Thirteen nights across Botswana, linking two faces of the Okavango Delta to the salt flats of the Makgadikgadi. You begin on a private community concession in the south-eastern Delta, where floodplain gives way to acacia and mopane woodland, then spend five nights on foot with a lightweight mobile camp. From there to a permanent lagoon in the northern Delta, and finally the edge of Nwetwe Pan.
You travel by vehicle, by mokoro and motorboat and on foot, with light aircraft between regions. Days hold game drives, water safaris and night drives on private concessions where guides can leave the road, alongside quad biking and sleeping out on the pans. The camps range from raised canvas tents on decking to a mobile walking camp and seven tents lit by paraffin lamp.
Three days working a private community concession in the south-eastern Delta, where permanent channels give way to acacia and mopane woodland and the game moves with the water. Lions, leopards, cheetah and wild dog cross a mosaic of floodplain, riverine forest and islands, and because this is private land the guides can leave the road, run night drives after dinner and walk you out with an armed guide. When the annual flood fills the channels the mokoro come out. Ten canvas tents stand raised on wooden decks among riverine forest, under the water figs that give Gomoti Plains its name.
Five days exploring the Okavango Delta on foot, moving at walking pace across floodplain, channel and island rather than by vehicle. The time is spent tracking and reading the ground, with the terrain and the season setting where you go. You stay in a lightweight mobile camp that travels with you, stripped back to canvas and moved to suit the walking, so the accommodation follows the ground rather than the other way round.
Three days on a private concession in the northern Delta beside a lagoon that holds water year-round, so mokoro, motorboats and game drives all run from the same palm island. Elephant, red lechwe and hippo move across the floodplains within sight of camp, and deeper channels carry motorboats out while papyrus-lined shallows suit a mokoro. The concession borders Moremi, so night drives and walking safaris run here too. The main lodge at Shinde was rebuilt in 2020, raised into the canopy of ebony and mangosteen on several tiers, keeping its classic tented character.
Two days on the edge of Nwetwe Pan, one of the great salt flats of the Makgadikgadi, on private concession land where the days run beyond the game drive. You can quad bike across the crusted salt, sleep out beneath the stars and walk with the Zu/'hoasi, who read the desert for plants, water and animal signs. In the dry months habituated meerkats emerge at first light to warm before foraging. Seven white canvas tents shelter beneath desert palms at San Camp, styled after 1940s expeditions, lit by paraffin lamps with no electricity.
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.
01 of 14
zimbabwe & botswana
Fifteen nights across Zimbabwe and Botswana, from Victoria Falls and Hwange to Matobo, the Makgadikgadi, the Okavango and Chobe.
01 of 11
botswana
Wild dog country at Chitabe, a walking safari in the western Delta and the Makgadikgadi salt pans over 11 nights.
01 of 10
botswana & zimbabwe
Fourteen nights from mobile camps in Moremi, Khwai and Savute to a Delta water camp and the Zambezi at Victoria Falls.
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our approach
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.
