
After arrival in Maun, we fly by light aircraft to the water-filled paradise of the private Xigera area, within the Moremi Game Reserve. Xigera is the ultimate Delta experience, with serene waters flowing through innumerable channels around remote islands and a profusion of plant and animal life.
There is no better way to experience the Okavango than to travel through it by mokoro, walking and camping out on a vegetated island - all essential elements of the Xigera Mokoro Trails experience. The experience is aimed at exposing the permanently flooded inner Delta, in the serene waterways and on the islands of trees and bush. Our tents are smaller here than the rest of the safari, with a gauze main frame, thus enhancing the views. Key to the experience is mobility, so bedrolls are on the ground and a battery-powered lamp provides light.
Activities include mokoro and walking safaris, which enable up-close encounters with the excellent diversity of birdlife (including Pel's Fishing Owl), frogs and a myriad of game species, some specially adapted to water, such as the rare sitatunga and the familiar red lechwe. Walking activities vary in length and duration through the seasons, especially in the months when the Okavango is at peak flood where they become shorter (June, July and August) as more islands become flooded.
Fly by light aircraft charter from Xigera Mokoro Trails directly to the north-eastern corner of the Okavango Delta, to our pre-erected Adventurer camp set up on a wooded island under shade trees, situated close to the game viewing areas.
Activities concentrate on the open herbivore-inhabited plains surrounding the camp, where seasonal congregations of wildlife (especially in the late afternoons) make the perfect setting for game drives, night drives and bush walks on the concession.
Departing early from camp, we travel north and east through the private concession and Chobe National Park, stopping en route for game sightings through parts of the area and lunch. This drive gives the perfect introduction to the varying habitats of a dry and flat northern Botswana, from the sump of Lake Makgadigadi at Mababe Depression to the open savannah of the Savute Marsh with its granite hillocks.
We arrive at our Adventurer campsite in the mid-afternoon, in time for a short sunset game drive on the open and dry, scenic Savute Marsh
We leave early, heading towards the Linyanti region. This can be an all-day game drive, with lunch en route at a shady place in the Savuti Channel. This game/ transfer drive is specifically designed to gain an intimate view of the "Stolen River". If the guide believes the wildlife better in the vicinity of the trails camp as the permanent waters are there, we will head directly there and embark on an afternoon game drive to begin our search.
On our second day, we depart on an early morning activity in the north-eastern corner of the Linyanti, enjoying a myriad of changing landscapes, from riverine to savannah habitat with sweeping views. Lunch is at an area, with a sweeping view of the Linyanti waterways. After a siesta in hammocks, there is the possibility of an afternoon canoe trip, before returning to camp at dusk. (This activity is not always possible, depending on whether there are hippo pods moving in and out of the areas in which we canoe.)
After a short morning drive and breakfast, we depart by light aircraft to the northern Chobe region of Chobe National Park. This area is famous for its vast herds of elephants and other unique species such as the elusive puku and Chobe bushbuck that move to the river in the hottest hours of the day - even more so in the dry season. Enjoy a lunch served during the boat cruise on the catamaran-style shaded boat.
We leave Botswana and enter Zambia by way of the Kazangula border, a point where the four countries of Botswana, Zambia, Namibia and Zimbabwe meet, to stay at the Natural Mystic Lodge, arriving in the late afternoon.
Natural Mystic Lodge is located 20km from Livingstone - the "Adventure Capital" of Zambia - 30km from the spectacular Victoria Falls, and 50km from the Kazangula border between Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
All 10 en-suite thatched chalets have a view of the Zambezi River. The chalets are built into a natural setting, and have a traditional African feel to them, while providing the necessary comfort, privacy and safety guests require. The area surrounding the lodge is covered in a dense Mopane forest combined with deciduous savannah grassland. Nature's sounds of birdlife, frogs, baboons, monkeys and hippo create a mystical mood, while free-roaming elephants are frequent visitors to the grounds.
Enjoy a guided tour of the Victoria Falls, one of the seven Natural Wonders of the World. At 1708 metres wide, it is the largest curtain of water in the world and drops more than 100 metres into the sheer Zambezi gorge. After the Victoria Falls visit we transfer directly to Livingstone Airport where we bid farewell to our adventure.
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