inspiration

botswana: big cat safari

Private Safari
From $19,635 pp
2 guests
9 nights

trip highlights

  • At Duba Plains, drives run long across the floodplains of a private concession where lion prides follow buffalo herds in daylight.
  • Xigera Lodge sits on a permanent-water island in Moremi, with mokoro and boat trips running even when drier concessions have lost their water.
  • Selinda Explorers Camp builds the day around walking on the Selinda Spillway, led by armed and trained guides.
  • Selinda Reserve is regarded as one of Botswana's finest stretches for predators, with lion, leopard, cheetah and a resident pack of painted dogs.
Scroll for the full itinerary
Female lion head portrait with green background

Across the Okavango, Moremi and Selinda

This nine-night route links three private concessions in northern Botswana. It opens in the far northern Okavango Delta, where flooded grassland draws buffalo herds and the lion prides that follow them. It moves to a riverine island in Moremi Game Reserve, ringed by permanent channels that hold their water the year round. It ends on the Selinda Spillway, the ancient channel that connects the Okavango and Linyanti systems.

You travel between the three by light aircraft, each landing on a concession airstrip. Days move with the water: game drives across open floodplains, mokoro and boat trips through lily-covered lagoons, night drives and guided walking. Each camp is small and set on private ground, chosen for its position rather than its scale.

plan your safari

Daily Itinerary Breakdown

Okavango Floodplains and the Buffalo Prides

You begin on a private island in the far northern Okavango Delta, on the NG23 concession, where open floodplains rather than woodland fill the view. Buffalo herds here run into the thousands and the lion prides that follow them hunt in daylight in a way still uncommon by Okavango standards. Because this is a private concession, drives run long and uninterrupted, guides can leave the road, and spotlit night drives and walks along the channels are all possible; in flood season boating and mokoro open up the reed-lined waterways. Duba Plains is a vintage-styled tented camp shaded by ebony, fig and garcinia, raised above the flood with decks that look straight onto it.

Moremi's Permanent Channels

A short flight brings you to a riverine island in the western Okavango, within a private concession in Moremi Game Reserve. Deep permanent channels ring the island the year round, so days unfold on the water: mokoro through lily-covered lagoons, boat trips on the larger channels, and long stretches watching hippos and red lechwe from a raised deck. Being a private concession, this stretch permits night drives and off-schedule hours the public reserve does not. Xigera Lodge runs on one principle, anything anytime, with suites on stilts beneath jackalberry, mangosteen and leadwood, and interiors holding commissioned work from more than eighty African artists.

Walking the Selinda Spillway

You fly on to the private Selinda Reserve, which runs between the Okavango and the Linyanti and Kwando systems. Walking is the whole point here, led by armed and trained guides who read tracks, dung and birdsong at a pace that brings the smaller detail into focus; when the spillway runs deep enough, two-person Canadian-style canoes replace the walk on the way back to camp. Selinda is regarded as one of Botswana's finest stretches for predators, with lion, leopard, cheetah and a regularly sighted pack of painted dogs. Selinda Explorers Camp is a four-tent walking camp under African ebony and mopane on the spillway's edge, with campaign-style interiors and meals cooked over open fire.

Ed Charles photographing wildlife

Ed Charles, BBC Producer

Fitzroy are true specialists in accessing the wilderness. They know where to go and importantly, when to go there. Highly recommended.

Ed Charles

Bafta & Emmy award winning film producer of BBC’s Planet Earth 2 and A Perfect Planet

looking for inspiration?

Walking safari group encounters lions in grassland Safari tent accommodation with warm interior lighting at dusk, Gomoti Plains, The Okavango Delta, Botswana Elevated wooden lodge structures nestled among tall trees, Shinde, The Okavango Delta, Botswana Safari camp dining setup overlooking water at sunset, San Camp, Makgadikgadi Pans, Botswana Elephant walking through grassland at golden hour sunset, Gomoti Plains, The Okavango Delta, Botswana Dining deck overlooking wetland with reeds and water, Shinde, The Okavango Delta, Botswana Illuminated safari tent under starlit sky at night, San Camp, Makgadikgadi Pans, Botswana Illuminated main lodge building reflected in still water at dusk, Gomoti Plains, The Okavango Delta, Botswana Guests on wooden deck overlooking savanna at sunset, Shinde, The Okavango Delta, Botswana Canvas safari tent glowing at dusk with palm trees, San Camp, Makgadikgadi Pans, Botswana Young lion cub playing with charred wood log

botswana

by helicopter to walk the delta

Thirteen nights linking two sides of the Okavango Delta to the salt flats of the Makgadikgadi, by drive, mokoro, boat and on foot.

  • Private Safari
  • From $16,100 pp
  • 4 guests
  • 13 nights
View Safari
Park ranger posing with elephant in dry grassland savanna, Big Cave Camp, Matobo, Zimbabwe Two rhinos touching horns in natural habitat Luxury lodge with thatched-roof buildings, swimming pools and manicured gardens, Ilala Lodge Hotel, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe Illuminated safari lodge with wooden pergola at dusk, Camp Hwange, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe Stone bungalow with thatched roof nestled among forest trees, Big Cave Camp, Matobo, Zimbabwe Luxury lodge with thatched roof and firepit seating on sandy ground at dusk, Kwando Nxai Pan Camp, Makgadikgadi Pans, Botswana Thatched lodge buildings lit at dusk reflected in water, Sable Alley, The Okavango Delta, Botswana Wooden deck and seating areas beneath acacia trees, Kanana, The Okavango Delta, Botswana Luxury safari lodge with illuminated interior and private pool at dusk, Ngoma Safari Lodge, Chobe, Botswana Aerial view of mist rising from river valley at sunrise, Ilala Lodge Hotel, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe Outdoor seating area at sunset with coffee service, Camp Hwange, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe Stone lodge with thatched roof nestled among forest trees, Big Cave Camp, Matobo, Zimbabwe Outdoor dining setup with bottles and glasses at sunset in arid landscape, Kwando Nxai Pan Camp, Makgadikgadi Pans, Botswana Elephant walking past main lodge buildings with thatched roofs, Sable Alley, The Okavango Delta, Botswana

zimbabwe & botswana

rhino tracking to the delta

Fifteen nights across Zimbabwe and Botswana, from Victoria Falls and Hwange to Matobo, the Makgadikgadi, the Okavango and Chobe.

  • Private Safari
  • From $19,885 pp
  • 2 guests
  • 15 nights
View Safari
Helicopter tour group standing in shallow wetland water Thatched lodge with firepit at golden hour dusk, Chitabe Camp, The Okavango Delta, Botswana Safari camp with illuminated tents at sunset in grassland, Jack’s Camp, Makgadikgadi Pans, Botswana Two painted wild dogs walking through golden grassland Canvas safari tent with extended awning in savanna landscape Swimming pool with wooden deck and safari lodge building, Chitabe Camp, The Okavango Delta, Botswana Canvas safari tent with bed and covered wooden deck, Kweene Trails, The Okavango Delta, Botswana Wooden deck with pool overlooking wetland at sunset, Jack’s Camp, Makgadikgadi Pans, Botswana Luxury bedroom with canopy bed and cream drapes, Chitabe Camp, The Okavango Delta, Botswana Safari tent interior with beds overlooking savanna landscape, Kweene Trails, The Okavango Delta, Botswana Luxury tent bedroom with four-poster canopy bed and sitting area, Jack’s Camp, Makgadikgadi Pans, Botswana

botswana

helicopters through the delta

Wild dog country at Chitabe, a walking safari in the western Delta and the Makgadikgadi salt pans over 11 nights.

  • Private Safari
  • From $19,824 pp
  • 4 guests
  • 11 nights
View Safari

rated five stars by our clients

Planning a journey together

our approach

remote, exclusive
& personal

Every journey starts with a conversation. We take the time to understand your vision before we start planning.

Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.

Every journey starts with a conversation. We favour a direct, personal approach: understanding your vision before anything else.

Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape a journey that is both thoughtfully considered and expertly delivered.

Get in touch to start planning yours.

get in touch
destinations ideas & inspiration our process about us contact us