Planet Baobab
Day 1 and 2
Accommodation Type: Lodged and Camping
Includes: Day 1: Baobab Bush Walk & Sundowner Drink, followed by a Three Course Dinner. Overnight in a Bakalanga Hut. Day 2: Cooked Breakfast, Village & Cattlepost Visit with a Traditional Lunch. Quad Bike activity and Overnight Trip to Ntwetwe Pan with a BBQ Dinner. Day 3: Spend time with Habituated Meerkats & Visit Green’s Baobab followed by a Cooked Breakfast at Planet Baobab.
Arrive Maun Airport early, be collected by your Professional Tour Guide and travel to Planet Baobab… where you will find… Along the cracked and crop-less landscape on the road between Maun and Francistown, where elephants tear up any tree that dares to raise its head, a large grey hulk looms into sight at the edge of the road. If this is an elephant it is a very peculiar one! As the eyes recognise a giant anteater, the brain begins to wonder what might have been in that last beer? Follow the side road pointed out by that anteater snout and you will discover the intriguingly named “Planet Baobab”. The Baobab capital of the world: where the average age of each tree is 4000 years and beyond and the boundless lunar landscape of the Makgadikgadi salt pans is the size of Switzerland! A well known watering hole for travellers of every description and the more colourful characters from Maun. At any one time, locals jostle the cross-continentals who have slogged it through the bush, and worse, to get here. Just a stone’s throw from all this beer and bustle is the elephant’s paddling pool.
Planet Baobab is home to the largest and coolest pool in the Kalahari and the funkiest bar and restaurant serving interesting and delicious dishes from all across Africa and we are “vegetarian-friendly”!
Oblivious to Guests crouching in the nearby trees, the elephants and travellers mostly ignore each other. Base yourself here and you can take guided day trips or overnight tours…Get up close and personal with super-friendly habituated meerkats, tour the local village and learn about Batswana culture, visit a local cattle post and enjoy a delicious traditional lunch, and visit Nxai Xini Pan to seek out ancient stone tools and fossils. At every stage and at every turn of this voyage you will hear traveller’s tales from Guides and companions who know and love this place. Curl up under a canopy of stars – a light which you cannot switch off. In a continent which is full of surprises, and a place which is full of nothing, Planet Baobab is really something.
Best of all… overnight on the Pans under the most spectacular night skies in the world, enjoying a barbecue of a lifetime.
Day 3
Spend the morning walking with the Zu/’hoasi Bushmen. Uncharted Africa has pioneered and passionately supported cultural tourism in Botswana since the company’s inception in 1993. It has long been our belief that it is a vitally important tool in terms of preserving this unique, but sadly fast-vanishing, culture. We have been working closely with the Zu/’hoasi people of the Western Kalahari for many years and are privileged to have Bushmen women, men and pre-school children comprised of four generations, living at Jack’s Camp in the Makgadikgadi. Offering a window into the past, they teach us how they have survived in this harshest of environments, using their vast and ancient knowledge of plants, animal behaviour and survival skills. The Zu/’hoasi lead a semi-traditional lifestyle, and share their traditional hunting and food-gathering skills as well as how they make jewellery and hunting equipment, it is a glimpse into their fast-vanishing, traditional way of life, but by no means an attempt to keep them frozen in time.
Crocodile Camp
Day 3 and 4
Accommodation Type: Lodged
Includes: Accommodation and breakfast
Crocodile Camp Safari & Spa, situated on the banks of Thamalakane river in Maun Botswana, is an oasis for those who love the Safari experience. Croc Camp, with a distinguished heritage, has been a palace of adventures for visitors since 1946. This is where your adventures to one of Africa´s best Safari experiences begins!
Crocodile Camp Safari & Spa is a Safari lodge offering the best luxury accommodation in Maun. Whether you need a romantic weekend away, or planning a wedding, honeymoon, anniversary, corporate event, conference or launch, Crocodile Camp Safari & Spa will ensure you have a memorable stay and experience.
Attention to detail ensures individually decorated rooms for African styled comfort in every space. Crocodile Camp Safari & Spa is undoubtedly the most beautiful safari lodge with the best camping facilities in all of Maun. Crocodile Camp Safari & Spa boasts two conference facilities, a board room, a restaurant, dining room, spa, fitness center, pool and the famed Croc Rock Bar. For our distinguished guests, the brandy lounge grants an excellent view and exclusive space to mingle amidst the gardens.
This is where your adventures to one of Africa’s best Safari experiences begins!
Optional Maun Scenic Flight
Focus down onto the big five wildlife and surrounding natures that will forever change your perception of this timeless land while you enjoy the scenic flights over the Delta, getting the overall perspective of the area. The best times for scenic flights are in the morning and late afternoon when weather conditions are calmer. For your comfort and safety, please take heed of your pilot’s safety instructions. Your pilot will assist you in looking out for game along the way.
Enjoy scenic flights over the Moremi that makes up the greatest experience in Botswana.
Optional Mokoro Ride
Mokoro Trip Boro Poler Trust – 40 minutes drive. Guests are picked up at the lodge and transferred to Boro Poler station where they embark on a guided walk and a Mokoro adventure. Meals and soft drinks are included in this day trip. A Mokoro trip will give guests the opportunity to learn more about the Delta, the ecosystem and its functioning – how the delta works, why it floods, the importance of flooding to the ecosystem, the effect of this on all animal life – both disadvantages and advantages, the effect it has on plant life, the various species that need the flood to survive, the special adaptations of certain plants to increased water levels each year, the guide will show you the actual plant, pull it out and explain the mechanisms for survival etc… Also learn more about the cultural aspect and way of life of the tribes, how they survived in this watery wilderness. Hear some fascinating cultural stories on why it floods, the determination of settlements because of floods and the impact on social life. And of course there are the birds, a truly amazing variety of birds are to be seen, on a mokoro you are placed right there in their habitat, you witness nest making, feeding young, mating behaviour and foraging.
Moremi Reserve
Day 5, 6 and 7
Accommodation Type: Camping
Includes: Camping fees, per person per night and entrances per person, per day and per vehicle per day, game drives in our closed 4×4 vehicles
Moremi covers some 4,871 km2, as the eastern section of the Okavango Delta. Moremi is mostly described as one of the most beautiful wildlife reserves in Africa as it combines mopane woodland and acacia forests, floodplains and lagoons. It is the great diversity of plant and animal life that makes Moremi so well known. The reserve contains within its boundaries approximately twenty percent of the Okavango Delta. There are a wide range of habitats in Moremi; from riparian woodland, floodplain, reed beds, permanent wetland through mopane forest to dry savanna woodland.
The mainland part forms only about thirty percent of the reserve and is, in many ways untypical – the remaining area being part of the Okavango Delta.
Savuti – Chobe National Park
Day 8, 9 and 10
Accommodation Type: Lodged
Includes: Camping fees, per person per night and entrances per person, per day and per vehicle per day, game drives in our closed 4×4 vehicles
The Savuti is often described as the best wildlife-viewing area in all of Africa and is ideal for a Botswana Safari. It boasts one of the highest concentrations of safari wildlife – where all of the major species can be seen: giraffe, elephant, zebra, impala, roan, sable, wildebeest, kudu, buffalo, waterbuck, warthog, eland and more. The bird life is diverse and thus photograph opportunities abound. Savuti is known for its many predators, including lion, spotted hyena, jackal, bat-eared fox, wild dog and even cheetah. The wildlife alone attracts tourists to visit this area on our ‘Botswana Safaris’ annually.
Other wildlife viewed whilst on a Botswana safari includes: cheetah, leopard, wild dog, giraffe, impala, tsessebe, roan, sable, wildebeest, kudu, buffalo, waterbuck, warthog, eland, hyena, jackal and the bat-eared fox. A wide variety of birdlife is also available with large secretary birds and kori bustards often seen around the Savuti Marsh.
Right on our doorstep is the meeting of four African countries; Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Chobe Safari Lodge
Day 11, 12, 13 and 14
Accommodation Type: Lodged
Includes: Accommodation, breakfast, dinner, game drives into Chobe National Park in closed 4×4 safari vehicles, entrances into National Park per person and per vehicle, Victoria Falls guided visit, and 3 hour photographic boat safari.
Situated on the lush banks of the Chobe River in Botswana, the Chobe Safari Lodge is only 100 km west of Victoria Falls. This Chobe national park lodge is just 5 minutes drive from the famous wildlife reserve. Chobe Safari Lodge overlooks the Zambezi, a magnificent river, the national park itself having one of Africa’s highest concentration of elephant and the Caprivi floodplains.
Their 46 individually decorated safari rooms offer every comfort. All rooms have superb views directly over the river and have stunning open plan bathrooms with deep baths, all are equipped with air conditioning, satellite television, direct dial telephone and tea and coffee making facilities. Optional Fishing activities are available and daily visits to Chobe National Park are enjoyed.
Right on our doorstep is the meeting of four African countries; Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia.
3 Hour Photo Boat Safari
Enjoy a 3 hour photographic safari by boat on the Chobe River and in the Chobe National Park of Botswana – one of the most picturesque and game filled parks on the African continent where you will find an abundance of wildlife photo opportunities.
Cross border through from Botswana to Zimbabwe for a DAY VISIT to Victoria Falls …Victoria Falls… or “The Smoke that Thunders”.
This is the place where Dr. David Livingstone wrote the following… “so beautiful the angels must have gazed upon it in their flight”. Victoria Falls – A natural phenomenon and one of the seven natural Wonders of the World, the Victoria Falls is an immense curtain of water cascading over 100m. Around 550 million litres over the lip every minute, at peak flow this increases to 750 million litres. Around the Falls is rainforest sustained by the spray of the Falls with some plant species rarely found elsewhere in Zambia or Zimbabwe. During peak flow (January to June) the Zambian side of the Falls is the most spectacular and there are walkways to look out points and across the swaying Knife Edge bridge.
Elephant Sands
Day 15
Accommodation Type: Tented Accommodation / Chalet
Includes: Accommodation
At Elephant Sands Lodge guests can enjoy viewing elephants as they drink from the waterhole right in front of the lodge or from our swimming pool. We also have a wide variety of other wildlife that can be viewed, from lions to giraffe and buffalo. We offer 14 rustic chalets comprising two Family Chalets and 12 twin chalets. There is plenty of camping space overlooking the waterhole. The campsites do not have electricity. There is a restaurant with a set menu for meals.
The wildlife alone attracts tourists to visit this area on our ‘Botswana Safaris’ annually.
Home
Day 16
Includes: Transfer through to Francistown Airport
End of Service
Interesting Facts - Victoria Falls
Native people called Victoria Falls “Mosi-oa-tunya,” which means ‘smoke that thunders.’disposition for every one.
