ENCOUNTERSAFRICA
11-Day Best of Botswana Safari

Botswana - Fly-in safari

11-Day Best of Botswana Safari

Duration
11 days
Countries
Botswana
Suited to
2-8 guests
Pricing
From USD 25,380

The journey

Updated on 23 August 2026

Botswana rewards time, and eleven days is enough to do the country in the right order. You start on the Chobe riverfront, where elephant herds several hundred strong come down to drink and the game viewing happens from a boat as much as a vehicle. Then you disappear into the park interior with andBeyond's Chobe Under Canvas, a private mobile camp of five tents that moves with the seasons, where the only vehicles at a sighting are your own. The second half belongs to the Okavango. Chief's Island is the largest landmass in the delta, moulded by the Moremi Game Reserve around it, and Chief's Camp sits in the Mombo concession at its north-western tip, ground that holds one of the highest densities of predators in Africa. Five nights is deliberate: enough for lion, leopard and wild dog to stop being luck and start being routine. May to October is dry season and prime game viewing. November to April is green, with lower rates, newborn antelope and the zebra migration moving through Chobe.

Your camps, day by day

Stay 1

Onto the Chobe River

You land at Kasane after the 1 hour 45 minute flight from Johannesburg and drive half an hour into the park to Chobe Game Lodge, the only lodge inside the riverfront section. The afternoon belongs to the water: an electric boat slides you within metres of elephant families wading across to Sedudu Island while hippo surface alongside.

Stay 2

Riverfront Full Day

A morning drive with one of the Chobe Angels, the lodge's all-female guiding team, along tracks where lion lie up close to the water and sable come down to drink. After lunch you are back on the river for the long golden hours, when several hundred elephant can line the banks and carmine bee-eaters hawk insects over the floodplain.

Stay 3

Into the Park Interior

After a last river outing you drive deeper into Chobe to andBeyond's Under Canvas camp, pitched on a private site inside the park. Five tents, a private chef, bucket showers filled hot on request and your own guide and vehicle. The afternoon drive ends with the park to yourselves, because day visitors have to leave at the gate's closing time.

Stay 4

Private Chobe

Sunrise coffee on the fire, then out for a full morning with breakfast packed. This stretch of Chobe sees a fraction of the riverfront's vehicles, and sightings of roan, sable and the park's big prides often happen with no one else there. The afternoon drive runs until the light goes, followed by dinner under a sky with no glow on any horizon.

Stay 5

Tracks and Waterholes

Your guide reads the night's tracks over coffee and builds the morning around them: lion moving towards a waterhole, or wild dog denning within range. Midday is for the shade of the mess tent and a siesta through the heat. In the late afternoon you work the waterholes, where elephant bulls jostle for the cleanest water straight from the inflow.

Stay 6

Flight to Chief's Island

A morning transfer returns you to Kasane for the light-aircraft flight south-west over the mopane and into the delta, about 1 hour 30 minutes to the Chief's Camp airstrip. The change is immediate: green channels, palm islands, water under the wings. Chief's Camp's pavilions look over a floodplain that fills with lechwe by late afternoon.

Stay 7

Mombo Concession

Two drives in the Mombo concession, the north-western tip of Chief's Island that guides call the predator capital of the delta. Lion densities here are among the highest recorded in Africa, and the open floodplain edges make leopard easier to follow than almost anywhere. Between drives, the plunge pool on your deck faces the plain.

Stay 8

Water Day

When levels allow, the morning goes to mokoro: a poler stands astern and pushes you along hippo channels at walking pace, past painted reed frogs clamped to the stems and jacanas stepping across the lilies. It is the quietest way to travel in Africa. The afternoon returns to the vehicle to check on whatever the morning's tracks promised.

Stay 9

Following the Dogs

Wild dog range widely, and when the pack is hunting the morning turns into a pursuit across the island at their pace, stopping when they stop. Days like this are why the stay is five nights long. Back in camp, lunch is served overlooking the floodplain, and the afternoon drive eases towards a quiet spot for sundowners.

Stay 10

Last Full Delta Day

A final full day to spend on whatever the week has been building towards: another session with the resident leopard, a slow morning at the hippo pools, or a long loop to the seasonal channels where elephant cross chest-deep. Dinner is in the boma, with the camp staff singing and the fire throwing light on the mopane.

Stay 11

Out Through Maun

One more sunrise over the floodplain and a short drive to the airstrip. The light aircraft hops to Maun in about 25 minutes, where you connect to the early-afternoon Johannesburg flight, landing in time for onward international departures the same evening. Eleven days, three camps, and the whole arc of northern Botswana behind you.

Safari highlights

  • Two nights at Chobe Game Lodge, the only lodge inside the riverfront
  • Sunset cruises past elephant crossing to Sedudu Island
  • Three nights under canvas in a private andBeyond mobile camp
  • Five nights at Chief's Camp in the Mombo concession
  • Chief's Island, the predator heartland of the Okavango Delta
  • Light-aircraft flying between Chobe and the delta

What is included

Included

  • 10 nights accommodation, per person sharing
  • Return regional flights Johannesburg-Kasane and Maun-Johannesburg in economy class
  • Light-aircraft sector Kasane-Chief's Island with airstrip taxes
  • Road transfers between Kasane Airport, Chobe Game Lodge and Chobe Under Canvas
  • All meals, house wines, local spirits, beers and soft drinks
  • Twice-daily game drives, Chobe River boat cruises and mokoro outings, water levels permitting
  • Chobe National Park and Moremi Game Reserve entry fees, government levies and VAT
  • Botswana Tourism Development Levy of USD 30 per person
  • Laundry and emergency medical evacuation cover

Not included

  • International flights to and from Africa
  • Visas and entry permits
  • Comprehensive travel and medical insurance
  • Premium spirits, champagne and imported wines
  • Gratuities for guides, trackers and camp staff
  • Items of a personal nature, curios and telephone calls

Frequently asked questions

How much does an 11-day Botswana safari cost?

This programme starts at USD 25,380 per person sharing and runs to about USD 31,880 in peak season. That covers ten nights at Chobe Game Lodge, andBeyond Chobe Under Canvas and Chief's Camp, all meals and house drinks, game drives and boat cruises, park fees, the return Johannesburg regional flights and the light-aircraft sector into the delta. International flights to Africa are quoted separately.

Are international flights included in a Botswana safari?

No. International flights to and from Africa are excluded and booked separately, normally into Johannesburg. Everything inside Africa is covered here: the Johannesburg-Kasane regional flight of about 1 hour 45 minutes, the light-aircraft sector from Kasane onto Chief's Island, and the Maun-Johannesburg flight home. Light aircraft limit luggage to 20 kg per person in soft bags.

When is the best time to visit Chobe and the Okavango Delta?

May to October is the dry season, when game concentrates on the Chobe riverfront and the delta floodwater peaks between June and August. It is also high season, with prices to match. November to April is green season: rates drop by roughly a quarter, the zebra migration moves through Chobe, and mornings break clear before afternoon storms build.

What is Chobe Under Canvas actually like?

It is a serviced private mobile camp inside Chobe National Park: five en-suite tents with bucket showers, proper beds, a private chef and your own guide and vehicle. The camp moves between private campsites every few days, so you wake inside the park with no fence, no generator hum and no other vehicles at your sightings. It is comfortable rather than luxurious, and the trade is worth it.

Why five nights at Chief's Camp?

Chief's Island carries one of the highest predator densities in Africa, but predators keep their own diary. Five nights means roughly ten game drives in the Mombo concession, enough to follow a leopard over consecutive days, wait out a wild dog den or sit with lion on a kill without watching the clock. Shorter stays see the delta; this length lets you understand it.

Is Botswana a malaria area?

Yes, the whole of northern Botswana including Chobe, Savuti and the Okavango Delta is a malaria area, with the highest risk during and just after the November to April rains. Prophylaxis is recommended year-round; speak to a travel clinic about six weeks before departure. Camps provide repellent and screened rooms, and a yellow fever certificate is needed only if you arrive from a risk country.