ENCOUNTERSAFRICA
6-Day Mashatu & Tuli Safari

Botswana - Fly-in safari

6-Day Mashatu & Tuli Safari

Duration
6 days
Countries
Botswana
Suited to
2-6 guests
Pricing
From USD 8,280

The journey

Updated on 23 August 2026

The Tuli Block is the Botswana most itineraries miss: a wedge of private reserves between the Limpopo and Shashe rivers, all sandstone outcrops, mashatu trees and open plains that carry the largest elephant population on private land in Africa. There is no delta here and no crowds either, and the game viewing rules are the generous kind, off-road driving, night drives, walking, mountain biking and some of the best photographic hides on the continent. You split the week between two properties. Mashatu Euphorbia Villas stands on a cliff edge in the Mashatu Game Reserve, eight suites of glass and stone with private plunge pools above the valley. Tuli Safari Lodge sits downstream on the Limpopo's northern bank under giant nyala trees, an easy, warm-hearted lodge in the reserve's riverine heart. The Tuli's dry winter, May to September, packs elephant along the rivers; summer greens the plains and brings the migrant birds. Access is a short scheduled hop or road connection from Johannesburg, no light-aircraft network required, which keeps the price honest.

Your camps, day by day

Stay 1

Johannesburg to the Land of Giants

The morning connection from Johannesburg puts you at Limpopo Valley airfield by midday, ten minutes from Mashatu Euphorbia Villas. The suites hang on a cliff above a waterhole, glass on three sides, plunge pool out front. The first drive finds the elephant before sundowners on a kopje with the whole reserve below.

Stay 2

Hides and Herds

Morning in a sunken photographic hide, lens at ground level while elephant feet arrive like weather a few metres away. The afternoon drive goes off-road after the reserve's leopard, a Mashatu speciality, and stays out past dark with the spotlight picking up genet, civet and, with luck, an aardwolf crossing the calcrete.

Stay 3

Down the Valley to the Limpopo

A last cliff-top breakfast, then the transfer runs the length of the reserve as a game drive, past the sandstone amphitheatres and mashatu groves that name the place. Tuli Safari Lodge waits on the Limpopo's bank under enormous nyala trees. The afternoon drive works the riverine strip where bushbuck and kudu hold the shade.

Stay 4

On Foot in the Riverine

A walking morning under the big trees with an armed guide, reading tracks in river sand that records everything: last night's leopard, a porcupine's drag marks, the splayed press of elephant. The afternoon drive climbs to the basalt ridges for eland and zebra, and dinner is served on the riverbed by lantern light.

Stay 5

The Full Tuli Day

The reserve's freedom fills the last full day: an early drive to the Shashe confluence where three countries meet, a midday siesta by the pool, then an evening drive that lingers at a waterhole as the elephant arrive in extended families, dust hanging pink behind them. The night drive home completes the set.

Stay 6

Limpopo to Johannesburg

Breakfast under the nyala trees, a short transfer to the airfield or the Pont Drift crossing, and the connection back to Johannesburg by mid-afternoon, in time for evening international departures. Six days in Botswana's quietest corner, and a camera roll that will need editing down with a firm hand.

Safari highlights

  • Two nights at Mashatu Euphorbia Villas on the cliff
  • Three nights at Tuli Safari Lodge on the Limpopo
  • The largest elephant herds on private land in Africa
  • Underground photographic hides at eye level
  • Night drives, walks and off-road tracking
  • Sandstone kopjes and the mashatu tree valleys

What is included

Included

  • 5 nights accommodation, per person sharing
  • Return scheduled air or road connections Johannesburg-Limpopo Valley, as scheduled
  • Road transfers within the Tuli Block, including the border crossing at Pont Drift
  • All meals, house wines, local spirits, beers and soft drinks
  • Twice-daily game drives, night drives and guided walks
  • One photographic hide session at Mashatu
  • Reserve conservation 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 lodge staff
  • Items of a personal nature, curios and telephone calls

Frequently asked questions

How much does a 6-day Tuli Block safari cost?

From USD 8,280 per person sharing, rising to about USD 9,180 in peak season, which makes the Tuli one of the best-value private-reserve safaris in Botswana. The price covers five nights at Mashatu Euphorbia Villas and Tuli Safari Lodge, all meals and house drinks, game drives, walks, a hide session and the Johannesburg connections. International flights to Africa are excluded.

Where is the Tuli Block and how do you get there?

It is Botswana's eastern tip, wedged between Zimbabwe and South Africa where the Shashe meets the Limpopo. Access from Johannesburg is a scheduled light flight to Limpopo Valley airfield or a road connection to the Pont Drift border post, both around the half-day mark door to door. There is no delta-style air network to pay for, which is why Tuli prices sit well below the north.

What are the photographic hides like at Mashatu?

Sunken containers at the edge of active waterholes, putting your lens at ground level a few metres from drinking elephant, eland, and whatever else the dry season sends. Sessions run a few hours with a photographic guide, and the low angle produces the kind of frames that win competitions; Mashatu's hides have supplied plenty. Non-photographers find them just as gripping.

When is the best time to visit the Tuli Block?

May to September, the dry winter, concentrates the elephant along the Limpopo and Majale drainages and keeps the grass low for predators, with cool clear mornings. October is hot and intense at the water. November to April greens the plains, brings the migrant birds and drops rates; storms build most afternoons and break the heat.

Are international flights included?

No. International flights to and from Africa are excluded and booked separately, normally into Johannesburg. The Johannesburg-Tuli connection, by scheduled light aircraft or road as scheduled on your dates, is included. Note the border crossing at Pont Drift uses a cableway when the Limpopo is in flood, which counts as a story in itself.

Is the Tuli Block malarial?

It is a low-risk malaria area, milder than northern Botswana, but most travel clinics still recommend prophylaxis, particularly for the November to April rains. Both lodges provide screened rooms and repellent. A yellow fever certificate applies only if you arrive from a country with transmission risk.