Central Kalahari Wilderness

Today you will arrive independently to Maun Airport where you will be greeted by a tour representative who will assist with your luggage and transfer you to your charter plane for your flight over the Central Kalahari to Kalahari Plains. Upon arrival your guide will meet you to transfer you to your lodge for your 2-night stay. After you’ve had the chance to settle in to your comfortable and beautifully furnished canvas tent, you can enjoy a short sundowner and orientation drive around your impressive surroundings. The lounge area of the lodge also has a telescope which you can use to take a closer look at the nearby waterhole that is often frequented by the region’s ample wildlife populations. Situated in a remote part of the diverse Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), this area offers some of the world's best cheetah viewing as well as opportunities to witness the legendary Kalahari black-maned lion, and throughout your time here sightings of these elusive animals will be one of your main objectives.

After a delicious dinner this evening you can decide whether you wish to sleep inside or on your bedroom’s private sleep-out area for a night under the stars.

After a great night’s sleep, the morning of day 2 will bring a fascinating cultural experience as you join a local bushman family to enjoy a walk around the area. Allowing for an authentic insight into the ancient Bushman clans of the area, this experience will give you an understanding of how the San Bushmen lived and survived in the harsh Kalahari Thirstland.

In the afternoon, a thrilling game drive will bring you towards the Khudu and Mmaphwe Pans to look for observations of some of the abundant wildlife of the area including lions, cheetahs, leopards, wildebeest, red hartebeest, springbok and almost 220 species of birds.

After dinner back at the lodge you can make your way to the viewing platform for an insightful astronomy talk and take advantage of the pollution-free skies to enjoy some of the world’s finest stargazing opportunities.

2 nights’ accommodation at Kalahari Plains Lodge with meals and activities included.

On the morning of day 3 we will leave the Kalahari Plains Lodge behind for now as we take a game drive to the fantastic Piper Pan region where we will stay for 3 nights in mobile tented accommodation. As we drive we will be on the lookout for wildlife and the journey time will depend on which wildlife opportunities we will encounter on the way. The journey is likely to take in the region of five hours, and upon arrival at camp your camp assistants will have set up your comfortable tent. Your camp assistants and guides will take care of everything from making the beds to pouring a refreshing G&T to enjoy as the sun slips below the horizon. Your spacious tent will be equipped with beds, linens, towels and your own private bathroom facilities, and as we settle in for the evening you can enjoy a delicious meal cooked by the camp chef under the clear Botswana skies.

Over the course of the next two days we will enjoy an in-depth exploration around this area which consists of 3 main pans, each holding its own delights. These are some of the largest pans in the Kalahari and are home to a good population of cheetah, a resident pride of lion and several leopards. On exciting game drives we will hope to get up-close to some of this wildlife along with brown hyaena, blue wildebeest, giraffe, springbok and oryx amongst much more. The birdwatching opportunities here are also endless, with possible sightings of flocks of Ostrich, Rufous-eared warbler, Crimson-breasted Shrike, Spike-heeled and Monotonous Lark, Chestnut-backed and Grey-backed sparrowlark, Yellow Canary and Kalahari Robin to name just a few.

Lunch will be provided during the day and each evening we will return to camp for dinner around the camp fire.

3 nights’ mobile tented camp accommodation in Piper Pan. Accommodation includes all meals and drinks (filtered water, soft drinks, beer, wine and G&T), beds, linens and towels. Activities included: Game Drives

This morning your camp will be packed up as you enjoy breakfast and take a game drive to the Deception valley region which was made famous by the renowned book the “Cry of the Kalahari’. After an exploration of the area we will return to the Kalahari Plains lodge where after lunch you can enjoy some more included activities before a delicious dinner and a great night’s sleep.

1 night’s accommodation at Kalahari Plains Lodge with meals and activities included.

This morning you can enjoy a final activity at Kalahari Plains before boarding your flight back to Maun. Upon arrival in Maun your guide will meet you to transfer you to the Khwai Community Area for your next 3 nights of adventure. The differences in the habitat and wildlife will be instantly noticeable and three nights in this area will offer a contrasting experience and the opportunity to see different wildlife than you will have already encountered.

Arriving at our camp in the heart of the Khwai Community Area, again your camp will all be set up for you, and a well-deserved drink and dinner will be enjoyed around the fire after a long day of travelling and wildlife observations.

Over the next two days we will enjoy an in-depth exploration of the Khwai floodplains surrounding the Khwai River which forms a boundary between the reserve and the community area where we will be camping each night. We will explore both during the day and at night time on game drives and safari walks to get up-close to Botswana’s remarkable flora and fauna, and you will also have the change to take an enjoyable mokoro (traditional dugout canoe) excursion through the fringes of the Okavango Delta.

Wildlife we are likely to see includes excellent populations of elephants, large herds of buffalo and red lechwe. Lion, leopard, serval and African wildcat are often seen here, and we can also hope for sightings of tsesebe, blue wildebeest, giraffe, kudu, sable antelope, roan antelope and impala.

A birding mecca, this area will offer up chances to observe a wide variety of bird species including the uncommon Rosy-throated Longclaw, Bat-Hawk, the rare Cuckoo Hawk, Black Sparrowhawk and Long-crested Eagle. Various other types of eagle are often spotted depending on the season including the Tawny and Martial breeds, and the waterways play host to Africa Rail, African Crake, Greater Painted Snipe, Allen’s Gallinule, Lesser Jacana and Lesser Moorhen.

3 nights’ mobile tented camp accommodation in the Khwai Community Area. Accommodation includes all meals and drinks (filtered water, soft drinks, beer, wine and G&T), beds, linens and towels. Activities included: Game Drive, Walking Safaris (conditions permitting), Night Drive and mokoro excursion.

This morning sadly marks the end of your thrilling Botswana safari and after breakfast one final game drive will bring you back to Maun, one of Botswana’s most popular airports, where it will be time to bid farewell as you make your way homewards or onwards. There are various safari extensions available for this trip so please ask us for details if you wish to extend your adventures in Africa.