Tour direction: Maun to Livingstone or Livingstone to Maun (see routings by date at bottom)
Combination Wilderness Safaris lodges and fully serviced camping in private concession areas.

This Journey takes the time to explore Botswana's contrasts and extremes in prime areas where few people travel. Experience a nostalgic camping / lodge safari that recreates the sense of a game-viewing adventure reminiscent of the times of the great African explorers. The Great Wilderness Journey takes time to experience and explore Botswana's scenic northern areas: from the blue-green wetlands of the Okavango Delta to the diverse and wildlife-rich Linyanti and Chobe River systems, ending with the world-famous Victoria Falls on the Zambian side of the Zambezi River. Accommodation includes a combination of Wilderness Safaris camps and fully serviced camping, all in private concession areas.

Discoverer Camp Description:
(Linyanti and Khwai Discoverer Camps): Discoverer camps are specifically designed to ensure that old-style camping feel with a clear emphasis on necessary and stylish comfortable interiors, creating a peerless wilderness experience. Discoverer camping aims to bring the guest closer to nature, by means of a lively campfire, hurricane lanterns, wide-ranging activities and a warm atmosphere complimenting the comfort and added luxury of the camps visited.

Guides: Explorations are led by highly skilled and qualified professional guides with an incredible passion for the natural regions they work in. Sharing the adventure and guiding you on this journey of discovery combined with their vast knowledge of the natural world, history and culture are their professions and personal hobby. Years of experience in the field and a depth of understanding of animal behavior and the environment will leave you with a sense of complete wonder. Many of the guides are also skilled photographers and can assist you in taking away amazing wildlife photographs.  They are also available to lead private safaris and specialist trips.

Exclusive experience: Many areas in which we travel are private concessions. All Discoverer camps are private and for the use of Explorations guests only, while our lodges and air linkages are open and shared with all Wilderness Safaris guests.

Routes: To maximize guests’ travel time, a variety of travel modes that bring out the best of each area is used including flying in light aircraft and overland transfers in customized 4X4 safari vehicles.

Time: We have specifically allowed for 3-night stays at Discoverer camps; in a journey of this nature, guests have the time to fully relax and unwind, at the same time appreciating an in-depth introduction to the diversity of the area as well as its activities.

Safari Style: Discoverer

SAFARI COST (2010):
04-Jan to 31-Mar 2010: $7,467 per person sharing
01-Apr to 26-Dec 2010: $7,600 per person sharing

SINGLE SUPPLEMENT (2010):
04-Jan to 31-Mar 2010: $1,072 per person sharing
01-Apr to 26-Dec 2010: $1,094 per person sharing

If a guest is willing to share and we can match with another guest of the same gender, the single supplement will not be charged. However, if there is no suitable match, the single supplement surcharge will apply. No triple rooms are accepted.

After arrival in Maun, you will be met by your guide or our representative and fly by light aircraft over the shimmering water-world of the Okavango Delta which represents life at its most fertile.

Lush Jacana Camp is situated in a permanently flooded region of the private Jao Concession of the Okavango Delta. A true water camp, it represents the essence of the Delta, with year-round mokoro safaris as well as island bush walks and, water levels permitting, motorboat cruises. In fact, when the flood levels are at their peak we are able to motorboat from the airstrip to the camp, a truly surreal arrival! On one of our full days, we will also enjoy game drives around the productive ‘Jao Flats’ region to the north of camp.

Jacana Camp is set in one of the wetland areas most densely populated with sitatunga and red lechwe. Wildlife concentrations depend on the water flow and volume, thus changing from season to season, but all the large animals can be found in the area including elephant, lion, leopard and buffalo. Pel’s Fishing-Owl, Lesser Jacana, Western Banded Snake-Eagle and Coppery-tailed Coucal are just some of the birding highlights.

Jacana Camp has 5 Meru-style tents. Each is on a wooden deck overlooking the floodplains and has an en-suite bathroom with flush toilet and shower. The bathroom is enclosed but roofless, allowing for showers by starlight. The camp has a plunge pool and the main dining area is on an elevated wooden deck between two magnificent sycamore fig trees and surrounded by dense wild date palms. Downstairs, there is an intimate pub and lounge with an area perfect for campfires under the stars.

Depart by light aircraft to Khwai Discoverer Camp, located in a private concession just north of the Khwai River above the Moremi Game Reserve.

The Khwai Concession is one of the most diverse areas in northern Botswana which seldom disappoints when it comes to producing extraordinary wildlife experiences. The life source for this area is the Khwai River – the northernmost “finger” of the Okavango Delta alluvial fan, which provides vital sustenance to numerous animals.

Over time, the Khwai area has metamorphosed into a wide range of exciting wildlife habitats – some of the most varied to be found in the entire Okavango Delta: a blend of forests, floodplain, wetland and grasslands. The narrow Khwai Channel is home to large mammals such as hippo and crocodile with buffalo and red lechwe often seen grazing along the fringe. The beautiful gallery riverine woodland found along the river provides further sanctuary to birds, primates and leopard. Elusive roan antelope often come to the river to drink. Activities focus around day and night game drives, nature walks and seasonal mekoro excursions.

Away from the river there is a wonderful mix of acacia and leadwood trees of varying sizes that abuts into mopane woodland. The latter, together with the permanent presence of water, attracts large numbers of elephant to the area. Larger predators include lion, wild dog and spotted hyaena, while birdlife found here is just as varied thanks to the colourful palette of habitats.

After a light breakfast, we fly north-east to the private Linyanti Concession. After a short game drive we arrive at our private Discoverer camp, which is elegantly set up under African ebony and knobthorn trees overlooking panoramic vistas of the Linyanti Swamps.

The landscape of the Linyanti varies from floodplains to open dry land savannah and forest with sweeping views, creating a paradise for a high diversity of wildlife and bird species. Activities include game drives in the private northern sector of the concession, exploring a range of habitats, from riverbanks to scrub and forest, which reveal a myriad of wildlife en route to slake their thirst from the river. The seldom-seen sitatunga can also be spotted in the waterways, as well as rare roan and sable antelope, plains game and of course their predators, the lion and leopard – with the endangered wild dog as an incredible bonus.

After a short morning drive and breakfast, we depart by light aircraft to the northern Chobe region of Chobe National Park. This area is famous for its vast herds of elephants in the dry season and other unique species such as the elusive puku and Chobe bushbuck that move to the river in the hottest hours of the day. Enjoy a light lunch on the boat cruise in a catamaran-style shaded boat.

We leave Botswana and fly to Livingstone International Airport, arriving at Toka Leya Camp in the late afternoon. On leaving Botswana, we fly over the Kazangula border, a point where the four countries of Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia meet.

Toka Leya Camp is situated on the banks of the Zambezi River in the eastern sector of the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park, some 7.46 miles up from the Victoria Falls, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. The camp consists of 12 safari-style tents, each en-suite with a view of the magnificent Zambezi River and some of its islands. The camp's dining and bar area is set beneath a shaded canopy of trees overlooking the River and a swimming pool.

The grand finale is a guided tour of the Victoria Falls, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. At 1708 metres wide, it is the largest curtain of water in the world and drops more than 100 metres into the sheer Zambezi Gorge.