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 and 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 and flown to Savute Channel in Chobe National Park. This remote part of Chobe National Park is 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 and 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.

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 and 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.

Once you have landed at your designated airstrip in the Chobe National Park, you will be met by a Journeys Rep / Ranger from the Lodge who will provide the road or boat transfer which may include game viewing along the way.

You will usually arrive in time for the lodge's scheduled afternoon game drive.

Check-in at the secluded Savute Safari Lodge *****. at Chobe National Park.

Stretching from the Linyanti River all the way to Savute Marsh, the winding waterways of the Savute Channel have pumped life into the western section of Chobe National Park for many thousands of generations. However, this fickle & unpredictable channel, which has a fascinating history of flooding & drying up, independently of good rainy seasons & flood levels elsewhere, has mystified local inhabitants, geologists & others for many years. When David Livingstone, the first European to visit the area, saw the Savute Channel in 1851 it was flowing. Thirty years later it had disappeared & the Savute Marsh had dried out, remaining this way for almost 80 years. It flowed again from the late 1950s to the early 1980s, when it again receded, hence its reputation as ‘the river that flows in both directions’.

In 2009, after another extended hiatus, the channel began flowing again & by January 2010 had spilled into the Savute Marsh for the first time in three decades, but for how long - no one knows …

The Lodge peers out from ancient camel thorn trees on the banks of the Botswana’s fabled Stolen River in the now dry Savute Channel. It accommodates only 24 guests 12 private chalets made of local timber & glass with cool thatching, The chalets have been elegantly furnished in calm neutral tones to blend with the natural environment, feature expansive private shaded viewing decks, a combined bedroom and lounge area with full en-suite facilities. There is also a lounge with numerous comfortable leather, wood or wicker sofas, library and a stylish cocktail bar in the main building. Along with an al fresco dining outdoor dining area with a fire pit & swimming pool with spectacular pool loungers - ideal for watching the varied wildlife including the resident Elephants, as they make their way to the Channel to drink, bathe & play.

Savute boasts the second-largest summer Zebra migration in Africa; its timing is determined by the rains, but usually occurs between November & December and again between February & April, when the Zebras move from the rivers in the north in search of the rain-ripe grasslands & full waterholes in the southwest of the park. The migration is always followed by large numbers of predators.

Proceed for an exciting 3 hour game drive at 03.30 pm in open 4x4 safari vehicles which have open sides offering exceptional views. The local experience & knowledge  of the professional Safari guides provide a great insight into animals & their behavior .

Many excursions will incorporate a visit to the Savute Marsh to give you a chance to see the historic presence of the Savute Channel at the marsh against a backdrop of teeming wildlife.

Guests can also enjoy an Optional visit (not included - direct payment) to see the ancient San rock paintings at Gubatsa Hills - a small hilly outcrop which forms a prominent landmark in the otherwise flat landscape.

Come back to the Lodge by 06.30 pm.

Balance of the evening 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.

Balance of the evening is at leisure to relax or for independent activities.

Full day of game viewing.

Return to the Lodge.

Balance of the evening is at leisure to relax or for independent activities.  

Wake up & proceed for yet another sunrise game drive, before returning to the lodge for breakfast.

Later, you will be driven to the Airstrip where you will board your light aircraft flight westwards towards the vast Okavango Delta.

You will be met on arrival by The Journeys representative who will transfer you to the Camp.

Check-in at Camp Moremi - set beneath giant ebony trees with the magnificent Moremi tree lodge as it’s centerpiece, consisting of a main lounge, wildlife reference library, dining room and cocktail bar. The 19 guest tents are the Hemingway style and are set on raised teak platforms with thatched roofs & private viewing decks. There is also a swimming pool with a sun deck & a thatched boma, where brunch & high tea is served. You can also sit in the elevated viewing “hide” above the Xakanaxa Lagoon.

The Lodge is in the Xaxanaka Region of Moremi Wildlife Reserve, which covers an area of about 1,900 sq. miles (4,900 sq. km.) in the eastern segment of the Okavango Delta. Moremi combines mopane woodland & acacia forests, floodplains & lagoons and has a vast variety of plant, bird & animal life, creating one of the most magnificent & welcoming wildlife sanctuaries in all of Africa. Moremi Reserve is the best place to experience excellent views of savannah game.

Moremi is the home to nearly 500 species of bird (from water birds to forest dwellers including African Fish Eagle, Pel’s Fishing Owl, Crested Crane, Lilac-breasted Roller, Hammer-kop, Ostrich, and Sacred Ibis), and a vast array of other species of wildlife, including buffalo, giraffe, lion, leopard, cheetah, hyena, jackal, impala, & African Wild dog. Plus hippo & the full range of antelope, large & small, including the red lechwe.

You can also explore the Xakanaxa Lagoon & surrounding Okavango channels by motorboat for great bird-watching opportunities, crocs and elephant.

The Okavango delta is both a permanent & seasonal home to a wide variety of wildlife - African Bush Elephant, Giraffe, African Buffalo, Hippopotamus, Lechwe, Tsessebe, Sitatunga, Leopard, Blue Wildebeest, Nile crocodile, Lion, Cheetah, Brown Hyena, Spotted Hyena, Springbok, Greater Kudu, Sable Antelope, Black Rhinoceros, White Rhinoceros, Plains Zebra, Warthog & Chacma Baboon. The endangered African Wild Dog still survives within the Okavango

Post lunch, meet the Ranger & set out by water or land for an afternoon of wildlife viewing.

Return to the camp before dark for sundowners & dinner.

Balance of the evening is at leisure to relax or for independent activities.

Full day of game viewing in the Okavango Delta.

Return to the Camp.

Balance of the evening is at leisure to relax or for independent activities.

Full day of game viewing in the Okavango Delta.

Return to the Camp.

Balance of the evening is at leisure to relax.

After an early morning game drive & breakfast, you will be driven to the Airstrip for the scheduled charter flight southwards towards the northern edge of the fabled Kalahari Desert & Makgadikgadi Pans National Park.

On arrival at the Airstrip, you will be met The Journeys representative / Driver & transferred to the Lodge.

Check-in at Leroo La Tau Lodge, built on 50 foot cliffs above the Boteti River bed. The river has flowed in 2010, refilling for the first time in 20 years, attracting a variety of wildlife into the area. In the dry season wildlife concentrates around the water hole in front of the lodge.

The main reception & lounge area of Leroo La Tau is located on the top of these cliffs, so the raised vantage point ensures unsurpassed views of these desert inhabitants as they congregate below to quench their thirst. The Lodge accommodates 24 guests in 12 luxurious en-suite chalets, on individual raised wooden platforms. The main lounge & dining room area offers guests the opportunity to sit back & relax at the bar while listening to the wide variety of night sounds so characteristic of the African bush.

Alternatively you can lounge around the pool while appreciating the herds of zebra and wildebeest which are often seen around the lodge grounds and the waterhole. Evenings can be spent alongside the fireplace which also overlooks the dry riverbed & the waterhole in front of the lodge.

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 Pans themselves are salty desert whose only plant life is a thin layer of blue-green algae and 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.

After lunch relax or set out on a late afternoon game drive, returning before dinner.

Balance of the evening is at leisure to relax or for independent activities.

Full day to explore the pans, desert and grassy plains in search of wildlife.

Return to the Camp.

Balance of the evening is at leisure..

You have a full day to explore the pans, desert and grassy plains in search of wildlife.

Evening at leisure.

After another early morning game drive and brunch, you will be driven to the Airstrip for the scheduled light aircraft flight to Maun, arriving in the early afternoon at Maun Airport.

You will proceed (on your own) to connect with the next flight for your onward journey.   B

(Our Services end with the Departure Transfer to the Airstrip at Leroo La Tau Lodge)

***        End of Services      ***