botswana: victoria falls and okavango

It is real camping done comfortably, not a lodge under canvas, and it is worth being clear about that before you book.

Each tent is a large walk-in one with a high roof and a covered porch, and you sleep on a proper camp bed with a mattress, sheets, a duvet and pillows.

At the back is your own bathroom, with a long-drop loo and a bucket shower: ask for it hot, warm or cold and the camp team fills it with water heated on the fire. Light comes from a paraffin lamp and a rechargeable LED light, so bring a good head torch. Towels are provided and toiletries are not.

Do not count on phone signal or internet while you are with the mobile camp, and batteries are usually charged from sockets in the vehicle. On moving days the camp team packs up and drives ahead, so your tent is standing when you arrive, and breakfast, lunch and dinner are cooked in camp.

At most seven guests, sharing one guide and one 4WD safari vehicle for the whole journey through Botswana.

The two Victoria Falls nights are in a lodge. On day three you leave early by road for Kasane, across the border in Botswana, a transfer we put at one and a half to two hours including the border, to join the guide at nine for a morning boat trip on the Chobe River.

From there you drive through Chobe National Park to the first camp, in the Savuti area. You travel between the camps by road, and each move doubles as a game drive, with the camp team going ahead to set up.

The move from Savuti to Mababe takes the day, and its hardest stretch is the deep sand of the Magwikwe sand ridge. The trip ends in Maun on day twelve.

The minimum age is generally 12 on the shared departures, so tell us the ages of any children when you enquire.

Elephant and lion are commonly seen on this route, leopard is a realistic hope, and wild dog is a bonus, never a plan.

Savuti is known for its big lion prides and is good cheetah country. Mababe is the best leopard ground on the trip, with lion, leopard and serval the common predators and wild dog and cheetah less common. Moremi has a strong name for wild dog, and even there we would call a sighting occasional.

The reason is that the dogs are nomadic and rarely stay in one place, except when they den, which in northern Botswana falls between June and August, when a pack stays close to its den for 10 to 14 weeks. Those months give the best odds.

Nine nights across three different habitats is what tilts the chances your way, not any single drive.

Every stop on this route earns our top rating in June, July, August and September: dry, cool weather, animals drawn to the permanent water, the Okavango's flood at its height for the mokoro, and the wild dog denning period. Expect the most company then, and the top price of the year.

October is as good for game in Chobe and the Delta but very hot under canvas, often above 40 degrees, and the falls are running low. April and November sit in between, at a middle price.

The dates from December to March are the ones we rate as challenging, and on a camping trip that deserves plain speaking: heat, heavy showers and game that has spread out.

Their advantages are real all the same. They are the lowest priced dates by a wide margin, the rains refill the Savuti Marsh and draw in zebra herds, migrant birds arrive, many antelope have young, storm skies suit photographers, and by February and March the Zambezi is rising towards its fullest flow over the falls.

No. Both helicopter flights on this trip are optional extras, arranged on request at extra cost.

The first is the scenic flight over Victoria Falls on your free day. It is short, 12 to 15 minutes for the standard flight and 22 to 30 for the longer one, and because several companies fly it in different aircraft we do not name a type.

The second is a scenic flight over the Okavango towards the end of the trip, typically with Helicopter Horizons of Maun in one of its Bell helicopters, which seat four or five guests. It suits the Delta for a simple reason: the land varies by less than two metres in height, so the channels, islands and hippo paths only make sense from above.

On scenic flights the company removes the doors for photography, every flight is private and everybody has a window seat. We suggest 30 minutes as the shortest flight worth booking.

In Botswana, nearly everything:

• The guide and vehicle
• The camp and its team
• All meals
• Drinks in camp apart from certain premium ones
• Park and camping fees
• Every activity in the itinerary

Those are the Chobe River boat trip, game drives throughout, a walk to the rock paintings at Savuti, and at Mababe night drives, bush walks and mokoro outings. Mababe is a private reserve, which is why those three happen there.

Inside Chobe and Moremi the park rules allow no night drives and no walking safaris, so those days are game drives, the short walk to the paintings aside. Bush walks can depend on how high the grass is after rain, and the mokoro on water levels.

The two nights at Victoria Falls are bed and breakfast, and the river cruise, rafting and helicopter flight there are optional extras. Not included: international flights, travel insurance, tips, premium drinks and meals at Victoria Falls other than breakfast.