100% customisable travel idea
Outstanding Locations for Glamping in Style Exclusive Locations Throughout Botswana
Zimbabwe - Victoria Falls - Botswana - Khwai - Kalahari
100% customisable travel idea
Zimbabwe - Victoria Falls - Botswana - Khwai - Kalahari
100% customisable for you
Overnight international flight to Johannesburg. Arrival the following morning.
On arrival in Johannesburg, assistance with customs and transit formalities, followed by a 1 hour 40 minute flight to Victoria Falls. On arrival, you are met and taken to your private vehicle for a transfer of around 25 minutes to your hotel. Check in for two nights at an elegant colonial-style hotel full of charm, with timber buildings and thatched roofs. Just a ten-minute walk from the falls, it offers romantic evenings dining in terraced gardens, marvelling at the plumes of spray rising from the nearby waterfalls. Around the pool, guests can cool off with a gin and tonic or sample a selection of teas. The atmosphere is hushed and intimate, still infused with a certain British elegance - an ideal place to begin this journey through truly remarkable locations.
Victoria Falls is one of the most spectacular natural sites in the world, an essential stop for all travellers passing through southern Africa. “Discovered” in the late 19th century by David Livingstone, it lies at the heart of what was once a British colony, and everything - from the old steam train to the architecture of certain hotels and buildings - conjures up the past, when the continent still felt unknown and adventure beckoned.
In your itinerary - Private visit to Victoria Falls in. Few spectacles compare to the sheer force of the Zambezi: the falls thunder into a gorge more than 330 feet (100 metres) below, releasing millions of cubic metres of water across a span nearly 1.25 miles (2 km) wide. The spray cloud can be seen for miles around. The lush rainforest opposite the falls offers superb viewpoints and shelters a rich variety of wildlife and plants. For around two hours, a private guide leads you along the slick, weathered rock.
In your itinerary - Private sunset cruise aboard the Ra-Ikane. A beautiful cruise on the Zambezi just when the sky is ablaze, aboard a luxurious boat. This elegant wooden vessel, inspired by the one Livingstone used in his day, glides along the river’s bends in search of hippos, crocodiles and other wildlife that call these wild banks home. The water takes on a coppery hue, as birds skim past in silhouette. You simply drift along, a cool drink in hand. This intimate two-hour cruise is accompanied by an English-speaking guide.
In the morning, you leave Zimbabwe behind and head for the wide open spaces of neighbouring Botswana. You board a light aircraft and fly towards the spellbinding Okavango Delta, one of Africa’s most legendary destinations and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The region stretches out in a vast, flat expanse. From the air, skimming the tops of the palms scattered across the delta, you can truly appreciate this rare ecosystem’s topography - and take the best photos. After about 30 minutes, you approach the territory of the Khwai community, to the east of the delta. Settle in for two nights at a small mobile camp, fully privatised for you, tucked away in a little-known wild area of the Khwai region. With just a handful of tents, it is surprisingly comfortable and refined for such a remote setting. The camp’s structure is deliberately light-touch, leaving no trace on the surrounding environment and giving the exhilarating sense of living entirely at nature’s mercy. Of course, the rangers keep watch and your safety is assured, but it's not uncommon for your tent to shake at night from the roar of a nearby lion. Tarps laid directly on the ground and softened with beautiful rugs; two simple white canvas shelters for a lounge area and dining space, lit by hurricane lamps; cream sofas set outdoors around the campfire; your round tent with its pointed roof, extended by an outdoor shower and a wooden rail furnished with safari chairs to form a small viewing veranda - it's all wonderfully atmospheric. By day, you can request a picnic hamper to enjoy out in the bush. In the evening, dinner is served by candlelight at a white-linen table, on porcelain plates and in delicately chiming crystal glasses.
In the far north of Botswana, in the northern reaches of the delta, the small village of Khwai has been focusing its efforts on ecotourism for several years. Your stay here is, above all, a chance to meet the BaBukakhwe, a San community established in the region for millennia. Beyond the floodplain surrounding the Khwai River, the riverside forests are magnificent, dotted with towering acacias and leadwoods and home to hundreds of bird species. The wildlife here is among the richest in Africa, drawn to the area’s water sources during the dry season.
In the itinerary - Guided safaris in the Khwai Reserve. At dawn and sunset, in the cooler hours when animals are most active, you can choose to explore by 4x4 or by mokoro - a traditional Botswanan dugout canoe manoeuvred with a pole - always accompanied by experienced rangers. Two very different and memorable ways of seeing the bush, enjoyed in private - a rare luxury.
In the morning, a helicopter lands just a short distance from your camp. In just under an hour, you are taken right into the heart of the arid expanses of the Kalahari, north-west of the delta. The low-altitude flight over this vast expanse of water, then over the dry savannah that stretches beyond, is breathtaking. Check in for two nights at a very distinctive lodge made up of just a few buildings in clay, wood and thatch. Rustic yet exceptionally chic, it is a truly off-the-beaten-track destination in Botswana: not quite a safari lodge, nor a typical beach-style stop at the end of your trip, but simply the incredible experience of outstanding service, total seclusion and absolute exclusivity - and a wonderful pause in the desert after intense days in the bush. The lodge’s décor blends handicrafts, African art and beautiful bespoke (sometimes upcycled) furniture. Your canvas suite, well spaced from the other five, is raised on stilts and topped with a thatched roof, with an airy mosquito net falling like a soft canopy over the bed. When the canvas is rolled up, the views open out across the Kalahari in every direction. Dark, richly grained wood furniture is softened by a romantic colonial feel, a striking contrast to the modern comforts. Outside, on a raised wooden deck, a deep white porcelain bathtub with a contemporary oval shape awaits, perfect for evening soaks by lantern light. Set near a waterhole, the suite also offers the chance to watch animals come to drink at dawn or at dusk. Two fat bikes - mountain bikes with extra-wide tyres - are available to reach the lodge’s central area. In this shared space, the same attention to comfort continues, with a long swimming pool stretching out towards the endless savannah, a pavilion dedicated to fitness, a spa and a dining room. Here, an outstanding contemporary Franco-Botswanan cuisine is served - true artistry in the middle of the desert.
In your itinerary - Tennis, a golf driving range, mountain biking or horse riding, all out in the desert. And yes, safaris too. While the ecosystem differs greatly from the Okavango Delta, the best hours for wildlife viewing are the same. Sometimes you don't even have to go far - an elephant may come to drink water from the lodge's pool. On the savannah, zebras and blue wildebeest are plentiful, while oryx stride past with their noble V-shaped horns. Rarer, lions and hyenas prowl, keeping a close watch on their prey. In the Kalahari, the focus is mainly on smaller creatures, though no less entertaining: meerkats standing upright on their hind legs, keeping a watchful guard at the entrances to their burrows; honey badgers and mongooses; and the strange aardvark, rather like a small pig with rabbit ears. Safaris take place by vehicle or on foot - and on foot, the experience is especially intense. Not far away, the Gcwihaba Caves are a geological gift and a UNESCO-listed site. A walk across the savannah in the footsteps of a San guide - from an ancestral community that has lived in the Kalahari by hunting and gathering - reveals many of this ecosystem’s hidden stories.
Transfer by road to Maun, where you board your international return flight. Night on board and arrival the following morning.
This suggested itinerary can be customisable down to the smallest detail, including duration, stops and content. An à la carte menu of experiences is also available to create a journey that reflects who you are.
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