Group enjoying sunset drinks on vast salt pan landscape, San Camp, Makgadikgadi Pans, Botswana
Wooden riverside lodge on stilts surrounded by vegetation, Island Treehouse Suites, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
Canvas safari tent with extended awning in savanna landscape
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
Riverside deck with loungers overlooking water and trees, Island Treehouse Suites, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
Canvas safari tent with bed and covered wooden deck, Kweene Trails, 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
Modern wooden lodge structure built over river water, Island Treehouse Suites, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
Safari tent interior with beds overlooking savanna landscape, Kweene Trails, 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

inspiration

zimbabwe & botswana: the falls, the delta and the pans

Private Safari
From $24,480 pp
2 guests
12 nights

trip highlights

  • Kweene Trails walks between two canvas camps across a private 30,000-hectare concession in the western Okavango Delta.
  • Shinde sits beside a lagoon that holds water year-round, so mokoro, motorboats and game drives run from the same island in every season.
  • San Camp stands on the edge of Nwetwe Pan, where quad biking, horse riding and sleeping out are possible on private concession land.
  • At Victoria Falls the Zambezi falls into the Batoka Gorge, with a rim rainforest kept green by the constant spray.
Scroll for the full itinerary
Guests poling traditional boat through papyrus wetlands, Shinde, The Okavango Delta, Botswana

From the Zambezi to the Makgadikgadi

The route opens at Victoria Falls in northwest Zimbabwe, where the Zambezi drops into the Batoka Gorge along a curtain of water nearly 1.7 kilometres across. It then crosses into Botswana for three contrasting parts of the Okavango and the Kalahari: a private walking concession in the western Delta, a permanent lagoon in the north, and the salt flats of the Makgadikgadi.

You travel by boat, light aircraft and helicopter, on foot and by mokoro. The days hold game drives, river cruises, walking and time on the pans. Accommodation runs from timber treehouse suites to classic tented camps and a lightweight mobile walking camp, each chosen for its ground rather than its built hardware.

plan your safari

Daily Itinerary Breakdown

Victoria Falls on a Private Zambezi Island

Two nights on the Zambezi above the falls, on a private island reached only by boat. The days run from the mainland lodge a short transfer away: game drives in Zambezi National Park morning and afternoon, guided walks, canoe trails on the upper river, and a cruise at sunrise or sunset when the elephants come down to the bank. Victoria Falls itself and the Batoka Gorge are close enough to take at your own pace. You sleep at Island Treehouse Suites, timber and glass on stilts above the water, adults only, each with a plunge pool facing the river.

Walking the Kweene River Concession

Four nights walking the Abu Private Reserve, a 30,000-hectare concession in the western Delta reached only by helicopter. You walk between two camps fifteen kilometres apart, Kweene River Camp among arid grass floodplains and Magwegwe Camp north of it in seasonal swamp that holds water all year, so the ground changes underfoot as you go. There is no timetable. Some days are a gentle stroll to a lagoon, others run beyond twenty kilometres. On foot you share the ground with lion, leopard, wild dog and spotted hyaena, and with elephant, buffalo, giraffe, zebra and red lechwe across the floodplain. Both camps are lightweight canvas, pitched and struck with the season, and Kweene Trails is hosted by Simon and Marleen Byron, who walk with you.

Shinde and the Permanent Lagoon

Out of the Abu concession by helicopter and on to a private concession in the northern Delta for three nights. The lagoon here holds water all year, so you can take a mokoro out at dawn, a motorboat after lunch and a game drive at dusk on the same day, in any season. The land is private, which lets the guides do what Moremi does not permit: walking safaris, and night drives for genet, civet and porcupine. The reserve boundary is shared with Moremi, the vehicles are not. Shinde is a small camp on a palm island in the middle of it, with the lagoon at its edge and every boat, mokoro and vehicle leaving from the same landing.

San Camp on the Edge of Nwetwe Pan

Three closing nights on the edge of Nwetwe Pan, a flat white expanse of salt in the Makgadikgadi. This is not game-drive country and the days do not pretend to be: you quad bike out onto the crust, ride across it, and sleep out on the salt with nothing on the horizon. Mornings go to the habituated meerkats, and to walking with the Zu/'hoasi, who read the ground for what it will give. The camp runs only in the dry months, roughly April to October, when the pan will carry a vehicle. San Camp is seven white tents under desert palms, with a mess tent of fossils, maps and curios.

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?

Group of rhinoceroses walking through dusty savanna landscape Riverside deck with fire pit and comfortable seating at dusk, Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge, Gonarezhou & Malilangwe, Zimbabwe Canvas safari tent with wooden deck beneath shade trees, Sango Expedition Camp, Gonarezhou & Malilangwe, Zimbabwe African elephant spraying water at watering hole during day Riverside lounge area with seating overlooking water and trees, Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge, Gonarezhou & Malilangwe, Zimbabwe Open-air bedroom with four-poster bed overlooking grassland savanna, Sango Expedition Camp, Gonarezhou & Malilangwe, Zimbabwe River gorge with golden cliffs and dense forest landscape, Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge, Gonarezhou & Malilangwe, Zimbabwe Elegant dining tent with tables set for dinner overlooking savanna landscape, Sango Expedition Camp, Gonarezhou & Malilangwe, Zimbabwe Hippopotamus with open mouth in shallow water African buffalo with long curved horns facing camera Black and white profile portrait of rhinoceros head

zimbabwe

rhino in the save valley

Nine nights in south-eastern Zimbabwe, from the Save River and Gonarezhou to rhino tracking in the Sango Conservancy.

  • Private Safari
  • From $11,015 pp
  • 2 guests
  • 9 nights
View Safari
Guests watching elephant bathing in waterhole from viewing platform, Delta Camp, The Okavango Delta, Botswana Elephants drinking at waterhole with lodge in background, The Wallow Lodge, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe Guests viewing wildlife from observation deck at waterhole, Chobe Savanna Lodge, Zambezi Region, Namibia Herd of elephants walking across dusty savanna plain Elephant approaches wooden viewing deck near waterhole, Delta Camp, The Okavango Delta, Botswana Dining table on wooden deck overlooking elephants, The Wallow Lodge, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe Waterfront deck at sunset with lounge chairs and river view, Chobe Savanna Lodge, Zambezi Region, Namibia Woman standing on wooden deck overlooking wetland landscape, Delta Camp, The Okavango Delta, Botswana Sunken deck with fire pit overlooking river and trees, The Wallow Lodge, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe Guests dining at sunset table overlooking water, Chobe Savanna Lodge, Zambezi Region, Namibia Person relaxing on wooden deck overlooking wetland landscape, Delta Camp, The Okavango Delta, Botswana

zimbabwe & botswana

khwai camping to chief’s island

Twelve nights from Victoria Falls to the Chobe and across Botswana's Okavango, by vehicle, boat, mokoro and on foot.

  • Private Safari
  • From $8,995 pp
  • 2 guests
  • 12 nights
View Safari
Elephant reaching up to tree near safari lodge at dusk, Chikwenya Camp, Mana Pools, Zimbabwe Wooden riverside lodge on stilts surrounded by vegetation, Island Treehouse Suites, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe Person relaxing in hammock overlooking river, Selinda Explorers Camp, Selinda Reserve, Botswana Safari tent accommodation with warm interior lighting at dusk, Gomoti Plains, The Okavango Delta, Botswana Outdoor dining table set overlooking savanna landscape at dusk, Chikwenya Camp, Mana Pools, Zimbabwe Riverside deck with loungers overlooking water and trees, Island Treehouse Suites, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe Sandy campfire area with canvas tents and large trees at dusk, Selinda Explorers Camp, Selinda Reserve, Botswana Elephant walking through grassland at golden hour sunset, Gomoti Plains, The Okavango Delta, Botswana Spacious safari bedroom with canopy bed and open-air design, Chikwenya Camp, Mana Pools, Zimbabwe Modern wooden lodge structure built over river water, Island Treehouse Suites, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe Safari tent with wooden deck and canvas awning at sunset, Selinda Explorers Camp, Selinda Reserve, Botswana Illuminated main lodge building reflected in still water at dusk, Gomoti Plains, The Okavango Delta, Botswana

zimbabwe & botswana

zambezi to the okavango

Twelve nights from the Zambezi floodplain and Victoria Falls to Selinda's spillway and the Okavango's Gomoti channels.

  • Private Safari
  • From $22,955 pp
  • 2 guests
  • 12 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