke’s embodies all that a smartly designed, tradition-honouring, nature-graced African luxury safari camp should be.
Days 5 to 7
Sable Alley, stylishly set in the Okavango
A short morning flight takes us to what we think is one of Botswana’s best kept secrets: the Khwai Private Reserve, another Okavangan marvel. Our lodging here is Sable Alley, an inspirationally stylish camp set on its own quiet lagoon. We step out onto the veranda of Sable’s enormous (almost 600-square foot) tents to a close view of the lagoon and its medley of animal visitors.
Khwai’s water- and landscapes vary dramatically: riverine forests, acacia woodlands, and the Delta’s gliding watercourses. We’ll explore them all, in small watercraft, safari vehicles, and on foot, delighting in the reserve’s full African cast of nowhere-else-on- earth creatures—lions, skyscrapey giraffes, bouldery Cape buffalo and peppy, fascinating African wild dogs. “They live the life domestic dogs wish they could live,” as biologist Rosie Woodroffe says.
Days 8 & 9
Booming and beautiful Victoria Falls
We fly into Zambia, and along the way we may see a dramatic sight from many miles away: silvery, towering clouds rising up from the flat brown earth. The plume of the world’s most colossal cascade, Victoria Falls.
Our small, astutely designed Thorntree River Lodge is set in Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park, beside the Zambezi River, upstream from the Falls. We’ll make an arrival-afternoon game drive in the park (lovingly protected rhinos are headliners), or take a sunset cruise on the Zambezi. But Victoria Falls beckons, and we’ll spend Day 9 wandering its many vantage points, strolling through mist in our Micato-supplied rain gear, swooping over the Falls in a helicopter (the famous, pulse-quickening Flight of Angels), continually astonished by one of the greatest wonders in a world full of them.
Days 10 to 12
Africa’s essence at Hwange National Park
Somalisa Camp is located in the middle of Hwange, in a vlei, or marshy, animal-attracting area. We arrive in the intimate camp (only seven fully modern, elegantly decorated tents) after a short flight from Victoria Falls and make the first of our eventful game drives in the cooling afternoon, perhaps after a revivifying dip in Somalisa’s aquamarine pool, often with elephants frolicking in a waterhole only yards away.
Hwange is classic African bush country, and our game drives in the park are exceptionally rich; the Big Five are in residence, along with white rhino, zebras by the hundreds, and more than a hundred other mammals, including another large contingent of wild dogs, stately gemsbok, and brown hyenas, crafty and oddly compelling creatures who endear themselves to many veteran safariers. And after game drives we relax on Somalisa’s tree-shaded veranda, enjoy the camp’s top-notch cuisine, and savour safari’s freedom from care.
Day 13
Flights homeward from Johannesburg
After a short flight to Victoria Falls—one more chance to see the rising clouds of The Smoke That Thunders—we continue by air to Johannesburg, with meals-included day rooms in the InterContinental before our evening flights home.
Day 14
Connect with homeward flights
Arrive home on Day 14, already longing to return.