9 Day Bush & Beyond (BS-UKD)

Halo! Welcome to Namibia.

An arrival transfer is from the airport to your hotel is included in your tour. If you have confirmed this transfer by providing your flight details at least 15 days prior to departure you will be met at the airport and transferred to the joining point hotel.

You can arrive at any time on day 1 as there are no activities planned until the important welcome meeting tonight. Your leader will leave a note at reception telling you where and when this important meeting will take place. Please ask a member of reception for this information. After the group meeting there is the option of joining the group for dinner.

Your leader will collect your local payment at this meeting.

Windhoek is the capital of Namibia. The city is a melting pot of the many different ethnic groups that live in Namibia and its colonial past is still highly evident in its German-style architecture. After the group meeting you can taste this melting pot by heading out for dinner and perhaps afterwards experiencing the nightlife of the capital.

Meals included: None

Overnight: Our hotel in Windhoek is comfortable. All rooms feature en-suite bathrooms, heating/air-conditing, tea/coffee facilities, tv and electronic room safes. There is a pool, sauna and unique rooftop bar and restaurant.

Crossing into Botswana, we arrive in the town of Ghanzi, an area well-known for the San Bushman people. We travel for approximately 540km which will take us about 8-9 hours (including border crossing and lunch break)

The tribespeople of this area are part of the oldest hunting and gathering societies known to man and they number around 100,000 today. To protect their culture, the Kuru Cultural Centre, founded in 1991, works alongside the Kuru Art Project in order to preserve and promote age-old San and Bushman traditions. While in Ghanzi, there's an opportunity to take part in traditional Bushman dancing and time here is spent gaining an insight into the lives of these unique people.

Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner

Overnight: We stay tonight in simple twin share accommodation.

Today we drive from Ghanzi to Sepupa (approx. 4-5 hours, 260km), arriving between 12noon-1pm. We then have an hour to relax on the river bank while all our luggage is packed onto speedboats. The water transfer from Sepupa to our house boat at Serongwe takes approx. 2 hours.

After breakfast the following morning, we head into the Delta by mokoro, a local canoe, followed by a game walk (around 2-3 hours in duration), before returning by mokoro to our houseboat base for lunch. There is time this afternoon for an optional scenic flight over the Delta or perhaps to visit a local village before we head off on another cruise.

Meals included: Breakfasts, Lunches, Dinners

Overnight: Houseboat

Our houseboat has twin share rooms and a dining area on board the deck.

Please note that on occasion our houseboat will not be available due to regular servicing and maintainance requirements. If this occurs the program will be replaced with alternate land based accommodation.

We take a water transfer back to Sepupa (approx. 2 hours). Reboarding our vehicle we drive to Tsodilo Hills, where we take a guided walk around some of the bushman paintings with a local guide. Once through the border we take a river drive through Mahango Game Reserve with the possibility of spotting Sable and Roan antelope which the area is famous for. Elephants, lions, buffalo, giraffe etc also occupy this park.

Meals included: Breakfast

Overnight: Accommodation with ensuite facilities

The following day we drive through the Caprivi National Park to stay on the banks of the river close to the town of Katimu Malilo. The distance travelled today is approximately 300km which is around 4-5 hours driving time.

Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner

Overnight: Our accommodation in twin share rooms, set amongst a very verdant garden with en-suite shower and toilet, mosquito nets and fans.There is a pool to swim in and a bar and restaurant area jutting out over the river.

We leave for Kasane going through the Caprivi National Park. En-route there is a border crossing back into Botswana at Ngomo Border Post. The last 70km is through Chobe National Park with a possibility of seeing large herds of elephant. It is about 6-7 hours driving today.

This afternoon we embark on the Chobe River Sunset Cruise. We'll keep a look out to spot birdlife, hippos and crocodiles as we glide along the Chobe River on a relaxing sunset cruise.

Meals included: Breakfast

Overnight: Enjoy the swimming pool and bar at your lodge before retiring to your comfortable accommodation with en-suite bathrooms.

This morning there is the chance for an optional open vehicle game drive into the Chobe National Park. This park has an enormous number of elephants and there is a good chance we shall spot some of these magnificent creatures.

Crossing into Zambia by ferry, we then make our way to Livingstone.

Please note- We cross the Zambezi River by Ferry today. In normal circumstances the crossing is quite smooth and quick if both ferries are running. Sometimes only one ferry is operational and there might be some delays in these circumstances.

This afternoon we head out for a grand conclusion to our tour- a visit to the magnificent Victoria Falls. The falls are an enormous curtain of water, about a mile wide, falling 108 m into a narrow chasm below. In the wet season, the spray created can rise up an incredible 400 m and the falls are an impressive raging torrent. The spray from the falls can sometimes be seen from kilometres away. It's no wonder the local name Mosi oa Tunya, means the "smoke that thunders". In the dry season, the view of the falls is unobstructed by spray and it's possible to see little islets in the river below.

The remainder of your time in Livingstone is free time to consider taking part in the many optional adrenaline activities that this area is famous for. Jet boating or taking a scenic helicopter over the falls make for an exhilarating end to your African adventure.

Meals included: Breakfast

Overnight: Your accommodation for tonight is a Lodge

There are no activities planned for your final day and you are able to depart the hotel at any time.

Meals included: Breakfast