ENCOUNTERSAFRICA
10-Day Botswana & Cape Town Safari

Botswana - South Africa - Fly-in safari

10-Day Botswana & Cape Town Safari

Duration
10 days
Countries
Botswana, South Africa
Suited to
2-8 guests
Pricing
From USD 19,380

The journey

This is the trip most first-time visitors to Africa are actually asking for: proper bush, then a city worth several days of its own. You start in the Khwai Private Reserve, 200,000 hectares of community-owned land on the eastern edge of the Okavango where only one operator holds traversing rights, then fly to Chief's Camp on Chief's Island, in the heart of the Moremi Game Reserve and among the densest leopard ground in Africa. The order is deliberate. Botswana first, while you are still adjusting and the early mornings are easy, and the Cape afterwards, when three days of game drives have earned you a long lunch in the Winelands. The Maun to Johannesburg to Cape Town connection runs daily and puts you at your hotel by early evening. April to May and September to October are the strongest windows for the combination. Botswana's dry season peaks from June to October, when game concentrates on the remaining water, while Cape Town is warm and clear from October onward. The shoulder months give you good conditions in both places rather than one at the expense of the other.

Your camps, day by day

Stay 1

Into the Khwai

You land at Maun and walk straight from the terminal onto a light aircraft for the flight north to the Khwai Private Reserve. Sable Alley looks over a lily-covered lagoon that elephant cross most afternoons. Lunch is unhurried on the deck, then your first game drive runs out through mopane woodland and along the Khwai floodplain until the spotlight comes on.

Stay 2

Khwai River Country

The Khwai Private Reserve covers 200,000 hectares of community-owned land on Moremi's eastern boundary, with a single operator holding traversing rights, so you never queue at a sighting. You drive early for wild dog, which den in the reserve between June and August, then take a mokoro through the channels once the heat lifts. Dinner is around the fire.

Stay 3

On to Chief's Island

A short flight carries you south-west to Chief's Island, the largest island in the Okavango and the core of the Moremi Game Reserve. Chief's Camp sits under old trees in ten thatched pavilions, each with a plunge pool facing the floodplain. The afternoon drive is deliberately slow, letting your guide show you which lion pride and which leopard hold this ground.

Stay 4

Predators at First Light

This corner of Moremi carries one of the densest leopard populations in Africa, and mornings are spent reading the tracks left overnight. Coffee comes with you in the vehicle before dawn and you stay out as long as a sighting holds. In the afternoon you swap the Land Cruiser for a mokoro, poled through papyrus close enough to hear reed frogs.

Stay 5

A Full Day in Moremi

With a whole day you can push deep into the reserve, carrying lunch and eating it in the shade of a jackalberry while the vehicle cools. Elephant move through the camp's channels most days, often within sight of the pool. Later there is time to walk with an armed guide, reading tracks at ground level, before a last dinner under the trees.

Stay 6

Delta to the Cape

Breakfast is early, then the light aircraft lifts off the Chief's Island strip for Maun. From there you fly to Johannesburg and connect south to Cape Town, landing with Table Mountain filling the window. A private transfer takes you to Cape Grace on the V and A Waterfront, and dinner is booked a short walk away at the quiet end of the quay.

Stay 7

Table Mountain and City

You go up the cableway early, before cloud settles on the plateau, in a car that turns through a full circle during the four-minute ride. The return ticket is included. Afterwards your guide walks you through the painted streets of the Bo-Kaap and the Company's Garden, and the afternoon is yours for the Zeitz MOCAA gallery or the Waterfront.

Stay 8

The Cape Peninsula

A full day runs the length of the peninsula with a private guide: Hout Bay, then Chapman's Peak Drive cut into the cliff above the Atlantic, then Cape Point and the old lighthouse at the end of the reserve. On the way back you stop at Boulders Beach, where an African penguin colony of roughly 3,000 birds nests among the granite.

Stay 9

Into the Winelands

You leave the city after breakfast for the Winelands, 45 minutes east through the Boland mountains. The day takes in two estates, one in Stellenbosch and one in Franschhoek, with tastings and a long lunch between them. You finish at Delaire Graff on the Helshoogte Pass, where the lodge looks straight across the valley to the Simonsberg.

Stay 10

Last Morning in the Vines

Breakfast is served on your terrace or in the restaurant, looking down the valley as mist lifts off the vines. There is time to walk the estate's sculpture collection and the rose garden before the transfer to Cape Town International, about 45 minutes away. You connect to your onward international flight, or carry on east along the Garden Route.

Safari highlights

  • Five nights of Botswana bush, four nights in the Cape
  • Khwai Private Reserve, with no other operator on the ground
  • Chief's Camp on Chief's Island, in the heart of Moremi
  • Cape Point, Chapman's Peak and the Boulders penguin colony
  • Table Mountain cableway ticket and a guided city morning
  • A last night at Delaire Graff above the Stellenbosch vines

What is included

Included

  • 9 nights accommodation, per person sharing
  • Light aircraft flights Maun-Khwai, Khwai-Chief's Island and Chief's Island-Maun
  • Regional flights Maun-Johannesburg and Johannesburg-Cape Town
  • All meals, house wines, local spirits, beers and soft drinks at both Botswana camps
  • Breakfast daily in Cape Town and the Winelands, plus lunches and dinners at reserved restaurant tables throughout the Cape leg
  • Twice-daily game activities in Botswana: game drives, night drives, mokoro excursions and guided walks
  • Private guided full-day Cape Peninsula tour and full-day Winelands tour, with estate tastings
  • Table Mountain Aerial Cableway return ticket and a guided morning in the city and Bo-Kaap
  • All park, reserve and concession fees, the Botswana tourism development levy and private transfers in Cape Town

Not included

  • International flights to and from Africa
  • Visas, travel authorisations and any entry fees payable on arrival
  • Travel and medical insurance, including emergency evacuation cover
  • Premium imported spirits, champagne and rare vintages at the Winelands estates
  • Spa treatments, helicopter flights and optional shark cage diving
  • Gratuities for guides, drivers, and camp and hotel staff
  • Items of a personal nature, curios and telephone calls

Frequently asked questions

How much does a 10-day Botswana and Cape Town safari cost?

This programme starts at USD 19,380 per person sharing in shoulder season and runs to about USD 24,680 at peak. That covers nine nights, all three light aircraft sectors, the Maun to Johannesburg to Cape Town flights, everything you eat and drink in Botswana, all meals in the Cape, the Peninsula and Winelands touring days, the Table Mountain cableway ticket and all park and reserve fees.

Are international flights included in the price?

No. International flights to and from Africa are excluded. You fly yourself into Maun, usually via Johannesburg, and home out of Cape Town, which has direct services to London, Amsterdam, Doha and Dubai. Every flight inside the itinerary is included: three light aircraft sectors in the Delta plus the Maun to Johannesburg to Cape Town connection on day six.

Can you combine a Botswana safari with Cape Town?

Yes, and it is the most common way to build a first trip. Airlink flies Maun to Johannesburg in about one hour forty minutes, then Johannesburg to Cape Town in two hours ten. With the connection you leave your Delta camp after breakfast and are at your Cape Town hotel by early evening the same day. No overnight in Johannesburg is needed.

How many nights do I need in the Okavango Delta?

Five is the sensible minimum if the Delta is only half your trip. Two nights at one camp and three at another, as here, gives you different country rather than the same drive twice. Three nights at a single camp is the floor for any one property, because the arrival and departure days are each cut short by flying.

When is the best time to visit Botswana and Cape Town together?

April to May and September to October. Botswana's game viewing is strongest from June to October, when the bush thins and animals concentrate on water, while Cape Town is at its best from November to April. The shoulder months are the honest compromise: dry, good sightings in the Delta, and warm settled weather in the Cape.

Is the Okavango Delta malaria-free?

No. The Okavango Delta and Khwai are malaria areas, with the highest risk between November and May. Speak to a travel clinic about prophylaxis at least two weeks before departure. Cape Town and the Winelands are malaria-free, so you only need cover for the first five nights. Both Botswana camps provide mosquito nets and spray rooms at turndown.

Do I need a visa for Botswana and South Africa?

Most British, EU, US, Canadian and Australian passport holders enter both countries visa-free for up to 90 days. Your passport must be valid for six months beyond your return date and carry at least two blank facing pages per country. Botswana charges a tourism development levy of USD 30 per person on arrival, which is included in this price.