Welcome to the edge of the Okavango Delta. On arrival into Maun (MUB), connect by light aircraft over palm-island mosaics and silver channels to the Khwai Private Reserve. From the air, look for elephant paths threading through marsh and mopane—your first hint of the wilderness scale below.

After a warm camp welcome and a concise safety briefing, settle into your tented suite. As the day cools, head out on your first open 4×4 game drive. The Khwai floodplains mix riverine woodland, papyrus channels and open savannah—ideal habitat for elephant, hippo, red lechwe, and predators such as lion, leopard and, with luck, African wild dog. Your guide reads the ground like a book—fresh tracks, alarm calls, the wind—all clues that lead to sightings.

Water levels permitting, swap wheels for a traditional mokoro glide. Reeds tick against the hull; malachite kingfishers flicker low over mirror water; the smell of wild sage drifts on the breeze. It’s the quiet, contemplative side of the Delta—close to the surface, alive to detail.

As the sun drops, pause for sundowners on a termite mound lookout—amber sky, long horizons, the distant cough of a lion. After dark, an optional spotlit night drive may reveal genet, bush baby, civet, and the glassy eyes of hippo grazing ashore. Return to camp beneath a sky salted with Southern Hemisphere constellations.

Wake to the soft thump of footsteps on sand and a steaming mug at your canvas door. The Okavango Delta is a different world at dawn: cool air scented with wild sage, the distant chuckle of hippo, and elephant silhouettes fading into amber light. After a light breakfast, roll out in an open 4×4, tyres whispering over floodplain tracks as your guide reads the morning’s story—tracks in soft clay, alarm calls in the reedbeds, the breeze on your cheek.

This morning focuses on the dynamic edges where savannah meets papyrus channels. Here, red lechwe bound through the shallows and wild dog quarter the plain with intent. In the riverine shade, scan ebony and jackalberry limbs for the drape of a leopard tail. Birders can watch for lilac-breasted roller, Goliath heron, and spiralling raptors riding the first thermals.

Water levels permitting, trade wheels for water and slip into a traditional mokoro. Your poler guides the narrow prow through glassy channels, kingfishers flicking like blue sparks ahead. It’s silent, close, and wonderfully unhurried—dragonflies, papyrus umbels, the soft clink of the pole on the canoe’s stern.

Return to camp for a hearty brunch and the Delta’s classic siesta: feet up, binoculars within reach, perhaps a plunge in the pool while elephant ghost past the treeline. As the heat ebbs, set out again for a long afternoon game drive chasing that golden hour when the bush glows and predators stir.

Sundowners arrive with wide skies and long shadows. After dark, an optional night drive reveals the bush’s secret cast—genet slipping between acacia thorns, civet crossing the track with measured confidence, and the silver eye-shine of hippo grazing ashore. Back at camp, dinner is served beneath a spray of stars; look up for the Southern Cross and the dark river of the Milky Way.

The day begins in cool half-light with coffee and rusks by the fire. Khwai’s floodplains are prime territory for apex predators: the soft clay records the night like a ledger—lion pads, the neat rosette of leopard, and the purposeful trot of African wild dog. Climb into your open 4×4 and follow your guide as they read the bush: fresh tracks over tyre marks, alarm calls from impala, drifting vulture kettles pointing to a possible kill.

In the cool morning, scan ebony, jackalberry and sausage trees for the elegant silhouette of a leopard draped on a limb, tail tip twitching. Along the riverine edge, listen for low, conversational rumbles—often the giveaway for a lion pride regrouping after a night on the move. Should news break of a wild dog pack, expect a burst of action: fluid, fast, and thrillingly unpredictable as they zigzag the open ground.

Return to camp for a hearty brunch and a midday siesta. Between drives, Khwai remains alive: elephant drift to water, hippo grunt from channels, fish eagles cry across the floodplain. Cool off with a dip, review photos, or simply watch the treeline for subtle movement.

As heat softens, roll out for a long afternoon-to-sunset drive. This is golden hour—velvet light, long shadows, and predators on the stir. Position on the edge of activity; give the animals space; let behaviour unfold. With the right patience you might witness a stalk, the tense stand-off at a waterhole, or a pride rallying at dusk.

Bid farewell to the Khwai floodplains and journey to the wilder reaches of the Linyanti. Depending on logistics, you’ll transfer by light aircraft (a spectacular hop over island-dotted wetlands) or by road through mopane woodland and open pans. Watch from above as elephant paths etch the landscape like pale threads; from ground level, feel the scale of this frontier as horizons widen and the air shifts to the river’s cool breath.

On arrival, settle into camp and absorb the setting: a mosaic of riparian forest, reed-fringed lagoons, and mopane groves that roll toward the Linyanti River and its marshes. This is famed elephant country, with seasonal movements that funnel herds to the water, and it’s a prime theatre for lion, stealthy leopard, coursing African wild dog, and rarities like roan and sable antelope.

After a relaxed lunch and siesta, head out in an open 4×4 to explore river margins and floodplains. If water levels allow, a boat cruise along the channels offers a different rhythm—hippo yawns, crocs sunning on sandbanks, and bee-eaters stitching colour along eroded banks. Some concessions also feature discreet photographic hides; settle in at eye level and let wildlife come to you—perfect for elephants crossing at dusk.

As the light softens, dust turns to gold and silhouettes sharpen on the skyline. Find a raised termite mound or river bend for sundowners and watch the day exhale: fish eagles call, a lion coughs from somewhere in the reeds, and herds gather in a slow tide toward the river. Return to camp beneath a sky dense with stars, the marsh breathing quietly beside you.

Dawn arrives in a hush broken only by the river’s soft breath and distant fish eagle calls. After coffee by the fire, set out along the Linyanti River in an open 4×4. This is textbook elephant country: pale sand tracks criss-cross the floodplain as family groups thread between mopane groves and riparian forest, calves shepherded in the centre, matriarch listening with the soles of her feet. Your guide moves unhurriedly, choosing oblique angles and kind distances so natural behaviour unfolds.

Work the mosaics where reedbeds meet open pans. Expect frequent big-herd encounters—dust hanging in the slanting light, low rumbles passing through the ground like a drumroll. Along the marsh edges watch for buffalo in dark ranks and the sleek step of sable and roan. In the shade of ebony and jackalberry, keep scanning for the rosette quiet of a leopard or the tawny sprawl of a lion digesting the night’s work.

Return to camp late morning for a lingering brunch and the gentlest of siestas—binoculars on the deck rail, a cool drink in hand as elephants ghost to water in slow procession. When the heat eases, roll out again for a long afternoon drive; if water levels allow, you may trade tyres for a boat cruise, skimming past sandbanks where crocodiles bask and bee-eaters stitch colour into river walls.

As golden hour pours across the marsh, position near favoured crossing points. You might witness the slow, solemn ballet of an elephant megaherd entering water—trunks raised, calves buoyed by flanking aunts, ripples turning to shining ribbons in the low sun. Sundowners follow with a horizon-wide sunset and the first stars pricking through the cobalt.

Wake to that high, honeyed light that makes the Linyanti feel endless. Today’s goal is to press deeper into the private concession—beyond well-travelled loops and out onto wind-rippled pans, fringe woodlands and hidden channels where shy antelope and prowling predators often keep to themselves. With an early start and a thermos on board, your guide charts a route that threads mopane groves, skirts reedbeds and pauses at dusty salt licks that pull game from every compass point.

Patience pays here. Scan the pale grass for the scimitar horns of sable and the heavier build of roan antelope, often moving in small, elegant groups across the open. On the margins, watch for lion tracks marching the pan edges and for leopard ghosting drainage lines—just a tail flick in shade can give them away. If there’s fresh news of wild dog, be ready: the pace quickens, radios murmur, and you may witness a coursing hunt across the flats.

Mid-morning, pull into a lone leadwood for coffee and field pastries, the only sounds the tick of cooling engine and distant fish eagle. As heat gathers, the concession’s scale shows—mirage shimmers, dust devils, a far line of elephant threading to water. Return to camp for brunch and a brief siesta, then set out again as the light softens, aiming for wide viewpoints that drink in sky and marsh.

Late afternoon is theatre. With golden hour pouring across the floodplain, position with a respectful buffer and let behaviour unfold: sable stepping to drink in wary procession; lion rousing to greet with head rubs and rasping calls; a leopard uncoiling from a sausage tree, testing the wind. Sundowners cap the day on a raised termite mound—360° views, amber ice in the glass, and the first stars needling the cobalt.

This morning, farewell the wide skies of Linyanti and board your flight to Victoria Falls—a swift hop that swaps marsh and mopane for the evergreen spraybelt of the Zambezi. On arrival, enjoy a warm meet-and-greet and transfer to your hotel/lodge. Check in, refresh, and feel the distant thrumming of the Falls—like a drumbeat under the skin—calling you to the viewpoints.

With the afternoon light angling across the gorge, take a guided walk to the viewpoints inside the national park. Between curtains of rainforest—ferns, figs and palms beaded with mist—you step out to balconies with names that promise theatre: Devil’s Cataract, Main Falls, Horseshoe, Rainbow Falls. The first impact is visceral: a rolling roar, a cool spray on sun-warmed skin, the air filled with prismatic drift as the river hurls itself into the basalt chasm.

Linger for the golden hour when rainbows arc and the gorge turns copper. Across the lip, look for spray-plumed islands and the zigzag trench carved by millennia. As the day softens, stroll back through the dripping green to your lodge—time for a sundowner and the soft thunder of the Zambezi in the background.

Wake to the distant roar of Victoria Falls and cool dawn air drifting off the Zambezi. After breakfast, meet your guide for a rainforest trail walk along the series of viewpoints opposite the cataracts. Between curtains of evergreen—ferns, figs, palms—you emerge onto balconies where the world tilts into mist and thunder. At Devil’s Cataract, feel the vibration underfoot; at Main Falls, watch whole weather systems rise from the gorge; at Horseshoe and Rainbow Falls, sunlight threads the spray into shifting arcs.

Your guide sets an easy, unhurried pace with time for photos and quiet moments. Learn how the river eroded the basalt into today’s zigzag trenches; how high-water months turn paths into a shining, misted tunnel; how low-water windows reveal the raw sculptural face of the rock. Keep an eye out for vervet monkeys in the canopy and hornbills beating across the gorge.

Return to the lodge for midday downtime—pool, terrace, or a stroll to local craft markets—before the day tilts to gold. As afternoon lengthens, transfer to the river jetty and board a comfortable boat for an optional Zambezi sunset cruise. The mood softens to glassy reflections: hippo bob in backwaters, crocodiles warm on sandbars, and fish eagles call from skeletal trees. With a cool drink in hand, watch the sun slide to the lip of the world and the sky bloom with colour.

A full, free day to curate your own Victoria Falls experience. Lean into the romance—high tea with mist drifting across the lawns—or dial up the adrenaline with a helicopter “Flight of Angels”, white-water rafting, or the dramatic bridge bungee. Prefer things gentler? Browse lively craft markets, wander shady avenues of the spraybelt, or claim a lounger for poolside downtime with the distant thunder of the Zambezi in your ears.

Activity options span both sides of the border. On the river’s lip, season permitting, you can wade to Livingstone Island and peer over the edge from Devil’s Pool; in the gorge, you can raft the Zambezi’s Grade IV–V rapids with expert guides (water-level dependent). Upstream, sunset cruises glide past hippo and crocodile while fish eagles call from skeletal trees. In town, discover artisan stalls loaded with Shona sculpture and colourful textiles.

Today: Free day at Victoria Falls • Choose from flightseeing, rafting, bungee, markets, high tea or river cruising • Balance adrenaline with easy, mist-cooled moments.

Wake to the soft thunder of Victoria Falls one last time. Savour an unhurried breakfast, a final wander through the misty spraybelt or a relaxed coffee on the terrace before check-out. When ready, your driver will collect you for a seamless private transfer to the airport—either Victoria Falls (VFA) in Zimbabwe or Livingstone (LVI) in Zambia—depending on today’s routing.

At the terminal, breeze through departure formalities and settle in for your flights home via your chosen hub. As the Zambezi’s gorge falls away beneath the wing, the past days play back in fragments: elephant corridors in the Linyanti light, a leopard tail draped in jackalberry shade, the rainbow-dusted roar of the “Smoke That Thunders.”

Touch down in NEW YORK with memory cards full and the Falls still ringing in your ears—Botswana’s Okavango Delta, the Khwai floodplains, the Linyanti marshes, and the mighty Zambezi stitched together into one vivid journey.

Today: Hotel check-out • Private transfer to VFA or LVI • International flights via hub • Overnight or same-day arrival into NEW YORK (routing dependent).