Start Exploring
+44 (0)1367 850566 ENQUIRE
OR START BROWSING OUR CURATED JOURNEYS & EXPERIENCES
The search returned no results, why not browse our curated experiences below
    Enquire

    UK +44 (0)1367 850566

    US 1-855-216-5040

    • Destinations
    • Inspiration
    • About
    • Journal
    • Impact & CSR

    UK +44 (0)1367 850566

    US 1-855-216-5040

    ENQUIRE
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Latin America
    • Polar
    • Indian Ocean
    go back

    Featured Experiences

      All Experiences
      Home ⟶

      Botswana signature private flying safari

      Enquire Enquire
      ENQUIRE
      botswana safari landscape at xigera
      jumping antelope in botswana linyanti region
      Journeys

      Botswana signature private flying safari

      Few places in Africa are more rewarding than the bush, waterways and salt pans of Botswana’s Okavango Delta and Makgadikgadi Pan.
      Home ⟶ Botswana signature private flying safari

      For the demanding safari enthusiast, few places in Africa are more rewarding than the bush, waterways and salt pans of Botswana’s Okavango Delta and Makgadikgadi Pan. Staying at Botswana’s most sumptuously romantic tented camps and lodges, and exploring by land, water and air, you’ll track top predators such as black-maned lion and wild dog, drift serenely by boat through hippo-filled lagoons, and follow Africa’s greatest elephant mega-herds before stepping into the infinity of the Makgadikgadi. If you’re searching for the classic romance of Africa, Botswana does it best. A myriad intense wildlife encounters and powerful landscapes await your discovery.

      Best for:
      Wildlife
      Couples
      Conservation
      BEST TIME TO TRAVEL April → October

      Keen birders should consider travelling between December and March, while quad bike adventures on the salt pans only operate from July to October.

      PRICE

      Price depends on the experiences and accommodation included, and your time of travel. It is based on two adults travelling for 10 nights and does not include international flights.

      IDEAL LENGTH 10 nights

      1 night at Gray’s Eden, 2 nights at DumaTau Camp, 2 nights at Vumbura Plains Camp, 2 nights Xigera Safari Lodge, 3 nights at San Camp

      enquire

      What makes this journey special?

      hot air ballooning over the okavango delta in botswana
      • Privately guided by some of Africa’s finest naturalist guides, you’ll experience a spectacular diversity of habitats and the wildlife that inhabits them.
      • Intimate encounters with top predators, swimming elephants and a host of supporting cast members from meerkats and aardvarks to slumbering leopard and shy sitatunga.
      • Experience everything from the serenity of a hot-air balloon flight or gliding through a reed-fringed delta waterway to the adrenaline of exploring the bush on foot or tracking elephant herds from the air.
      • Experience Botswana’s most romantic and uncompromisingly luxurious tented camps and safari lodges, selected for their locations in intensely productive wildlife-viewing areas.

      The Journey

      elephant crossing the linyanti river botswana

      Elephant paradise

      Linyanti Reserve

      Arrive in Maun, Botswana’s gateway to the Okavango, where you’ll enjoy a night at the fabulous Gray’s Eden before flying by privately chartered plane to the magical Linyanti Reserve at the northern edge of the Okavango. Here, far from civilisation, you’ll discover a pristine wilderness of wide grasslands, floodplains and mopane woodlands that together form one of Botswana’s most diverse sanctuaries for wildlife. Based at fabulous DumaTau Camp, you’ll head out on morning and afternoon game drives, or follow river courses, to explore a place that is home to the world’s largest elephant megaherds. Watch in wonder as they follow their ancient migration pathways, spray each another playfully in the Linyanti’s waters and munch on waterlilies. This productive area also attracts a high density of predators, including a healthy population of endangered African wild dog.

      Predator central

      Moremi Reserve

      A short hop by light plane brings you to Vumbura Plains in a private wilderness area bordering the Moremi Reserve. Fabulous year round, with game viewing possible by 4×4, boat and mokoro, you’ll move seamlessly between thrilling land and water experiences, navigating floodplains studded with palms and small islands. Watch a pride of lions in pursuit of prey, or African wild dogs, or a hunting leopard. Catch glimpses of stately sable or, if you are lucky, a timid sitatunga–virtually invisible among the papyrus reeds of its watery habitat. Return to nights cocooned beneath the stars that are filled with laughter, stories and music by the campfire.

      leopard in tree on safari in moremi reserve botswana

      Deep into the Delta

      Moremi Reserve

      Moremi Central is the beating heart of the Okavango Delta, a prime safari area of haunting landscapes and very strong wildlife viewing no matter the season, with an exceptional reputation for predator sightings, especially lions, leopards and hyenas. At off-the-grid luxury eco camp Xigera, you’ll have year-round access to the Delta’s pristine waterways and superb private guides fully attuned to the nuances of the landscapes, animals and seasons. Spend your days here exploring your wild surroundings on foot, in a canoe or a glass-bottomed mokoro as you paddle silently through the delta. After a day of wild encounters, sink into the restorative sanctuary of Xigera’s spa before enjoying a candle-lit dinner in the heart of the wilderness. To top it off, spend an unforgettable night in an open-air bed in Xigera’s extraordinary baobab treehouse, and wake to watch game wandering below.

      mokoro safaris in moremi okavango delta
      walking with nhosa tribe in mgadikgadi pans

      Touching infinity

      Ntwetwe Pan

      Your journey reaches its climax in the remote Makgadikgadi Pans, a landscape so vast that you can see the earth’s curvature. Here you can disappear into a world a million miles from the computer screens and traffic-choked roads of home. Your home is San Camp, possibly Africa’s most romantic tented camp, set right at the edge of the shimmering white crust of Ntwetwe Pan. There’s certainly wildlife around. On expertly guided game drives and night drives, you’ll see meerkats popping up from their burrows to scout around; brown hyena skulking in the grass, and probably red hartebeest, zebra and springbok. Maybe even a bat-eared fox or a black-maned Kalahari lion. But a stay here offers more than just the wildlife: learn about the millennia-old culture of the San Bushmen as you join them on a bush walk; travel by quad-bike across the infinite expanse of salt to remote baobab-studded islands; lie out on the pan as the sun sets, and contemplate the Milky Way as it wheels above you.

      Accommodation

      Where you'll stay

      Great journeys need great places to lay your head. These are our tried and tested suggestions.

      entrance of Grays eden, botswana

      Gray’s Eden

      Maun used to be a place you’d skip through en route to the greater allure of the Okavango or Makgadikgadi beyond. With some recent and interesting new projects to visit, Maun is now definitely worth including in your Botswana itinerary. And Gray’s Eden, with its flawless service and quiet sense of repose, is a perfect sanctuary of civilization in which to regather yourself after a long flight or relax after your safari adventure before heading home.

      family suite at dumatau camp botswana

      DumaTau Camp

      DumaTau is a wonderfully stylish and intimate wilderness camp in the Linyanti–a mosaic of marshes, waterways, mopane woodlands and grasslands that together hold some of Botswana’s greatest wildlife diversity. Its seven explorer-style tents come with uninterrupted views over a vast lagoon, and the game drives here are truly exceptional, with regular sightings of lion, leopard, and hyena, as well as the elephant megaherds that cross the reserve’s ancient wildlife corridors.

      vumbura safari camp family suite in okavango delta

      Vumbura Plains Camp

      Seemingly floating above a sea of reeds, Vumbura Plains is one of the Okavango’s flagship camps, offering magnificent front row seats on the natural drama beyond and a wonderfully intimate and cocooning retreat after a day’s private exploration by mokoro, on foot or in an open-top vehicle. Renowned for its predator activity, its wildlife viewing is head-spinningly diverse and productive virtually year-round.

      xigera safari lodge botswana batrhoom

      Xigera Safari Lodge

      A beacon of sustainable luxury, Xigera offers perhaps the Okavango’s most pampered and personalised safari experience. Hidden amongst a stand of jackalberry and leadwood trees in the Delta’s remote Moremi Reserve, Xigera’s 12 African-art-themed suites (topped by a striking baobab-shaped treehouse rising above the floodplain) simply ooze sophistication. Head out beyond its confines on foot, in a vehicle or by helicopter and you’ll discover a rich cast of wildlife including the rare red lechwe.

      san camp in the makgadikgadi pans

      San Camp

      Achingly romantic, San Camp’s seven billowy tented suites–an alluring blend of antiques, Persian rugs and minimalism–offer dreamlike vistas over the Makgadikgadi’s white expanse. Step outside and you can hear the silence. There’s more wildlife around than you’d think (including meerkats, brown hyena and black-maned lion) but it’s the interactions with local San communities and racing quad-bikes across the salt that really set San Camp apart.

      Customise your journey

      All of our journeys are fully bespoke, and can be customised to meet your needs, interests and preferences. Here are a few ideas to inspire you.

      mokoro at sunrise safari in okavango delta
      san camp helicopter over pans and zebra migration
      • Add a couple of additional days after your safari relaxing by the Victoria Falls and enjoying one of Africa’s great natural wonders.

      • Fly by helicopter from the Okavango to the remote Tsodilo Hills, a sacred San /Basarwa site in the far northwest of Botswana, and explore its remarkable rock paintings

      • Add an extra day in Maun and spend some time with Travel for Impact, an inspiring grassroots project that improves the lives of local tribal communities.

      • Spend a few days in Cape Town prior to arrival in Botswana, and drink in its magical coastal landscapes, dining scene and winelands.

      • Fly to Windhoek in Namibia, gateway to the miraculous Namib Desert and the amazing Himba communities of the north.

      ENQUIRE

      Looking for more inspiration?

      We have a huge range of inspiring private experiences and accommodation options available. Get in touch with our Botswana specialists.

      ENQUIRE

      Learn more about our luxury holidays, or call our expert Africa team on +44 1367 850566 / 1-855-216-5040 (toll free) to discuss how we can turn your dreams into something truly magical.

      “We have a mighty task before us. The earth needs our assistance.”

      Laurens van der Post

      Other experiences you might like

      Meerkat experience on Makgadikgadi Pans safari in Botswana
      Makgadikgadi Pans safari in the Kalahari Desert
      Exploring Okavango Delta by mokoro
      Unique exploration of the Okavango Delta
      luxury walking safari in south luangwa
      Africa: Heart & Sole
      All wildlife collection

      Partners

      • ATOL Protected Logo 7159
      • ABTOT
      • ATTA logo
      • LATA Membership Logo
      • CNT-UK-Top Travel Specialists-Logo-2025
      • Copy of A LIST.Black2025

      UK +44 (0)1367 850566

      US 1-855-216-5040

      10 Priory Court, Poulton,
      Gloucestershire, GL7 5JB, UK

      Join our community of explorers and be the first to hear our latest news and find travel inspiration.
      • Press
      • Partners
      • Useful Information
      • Careers
      • Privacy Policy
      • Booking Terms & Conditions

      © EXPLORATIONS COMPANY 2024