South AFrica/Botswana Itinerary
 

What do you think of this itinerary for end of May/June.
Days 1-4Arrive Jo'burg connect to Cape Town for four nights. Portwood Hotel
day 5 fly to Victoria Falls- one night- Royal Livingstone Hotel
Day 6,7 Savuti Camp- Linyanti Game Reserve (2 nights)
Day 8,9 - Chitabe Camp- Moremi Reserve (2 nights)
Day 9,10- Kwetsani Camp- Okavengo Delta (2 nights)
Day 11- Fly to Jo'burg and connect to flight home.
Would like to add a night in Jo'burg to see Soweto...

Also have another suggestion from an agent:
2 nights at the Michelangelo Hotel in Sandton
Day 3,4 Flight to Botswana. 2 nights Duba Plains
day 5,6- 2 night Little Vumbura
day 7,9 - 2 nights Savuti Camp
day 10,11- 2 nights Royal Livingstone Victoria Falls.
Day 12-16 June Flight to Cape Town via JHB. 4 nights at the V&A Waterfront Hotel.

Comments/advice please? thank you

Dear Susan

Nice itineraries with varied habitats on safari which should mean good varieties of wildlife.

Both are a bit too quick for my liking. I would prefer clients to stay three nights in each camp and perhaps more if time allows. We get thanked for slowing people down. I would cut the number of camps and stay longer.

My two penneth - Richard

Hi! Varied suggestions.......i just think 2 nights does not give the camp it's justice. If i was to plan.....(from your choices)do chitabe and Vumbura in the delta.

Why Savuti camp in the Linyant? Me personally........i have been to both Wilderness and Kwando camps. The quality of guiding at Kwando is unmatched.......I would personally opt for Lebala or lagoon......if you want to stick to wilderness......why not Duma Tau or Selinda? (they now market selinda)

Hello Susan,

Like the others, I'd recommend three nights per camp. Three nights at Savuti (with one of the best hides in Africa for up-close ellie viewing) and three at Little Vumbura or Kwetsani (with both water and land activities) would give you a good sampling of what the Delta has to offer.

Of course, if you can stretch to nine nights on safari, then you have a wider choice of options -- in that case I would probably recommend adding Duba Plains for the fantastic lion-buffalo interaction.

If budget is a factor, drop the big expensive tourist hotels in Joburg and Cape Town and stay in boutique hotels or guesthouses from the Portfoloio Collection (www.portfoliocollection.com) -- they have much more local character and can be equally luxuruious for a fraction of the price of a place like the Michelangelo.

Cheers,
Julian

Ha ha, I'm going to repeat my unpopular view that 2 nights in Botswana camps are OK especially if you won't be coming back for a long time. Yes, the camps mentioned above are awesome, but I would not cut out Chitabe! What a superb camp, excellent staff, great chance to see wild dog, well-trained walking safari guides, etc. If anything I'd cut out the night at Vic Falls and the last night in Jo'burg and add it on to one of the camps.

As a 3+ nighter per camp, I agree with the others who have suggested 3. But what safari camp would I cut? Any one of the 3 on either itinerary would reduce your diversity of habitats and sightings. Either itinerary would give you nice variety and 2 nights per camp is common for itineraries. I think this board draws in people who would stay forever at each camp, myself included, so two nights is not enough for us.

May/June is a great time for Savuti so that may be why it was picked over other areas in northern Botswana, which would be good too.

A day trip to Soweto is easy to do from most hotels and worthwhile. I am glad I did it.

I prefer the one night at Vic Falls, just to see the falls and not hang around. But there are 2-3 days of activities to do there if you are interested.

You'll have a very nice trip and please post upon your return.

I too prefer longer at camps than 2 nights, IF I have the luxury of time and on my latest trip, was able to ensure that we stayed at most camps for 3 or 4 nights but then we had 3+ weeks in Botswana on a 9 week trip overall.

But I agree with Lin that 2 nights is perfectly fine when time-strapped, especially for a first time visitor who would really like to get a feeling for the different habitats.

Whilst you often feel on leaving after two nights that you could do with more time, to be honest, I still feel that way after 4 nights and would probably feel the same even after a whole week!

Given how well planned the transfers are, 2 nights per camp will still give you enough time to settle in and do enough activities to enjoy the camp. On our first trip which combined Botswana and Namibia we had 2 nights each at 5 camps and 4 nights at one and the trip was wonderful.

If you only have this many nights and are keen to experience the diversity of habitats, your itineraries both look great.