Welcome to Enchanting Journeys

Welcome to   enchanting Botswana - one of the great safari destinations, offering some of the greatest wildlife spectacles.

Arrive in Maun - the main gateway to the Okavango Delta.

Maun the tourism capital - the fifth largest town of Botswana - is a very busy crossroads for those visiting the Okavango & Moremi Game Reserve. Although officially still a village, Maun has developed rapidly from a rural frontier town & has spread along the Thamalakane River. It now has shopping centres, hotels & lodges as well as car hire, although it retains a rural atmosphere and local tribesmen continue to bring their cattle to Maun to sell. The community is distributed along the wide banks of the Thamalakane River where red lechwe can still be seen grazing next to local donkeys, goats & cattle. Maun has mushroomed from a frontier town not unlike those in the old Wild West to the safari centre it is today, where plenty of safari operators & air charter companies have their HQ or an office.

After you exit in the Arrival Hall at Maun International Airport, subsequent to Immigration & Customs, you will be met by The Journeys representative who will ensure your comfort & you will be immediately assisted onto a light aircraft & flown to your lodge in the Okavango Delta, renowned for its large concentration of elephant & large lion prides.

Flying into the bush is an adventure! The planes are small & no doubt, the air outside the cabin will be hot, but once you have taken off you will have a bird's eye view of the landscape & you could see wildlife in the surroundings when you come down to land. There may be more than one stop en-route to your lodge airstrip. Charter pilots are a special breed & have to deal with non-traditional situations such as working with lodge staff to make sure there are no animals on the landing strip prior to take off.

As you fly over the Delta you can see the intricate twisting & turning of the waterways and the ever-changing colours where dry land meets Delta. In contrast to the northern Okavango Delta where the waters are fast-flowing and the channels & view is enclosed by high reeds & papyrus, the channels around Moremi Crossing offer far reaching vistas of the Moremi’s floodplain, grasslands & marginal woodlands interspersed with Mokolwane palm islands.

The Okavango is an immense river that never meets the sea. Instead, its crystal clear waters spread across the Kalahari Desert, forming Africa's largest wetland wonder. The Delta is an abundant oasis amid the vast plains & pans of the desert that covers most of Southern Africa. Its waterways are a mesh of meandering & intercepting channels, creating a haven for Africa's most celebrated wildlife.

You will most likely see nearly all the major species in the area, such as giraffe, elephant, zebra, impala, tsessebe, roan, sable, wildebeest, kudu, buffalo, waterbuck, warthog, eland, as well as predators including lion, hyena, jackal, cheetah & possibly wild dog. The lions here have also learned to hunt elephant, thus you are likely to find unusually large prides as many lions are needed to take down their prey.

Moremi Crossing Camp is situated on a small palm fringed & treed island called Ntswi which is surrounded by the Moremi's game-rich seasonal floodplains.  

Once you have landed at the Lodge / Camp’s Airstrip located near the most southern part of Chief's Island in Okavango Delta, will be met by a Journeys Rep / Ranger from the Lodge who will transfer you in a Boat to the Camp, which may include game viewing along the way.

Arrive at Moremi Crossing Camp & Check-in.

Moremi Crossing is a new style 16 large & airy luxury tents safari camp combining luxury with simplicity, each with its own private wooden deck & en suite bathrooms consisting of shower & toilet, with  magical views over the Boro River.

The central mess area houses a large open plan deck that has spectacular far reaching views over the Boro River & Chief’s Island. The tree cover encompassing the entire Camp consists of magnificent Llala Palms, Giant Ebony, Mangosteen, Sausage & Giant Fig trees.

This half moon shaped area is built on different levels to give you the feeling of space. Dining room, bar & lounge is covered by a large thatched roof that hugs the ancient riverine tree line and accentuates its most beautiful assets.  Additionally, small private lounge areas are created for comfort, privacy & spaciousness. Within the tree line, there is a shaded deck area that leads to the pool. This is a 100% eco-friendly development featuring the latest in solar & waste disposal technology

Balance of the day is at leisure.

Time slows down at Moremi Crossing as here guests have the chance to experience the Okavango Delta and its game from a very different slower & closer perspective: whilst on foot or silently being poled by mokoro through the Delta’s waterways.

Full day at leisure, enjoying this beautiful oasis that creates a haven for Africa’s most celebrated wildlife.  You can take advantage of the relaxed atmosphere of the camp & its facilities. Enjoy freshly prepared meals & drinks around the fire with your fellow travellers & share stories of your day.

Alternatively enjoy Optional (not included - direct payment) activities such as mokoro (traditional dugout canoe) excursion trips with game walks, bush walks with picnic lunch and day time & sunset motorboat cruises up & down the Boro River.

On the mokoro trip, you get to see the water birds like African Jacana’s, African Fish eagles & if you look carefully, you will also see the Malakite Kingfishers darting between the reeds & may be, you will find a rare Pel’s Fishing owl.

Moremi Crossing being a water based camp in Okavango’s vast eco-system, offers a wide variety of animal & bird species. Game walks are conducted on Chief’s Island where you may come across numerous animal species, not to mention a wide selection of birds & insects. Game which has been spotted on Walks has been Lion, Leopard, Wild dog, Elephant, Giraffe, Zebra, Buffalo, Red Lechwe & many more.

Early morning, you will be transferred to the Airstrip to travel in the light plane, via Maun, to the endless, white salt pans of Botswana.

On arrival at the dedicated Airstrip at the Camp in Makgadikgadi National Park, you will be met by The Journeys representative / Driver & transferred to the Camp.

A large part of the 3900 sq. km Park is made up pans. In pre-historic times, this was the largest inland sea in Africa. Now they only hold water in the wet season (Dec - Apr) attracting millions of Flamingo & migrating Zebra.  

The shimmering salt pans of Makgadikgadi along with the Nxai Pans are believed to be the largest in the world and are the remains of a once ancient lake that now forms part of the route of Southern Africa's largest remaining migration. The Pans themselves are salty desert whose only plant life is a thin layer of blue-green algae & very little wildlife can exist here during the harsh dry season of strong hot winds & only salt water, but following a rain, the Pan becomes an important habitat for migrating animals including wildebeest & one of Africa’s biggest zebra populations, and the large predators that prey on them. The wet season also brings migratory birds such as ducks, geese and Great White Pelicans.

In the course of your day & night game drives, you can find lion, zebra, wildebeest, gemsbok, springbok, red hartebeest, bushbuck, giraffe, steenbok, cheetah, leopard, elephants, brown & spotted hyena, impala, kudu, jackal, porcupine, genet & caracal, to name but a few. In addition, there is also the possibility of seeing the rare white rhinoceros. Most unique however, are the crocodiles & an amazing pod of hippo which have survived in extremely adverse conditions in small watering holes.

Check-in at Planet Baobab, one of the most original places you can stay here in Makgadikgadi Pans.

The accommodation at Planet Baobab is truly original, reflecting the traditional building methods of the original inhabitants of the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans.

You can choose between a traditional Bakalanga hut, built from mud & a traditional grass hut, made in the way the Bushmen used to. Because both these types of huts are made from natural materials indigenous to the area & are perfectly temperature-controlled without the need for air-conditioners.

The Bakalanga mud huts are en suite & equipped with linen. The interiors of these huts reflect true creativity. The walls are smeared with cow-dung in traditional Botswana style & adorned with art made with natural pigments found in the many termite mounds in the area.

The shebeen at Planet Baobab reflects the essence of traditional African hospitality. Listen to the adventure stories of other guests while you relax in a cowhide recliner or traditional kgotla chair - ice-cold beer in hand. The enormous chandeliers, crafted from beer bottles, are quite something to see. Versailles meets Botswana! Listen to the sounds of the Makgadikgadi while enjoying your evening meal next to the campfire or beneath the giant marula tree.

Planet Baobab’s Kalahari Surf Club adds a new dimension to surfing. You won’t find 10-foot waves in this club in the Pans, only wide open spaces & quad bikes for the thrill of your life. After this, enjoy the magical sunset of Botswana before tucking into a braai in the moonlight.

Balance of the day is at leisure.

Makgadikgadi with its ancient geological history, in the vicinity of the Camp, contains many stone tools from prehistoric eras. The well-known Fossil Pan also contains many fossil remnants.

Morning, meet the Tour-guide at 08.00 am & proceed for a full day game viewing.

The Central Kalahari, also the original home of the San people, is a place of rolling grasslands & wooded dunes, attracting a surprising diversity of wildlife during all seasons.

Explore the Ntwetwe Pan with the incredible adaptations of the species that are unique to the Kalahari Desert environment. Discover the surrounds in search of bat eared foxes, ground squirrels & other unique desert species and learn of their incredible struggle against the elements of Africa's harshest wilderness.

Get up close & personal with a resident gang of habituated meerkats (weather permitting); see how these incredibly social, superbly adapted animals interact with each other and their environment

Come back to the Camp.

Balance of the day is at leisure to relax.

In your free time, you may want to visit the near-by village of Gweta, which has a very interesting open-air courthouse (just let the Tour-guide know). The village is fairly spread out with clusters of grass huts dotted around. Goats & donkeys are everywhere with some of the donkeys been ridden for seemingly no reason at all. The people themselves dress in "European" clothes.

After a breathtaking experience in the Makgadikgadi, it is time to continue to Chobe, stopping at the small village of small village of Nata. This area is well known for its cattle farming and approximately 75% of the residents are from the Basarwa Tribe, also known as the Bushmen or San.

Not far from the village is the Nata Bird Sanctuary - a community project with some 165 bird species recorded in the area.

Continue on via a route referred to as the 'game drive route', as there is always a possibility of seeing wildlife along the way.

Chobe is located in the northern region of Botswana, and has the largest wildlife population in all of Africa & renowned for the highest concentration of elephants in the world.

Chobe has 4 distinct ecosystems that act as spectacular wildlife viewing spots and comprises of the Chobe Riverfront, Savuti Marshlands, the Linyati Marshlands & the dry Hinterland. Each eco-system attracts an abundance of wildlife including lion, hyena, elephant, kudu, zebra, cheetah, elephant & many more. Chobe is also home to over 450 species of birdlife that can be spotted throughout the rainy seasons.

An ideal safari destination due to its proximity to some of the Africa’s most visited natural attractions, towards the south lie the Okavango Delta & Moremi Reserve and to the north east lies Victoria Falls & Livingstone.

Arrive by afternoon at the Chobe Safari Lodge & Check-in.

Situated in Kasane on the banks of the Chobe River straddling the border of the Park, it offers an excellent gateway to the Chobe National Park and surrounding area.

Situated close to where the borders of Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia & Zambia, in the town of Kasane on the banks of the Chobe-Linyati-Kwando- river system, it offers an excellent gateway to the Chobe National Park & surrounding area.

The series of islands, floodplains and lakes ensure an abundance of wildlife. The Park is home to over 80 000 elephants as well as numerous herds of buffalo. In the dry winter season the animals move closer to the Chobe River, so you will be able to view large herds of elephant & buffalo. Other plentiful game include lion, leopard, hippo, crocodile, giraffe, as well as puku, kudu & other antelope.

The 22 luxurious River Rooms (with twin beds) boasts a beautiful garden overlookig the Chobe River. All are en suite (bath & shower), air-conditioned & are equipped with telephone, safe, fan & satellite television. Family Rooms (with a second bedroom & bunk beds) are also available. All units have their own private patio.

The 46 Safari Rooms en-suite (with bath & shower) offers telephone, air-conditioning, safe & satellite television, each with a private patio overlooking the Chobe River.

The complex is connected to the main building at the Chobe Safari Lodge by means of a viewing deck. The safari lodge has a wonderful open restaurant that features the indigenous and rich flavours of Africa. Scrumptious buffet dinners offer a wide variety of meals from exotic game meats, roasts, barbecues, stir-fries, Indian cuisine, or vegetarian dishes.

Balance of the day is at leisure to relax. Enjoy drinks around the fire with your fellow travellers.

Morning, embark on a full day of game viewing at 06.30 am.

Next to the Okavango Delta, Chobe National Park is probably Botswana’s next most well-known conservation area. It is a diverse area, from the border at the Chobe River, to the now dry Savute Channel, and beyond to the borders of the Moremi Game Reserve / Okavango Delta.  It is the second largest national park in Botswana and covers some 11 700 square kilometres, has some of the greatest concentrations of game found on the African continent, not least of which are possibly the world’s largest elephant populations - some 120,000 individuals along with good numbers of buffalo, antelope and predators. Birding is also excellent, with many migrants visiting from November to March.

Chobe is obviously most often associated with its elephant population - which covers much of Northern Botswana, and the north-west of Zimbabwe. The elephant population is migratory, making seasonal moves of up to 200 kilometres from the Chobe and Linyanti Rivers (their dry season home) to the pans in the south east of the Park, where they disperse to in the rainy season. The Chobe elephants are known for their extreme site, although they don’t tend to have large tusks. In general, game viewing is best in the dry months (generally April to October), although birding is at its height from November to March.

Come back to the lodge.

Later in the afternoon, embark on another exciting experience - breathtaking sunset cruise.

At around 02.30 pm, accompanied by the Tour-guide, walk to the Chobe river Jetty to board the Boat for the 3 hour Cruise.

Sunset is the best time of day to view the abundant wildlife on the banks of the Chobe River. Watch the sky burst into a sherbet-colored sunset as herds of elephants flock to the water & frequently cross the river to the islands where the lush green grass is available year-round.

Admire vibrant scenery from the deck & as the temperature cools, large herds of buffalo, zebra, giraffe & impala can be seen making their way down to the river. Hippos & crocodiles are also common sightings on the Chobe River. National Park Guide, provides commentary & helps you spot the animals as you go.

Come back to the Jetty & be transferred back to the Camp.

Morning, you will be met by The Journeys Rep / driver who will transfer you to Kasane Airport to connect with the next flight for your onward journey.   B

***        End of Services      ***