Botswana
Kruger to the Okavango
33,379€ per person, Based On Two Sharing.
Eight nights: 5 - 13 October 2024
Flowing river crossings. Rickety bridges. The salt and mud of Botswana’s ancient lake bed Pans. The deep sands of the Kalahari. This overlanding odyssey offers almost every kind of 4X4 challenge possible. And combines them with some of Africa’s most incredible wildlife sightings, and most luxurious camps in between.
Day One – Saturday 5 October
Pafuri Camp
Arrive at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. Transfer by light charter plane to a private landing strip in northern Kruger National Park. Meet the expedition team and get introduced to your vehicle. Drive to nearby Pafuri Camp on the banks of the Luvuvhu River, and settle in to your luxury tented suite. In the afternoon, hop in your Grenadier to explore the concession, and head down to Crook’s Corner, where you might see crocs, hippos and even elephants.
Highlights
- Luxurious Pafuri Camp
- First Grenadier outing
- Crook’s Corner
Pafuri Camp
Lanner Gorge
Pont Drift Border Crossing
Tuli Safari Lodge
Day Two – Sunday 6 October
Pafuri Camp to Tuli Safari Lodge
Ascend the Soutpansberg Mountains for a bush breakfast at Lanner Gorge. Then, leave the National Park, and drive 100km of proper roads until our first fuel stop. Back on corrugated dirt roads through farming country. Before harsher and more dramatic scenery as we reach the Limpopo River and the Pont Drift Border Post. Passports will be required to leave South Africa, in order to enter Botswana. Once through, we enter the Mashatu Nature Reserve, and see wildlife as we head for Tuli Safari Lodge.
Highlights
- Bush breakfast at Lanner Gorge
- River crossing
- Mashatu Game Reserve
Day Three - Monday 7 October
Tuli Safari Lodge to Ngangane Lodge
An early start to catch the animals as we leave the Mashatu Reserve. Then it’s intermittent tar until proper African roads after the dusty Africa settlement of Bobonong. Then on to the Dikgatlhong Dam on the border with Zimbabwe. Before following the controversial veterinary fence, hugging the western bank of the Shashe River. At the border town of Matsiloje, we head west to the quaint, privately owned and managed Victorian Lodge of Ngangane.
Highlights
- Real African roads
- Botswana’s largest dam
- The veterinary fence
Bobonong
Dikgatlhong Dam
Ngangane Lodge
Day Four & Five - Tuesday 8 And Wednesday 9 October
Ngangane Lodge to Kubu Island
Leaving the luxury of Ngangane, we head towards Francistown: the last bit of civilization for some time. Here, we’ll restock on fuel and supplies, then head for the vast Makgadikgadi Pans. We’ll drive on a well-used tar surface for at least a 100km, until we branch off into the great ‘unknown’, the size of Switzerland. Hugging the eastern edge of Sowa Pan, we’ll arrive at the mysterious Kubu Island, where we will spend two nights, to explore this fascinating area and wild camp under the stars.
Highlights
- One of the world’s largest salt pans
- Two nights wild camping under the stars
- A whole day to explore
Francistown
Makgadikgadi Pans
Kubu Island
Day Six – Thursday 10 October
Kubu Island to Nxai Pan Kwando Lodge
Today’s the day we’ll push our vehicles to the limit, tackling the mud and salt as we cross the Ntwetwe Pan. We will then enter the Makgadikgadi National park and visit some viewing waterholes on our way to Nxai Pan National Park.
Highlights
- The silent, surreal solitude
- Putting the Grenadier through its paces
- Waterhole wildlife
Ntwetwe Pan
Makgadikgadi National Park
Nxai Pan Kwando Lodge
Day Seven – Friday 11,12 October
Nxai Pan Kwando Lodge to Machaba Gomoti Okavango
We’ll drive on deeper Kalahari sand on the track back to the main road, then follow the tar road into Botswana’s safari capital of Maun. We’ll grab much-needed fuel and supplies and then head into the water wonderland of the Okavango. There are a number of deep crossings, and the odd rickety bridge, as we reach our final two-night stay at Gomoti Plains Camp.
Highlights
- Botswana’s safari capital
- Into the Okavango
- Two nights
Maun
Okavango Delta
Gomoti Plains Camp
Sunday 13 October
Return to Maun for onward flights or extensions
Please do let us know if you’d like recommendations on where to go, or what to do next. We’d be happy to help.
What's included
- 8 nights’ accommodation
- Hire of an INEOS Grenadier Station Wagon (one for two people)
- All guides
- All meals and drinks
- All park fees
- All gratuities
- All activities
What's not included
- Flights
- Medications
- Trip insurance
- Personal expenses
Please be aware that your contract for the expedition shall be through an external company and not with INEOS Automotive, who disclaim liability to the fullest extent permitted by any applicable law for your participation in this activity. The provision of your personal data in the form above is a request by you to provide this external company with your personal information in order for you to take steps to enter into a contract for the expedition.
External company details: Magalena Corporation, 203 Allied Building, Francis Rachel Street, P.O. Box 381, Victoria, Seychelles.
Images included above are purely indicative, and do not specifically depict photography from the expedition route.