Family Self-Drive Botswana: Wildlife Wonderland - 15 Days

Family Safari Makgadikgadi Meerkat Mayhem

Botswana is a wildlife paradise and features some of southern Africa’s best game reserves. It is the perfect family self-drive Botswana safari destination where the whole family can enjoy Africa’s amazing wildlife from gorgeous meerkats right up to elephants. Start in the safari capital of Maun, where you enjoy a full day boat cruise into the Okavango Delta, and then head up to Moremi Game Reserve and spend your days in search of the large concentrations of animals and birds along the Khwai River. Next stop is the salt pans of Central Botswana where a full day is spent on a tour to visit a habituated meerkat colony - these inquisitive little critters are sure to bring a smile to everyone’s face! Continue north to the floodplains of the Chobe River, home to huge herds of elephants which drink and play in the river, before ending your trip at the awe-inspiring Victoria Falls. This is a trip that the whole family will never forget!

Choose between two accommodation grades - Standard or Upgrade. Alternatively mix and match accommodation from each grade to create your perfect holiday. Interactive itineraries for each accommodation grade can be viewed below.

An exciting family holiday visiting some of Botswana's famed wildlife reserves.

Maun - Okavango Delta - Moremi Game Reserve (on the edge of the Okavango Delta) – Makgadikgadi Pans - Chobe Riverfront - Victoria Falls

Car hire - Toyota Hilux 4x4 vehicle or similar for 12 days (Maun to Kasane). For details of the vehicle types available please see - Self Drive Safaris.
Premium level vehicle insurance (Excess: USD$3,000) - including collision damage waiver, personal accident insurance, theft protection, third party liability, unlimited kilometres, contract fee, cleaning fee, one-way drop off fee (Maun to Kasane), roadside assistance and GPS, introduction to the vehicle, travel pack including maps and relevant information, all applicable taxes
Accommodation as indicated below - all rooms indicated are family rooms sleeping 2 adults and 2 children.
Meals as indicated below.
Full day Inner Okavango Delta boat cruise.
Morning and afternoon Moremi Game Reserve game drives (Upgrade option only).
Half day Ntwetwe Pan and Meerkat Expedition.
3 hour morning game drive in Chobe National Park (2 additional game drives are included with the Upgrade option).
3 hour afternoon Chobe River cruise.
Guided Falls tour and Dinner & drum show at the Boma Restaurant, Victoria Falls.
Kasane (Chobe) to Victoria Falls hotel & Victoria Falls hotel to airport road transfers.
Relevant Travel Africa Information sheets.

With Travel Africa you are safe in the knowledge that you are working with people who are experts in self-drive travel. We have driven the types of vehicles you are looking to hire and driven them in the places, and on the road conditions, that you will experience. We have enjoyed all kinds of self-drive trips in southern Africa for over 25 years – from quick flits along the Garden Route to 8 month adventure trips with fully equipped 4x4s and roof top tents throughout southern Africa.

We give you peace of mind by working closely with you to custom-make and book your itinerary – ensuring you have the most appropriate type of vehicle and accommodation for your trip. We also provide you with detailed trip dossiers, which include routes, directions, tips and hints on driving in southern Africa, ensuring you have all the information you need to enjoy every minute of your trip and feel comfortable and secure with your holiday plan!

Our in-depth knowledge of destinations, conditions, vehicles and equipment, based on extensive personal experience, gives you the peace of mind you need for your self-drive safari.

Family safari Botswana, Wildlife Wonderland

Interactive standard itinerary

Interactive upgrade itinerary

Detailed itinerary

Arrive at Maun International Airport and pick up your 4x4 vehicle before checking into your lodge for a 2 night stay.

Included during your stay in Botswana's safari capital is a full day family boat cruise into the Okavango Delta. Depart from Maun by 12-seater motor boat and head along the Thamalakane and Boro Rivers to Chief’s Island in the heart of the Delta (note: traversing of these rivers is dependant on water levels, therefore at certain times of the year you may be transferred to the Boro River by 4x4 vehicle).

The Okavango is a unique ecosystem and the largest intact inland delta in the world, the diversity and numbers of animals and birds can be staggering. As your motor boat traverses the meandering palm and papyrus fringed waterways, between sand islands and through thick woodlands, your guide will help you spot some of the region's amazing wildlife, including elephant hippo, antelope, crocodile and more. On arrival at Chief’s Island, it is time to relax with a picnic lunch and then head out on an optional guided bush walk with your guide. A bush walk is a great way for the family to learn about the little creatures, spoor and tracks as well as the myriad of trees and bushes that make up the African bush. They are a time to slow down, to pay attention and get all your senses into gear. Experience this incredible natural paradise before heading back downstream to return to Maun.

Stay at:
Standard - Mochaba Crossing or similar (dinner, bed & breakfast)
Upgrade - Thamalakane River Lodge or similar (bed & breakfast)

Okavango Delta Add-On options:
The perfect add-on to your Botswana trip is a visit to the water and wildlife wonderland that is the Okavango Delta. This truly magnificent landscape and unique ecosystem attracts animals from kilometres around and creates one of Africa’s greatest wildlife concentrations. Travel Africa can assist you with a number of fantastic options to enjoy this special place:

A fly-in package to stay at a family friendly camp in the Delta's heart.
An Eastern Delta mobile camping trip providing a walking and mokoro experience for the more budget conscious traveller (Minimum child's age for this trip is 7 years).
A scenic flight over the Delta - Contact us for details.

Travel distance: Approximately 120kms, gravel, sand roads.

Leave Maun and head north into the Moremi Game Reserve, a magical wildlife paradise that is renowned as being one of the most beautiful game reserves in Africa. Unique delta scenery combines with mopane forests and open flood plains as you spend two full days searching for animals and birds along the Khwai River. Game viewing in this area can only be described as superb, with a very good chance of seeing cats and wild dog plus elephant, buffalo, zebra, giraffe and a whole host of smaller antelope species. There is a vast area to explore on your own self-drive game drives (tips and advice on self-drive game drives provided in your detailed itinerary and by the lodge guides), either within the game reserve all the way down to the famous Domba Hippo Pools or along the winding loops that follow the Khwai River in the Khwai Development Trust Concession. During your stay at the lodge you may choose to join a guided game drive or mokoro trip (additional charges apply) - note that the Upgrade accommodation package includes morning and afternoon game drives with a qualified safari guide.

Stay at:
Standard - Khwai Guesthouse or similar (dinner, bed & breakfast)
Upgrade - Khwai Guesthouse or similar (dinner, bed & breakfast), game activities included

Travel distance: Approximately 360kms, mix of gravel / sand roads and good main roads.

The enormous salt pans of Makgadigadi and Ntwetwe, located in the middle of the dry savannah of north east Botswana, are some of the largest salt flats in the world. These vivid landscapes consist of a dry salty clay crust most of the year. However, when the annual rains fall they become covered with grass and water and are transformed into a refuge for birds and animals including wildebeest, one of Africa’s largest zebra populations and of course the large predators that prey on them. The wet season also brings migratory birds including Great White Pelicans and one of only two breeding populations of Greater Flamingos in Southern Africa. Enjoy two nights at Planet Baobab, located in the extraordinary landscapes of endless horizons and four-thousand-year-old inverted trees, and during your stay an awesome family excursion to Ntwetwe Pan to visit the resident Kalahari meerkats is included. The meerkats are semi-habituated to human interaction and you will be able to get very close to these cheeky creatures! ( Note that during the dry season the excitement on this tour increases as you travel to Ntwetwe Pan by quad bike!)

Stay at:
Standard - Planet Baobab or similar (dinner, bed & breakfast)
Upgrade - Planet Baobab or similar (dinner, bed & breakfast)

Travel distance: Approximately 160kms, main highway to Elephant Sands / approximately 120kms, main highway to Nata Lodge.

From the Makgadigadi Pans head east to the Nata region on the edge of the Kalahari for an overnight stay. At Elephant Sands (Standard accommodation option) be enchanted as the animals come to you! Arranged around a central waterhole all chalets have a grandstand view as herds of elephants come down to drink right in front of the restaurant. Whilst at Nata Lodge (Upgrade accommodation option) you maybe lucky enough to see Lesser Bushbabies spring through the trees after dusk. Depending on the season consider a visit to the Nata Bird Sanctuary - an area set aside by the local community as a refuge for pelicans and flamingoes who congregate on the Sowa Pan after rains have fed the Nata River.

Stay at:
Standard - Elephant Sands or similar (dinner, bed & breakfast)
Upgrade - Nata Lodge or similar (dinner, bed & breakfast)

Travel distance: Approximately 260 / 320 kms good main roads.

Kasane is the perfect base for exploring Chobe Riverfront , the section of the Chobe National Park which runs along the southern shore of the Chobe River. Chobe Riverfront has very high concentrations of animals – especially in the dry season when the animals are drawn to the river. Chobe is famous for its huge herds of elephants which together with massive herds of buffalo often delight visitors. There is over 40 kilometres of riverfront to explore on your own self-drive game drives (tips and advice on self-drive game drives provided in your detailed itinerary and by the lodge guides), so your opportunities for seeing animals, including lion, leopard, wild dog, zebra, giraffe, puku, impala and much, much more, are excellent. An afternoon cruise on the Chobe River is a wonderful experience – cruise amongst the grunting hippo or watch the elephants wade amongst the reed beds. At the end of your cruise be prepared (weather dependant) for a spectacular African sunset!

During your stay in Kasane you have a number of guided safari activities included - Standard accommodation option: 3 hour morning game drive and a 3 hour afternoon Chobe River cruise; Upgrade accommodation option: as above, but with two additional Chobe activities included.

Stay at:
Standard - Chobe Safari Lodge or similar (bed & breakfast)
Upgrade - Chobe Bush Lodge or similar (dinner, bed & breakfast), game activities included

On your last morning in Kasane drop your vehicle off at the airport and transfer by road across the border to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

The Victoria Falls is a sight not to be missed - the clouds of spray generated by this thunderous descent have resulted in a lush rain forest full of stunning wild flowers. This is truly one of Africa's most spectacular sights and the Victoria Falls village in Zimbabwe is the perfect base from which to appreciate it.

A host of activities are centred on four separate delights: the Falls, the magnificent Zambezi River, the surrounding Zambezi National Park and the Victoria Falls village.

A tour of the Falls is a must, the 'Flight of Angels' helicopter flight gives you the most amazing aerial views of the Falls, and when water levels are low the Devil's Pool will get the most hardened thrill seeker's heart pumping.

The Zambezi River has two characters - the wide gentle river above the Falls is a magic spot for sunset boat cruises or gentle canoeing, whilst below the Falls, the more adventurous can enjoy serious whitewater rafting, jet boating or bungee jumping.

Game drives, horse riding and conservation safaris are offered in the Zambezi National Park to view elephant and buffalo.

Children are not forgotten and included during your 3 days in Victoria Falls are a tour of the Falls with a guide, a family-friendly canopy tour and a carnivorous feast with traditional drumming show at the Boma Restaurant.

Stay at:
Standard - Lokuthula Lodge (Two Bedroom Suite) or similar (bed & breakfast)
Upgrade - Victoria Falls Safari Suites (Two Bedroom Suite) or similar (bed & breakfast)

This morning after breakfast take a transfer to Victoria Falls International Airport for your onward flight.

Victoria Falls Add-On options:
Travel Africa can assist you with a number of fantastic options to further enjoy Victoria Falls and its surrounds:

For those craving more wildlife and a little touch of luxury to end your trip, why not combine a trip to the Falls with a visit to Hwange National Park - Victoria Falls & Hwange.
Extend your self-drive into Zimbabwe and combine Victoria Falls with Hwange National Park and possibly Matobo National Park - Contact us for details.

Contact us now

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