The perfect safari holiday in Botswana for a family with younger children.

We recently arranged this superb safari holiday for a family of four from Kent. We chose small, very well run camps with an adventurous feel in beautiful scenic settings combining comfortable family accommodation with excellent guiding and a great diversity of wildlife and fascinating smaller creatures. The camps were also chosen for the interesting activities – which included open vehicle game drives, walking, boating and canoeing.

Day 1

Depart at 1800 to Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport.

Days 2 to 4

Arrive at 0725 and connect to Maun.  On arrival at 1150 you will be met and transferred fifty minutes by light aircraft to Lagoon Camp where you stay for three nights (inclusive of meals and activities).  During your time here you will have a private guide.

Lagoon Camp is located on the largest private game viewing reserve in Botswana – the Kwando Concession, which extends for 2320km² and which has a private river frontage along the Kwando River extending for eighty kilometres. Only two camps share this immense area of prime game viewing country – Lagoon Camp and its sister camp, Lebala, which lies thirty five kilometres to the south. The Concession encompasses part of the Linyanti and Kwando River systems which includes slow flowing rivers and big lagoons leading on to areas of rich forest, ebony, marula and sausage trees. Further afield are great expanses of open grassland dotted with baobab trees with isolated waterholes.

This huge area of land supports large numbers of animals including large herds of elephant and buffalo, a wide variety of antelope including water-adapted species such as tsessebe and endangered species like roan and sable, as well as giraffe and other plains game. This is also a particularly good area for seeing predators and lion are very much in evidence, as well as leopard and cheetah. Packs of wild dog have also denned in the area for the last eight years running.

Lagoon Camp is set on private land so you can enjoy the widest range of game viewing options, including drives by open vehicle during the day and at night, when a spotlight is used to see nocturnal creatures.  You can also enjoy walking at the discretion of the guides. On these walks you are accompanied by a tracker as well as an armed guide, following the course of old elephant paths through the bush, walking along the river’s banks pausing regularly to look at tracks, to learn fascinating facts about plants and to admire birds and the beautiful scenery. You can also enjoy boat rides at Lagoon Camp on the Kwando River using the camp’s double-decker river boat, which is particularly good for bird watching and for watching animals as they come down to drink at sunset.

The accommodation is in eight huge tented rooms with king-size or twin beds, safari furniture, en-suite flush w.c, shower and hand basins with hot/cold running water, and fine views across the lagoon. The camp has an excellent staff of guides, is very well managed and the standard of cuisine is very good indeed.

Days 5 to 7

In the morning you will be returned to the airstrip where you board a light aircraft flight forty five minutes to Tau Pan Camp where you stay for three nights (inclusive of meals and activities).  During your time here you will have a private guide.

Tau Pan Camp is situated inside the world famous Central Kalahari Game Reserve right on the edge of the beautiful Tau Pan. 

“Kalahari” is derived from the Tswana word Kgala meaning “great thirst” – and it has vast areas covered by red sand without any permanent water. The Kalahari Desert is the largest sand basin in the world stretching 2500 km from the northern regions of South Africa through to Namibia/Angola and ending in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Central Kalahari Game Reserve is the largest game reserve in the world (52,800 km²) and for many years was closed to the public, hence it is known for being one of Africa’s last true wild areas.

The term ‘desert,’ is however not quite accurate when referring to the Kalahari; the region receives an annual rainfall of 60mm-175mm, too high to be classified as a true desert. The Kalahari’s vegetation consists mainly of grasses and acacias, as well as stunted thorn and scrub bush, and there are over 400 identified plant species present. About 1100 metres above sea level, the largely unchanging flat terrain is occasionally interrupted with gentle valleys, sand dunes and a large number of pans, which vary in size and complexity. These pans are invaluable to the wildlife as they supply them with nutrients from the salts and the grasses of the pans.

After the summer rains from December to March the Central Kalahari Game Reserve completely transforms as the blue sky fills with huge clouds, and the plains and pans burst with sweet grasses.  The Reserve gets the migratory animals such springbok, zebra and wildebeest in their thousands and is quite a sight to behold.  Predators abound with plentiful Lions – especially the famous Kalahari black-maned lion – cheetah, leopard and jackals. Brown hyenas and wild dogs are also found in the area.

Several species of antelopes make the trip to the sweet grasses of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve which include the eland, springbok, steenbok, gemsbok, hartebeest, kudu and duiker.  Honey badgers are regular visitors as well as ground squirrels and meerkats and many an hour can be wiled away watching these fascinating animals.

Bird life is aplenty with the world heaviest flying bird – the kori bustard being common as well as the black korhaan who continuously calls during the daytime. Ostrich are seen roaming free, usually in large flocks. All the sand grouse species identified in southern Africa live here from the bouble banded to the namaqua which are a sight to see in the mornings, when they flock to the waterholes in their thousands, to drink and bathe in the water holes.  Raptors from the most common pale-chanting goshawk to the rock kestrel, bateleurs and brown and tawny eagles are also seen regularly.       

Situated on an established sand ridge overlooking Tau Pan, the commands stunning views of the permanent Tau Pan water hole and the endless Kalahari horizon. Guests are accommodated in eight custom-built desert tents under thatch, while the main area consists of dining room, lounge area and a viewing deck. The camp will also offer facilities such as swimming pool, interpretation centre/library and curio shop.

Days 8 to 10

In the morning you will be returned to the airstrip where you board a light aircraft flight forty five minutes to Kwara Camp where you stay for three nights (inclusive of meals and activities).  During your time here you will have a private guide.

Kwara Camp sits in the heart of the Okavango Delta on a very large private area of land, which encompasses not only the open lagoons and shallow waterways of the Okavango, but also great expanses of savannah and forest leading to the Moremi Wildlife Reserve.  Altogether the Kwara Reserve measures 1750km² and the camp itself is hidden on a large wooded island with just eight huge tents set under a big shady canopy of trees. The view from each tent is excellent and encompasses the plains and lagoons of the delta and each has en-suite w.c. and shower, two wash basins and large bed with safari furniture and veranda.

The reserve has so many different types of habitat that you can expect to enjoy excellent game viewing here, including sightings of big herds of plains game such as zebra, wildebeest, a variety of antelope, giraffe and buffalo. The reserve also has resident prides of lion, as well as leopard and hyena and you can also expect to see a host of smaller creatures such as warthog, baboon and, on night drives, porcupine and civet cats. Elephants are also present in large numbers and you can spend hours watching these magnificent creatures, with their complex family structures, roaming the Okavango floodplains.

You can enjoy a wide variety of game viewing activities including traditional mokoro canoeing, boating, walks with an armed guide and tracker and drives by open vehicle during the day and at night. Because of this variety and flexibility we usually recommend a stay of at least three nights here.

Day 11

In the afternoon you will be returned to the airstrip where you board a light aircraft flight twenty minutes to Maun.  On arrival connect to Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport. On arrival connect onwards to London’s Heathrow Airport.

Day 12

Arrive at 0625 (local time).

If you are thinking of booking your dream family safari holiday give us a call, we would be delighted to assist you with designing your tailormade itinerary.