Visiting some of Botswana’s less visited national parks and reserves, this small group mobile camping and lodge safari goes in search of some of the region's most obscure species, including the elusive aardvark, brown hyena and aardwolf.
Limited to just seven participants and travelling throughout in an open sided vehicle, this pioneering new mobile camping and lodge-based safari is the perfect option for those looking to find some of Southern Africa’s most elusive mammals. It's also ideal for those fortunate enough to have visited Botswana’s Okavango Delta and who now wish to see something else of Botswana and, with luck, encounter some difficult to see mammals.
Occupying an area of over 52,800 square kilometres, making it the second-largest game reserve in the world, the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) is a vast area of semi-arid desert, home to striking black maned lions, cheetah and abundant prey animals including springbok and majestic gemsbok. To the north, the open grasslands of Makgadikgadi Pans National Park attract up to 30,000 migrating zebra and smaller numbers of wildebeest, with accompanying predators.
These species alone provide reason enough to visit these areas and will indeed be an important focus of the trip, but there's also a range of smaller, less well-known mammals that we will be hoping to find, including such sought-after species as aardwolf, brown hyena, meerkat and the near mythical aardvark. We conclude our journey at a remote private reserve in the Kalahari, where we search for these and other nocturnal species by night and track white rhino with the help of the local San bushmen by day.
Typical Itinerary
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Day 1:
Depart UK
Depart the UK on an overnight flight to Maun via Johannesburg.
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Day 2:
Arrive Maun & transfer to Makgadikgadi National Park
On arrival in Maun, we're met by our guide and transferred by vehicle heading south towards Makgadikgadi National Park. Driving through a landscape of open acacia scrub, interspersed with small rural villages, we begin to see some of the region’s common avian inhabitants with likely species including fork-tailed drongo, Burchell’s and blue-eared starling, magpie shrike and white-browed sparrow weaver, their nests hanging prominently on roadside bushes.
We arrive at our campsite near Makgadikgadi and the small, friendly village of Gweta. Here we settle in to our campsite and freshen up before enjoying dinner under the stars.
Accommodation: Fully-serviced Mobile Camping, 2-nights
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Day 3:
Ntwetwe Salt Pan
This morning, we start with an excursion to the vast expanse of Ntwetwe salt pan. On the grasslands that fringe this huge pan, we search for a habituated colony of meerkats. With the help of local guides, we visit a family accustomed to human presence, affording us some wonderfully special and close encounters. Late this afternoon, we set off on a game drive to Ntwetwe Pan and visit Green's Baobab. As we approach dusk, we explore some of the quiet public roads that criss-cross the area where we hope for an encounter with some of the region's rare nocturnal species such as aardvark, aardwolf, brown hyena, African wildcat and Selous mongoose.
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Days 4-5
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Boteti River & Makgadikgadi National Park
This morning, we pack up camp to travel through the nearby Makgadikgadi National Park, where we spend the next two nights, just outside the park along the Boteti River. As we travel through the park, we look for a range of wildlife. Zebras migrate from Angola, through the Caprivi Strip and Okavango Delta and into the seasonally rich grasslands of Nxai Pan National Park and Makgadikgadi National Park. Arriving in the east of the park, they gradually filter westwards towards the Boteti River, alongside smaller herds of wildebeest and springbok. Such a congregation of prey animals inevitably attracts the attention of predators, and the herds are trailed by lion and cheetah alike
This evening, we explore the habitats along the Boteti River, where we can explore on quiet public roads in search of nocturnal species including honey badger, Cape porcupine, African wildcat and with more luck even an aardvark, aardwolf, cape fox or brown hyena.
The following day, we can enjoy exploring Makgadikgadi on both morning and late afternoon safaris where we hope to find rare species such as brown hyena, aardwolf, or cheetah. We also stop at the park’s waterholes which attract resident bull elephants, jackals, and a wide variety of birdlife. In the evening, we will again explore the edges of the river, airstrip, and outskirts of Khumaga village for nocturnal mammals.
Both spotted and brown hyena occurs in the park and the open plains in the east can be very good for aardwolf. This area is also the realm of the much sought after meerkat and it's possible to encounter small clans, either at the burrow or whilst out foraging for food.
Accommodation: Boteti River Camp, 2-nights
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Days 6-8
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Vehicle safaris in Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR)
Leaving Makgadikgadi National Park behind, today we head south-east to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), passing once again through Botswana’s beautiful countryside and enjoying a myriad of bird species en route. A vast area of semi-arid desert, the CKGR is home to striking black-maned lions, cheetah and abundant prey animals including springbok and majestic gemsbok.
Over the course of the next threedays, we explore the surrounding valleys and pans, seeking out some of the region's most famed wildlife inhabitants through a mix of morning and afternoon game drives. We particularly focus our efforts on the first and last hours of the day when we have the best chance to observe brown hyena and aardwolf which are mostly nocturnal. Other mammals we can hope to see include bat-eared fox, lion, cheetah, Southern African ground squirrel, scrub hare and with more luck even Cape fox and African wild dog are possible.
Accommodation: Fully-serviced Mobile Camping, 3-nights
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Day 9:
Grasslands Kalahari Reserve
After a final morning game drive, it's time for us to move on once more. We then transfer west and deep into the Kalahari to our final base, at Grasslands Lodge. After a relaxed afternoon to recover from our long drive, we can set off for a prolonged night drive, exploring our own private unfenced wildlife reserve. There's a desirable list of exciting smaller mammals that we may encounter here including aardvark, aardwolf, caracal, African wildcat, cape porcupine, honey badger, springhare and lesser galago, among others.
Accommodation: Grasslands Lodge, 3-nights
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Days 10-11
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Wildlife watching in Grasslands Kalahari Reserve
Our programme over the next few days is determined by the success and duration of evening night drives, as we are likely to have more leisurely mornings to sleep in after our late-night drives. On one morning though we rise early to take a fascinating game walk with the San bushmen as our local guides where we track white rhinos. We have very high chances of a close and memorable sighting with these gentle giants on foot, a thrilling experience. Later, we again meet up with the friendly local Basarwa (San Bushmen) people to learn more about their way of life in this arid environment and their animal tracking skills. Each evening, we take night drives of varying length in search of more of our target rare mammals.
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Day 12:
Transfer to Maun & depart
This morning we begin our drive back to Maun for a flight back to the UK via Johannesburg.
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Day 13:
Arrive UK
