Botswana with Kids. Family Safaris. DAY BY DAY ITINERARY family safari. Photo credit: Wilderness Safaris

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1 Botswana with Kids DAY BY DAY ITINERARY family safari Family Safaris If there s one way to make going on safari in Africa better than you ve experienced it before, it might be this; bring some children along. Who else could possibly be more excited about seeing baby warthogs following their mama s tail waving like a conductor s baton, until they turn the corner a minute later and see a pride of lions with their cubs lounging in the shade of a tree. And where else can you productively channel their pre-adolescent fascination with scat through an introduction to bush tracking. A whole afternoon passes and they ve not once asked for wifi access. This is a small miracle. From the incomparable Victoria Falls to the Okavango Delta to the Kalahari Desert, this is a safari that captures the best of what Botswana has to offer. You ll see extraordinary wildlife, boat through lagoons, learn tracking techniques from your guides, meet the famed San Bushmen of the Kalahari and sleep under a trillion stars in the desert sands. Photo credit: Wilderness Safaris

2 SAFARI SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT #1 Departs: TBD Arrives: TBD INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT #2 Departs: TBD Arrives: TBD DAY TRAVEL LOCATION CAMP/LODGE Days 1 & 2: Arrive in Victoria Falls Victoria Falls Elephant Camp Days 3, 4 & 5: Bush flight to Machaba Camp Khwai Concession/Moremi Game Reserve Machaba Camp Days 6, 7 & 8: Bush flight to Young Explorer s Okavango Delta Young Explorer s Camp Camp Days 9 & 10: Bush flight to Kalahari Plains Kalahari Game Reserve Kalahari Plains Camp Camp Day 11: Bush flight to imaun to begin international departures Photo credit: Wilderness Safaris

3 DAYS 1 & 2 THE ELEPHANT CAMP VICTORIA FALLS EXPERIENCES Tour of Victoria Falls Elephant Encounter Lunch at Lookout Cafe Sundowners at Batoka Gorge Birding & Nature Walks A Village Tour WILDLIFE ENCOUNTERS Elephant Cheetah You ll begin your adventures with an unforgettable tour of the world s largest falling curtain of water. At an imposing 355 feet (108 meters) tall, Victoria Falls is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. The falls is fed by the Zambezi river system and straddles the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. The noise of Victoria Falls can be heard from a distance of 25 miles (40 km), which is how it earned the local name of Mosi-oa-Tunya: the smoke that thunders. Get close and feel the curtains of mist envelope you. And if you are greeted at breakfast by the sound of a loud, throaty rumble well, yes, that is purring. Yet it s no ordinary house cat that will come up to rub your legs, but rather an adult, 120- pound cheetah. Meet Sylvester, the Elephant Camp s resident Cheetah Ambassador (don t worry; his handler has him on a lead). When still just a cub, Sylvester was orphaned and brought to the local wildlife sanctuary. Now fully grown, this gorgeous cat resides permanently at the hotel to meet guests and raise awareness of the cheetah s endangered species status and the challenges they face. While once there roamed more than 100,000 of these graceful creatures, today there are less than 10,000 cheetahs worldwide. In just the last decade in Zimbabwe alone, the population has declined by two thirds. INCLUDED Breakfast Dinner Photo credit: The Elephant Camp

4 DAYS 3, 4, & 5 M A C H A B A C A M P KHWAI CONCESSION/MOREMI GAME RESERVE EXPERIENCES WILDLIFE ENCOUNTERS Elephant INCLUDED Lion Leopard Breakfast Cheetah Hippo Lunch Giraffe Dinner Wild dog Alcohol & Beverages Hyena Laundry Impala Kudu Tsessebe Bat eared fox Wildebeest High diversity of bird species Wildlife viewing Mokoro safaris Walking safaris Local village visits Spa treatments Dinner under the stars Ready, set, go! Your safari begins on full tilt with excellent wildlife viewing at Machaba Camp, nestled in the game rich Khwai concession, a 35,000 hectare reserve adjacent to the Moremi Game Reserve. The Khwai River flows through this concession, the first major water source that animals migrating down from the Linyanti concession encounter. You ll find Khwai has sweeping grasslands, mopane forests, riverine forests, and riparian floodplains. The flood plains overflow most of the year and create lagoons covered in day and night lilies. In total, Khwai is the part of Botswana that proves itself to be one of the best places for a safari in Africa; such a diversity of ecosystems brings a wonderful mix of animal viewing. You should have sightings of wildebeest, zebra, kudu, tsessebe, and elephants. There are stable populations of large predators like lion, cheetah, spotted hyena, and even some African wild dogs. From time to time you can also see leopard. This is also a good area to see roan and sable antelope. Photo credit: Charles Sharbel

5 DAYS 6, 7 & 8 YOUNG EXPLORERS CAMP OKAVANGO DELTA EXPERIENCES Walking safari Wildlife viewing Mokoro safari Fishing Traditional crafts WILDLIFE ENCOUNTERS Elephant Hippo Lion Cheetah Wild dog Giraffe Zebra Tsessebe Impala Warthog INCLUDED Breakfast Lunch Dinner Alcohol & Beverages Laundry For the next three days, your family is going away to summer camp. Welcome to Young Explorers, a camp whose ethos is delivering more memorable experiences through immersive wildlife tracking and bush learning opportunities. For the duration of your stay, you have the camp entirely to yourself, complete with two professional guides and a mokoro guide. Before setting off on your first walking safari, your guides will teach the family the safety rules. Young campers learn tracking skills as well as traditional craft basics. They can create jewelry and simple tools. Using the traditional dugout canoe of the area the mokoro your family explores the nearby wetland and Okavango waterways. (If you are especially quiet, you may spot the elusive sitatunga, an antelope so perfectly water-adapted, they are capable of hiding completely underwater with only their nostrils left above the surface.) Later, try your angling skills Okavango-style, either along the banks of the lagoons and channels or, for the more adventurous, from a mokoro. Learn how to catch, handle and release a fish correctly, ensuring you do it no harm. The cooks may choose to keep a few for dinner, in which case be ready to Photo credit: Charles Sharbel

6 DAY 9 & 10 KALAHARI PLAINS CAMP CENTRAL KALAHARI GAME RESERVE When you leave the Okavango Delta for the Kalahari Desert, the adventure kicks up two more notches. You are encountering the world-famous Kalahari black-maned lions, the legendary San Bushmen, great cheetah viewing and quite possible the best star gazing without a telescope this side of a NASA observatory. Set in a remote part of a diverse region in Africa, the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Kalahari Plains Camp offers some of the best summer wildlife viewing opportunities in Africa. This reserve is the largest conservation area in Botswana. The camp is set on flat grasslands and vegetated dunes, at times teeming with a multitude of antelope species and the large predators they attract. After sunset, the Kalahari is alive with the sounds of roaring lion, white-faced scops-owls and the calls of barking geckos. Settle in for the evening by sleeping out under the starry skies of the Kalahari while listening to the animal sounds all around every unit has a star bed of its own. Photo credit: Wilderness Safaris INCLUDED Breakfast Lunch Dinner Alcohol & Beverages Laundry EXPERIENCES Wildlife viewing Bushman walk Star bed Star gazing WILDLIFE ENCOUNTERS Lion (Kalahari lion) Cheetah Brown hyena Leopard Honey badger Black-backed jackal Bat-eared fox Meerkats Wide variety of antelope: springbok, gemsbok, red hartebeest, eland, wildebeest More than 220 bird species

7 DAY 11 INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL BUSH FLIGHT TO MAUN Departs: Arrives: INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT #1 Departs: TBD Arrives: TBD INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT #2 Departs: TBD Arrives: TBD Photo credit: Wilderness Safaris

8 CONSERVATION DAY X CAMP PARK AND COMMUNITY INITIATIVES TRAVEL FOR IMPACT TRAVEL FOR IMPACT Botswana-based Travel for Impact aims to bridge the gap between the tourism sector and civil society, allowing visitors and tourism companies to give back to the communities hosting them. This is responsible tourism. The organization believes that conservation and development start with people and communities, so Travel for Impact has created a channel for travelers and safari companies to support myriad community projects they ve initiated. Deeper Africa supports Travel for Impact by making a per-night/perbed contribution to the organization on behalf of all our travelers. If you d like to do something more, talk to us. Some travelers have packed gently used scarves, gloves and knit hats to donate to a Travel for Impact community effort called AGLOW - Polokong. Established several years ago, it assists the elderly disadvantaged in Maun who no longer have family to care for them. AGLOW provides food and care for the elderly throughout Maun, making house visits and spending time with them. When the weather turns colder, your donated items are critical to and very appreciated by those that receive them. There are many other projects that can use your help. Photo credit: Travel for Impact

9 ADDITIONAL SAFARI INFORMATION INCLUDED IN YOUR SAFARI Full board accommodations in all lodges and tented camps All meals as specified in itinerary All park and entrance fees Wildlife viewing in 4x4 Land Cruisers Experienced and professional safari naturalist guides Natural Learning Program All in-country transportation Enrollment with SATIB Evacuation Service Laundry Alcohol & Beverages Beverages in your 4x4 safari vehicle Bottled water available at all times Extensive pre-departure briefing and materials including health information, reading list, and map EXCLUDED FROM YOUR SAFARI Gratuities We plan your wildlife adventures in areas where wildlife habitats are known to exist for the season and time you are traveling. Still, animals in the areas you are viewing are not in a zoo. They run freely, and we cannot always anticipate their movements. Also, Deeper Africa uses best efforts to provide the lodging set out in this itinerary, but occasionally there are circumstances that occur in Africa that require lodging substitutions. We reserve the right to make comparable lodging substitutions whenever necessary CUSTOM PRICING & DEPARTURES March $9,999 USD per person Child under 7-11 years: $6,899 USD per person April & May $10,999 USD per person Child under 7-11 years: $7,399 USD per person June $11,599 USD per person Child under 7-11 years: $7,399 USD per person July, August, September & October $11,999 USD per person Child under 7-11 years: $7,999 USD per person November $10,999 USD per person 2018 pricing $9,999 - $11,999 (Adult) $6,899 - $7,999 (Child) Child under 7-11 years: $7,299 USD per person Best Value All pricing is in US dollars. All arrivals and departures are through Maun, Botswana. Prices do not include international airfare. All itineraries and prices are subject to change Manhattan Circle, Suite 202 Boulder, Colorado fx family safaris