On arrival in Kasane your guide David Carson, who will guide you for the next 7 days in Chobe and Hwange, will meet you. He will then take you into Chobe National Park – this is a game drive to camp along the ood plains, which is a wonderful introduction to the park and its inhabitants. Once in camp you will get to meet all the staff that will be hosting you and get acquainted with your new home for the next 3 nights. The accommodation is the same style in both parks and is in spacious insect proof walk-in tents with gauze-covered windows. The lighting inside the tents is bright enough to read by. The ablutions are en-suite, consisting of a flush toilet and hot water bucket showers. Three substantial meals per day are served, between planned safari activities. Menus of fresh produce change every day and vegetarian or special diets can be catered for by prior arrangement. For drinks we supply local wines and spirits (local being what we can purchase in Botswana and Zimbabwe).

The park is the second largest in Botswana (11,700km²) and named after the river Chobe that forms the northern boundary of the park. The Chobe River supports one of the largest concentrations of elephants found anywhere in Africa, and it is not uncommon to encounter herds in excess of a hundred. The elephants leave the river for the southern region of the park during the rainy season (December to March) at the time when food and water is freely available inland. Chobe is also famous for it’s huge herds of buffalo, the Chobe bushbuck, and for being the southern-most point where puku can be seen. The river serves as the main water source for the wildlife and birdlife in the area.

Today will be spent on morning and afternoon game drives, with a siesta in between to take it easy in camp, during the midday period.

The day will start as usual nice and early but instead of coming back to camp for lunch at midday, you will be taken to the boat station to do a 3-hour game cruise on the Chobe River. You will have packed lunch on the boat while you are on the river. This cruise is very scenic and can be one of the best for game viewing from the water.

Today will be an early rise and game drive out of the park to the Zimbabwe border, where guests will do their border procedures. Once that is all done you will then proceed with your guide David in an air-conditioned bus to the gate into Hwange National Park, which is an approx 3-hour road journey. On arrival at the gate it is back into a game-viewing vehicle for a game drive to your campsite deep in the park. Lunch will be in camp, once everyone has seen the lay of the facilities, then a siesta and then finish the day with a walking safari.

On arrival back in camp in the evening the camp staff will have the camp fire going and it now that one gets the feeling of being in the wild.

The Hwange National Park is 14 640km² and is in fact as big as Northern Ireland. Due to the vast size of the park the landscape varies from deep Kalahari sands in the south to rocky hilly country in the north. The park is divided into 3 different areas, namely Main Camp, Robins and Sinamatella areas. The park is home to over 35 000 elephants who in the dry season dominate all the water points in the afternoons. Other animals that can be seen in the park are lion, leopard, cheetah, rhino, buffalo, impala, kudu, sable, eland, waterbuck, zebra, giraffe, baboon and warthog. There have also been 400 species of bird life recorded here.

The Sinamatella area of the park is a fantastic game driving and walking area. The next few days will follow along the lines of an early start with a light breakfast and then o by vehicle or on foot or a combination of the two, this depending on what has been heard during the night. The walks are especially adventurous and you will always remember how exciting it is to be amongst the elephant on foot! Apart from the animals that you will encounter on foot this is truly a place that is wild and one definitely feels out in the wilderness.

Today you will drive back to Mbala gate where you will be met by an air conditioned bus and driven back to Victoria Falls.