$9495
February 29 - March 13, 2012

  Jim's 2012 Botswana Safari starting in Cape Town captures the best game viewing Botswana has to offer and begins with three days of jam-packed sightseeing in Cape Town, one of the most beautiful cities in the world!

Jim's deep love of Cape Town will introduce you to its vibrant contemporary culture while examining its long and turbulent history. You'll visit everything of importance in this beautiful part of Africa, including the Cape Point and impressive winelands.

Botswana is roughly the same distance south of the equator as much of central India is north of the equator, and the two area interior climates have very similar seasons. The "winter" is comfortable, mild and very dry, and experiences about 9-10 hours of daylight. The "summer" is very hot, very wet and has about 14-15 hours of daylight. The problem is that animals like the summer.

The summer is when the great herds of springbok, zebra and gemsbok fill the Botswana plains eating the succulent grasses and calving. In winter the animals have dispersed into woodlands which have dropped all their leaves.

This safari will operate at the end of Botswana's summer when daytime temperatures have fallen into the upper 80s and when a typical week of thunderstorming every day has reduced to only several days in the week. The great herds should still be on the grasslands; the youngsters now several months old; there may still be lingering bird migrants lifting avifauna counts to high levels, the Delta will still be in wonderful bloom, and the bottom line is that the overall safari experience will be much better than during Botswana's bleak winter.

This itinerary hits all the incredible variations in Botswana wilderness from the Kalahari Desert, to the spectacular Nxai Pan, through the Okavango Delta and Moremi to the far north wetlands which create the great Chobe River.

This safari is not for everyone. It will be as hot as Kenya in October or Egypt in September. It will be as humid as New Orleans or Houston in May. But the numbers and variety of animals and birds, and the spectacles and colors of the blooming Delta will be significantly greater than a Botswana safari during its winter. This is Botswana at its best!

And for those of you who have not yet seen Africa's greatest natural wonder, this is the perfect time to visit Victoria Falls. We'll be happy to work with you for a great independent extension.

The prices include: ** Jim Heck guiding the safari from start to finish; ** Guiding by Jim Heck from start to finish; ** Professionally-trained, English-speaking driver/guides with each vehicle; ** Meals as detailed in brackets following each day's description below; ** All park entrance fees, VAT and other government taxes; ** five charter flights within Botswana; ** Comprehensive pre-trip material with discount coupons for travel gear and equipment. Additional expenses not included: - Meals not included; - Some beverages; - All commercial flights; - Requisite visas and other travel preparations like inoculations; - Tipping.

Contact EWT for the best international air fares and for recommendations on how to use your frequent flyer miles.

Sunday, March 4
The greatest animal migration in Botswana is composed of zebra, searching restlessly for grasses just as the great wildebeest do in East Africa. Of course anything in the wild is unpredictable, but under normal circumstances, this should be the height of the "great zebra" migration, best seen right here in Nxai Pan. And Botswana's lions are much more nomadic and travel much greater distances than elsewhere in Africa, and so the lions are likely to be at their greatest densities, too. Game viewing, meals and overnight in Nxai Pan Camp.  [b-l-d]

Saturday, March 3
Morning flights to Maun, Botswana. (These flights are a part of your international air itinerary and not included in the safari cost.) Following arrival in the central Botswana town of Maun charter aircraft will take us to Nxai Pan Camp for lunch. In the afternoon we begin game viewing in Nxai Pan National Park this unique wilderness which at this time of the year should have thousands of zebra and springbok.  [b-l-d]

Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Whenever you arrive Cape Town, you'll be personally met and privately transferred to the Victoria & Alfred Hotel in the bustling Victoria & Alfred Waterfront area. The hotel is perfectly situated to enjoy Cape Town's finest entertainment, shopping and dining attractions.

Jim plans a full day of touring, today, starting at 10 a.m. so if your flight is unable to arrive early enough, then we'll be happy to arrange for you to check-in Tuesday, on February 28. Today Jim introduces you to the city, to Table Mountain, and the city's many wonderful museums including District 6 and Bo-Kaap. Jim's contacts include special guides who lived through and survived apartheid and will actually walk us around their old (and now new) neighborhoods. Jim then walks you down the Company Gardens, which is not just steeped in South African history, but literally the basis for it all! The evening is free.  [no meals]

  

Thursday, March 1
Today Jim takes you on a beautiful drive into the Cape Peninsula. You'll visit the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens as a primer for all the important, beautiful and exotic plants found in the Cape. Continue to Groot Constantia, the first great wine farm in South Africa, then Simon's Town to view the penguin colony before entering the national park for your first sightings of wild animals! At the meeting of the waters at Cape Point, you'll take a funicular to the furthest southern place in Africa! And the day ends on what many consider the most spectacular drive in Africa, along Chapman's Peak back into the city. Overnight at the Victoria & Alfred Hotel  [b- - ]

  

Friday, March 2
Today you visit the Cape's world famous winelands. At least two of South Africa's most famous wineries will be visited, and tasting of their premium wines is included. There will be time to visit the museums of Stellenbosch and Paarl where so much of early South Africa began. At the end of the day the group travels back to the Cape Town airport for dinner flights to Johannesburg with accommodations included tonight at the Johannesburg airport.  [b- - ]

  

  

Tuesday, March 6
Morning flights into one of the most unique wildernesses on earth, the Kalahari Desert close to the world-famous Deception Valley. Check into Tau Pan Camp before afternoon game viewing. This is the only lodge in this area twice the size of Massachusetts! Dinner and overnight in camp.  [b-l-d]

  

  

Monday, March 5
Located near the famous "Baines Baobabs", the area is one of the most beautiful in Botswana and at this time of the year, one of the best for game viewing. Drives are taken in the camp's open Landrovers. Activities, meals and overnight at Nxai Pan Camp.  [b-l-d]

Wednesday, March 7
During our stay in Tau we are likely to be entertained by short-lived breathtaking thunderstorms and crystal clear night skies. The camp is located in a perfect position for finding the great migratory herds of zebra and springbok on the pan's grasslands. Game viewing is in the camp's open Landrovers. Meals and overnight in Tau Pan Camp.  [b-l-d]

  

Thursday, March 8
After breakfast we fly into the Okavango Delta, the most unique ecosystem in Africa. Check-in to Kwara Camp before afternoon activities on the Delta in a mokoro. This is one of the most beautiful times of the year for the Delta, with giant lily flowers and brilliantly colored insects. Hippos, elephant, and the intriguing and rare sitatunga may be seen. Meals and overnight in camp.  [b-l-d]

  

  

Friday, March 9
The camp is located on a private reserve adjacent the great Moremi Game Reserve and in camp vehicles we'll game view at the swamps edge for elephant and hippo then explore the woodlands for rare and beautiful antelope like the sable and roan. Meals and overnight in Kwara Camp.  [b-l-d]

Saturday, March 10
We continue further north by plane this morning to the very border with Namibia. Check-in to Lebala Camp for lunch. Game viewing activities here are by boat and vehicle as this is where the rivers which feed the Okavango begin to seep into the savannah. The remarkable ecosystem is called the Linyanti Wetlands and the game is exceptional. We'll expect to find some of Africa's most aggressive elephant. Dinner and overnight in camp.  [b-l-d]

  

Sunday, March 11
Lagoon camp at this time of the year is immersed in big game, but it is the wild dogs for which it is most famous. Every year since the camp's founding more than a decade ago, a pack of wild dogs has denned within site of camp and is growing increasingly habituated. Activities, meals and overnight in Lebala Camp.  [b-l-d]

  

  

Monday, March 12
This is a great place to end a magnificent game viewing program in Botswana. Almost all the big game is found here. Among the great variety of antelope species found at Lagoon are the endangered Sable and Roan. Large families of elephant drink almost daily at the river bank in front of the camp, in full view of the guests. And the lions of Kwando are famous for their elephant, hippo and buffalo kills. Activities, meals and overnight in Lebala Camp.  [b-l-d]

Tuesday, March 13
After breakfast charters take us to the northern outpost town of Kasane, where you can pick up an international flight to Johannesburg that will connect this evening to Europe or North America.

Click here to read the details of an extension to Victoria Falls.  [b- - ]