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18 DAY MOBILE SEMI-PARTICIPATION SAFARI THROUGH CHOBE NATIONAL PARK AND MOREMI GAME RESERVE.
DAY 1
Depart Johannesburg, fly via Maun to Kasane Airport. (Alternative : fly to Victoria Falls and be transferred by road to Kasane). Check in at the Chobe Safari Lodge, dinner bed and breakfast in en-suite river facing room. You will be met by your GEAR V guide and prepare for the safari departure. Time permitting, we will enjoy an afternoon Chobe River cruise.
DAY 2
We enter the Chobe National Park and set up camp at Ihaha campsite. With a semi-participation safari, you assist with tents and are free to become involved in any of the camp work, if you wish. Your guide and his camp staff will prepare all meals and also set up and break camp. Our game viewing outings will cover the riverfront between the Sedudu Island and our campsite. Elephant, buffalo, lion and many antelope are to be found in this area. The game tracks are close to the roads which we follow and excellent close-up opportunities present themselves to us. Lunch will be a light meal and after sunset we return to camp for a hearty bush dinner.
DAY 3
Up early to visit a few spots where we are likely to find lion after the nights hunting. We return to camp for a late breakfast and relax in camp. From the campsite, we overlook the Chobe River and often find game present. An afternoon drive will take us along the section of the river not yet explored returning again for dinner around the fire.
DAY 4
We break camp and leave the camp site in time to reach Savuti by mid afternoon. Our drive takes us along the river and we exit the Park at Ngoma Gate. From here we travel along a scenic route through a few villages overlooking the Linyanti floodplains. In Savuti camp is set up and there is time for a refreshing shower. In the late afternoon, we visit Pump Pan and Harvey’s Pans seeking out predators and watching the game come to the waterholes around sunset. After a relaxed sundowner, we return to camp for dinner and an early night.
DAY 5
An early rise and we head on to the Savuti Marsh itself, following the old riverbed into the grasslands. We take snacks with and return to camp for brunch. Time to wash clothes and reflect on the events so far, read or simply relax. The afternoon will see us again heading out to a waterhole and seeking out cheetah, wild dog, lion and leopard.
DAY 6
Today will be used to explore the areas of the Marsh which we have not yet seen, or to re-visit spots where there has been activity and good game viewing. The many tree islands in the Marsh, the riverbed, the rocky outcrops - all offer lovely spots to catch sight of nature.
DAY 7
We break camp and head south towards the Mababe Depression. We can expect game along the way and will lunch along the route once we have crossed the Magwikhwe Sand Ridge. We reach the Kwhai River North Gate entrance to Moremi Game Reserve and establish camp here. This afternoon we will have time to explore the tracks following the river floodplain. Gatherings of impala, waterbuck and red lechwe are common and the elephants, lion and cheetah are always present.
DAY 8
An early morning visit to the Dombo Hippo Pools, where we seek out the pride of lions usually resident here. Our return winds along the riverbanks. This afternoon, after relaxing at the campsite and possibly visiting the village of Kwhai, we will canvas the Kwhai Loop in search of lion, wild dog, cheetah and their prey. Birding in all these areas is good. A hot shower, dinner and reflection at today’s events rounds off the evening.
DAY 9
After breaking camp, we travel the route through the Mopane forests to Xakanaxa. Our campsite is between tall ebony and jackalberry trees on the edge of the Xakanaxa lagoon waters. After lunch and settling in to camp, we will take a short drive to the nearby pans for sundowners, bird watching and game viewing.
DAY 10
In the Xakanaxa region there are lovely drives through the forested areas. Skirting the permanent waters, we will travel through these forests in search of leopard. We will also tour Dead Tree Island and the tracks leading to Fourth Bridge. We can choose whether we have a picnic lunch out or return to camp and will have dinner in camp. Most nights there is a regular visit from a bull elephant and a hippo, who come into the general camp areas to feed.
DAY 11
Today we will leave Xakanaxa and travel down to Third Bridge camping area. The surrounding land is quite different to both Kwhai and Xakanaxa, with a variety of beautiful treed stands, permanent pools with abundant birds, crocodiles and antelope. Giraffe, zebra, antelope, lion and wild dogs are found here. The scenery, being more open with scattered pans and ponds is also home to cheetah and hyena.
DAY 12
We will tour the Mboma Island loop and take lunch with us en route. This evening we will enjoy sundowners at the nearby pools before returning to camp for dinner.
DAY 13
We leave Third Bridge and Moremi Game Reserve and arrive at Crocodile Camp by mid afternoon. Check in to thatched chalet and enjoy a refreshing hot shower. Your guide will replenish supplies and provisions for the rest of the safari. This evening we can relax with drinks in the bar before enjoying a lovely dinner in the restaurant.
DAY 14
After breakfast, we leave Maun and travel about 80 kilometres before crossing the Boteti River. We find the veterinary cattle fence and travel south with this until we reach Kuke Corner - the north eastern tip of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. We enter the Reserve at Matswiri Gate, fill up the water tanks and, after about 30 kilometres, reach our campsite in Deception Valley. Before dinner, we will have the opportunity to visit parts of the valley nearby. This evening, we dine under the splendour of the starred night sky in this remote wilderness area.
DAY 15
Early morning coffee and biscuits before we scout the nearby pans for game. Here we find springbok, gemsbok, wildebeest, kudu, steenbok, brown hyena, jackal, lion and cheetah. There are also giraffe in the Reserve and wild dog occur there extensively. We will spend today travelling in the Passarge Valley and Sundays Pan area. After the good rains that have so far fallen this season, we expect the Kalahari to remain grassed by May and to have a reasonable concentration of game in these pan areas. The Kalahari’s main attraction however, must be the immense scope of the wilderness and expanse of valleys and dunes covered with varied vegetation. We return to camp in the late afternoon where you can enjoy a lovely bush shower with a view!
DAY 16
Today we will travel down Deception Valley, visiting the waterholes in the area. We take lunch with us and return to camp in the late afternoon to relax before the evening meal and to re-visit in our mind’s eye, all the splendours we have so far seen.
DAY 17
We leave Deception Valley after breakfast and return to Maun. Arriving at mid-afternoon, we check in at Crocodile Camp for a final evening to enjoy the hospitality of your African hosts.
DAY 18
Leave Maun on Air Botswana scheduled flight to Johannesburg.
For more information and pricing, please email gearvadventures@info.bw
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