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Micato Safaris
OFFER ID 1286737
Botswana's Timeless Wilderness
Big Game, Splendid Isolation
If we had to pick the most miraculous African place of all, it might well be the Okavango Delta, where the 1,000-milelong Okavango River gives up on its search for an outlet to the sea and seeps lifegivingly into the sands of one of the world’s most uncompromising deserts, creating a vast and mesmerizing oasis. As Frans Lanting wrote in his elegiac book Okavango: Africa’s Last Eden, “The [Delta’s] very existence in the middle of the Kalahari Desert is nothing short of miraculous . . . like a dream.”
Botswana’s wilderness is expansive and—to our scurrying senses—timeless, and the Okavango isn’t its only dreamy place. Our under-two-week safari takes us to three others, right up near the top of African marvels: the lush and pacific Gomoti Plains Camp, the exemplary Moremi Game Reserve, quite close to another phenomenon of miraculous rarity, Victoria Falls.
Safari Highlights
9 nights from $22,800 per person
Day 1
En route
We begin our adventure as we wing to South Africa.
Day 2
Serene Sandhurst, Johannesburg’s lovely suburb
After arriving at O. R. Tambo International, we’ll be escorted to the Saxon Hotel, Villas and Spa in Johannesburg’s tree-lined suburb of Sandhurst. This luxury hotel has much to be proud of but says, touchingly, that its greatest “boast” is that the late Nelson Mandela chose the Saxon as his sanctuary at which to complete his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom.
Days 3 & 4
Camp Okavango, an island retreat
Our base in the miraculous Delta is beautifully shaded Camp Okavango, tucked away in serene isolation on lush Nxaragha Island. Intimate, recently and lovingly rebuilt, the camp has many charms: unflashy luxury, great dining, and extraordinarily well-designed tents—including a two-bedroom family tent—each raised on a platform with a private deck overlooking the hippo-thronged Delta waters.
Camp Okavango is notable for its variety of game-viewing experiences, from canoeing and motorboating in the Delta’s waterways, to guided bush walks on neighbouring islands. All the classic African headliners are to be seen, sometimes unexpectedly. “One of the Okavango’s delights,” Frans Lanting writes, “is the sheer surprise of seeing an elephant emerge from underwater.”
Days 5 & 6
Gomoti Plains Camp, another Okavango gem
A quick flight takes us southeastward to Gomoti Plains Camp, where the river of that name, a thick tendril of Okavango lushness, is bounded by savannah giving way to desert, offering us another exceptionally varied look at intertwined ecosystems and the charismatic animals that call them home. Because of Gomoti’s untroubled remoteness, much wildlife filming and research has been done here, of lions, elephants, buffalo, and especially of the area’s large coterie of African wild dogs, sometimes called painted wolves.
Gomoti Plains Camp, set pacifically along the banks of the Gomoti River, accommodates us with tents set on raised wooden decks and decorated to mirror the water and land themes that define the exquisite and heart-liftingly rare Okavango.
Days 7 & 8
Classic Machaba Camp, on the Khwai River
Another short flight takes us north to the Khwai River and Machaba Camp, designed in classic 1950s safari style, so well suited to its surroundings that animals wander down to the river insouciantly, delighting us as we watch, sundowner in hand, from our tents. And, among Moremi’s myriad charms, it gives us the chance to see the huge African night sky that ever captivated Elspeth Huxley, a sky “bristling with innumerable stars, as close-packed as the quills on a porcupine.”
Days 9 & 10
Victoria Falls, one of Earth’s grandest extravaganzas
Victoria Falls draws nearly universal praise, so here we’ll repeat something a good friend of ours once said: “Victoria Falls is billed as one of the world’s greatest waterfalls, but, as a matter of fact, it’s one of the world’s greatest anythings.” In other good news, we’ll be staying at the grand, colonial-era Victoria Falls Hotel, within walking distance of the incredible cataract.
Day 11
Johannesburg and homeward flights
We fly from Victoria Falls to Johannesburg, and on to a day room in the InterContinental at Johannesburg’s airport until our flight departure time.
Day 12
Connect with homeward flights
Connect with our international flight home, arriving on Day 12 with hearts full.
All fares are quoted in US Dollars.
225 Northfield Road
Northfield, IL 60093
USA
Main: 847.256.7570 Northbrook: 847.897.7000
Main: 800.245.9335 Northbrook: 888.743.9865