Botswana Exclusive

Take your flight from Johannesburg to Livingstone today. The flight duration is approximately 2 hours.

Meet your driver who will transfer you to your lodge.

Whilst on your safari holiday in Zambia, why not try some of the many activities made available and included in your overall safari price. Some of the many activities include canoeing on the Zambezi, Maramba market visit, island lunch, Game drives, Sanpan floating candlelit dinner, fishing, visits to Mukuni Park, museum tours, sunrise and sunset boating, introduction to Simonga Village, and guided bush walks.  All park fees and museum entrance fees are extra.

Whilst on your safari holiday in Zambia, why not try some of the many activities made available and included in your overall safari price. Some of the many activities include canoeing on the Zambezi, Maramba market visit, island lunch, Game drives, Sanpan floating candlelit dinner, fishing, visits to Mukuni Park, museum tours, sunrise and sunset boating, introduction to Simonga Village, and guided bush walks.  All park fees and museum entrance fees are extra.

Sign up for optional activities at your hotel (not included in tour price); helicopter, ultra-light, Gypsy Moth flights, elephant-back or horseback safari, white-water rafting, bungee jumping, Chobe game park day trip, jet boat, cultural tours, and more.

Transfer between Livingstone and Chobe lodges. 

This short flight travels from the Kasane airport to Linyanti.

Later this afternoon you will meet up with others from the lodge for your game drive.

While at the lodge you'll have daily activities to choose from. Your guides will give you all of the options when you arrive at the camp. The Selinda Reserve is a private wildlife concession that links the Okavango Delta to the Linyanti Swamps along the Selinda Spillway. The area is well known for its hippo-killing lions, cheetah, wild dog, and leopard, as well as excellent sightings of plains game such as giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, impala, lechwe and elephant. On safari it is possible to see a tremendous diversity of species, from resident prides of lion to huge herds of elephant to packs of wild dog. And then there are the ungulates, from the rare roan to the ubiquitous zebra. Nocturnal wildlife is prolific as well, and there are frequent sightings of aardwolf and civet. Exploration of this vast area defies imagination. Explore the area by foot, 4x4, and canoe or quietly sitting in a hide, the sights and sounds of Botswana will come alive. It is an experience sure to expand the knowledge of even the most well traveled. Elephant are common around Zarafa Camp, with densities during the dry season on a par with those of the Chobe National Park. At the peak of our dry winter months, we have counted around 9000 elephants in The Selinda Reserve. The lions that hunt hippos (the "surfing lions") are part of what has made this region famous. Their skill at hunting these huge animals is legendary. There is also the chance for the "spotted predators". The open plains are ideal habitat for cheetah while leopard viewing is rewarding when they are encountered. One of Africa's most endangered predators, the Wild Dog, is usually resident and the Selinda pack frequently dens in close proximity to our camps. Other common species include: buffalo (that sometimes congregate in huge herds numbering many thousand), giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, hippo, hyena, a variety of antelope including red lechwe, and the chance to spot a number of nocturnal species on our night drives.

This short flight travels from Linyanti to Okavango, Botswana.

While at Cheif's all of your meals and drinks (excluding premium brands) are included as well as park fees, laundry, emergency medical evacuation and 2 activities per day. 

Apart from its predators, the area is also renowned for its large concentrations of plains-game, elephant and buffalo. Both white and black rhino were introduced here in 2001 and 2003 respectively. Enjoy thrilling guided game drives ead by highly qualified professional. Explore the area up close at the gentle pace of a poled mokoro, a dug-out canoe, excursion (subject to water levels).

The expert guides always on hand to share a wealth of wildlife knowledge, take guests deep into the bush in specially modified open 4 x 4 vehicles on morning and afternoon game drives to find the secluded places where elephant families congregate in search of the tastiest fruits and berries. The game viewing opportunities at Sanctuary Chief's Camp are awe-inspiring. On the plains one may find the roaming lions that prey on the thousands of antelope, zebra and buffalo who live here all year round. Guests may see spot wild dogs. These extremely rare predators have been hunted to the point of extinction in most areas of Africa and this is one of their last strongholds. Intensely curious, painted dogs, as they are known here, are extremely rewarding to view and accessible to only the few. Sanctuary Chief's is the ideal place to spot the big 5 - perhaps even the rare rhino. There are several local lion prides as well as leopards, genet cats and hyena are in abundance.  Mokoros, local dugout canoes, are ideal for getting close to the bush in the company of a highly trained local guide. Each June the whole area around the camp floods and turns the Okavango Delta into a labyrinth of lily-filled lagoons and streams where hippos fight for bathing rights and crocodiles wait for unwary antelope to linger too long over a drink. Poling through the byways created by the floodwaters is a magical experience that allows guests to get very close to the biggest of game and to see the world from a totally different angle – looking up onto the banks rather than down onto them. As a change from a game drive, the quiet, gentle pace of a mokoro is a real introduction to a way of transport still used in the Delta by the ‘river bushmen’ or BaYei people. This activity is subject to water levels.

Spa Treatments - Guests at Sanctuary Chief’s are able to enjoy a range of spa treatments. Treatments include products from the Africology line and guests are able to choose from a range of body therapies, body rituals and facial skin care treatments. Treatments may be booked at the camp reception with the camp manager, or with the therapist. A full consultation will be held before every treatment.

Helicopter over the Delta - Experiencing Botswana’s Okavango Delta by helicopter is an incredible and unrivalled experience, one in which a large variety of game as well as the region's stunning landscape can be easily viewed… Together with our preferred partner in Botswana, Mack Air, we now offer scenic helicopter flights over the Okavango Delta, allowing you to venture to parts of the Delta which are inaccessible by game vehicle providing an excellent opportunity to explore an array of truly unspoilt wildlife and scenery. The helicopter used provides incomparable comfort with air conditioning, leather seats and a large cabin, easily seating 6 passengers. Each passenger is provided with a David Clarke headset which allows guests to freely talk to each other as well as the pilot.
           

This short flight travels from the Okavango airstrip to Maun.

This flight departs from Maun and travels to Makgadikgadi, Botswana.

This afternoon you will meet up with the other guests from the lodge for your game drive in Makgadikgadi. The Makgadikgadi Pan is a series of large salt pans in the middle of the dry savannah of Northeastern Botswana. It is one of the largest salt flats in the world and interspersed between the pans are sand dunes, rocky islands and peninsulas, and desert terrain. The pan is all that remains of the formerly enormous Lake Makgadikgadi, which once covered an area larger than Switzerland, but dried up several thousand years ago. The Makgadikgadi Pans Game Reserve has an area of 3 900 sq. km and is the scene of large migrations. In the wet season, this reserve can offer good wildlife viewing, particularly when large herds of zebra and wildebeest begin their westward migration to the Boteti region. Other species that can be spotted here include gemsbok, eland and red hartebeest, as well as kudu, bushbuck, duiker, giraffe, springbok, steenbok, and even elephant, with all the accompanying predators, as well as the rare brown hyena. Your afternoon is guaranteed to be full of excitement, spectacular views and amazing experiences.

Set off in the morning to visit some of the Kalahari’s sexiest meerkats (‘Suricate’ to science-minded people and ‘Timon’ to Lion King fans).  Get up close and personal with these captivating creatures. On chilly mornings, you might well find a meerkat snuggling up to you for warmth.  Or, in the absence of a termite mound or tree, using your head as a sentry lookout post. By spending quality time with these incredibly social, superbly adapted animals, you will be able to see how they interact with each other and their environment. You also get the chance to see the desert through the eyes of a meerkat – which, despite the fact that it’s only a foot off the ground, is a pretty spectacular vantage point, and definitely one of the most special and memorable game experiences you will encounter in Botswana.

After tea, travel down to the pans where you will be given a brief safety talk before mounting your trusty quad bike to head off across the pans. Watch the sun set and the stars rise. This is one of the only places in the world where the silence is so complete you can hear the blood circulating through your ears. There is not one visual landmark to be seen and one swiftly loses one’s sense of perspective.

Early in the morning, comb the edge of the extinct lake shore to find some of the many stone tools and fossils that litter the pan surface and learn of the origins of early man. Return to camp for a huge brunch. After another decadent tea, head off to see one of Africa’s rarest carnivores – the brown hyaena. Due to a PhD research programme on this cleverly adapted desert species, the cubs are habituated and allow us to observe their social behaviour without disturbance. Back to the camp for dinner by candlelight.

This flight departs from Makgadikgadi and travels to Maun, Botswana.

Enjoy a direct flight today between Maun and Johannesburg. Flight time is approximately 1 hour and 40 min. Flight scheduled to depart Maun at 2:50 pm and arrive into Johannesburg at 4:30 pm. Please Note: Flight times may vary