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First stop for two nights in Maun
Arrive at Maun, the gateway to the Okavango Delta with
its mixture of the old and new properties and shopping complexes, mud huts and office buildings nestling together. Maun has
developed rapidly from its early days as a rural frontier town and has spread along the wide Thamalakane River. Hippos and
antelopes can be seen grazing along the riverbanks of the Delta along side cattle and goats.
While staying at Maun in our pre erected deluxe tents, there will be opportunities to relax around the pool,
take a walk and stretch your legs, sample the local beverages around the bar and take a mokorro or boat trip on the Okavango
River depending on the water levels at the time.
After a freshly made breakfast in camp, we will embark on a comfortable
drive northwards to Shakawe. Shakawe serves as a Botswana entry or exit stop and a staging point for trips into the
Tsodilo Hills. Shakawe is situated at the top of the Okavango Delta pan handle and produces exciting birding throughout the year. It is rich in contrasting habitat, and species diversity is dependant to a large extent on water level fluctuations. It is ideal for herons, egrets, kingfishers, bee-eaters, waders, plovers and warblers along the river, owls, eagles and small raptors in the thick riverine forests, and shrikes, sunbirds, babblers, cisticolas and robins within easy walking distance of the river banks. A mornings good birding can produce in excess of 100 species, with birding big day totals for this area normally over 200 species in 24 hours. At Shakawe
we will be staying at ‘Drotsky’s Cabins’ a lovely welcoming lodge and camping ground set amidst a thick
riverine forest. The lodge is the ideal setting for fishing for Tiger fish and Bream, to be able to sample the abundant and
impressive bird life and fine views across the reeds and papyrus.
From Shakawe , we will travel further north into Namibia and along the
Caprivi Strip. Our first stop in Namibia will be ‘Ngepi
Camp’. Ngepi Camp is situated on an island in the unspoilt upper reaches of the panhandle in the western Caprivi
Strip. Ngepi is a laid back paradise of beautiful trees and shady lawns, surrounded by seasonally flooded swamps with permanent
river frontage. Teeming with wildlife and nestled between Manhango Park to the south and Bwabwata Park directly opposite where
we can take an early morning and afternoon game drives.
We will be heading for Katima Mulilo in Namibia and staying at a lodge. Katima Mulilo, a very African town, is at the eastern end of the Caprivi Strip and features lush vegetation and enormous trees, and was once known for the elephants that marched through. Caprivi Arts Centre, run by the caprivi Arts and Culture Association, is a good place to look for local curios and crafts, such as wood carvings, baskets, bowls and traditional weapons.
Back
into Botswana and at Kasane you will be able to add a few stamps to your passport when visiting one of the natural wonders
of the world, a truly magnificent sight to behold, Victoria Falls, ‘The Smoke that Thunders’. (Mosi-oa-Tunya) While camping in Kasane, which sits in a riverside woodland at the meeting of four countries – Botswana, Zambia, Namibia and Zimbabwe we will be in an ideal position to take a game drive into Chobe National Park. Chobe
National park encompassess 11,000 sq km and is home to Botswana's most varied wildlife and is not to be missed!
Saving
the best till last, we will take a game drive along the Kasane road and head for ‘Gweta Lodge’.
Game
drives far into the vast wilderness of the Makgadikgadi Pans, sleeping under the blanket of stars, is a ‘not-to-be-missed’
experience. During
the wet season the pans fill up and attract flamingos that use the area to nest and feed.In the dry season a salt crust is
created covering some 7400+ sq km creating several migratory routes for animals.
We
can take a drive further North into Nxai Pan which holds such wonders as Baines Baobab, drawn in 1867 by Sir Thomas Baines,
and encounter the animals taking a much need drink around the watering hole during ‘sundowners’. |
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