DETAILED ITINERARY: OKUTI AND CHOBE CHILWERO (OK5D)

Day 1. Transfer by air from Maun to the Okavango Delta to Camp Okuti. Enjoy your choice of activities offered by the camp. Overnight in thatched chalets with en suite facilities at Camp Okuti. L/D

Day 2. Enjoy your choice of activities offered by the camp. Overnight in thatched chalets with en suite facilities at Camp Okuti. B/L/D

Camp Okuti is situated in the remote northeastern reaches of the Okavango Delta on the edge of the Xakanaxa lagoon. It lies within close range of shallow flood plains, papyrus swamp and dense riverine forest. The camp is small (maximum of 20 guests) and has all the amenities to make your stay pleasant and comfortable. Each chalet is positioned to overlook one of the Delta's most famous lagoons. Guests frequently choose to remain in the camp by day to watch the profusion of birds in the area. The management's primary goal is to provide guests the opportunity to escape crowded areas and experience pristine wilderness as it has been for centuries, unaffected by humans. Activities include game viewing in Moremi Wildlife Reserve by open safari vehicles or motorboat with an experienced guide who will enrich your understanding of the unique wildlife in the region. During breeding season, flocks of herons may be seen at their nesting and breeding sites. Also common to the area are the fish-eagle, hippos, crocodile and other smaller water animals in abundance, which are easily visibly from the boat. The motorboat safaris pause for enchanting picnics in the shade of the riverine trees. At the camp drinks and light snacks are served before you sit down to a delicious African meal, including fresh bread baked daily. The evenings are spent around fragrant wooded campfires or in the sunken lounge, while you listen to the sounds of the night - the splash of hippo, the roar of lions and the cry of jackal.

The Okavango River rises in the Angolan Highlands, flowing 600 miles through the sandy plains of Angola. As the flood pushes through reed beds and down ancient channels, it floods the open plains and creates thousands of islands, some little more than tiny termite mounds. Its water never reaches the sea, but empties itself into the burning Kalahari sands of northern Botswana. This forms a 9,600 square mile maze of lagoons, channels and islands, known as the Okavango Delta. It is one of Africa's largest and most beautiful oasis, creating a natural refuge for the larger animals of the desert. The northern part is permanently flooded where vast papyrus beds grow and float above the sand, kept open by the passage of hippo, elephant and buffalo as they push their way from mainland to island and back. This is home to over 450 bird and plant species, and several of the world's rarest species of antelope. Reptiles of the delta include the Nile crocodile, leguaans (iguana family) and carnivorous water monitors. The croaks of bell frogs and bullfrogs provide lovely evening choruses. The delta is lush with flood plains, gleaming white sand banks under crystal clear water, secret waterways, palm-covered islands, delicate ferns and radiant lagoons where pale blue lilies rise above a floor of dark green pads. Here you can absorb the peace and tranquillity synonymous with this ecological wonder. The only sound you hear as your makoro (dug-out canoe) glides through the water, are the sounds of the wild, the swish of the papyrus and the haunting call of the fish-eagle, supreme sovereign of the swamps.

The 1,080 square mile Moremi Wildlife Reserve is perhaps the most beautiful and interesting of all the many natural areas of tropical Africa. It lies in the northeastern section of the Okavango Delta, occupying wide areas of permanent swamp. It offers a landscape of lagoons and winding waterways, Kalahari sand, reed beds, mopane and knob thorn forests. These many different habitats make possible the viewing of a wider variety of animals than almost anywhere else on earth. In addition to all the larger animals, you might be lucky enough to see the shy lechwe (a semi-aquatic deer listed as an endangered species, though abundant in the Okavango wetlands) or the rare sitatunga, a swamp antelope which when frightened, submerges like a hippo into the water. The reserve was created in 1962 by the Batawana tribe on whose land it is situated and was named after their chief, Moremi III.

Day 3. Transfer by air to Chobe Chilwero Lodge outside the town of Kasane in north eastern Botswana. Enjoy your choice of game viewing acticvities offered by the lodge. Accommodation is in thatched, timber A-frame bungalows with en suite facilities. B/L/D

Day 4. Enjoy your choice of game viewing acticvities offered by the lodge. Accommodation is in thatched, timber A-frame bungalows with en suite facilities. B/L/D

Kasane is a small village near the entrance to the world renowned Chobe National Park and the meeting point of four countries: Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia. The famous Victoria Falls is only 45 miles away on a paved road. Chobe Chilwero Lodge is an exclusive lodge set on a hill overlooking the Chobe River and on the boundary of the Chobe National Park. The lodge accommodates a maximium of 16 guests. Game viewing activities are conducted with professional guides in the Chobe National Park by open safari vehicle or on the Chobe River by power boat.

The Chobe National Park covers nearly 6,600 square miles in northern Botswana with habitats ranging from swamp and floodplain to dead lake beds, sandridges and forest. The park can be divided roughly into three areas: the Chobe river area, the Mababe depression ( a dead lake bed) including the Savuti channel and marsh, and the Ngwezumba area with its mopani forests, riparian woodland and pans. The Chobe is best known for its huge herds of up to five hundred elephants, and its buffalo which sometimes congregate in herds of a thousand. An estimated 73,000 elephants make the Chobe National Park their home.

The Chobe River front offers you an excellent opportunity to observe lions, cheetahs, giraffes, zebras and hippos submerging at dawn and emerging at dusk. Also to be found here are most antelope species indigenous to Botswana, including the shy lechwes. Bird life is abundant and in great variety.

Day 5. Transfer to Maun for your return flight to Johannesburg International Airport. B only.

B/L/D = Breakfast/ Lunch/ Dinner

INCLUSIONS AND EXCLUSIONS Okuti and Chobe Chilwero OK5D

Day 1 & 2. Included: air transfer, accommodation in chalets with en suite facilities, meals as per itinerary, all game viewing activities, park fees

Day 3 & 4. Included: air transfer, accommodation in bungalows with en suite facilities, all game viewing activities, all meals, park fees

Day 5. Included: air transfer to Maun, breakfast only

Option 2. Extend your stay to include 2 days at Nxamaseri Lodge in the north western reaches of the Okavango Delta or at Jack's Camp in the Makgadikgadi Pans in eastern Botswana.

Nxamaseri Lodge

Nxamaseri Lodge is a luxury fishing and birding lodge, situated on the panhandle in the north western part of the Okavango Delta. The lodge is built on a heavily forested island, surrounded by water. Wooden boardwalks lead to six individual brick and thatch chalets with private decks and en suite facilities. Nxameseri has a reputation for excellent standard of catering. Picnic lunches for day trips (fishing or game viewing trips to Mahango Game Park or Tsodilo Hills) can be provided. Tsodilo Hills is famous for Bushman paintings and is 4 hours' drive away. Mahango Game Park in the Caprivi Strip is situated 42 miles away and is home to a wide variety of animals and bird species.

Fishing: Tiger Fish, Bream, African Pike and Cat Fish are the main angling species. Specially designed flat bottom boats assure a good platform for both fly and lure fishing.

Birding: The bird life is prolific, including Pels Fishing Owl, African Skimmer, White Backed Night Heron, Slaty Egret, Wattled Crane, Greater Swamp Warbler as well as numerous species of Bee-eaters, Ducks, Geese, Herons, Kingfishers and Storks. Over 250 species have been recorded in the area. Viewing can be enjoyed by boat, makaro (dug out canoe) and on walks.

Jack's Camp

The Makgadikgadi Pans was once a great lake, possibly as large as Lake Victoria in East Africa. It is now dry, except for ephemeral pools after rain. Its floor is bare salt stretching to the horizon. This amazing complex of pans and beheaded dunes are divided by a thin strip of land with Ntwete in the west and Sowa (meaning "salt") in the east. Occasionally good rains in the region permit large areas of water to develop. Then, as if by magic, a vast flock of birds, including flamingos and pelicans, appears from nowhere to feed on the flourishing algae, brine-shrimp and other forms of water-borne life which have lain dormant in the salt awaiting the rains.

Jack's Camp is situated inside the Makgadikgadi & Nxai National Park. Accommodation is in luxury East African style tents with en suite facilities among umbrella acacia and desert palms. Scattered stone age tools reveal the history of this ancient African superlake while engravings left by explorers such as David Livingstone in the trunks of ancient boababs, mark the passage of many years.

Activities include walks with a San (Bushman) tracker to observe typical desert wildlife, bird walks to observe migratory water fowl breeding/feeding sites, visits by vehicle to the historic Boababs, exploring the pans by four wheeled motor bikes and night game drives.

Cape Town, South Africa, Mount Nelson, Cape Town, South Africa, Mount Nelson, Cape Town, South Africa, Mount Nelson