South Africa & Botswana Safari Adventure

South Africa & Botswana Safari Adventure

12 days

|

From $15,000 pp

From the Cape Peninsula to elephant herds on the Chobe River and dawn mokoro journeys through the Okavango Delta, this twelve-day journey covers the full range of what South Africa and Botswana offer.

At a glance...

This itinerary moves between two of southern Africa’s most compelling destinations across twelve days. Cape Town sits at the southwestern tip of the continent, where Table Mountain rises above a city built around the meeting of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, with the Cape Winelands, the Cape Peninsula, and one of the world’s most celebrated food and wine scenes within easy reach.

Botswana sits north, landlocked and shaped entirely by water, with the Chobe River drawing one of the highest concentrations of elephant on Earth and the Okavango Delta spreading across the Kalahari basin in a system that never reaches the sea.

The two destinations cover different ends of what southern Africa offers. South Africa moves between landscapes and experiences, from Cape Town’s coastline and mountain to the vineyards of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, each one distinct and within easy reach of the last.

Botswana operates differently, built around low visitor numbers, private wilderness concessions, and a guiding culture that prioritizes depth over distance. It is consistently rated the most exclusive safari destination on the continent. Together they form a journey that covers both ends of what a trip to southern Africa can be.

Do Not Disturb designs the full twelve days around how you want your time to feel, from arrival in Cape Town to departure from Maun.

Why South Africa & Botswana Safari Adventure

In detail

  • Days 1-4: Cape Town, South Africa

    Days 1-4: Cape Town, South Africa

    Your journey begins in Cape Town, where your driver meets you at the airport and transfers you to your accommodation. Most international flights from the US and UK arrive via Johannesburg with a short onward connection.

    Cape Town sits within a UNESCO World Heritage Site, surrounded by the Cape Floristic Region, one of the six floral kingdoms on Earth. Table Mountain rises to 1,086 meters above the waterfront and can be reached by cable car, providing a view of the peninsula, Robben Island, and both coastlines from a single point.

    Four days here allows time to move between the different experiences the Cape offers. The Winelands, centered on Stellenbosch and Franschhoek around 45 minutes from the city, produce some of the southern hemisphere’s most finest wines alongside restaurants that draw visitors from across the world.

    The Cape Peninsula drive takes you south past Boulders Beach, where a colony of African penguins has established itself on the sand, all the way to the Cape of Good Hope at the southwestern tip of the continent.

    Back in the city, Bo-Kaap’s painted houses and Cape Malay history sit above the center, while the V&A Waterfront provides access to the harbor and the ferry crossing to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was held for 18 of his 27 years of imprisonment.

  • Days 5-6: Chobe National Park, Botswana

    Days 5-6: Chobe National Park, Botswana

    A scheduled flight from Cape Town connects to Johannesburg, from where an onward Airlink service carries you to Kasane on the northern edge of Botswana. Chobe National Park begins at the edge of the town, and your driver meets you on arrival to manage the transfer directly to your accommodation on the riverfront.

    Chobe holds one of the largest concentrations of elephant on Earth, with an estimated 120,000 moving through the park and along the Chobe River. In the late afternoon, herds several hundred strong come down to drink along the riverbank, a movement that defines the character of this stretch of water at that hour.

    Boat safaris on the river bring you level with the animals as they cross and drink, with hippo, crocodile, and a significant range of waterbirds filling the gaps between the elephant encounters. Morning game drives into the park cover the floodplains and woodland that border the river, where lion, leopard, wild dog, buffalo, and giraffe move through terrain that shifts between dry savanna and riverine forest.

    Two nights on the Chobe River provides enough time to cover both the water and the land, and to experience the quality of light on the river at both dawn and dusk.

  • Days 7-9: The Okavango Delta, Northern Concession

    Days 7-9: The Okavango Delta, Northern Concession

    A light aircraft transfer from Kasane carries you southwest into the Okavango Delta, and the view on descent tells you where you are before the wheels touch the grass strip. Channels cut through islands of palm and fig below, with elephant visible along the banks and the scale of the Delta spreading in every direction.

    The Okavango is one of the world’s last remaining intact wetland wilderness areas. Unlike most river systems, the water that arrives from the Angolan highlands never reaches the sea. It spreads across the Kalahari basin, sustaining an ecosystem that supports elephant, hippo, crocodile, lion, leopard, wild dog, and around 550 species of bird within a landscape of papyrus-lined channels, open lagoons, and tree-covered islands.

    Your first three nights are spent in a concession in the northern Delta, where the depth of the permanent water channels allows boat safaris and mokoro excursions year-round alongside morning and evening game drives.

    Each morning a local poler takes you out by mokoro at dawn, moving through the channels at water level and pausing when wildlife warrants it. Afternoons shift between motorboat excursions on the open lagoons, game drives through the island’s interior, and walking safaris with a guide who has spent years learning the waterways and the land around them.

  • Days 10-11: The Okavango Delta, Central Delta

    Days 10-11: The Okavango Delta, Central Delta

    From here, a short flight moves you to a second location in the central or southern Delta, where a different set of habitats and wildlife movement patterns provides a contrast to the first camp.

    The combination of two areas over six nights builds a picture of the Delta that a single location cannot provide, and the shift between them is one of the more considered elements of the itinerary.

    An overnight fly-camp on a remote island, sleeping under canvas in the Delta away from the infrastructure of the main camp, can be arranged on request for those who want to extend the experience further into the wilderness.

  • Day 12: Departure

    Day 12: Departure

    A light aircraft transfer from the Delta connects to Maun, from where flights link to Johannesburg for onward international connections to the US, UK, and Europe.

    The itinerary can be extended with additional nights in the Delta, a connection to Victoria Falls, or a night in Johannesburg before departure.

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