WHEN SCHEDULING YOUR FLIGHTS…
This program is offered in conjunction with the Djoser, Netherlands office but must be booked through Djoser, in the United States. On this trip you will join Dutch & Belgium participants. So that all travelers in the group have the same point of reference, the days in the day-to-day descriptions below correspond with the program description for the Dutch travelers, taking into account their travel time from Amsterdam.
When scheduling your flights please use the itinerary above. The days are numbered based on the LAND PROGRAM, ONLY. Thus, our published trip dates are referred to as DAY 1 in the itinerary above. This is also the first accommodated night of the program. When you book your flight, please refer to the (estimated) times of arrival and departure of the Dutch participants. You should plan to arrive prior to the Dutch travelers.
DJOSER MEANS “FREEDOM & CHOICE”
Our day-to-day program is not strictly regimented but is determined by collaboration between the guide and participants. The guide will organize and accompany many activities but will also make suggestions so that you can explore and dine, safely, on your own.
PARDON OUR APPEARANCE
We are currently in the process of updating our Day-To-Day texts. Here you will still be able to get a good idea of the flow of the program, although there may be pending alterations.
Victoria Falls
Day 1 Johannesburg
Day 2 Johannesburg – Victoria Falls
Day 3 Victoria Falls
In Johannesburg we will be picked up from the airport and taken to nearby accommodations. The next morning we will fly to the Victoria Falls. We will spend the night there in a comfortable lodge with nice chalets. In the afternoon you will already be able to step in the footsteps of David Livingstone by taking a peak at the largest waterfalls of the African continent. The noise of the falling water is ear shattering. The waterfall is locally known as “Mosi-oa-Tunya,” the smoke that thunders, for a good reason. If you literally wish to dive into the Zambezi you could take a rafting trip here, or a boat trip on the Zambezi at sunset. To get a good impression of the falls you may also take a roundabout flight, the “Flight of the gels”.
Nxai Pans National Park
Day 4 Victoria Falls – Nxai Pans National Park
Day 5 Nxai Pans National Park
Today we will meet our drivers/guides and camp aid in the morning. We will continue our trip through the most beautiful national parks of Botswana in four-wheel drive cars. We will drive towards the west in order to take the ferry across the Zambezi at Kazangula. Then we are in Botswana. This country is one of the most thinly populated countries in the world and no less than 17 % of the total surface has been declared a national park. We will stop in Kasane to pick up some essential groceries and then we will continue on a paved road as straight as an arrow towards our first trip destination; the Nxai Pans. Together with bordering Makgadikgadi Pans National Park these saltpans once belonged to an inland sea that put the major part of central and north Botswana under water.
Presently the vast, seemingly endless plains are surrounded by loose Kalahari sand. The four-wheel drive comes in very handy on the sandy track to the pan. Rain is the determining factor concerning the presence of wildlife here more than in any other park. The landscape is typical for the Kalahari. An extended plain covered with grass where some acacias will catch the eye closes in the pan. In the dry season springboks, zebras, kudus and large-eared foxes concentrate around the permanent pool. When the rains reach Nxai the pan changes into a shallow lake and the grass plain will attract migrating zebras that give birth to their young there. The lake itself attracts thousands of flamingoes due to the presence of algae and minuscule crustaceans. Upon arrival the camp aid will set up the tents and in the afternoon we will explore the park. After the game drive we will prepare dinner together on an open fire. The next day we will take a beautiful tour through the park and visit Baines’ Baobabs. This unusual group of seven enormous baobab trees became famous when artist and adventurer Thomas Baines made a painting of it on his way with explorer James Chapman.
Okavango Delta
Day 6 Nxai Pans National Park – Maun – Okavango Delta (flight)
Day 7 Okavango Delta
Day 8 Okavango Delta
Today we continue on the A3 to Maun, where we will go straight to the airport. We will fly over the delta for about 25 minutes in a small airplane to the privately owned Gunn’s Bush Camp. This area, in the middle of the delta, is covered with palm trees and oversees the well-known Chief Island situated in Moremi. The campground has warm showers, a small camp store and a swimming pool. The next morning we will pack up the camping gear and prepare for a two-day excursion in the Okavango Delta. The “mokoro,” a canoe made of a hollowed tree trunk, is an outstanding mode of transportation to explore the delta. You don’t have to move yourself. That is the job of the “polers:” locally hired fishermen. Skillfully they lead you through the streams that are covered with lilies and grown over with papyrus and they will point out the many hippos. On the way we moor at small islands and hike to spot wildlife such as elephants and buffalos or the shy red lechwe, an ancestor of the antelope. The Okavango Delta is a true bird-paradise and you will surely hear the shrill calls of the many ospreys. At night we will camp in the wild and think up stories around the campfire to tell at home. Subconsciously we will start talking a little louder when we hear some rustling in the bushes behind us. The last day we will return to Gunn’s Bush Camp where we will spend the night.
Moremi Game Reserve
Day 9 Okavango Delta – Maun (flight) – Moremi Game Reserve
Day 10 Moremi Game Reserve
Day 11 Moremi Game reserve
We will leave our Bush Camp in the morning for the short flight back to Maun. We will fly low over the delta so you may very well spot another herd of elephants. Once we are back in the “civilized” world we will begin to prepare for the second part of our safari. Just outside Maun we will soon leave the paved road near Shorobe, where the road changes into gravel. After that we will drive on a sandy track for about 60 miles to the south entrance of the Moremi Game Reserve. This park protects almost a third of the wildlife in the Okavango Delta. Except for the rhinoceros the “big five” is represented here. With some luck we will stumble upon a group of wild dogs. Along the Khwai River and in areas where the land will be under water temporarily we will see red lechwe, the shy sitatunga and water goats. Zebras, gnus, impalas, elephants and buffalos inhabit the drier open parts of the park, where grass plains are interspersed with mopane bushes and camel thorns. Lions, leopards, jackals and hyenas keep an eye on their moves. Moremi is a bird lover’s paradise. Not only do you see a lot of water birds here such as ospreys, jacanas, saddle beak storks and giant herons, but also birds of prey such as eagles, fish owls and the colorful bateleur. We will spend the night in the park at so-called Hatab sites, assigned places where we will not meet any other campers. In the morning and the afternoon we will do extensive game drives. Usually we will stop at the Dombo hippo pool where hippos seem to lead a carefree life. Once returned to the campsite we will prepare our dinner under the supervision of the guide and the camp aid. At night it will be nice to spend time at the campfire. At times you will see the bright eyes of servals nearby.
Chobe National Park
Day 12 Moremi Game Reserve – Chobe National Park (Savuti)
Day 13 Chobe National Park (Savuti)
Day 14 Chobe National Park (Savuti) – Chobe NP (Serondela)
Day 15 Chobe National Park – Boat Tour on the Chobe River
Early in the morning we will break up camp in order to drive to our next national park, Chobe. The enormous diversity of landscapes from open savannah to swamp areas guarantees an abundance of wildlife. However this varies per season. This national park is especially known for the famous nature films that were made here commissioned by the National Geographic Society. The film “Eternal Enemies”, a story about the infinite battle between lions and hyenas, enjoys the most international fame. There are an abundance of lions and sometimes they come unpleasantly close to the camping areas of the park. Today’s destination is Savuti. Again we will stay overnight here at a Hatab site not far from the Tsonxhwaa hill where paintings of Bushmen are found. From the top we will have a nice view of the surrounding area. From our camp we will go on excursions into the park in order to catch wildlife in front of our cameras. Here we will meet elephants, zebras, gnus, and the predators that chase them. At night you will often hear the roaring of lions or the crying of hyenas in the distance, but sometimes also alarmingly close by!
After two nights we will break up our camp and will drive on sandy roads further into the park. It will take us almost the entire day on the way to our destination: the area of the former Serondela campground, today called Ihaha. We will camp near the Chobe River. There are many elephants especially in the fall and the winter. The next day we will take a nice boat tour on the river, so you may observe and photograph wildlife that comes to the banks.
Victoria Falls
Day 16 Chobe National Park – Victoria Falls
Day 17 Victoria Falls – Johannesburg
Then we leave Chobe and reach the civilized world again in Kasane. It will take us an hour to drive to the border town of Kazungula. Here we will again cross over the Zambezi by ferry and drive into the neighboring country of Zambia. We will once again move into the comfortable lodge by the Zambezi. From the airport in the area of Livingstone we will take a flight to Johannesburg.
