9-Nights Botswana's Timeless Wilderness from $22,800

Day 1 - En route

We begin our adventure as we wing to South Africa.

Day 2 - Johannesburg

After arriving at O. R. Tambo International, we’ll be escorted to the Saxon Boutique Hotel 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. Tonight, we’ll also enjoy dinner at the home of Micato family friends.

Days 3 & 4 - The Northern Okavango Delta

Our base in the miraculous Delta is the secluded, beautifully shaded Kadizora Camp. Intimate and lovingly fashioned, Kadiroza has many charms: unflashy luxury, great dining, extraordinarily well-designed tents (and we think its large fire pit is a near-matchless place to watch Africa’s piercingly expressive stars).

Among the camps in the Delta that offer optional hot air ballooning, Kadizora is notable for its variety of game-viewing experiences, from canoeing in the Delta’s serene waterways, to guided walking safaris, to four-wheel drive excursions in the neighboring plains. 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 - The Southeastern Okavango

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 - Moremi Wildlife Reserve

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, not to be outdone by Chobe, Moremi 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

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.

Days 11 & 12 - Johannesburg & onward

We fly from Livingstone to Johannesburg, and on to a day room in the InterContinental at Johannesburg’s airport, and connect with our inter national flight home, arriving on Day 12.