Guided journey

Johannesburg and Botswana.

Water and elephants. Three nights in the Okavango Delta, reached by light aircraft and explored by mokoro, on foot and by open vehicle, then two nights on the Chobe River, where the safari is done from a boat. A night in Johannesburg at each end keeps the flights simple.

Ask about this journey or write to enquiries@vdoafrica.com

Aerial view of channels and green wetland in the Okavango Delta

days: 8
nights: 7
stops: 4

As set out in VDO’s own journey outline of 6 October 2026.

At a glance.

Style: Guided, with a private English speaking guide on touring days
Where: Johannesburg, Okavango Delta and Chobe
When to go: June to October. The Delta flood is highest from June to August, and Chobe’s elephants crowd the river as the dry season goes on. From November to March it is hot and wet, some water activities stop and some camps close.
Suits: Travellers who have been on safari before and want the wilder version, photographers and honeymooners. Not for anyone uneasy in small aircraft.

What it is remembered for

The Okavango from a light aircraft, then from a mokoro at water level.
A boat on the Chobe River at sunset, where elephants often come down to drink and swim in the dry season.
A dawn drive off the road, with a guide who is following tracks.

The route.

4 stops, in order.

JohannesburgCity. 1 night.
Okavango DeltaSafari. 3 nights.
ChobeSafari. 2 nights.
JohannesburgCity. 1 night.

Day by day.

Breakfast is daily from the first morning. Other meals are included only where a day shows them. Travel times are approximate.

Day1 Arrive JohannesburgJohannesburg.
Travel: private transfer from the airport, about 30 minutes.

Morning. Met at arrivals and driven to Houghton, one of the old garden suburbs, where the streets run under tall trees.

Afternoon. Rest. Long flights land here and tomorrow you fly again. The garden is quiet and the pool is yours.

Evening. A welcome dinner, and a briefing on the days ahead.
Included
Private airport transfer.
Welcome dinner.
Stay
A boutique hotel in Houghton, Johannesburg.
Meals
Dinner.
Day2 Fly to Maun and into the DeltaJohannesburg to the Okavango Delta.
Travel: a flight of about one hour and 40 minutes to Maun, then about 20 minutes by light aircraft to your camp’s airstrip.

Morning. Back to the airport for the late morning flight north, across the Kalahari.

Afternoon. At Maun you change to a small plane, and this flight is part of the safari. The Delta opens below you: channels, islands, palm trees, elephants the size of ants. Your guide is waiting at the airstrip. By four you are out on the water or on a first drive.

Evening. Dinner in camp by lantern light, with hippos calling from the lagoon.
Included
Private transfer to the airport.
Light aircraft flight from Maun to camp.
Afternoon activity with your camp guide.
Dinner in camp.
Worth knowing
Pack in a soft bag. Light aircraft have a strict weight limit and no room for hard cases.
Not included
The flight from Johannesburg to Maun.
Stay
A classic tented camp in the Okavango Delta, with comfort: a proper bed, your own bathroom and a deck over the floodplain.
Meals
Breakfast, dinner.
Day3 The Delta by waterThe Okavango Delta.
Morning. A mokoro: a slim canoe poled by a guide who grew up on these channels. You sit at water level among the lilies while reed frogs and kingfishers go about their morning, and sometimes elephants cross ahead of you. Then a walk on an island, reading tracks.

Afternoon. Lunch and a siesta through the heat. At four, your first proper game drive across the floodplains, in search of red lechwe, buffalo and giraffe, and the lions and leopards that follow them.

Evening. Drinks at the fire, then dinner. The camp is unfenced, so a guide walks you to your tent.
Included
Mokoro excursion.
Guided island walk.
Afternoon game drive.
All meals in camp.
Worth knowing
Mokoro trips depend on water. The flood is highest from June to August, and most camps pole from about May to September. Outside those months the day moves onto land.
Stay
As day 2.
Meals
Breakfast, lunch, dinner.
Day4 The Delta by landThe Okavango Delta.
Morning. Out at first light in an open vehicle. This is predator time: your guide follows tracks and alarm calls, and in a private concession can leave the road to stay with a leopard or a pack of wild dog.

Afternoon. Back on the water by boat or mokoro for the last of the light, or out on foot with an armed guide.

Evening. A last dinner in camp, and a drive home with a spotlight for the owls and the small cats.
Included
Morning game drive.
Afternoon water activity or walk.
Night drive.
All meals in camp.
Stay
As day 2.
Meals
Breakfast, lunch, dinner.
Day5 To ChobeThe Okavango Delta to Chobe.
Travel: about one and a half hours by light aircraft, from the camp airstrip to Kasane.

Morning. A last early activity if the flight allows, then back up over the Delta. North of the water the land dries into woodland, and then the Chobe River appears.

Afternoon. Kasane, and a lodge on the river bank. At three you are on a boat. In the dry season elephants often come down to the Chobe in their hundreds to drink and swim, and a boat is the way to be near them when they do.

Evening. Sunset on the river, then dinner at the lodge.
Included
Light aircraft flight from camp to Kasane.
Airport transfers in Kasane.
Afternoon boat cruise.
Park fees.
Dinner.
Stay
A lodge on the Chobe River at Kasane.
Meals
Breakfast, dinner.
Day6 Chobe by land and by riverChobe.
Morning. Into Chobe National Park at first light, along the river front. Lion and leopard hunt this strip, buffalo come down in herds of hundreds, and there are more elephant here than almost anywhere in Africa. Which of them shows itself is the morning’s luck.

Afternoon. Lunch and the heat of the day at the lodge. Then back onto the water in a small boat. From the river you are at eye level with whatever comes down to drink, very often elephants, and you can drift where a vehicle cannot go.

Evening. Sunset on the river, then dinner at the lodge.
Included
Morning game drive in Chobe National Park.
Afternoon boat cruise.
Park fees.
Dinner.
Stay
As day 5.
Meals
Breakfast, dinner.
Day7 Back to JohannesburgChobe to Johannesburg.
Travel: a direct flight of about one hour and 40 minutes, then about 30 minutes by road.

Morning. The flight leaves in the early afternoon, so the morning is yours: one more game drive, or coffee on the deck watching the river.

Afternoon. Fly south to Johannesburg, and back to the garden in Houghton.

Evening. A farewell dinner.
Included
Private transfers.
Farewell dinner.
Not included
The flight from Kasane to Johannesburg.
Stay
A boutique hotel in Houghton, Johannesburg.
Meals
Breakfast, dinner.
Day8 DepartJohannesburg.
Travel: private transfer to the airport, about 30 minutes.

Morning. If your flight is late, Soweto first: Vilakazi Street and the Hector Pieterson Memorial.
Included
Private transfer to the airport.
Meals
Breakfast.

Take it whole, or in parts.

This journey is built in parts that follow one another. Take the whole journey, or a run of parts that suits your client.

A night in JohannesburgLand, rest and meet your guide before the flight north. Day 1.
Three nights in the Okavango DeltaBy light aircraft into the Delta, then mokoro, walks and game drives from a tented camp. Days 2 to 4.
Two nights on the Chobe RiverA boat on the Chobe at sunset, where elephants often come down to drink, and the river front of Chobe National Park at first light. Days 5 to 6.
A last night in JohannesburgThe flight south, a farewell dinner, and Soweto before you leave if there is time. Days 7 to 8.

Take the whole journey, or any parts that follow one another, starting where you may join and ending where you may leave. If you start in the middle, be at the starting place by the hour we give you. A night before can be added.

What is included.

Included

Private airport transfers and a private vehicle throughout.
A private English speaking guide on touring days.
Hotels and lodges, with breakfast daily and the lunches and dinners named in the plan.
Entrance and park fees for everything marked included.

Not included

International and domestic flights, unless a day says otherwise.
Travel insurance, visas and tips.
Drinks, and meals not named in the plan.
Anything marked optional.
On self drive tours: fuel, tolls and entrance fees paid on the day.

Good to know.

Elephant, buffalo, lion and leopard are here in numbers but rhino are not realistically seen in the Okavango or Chobe, so this is four of the Big Five. Malaria area: speak to your doctor before travel.
Stays are described by style and place.
Travel times are approximate driving or flying times without stops, rounded up.
Flights are not included unless a day says so. Scheduled flights change by season: the days and times are checked for each journey.
The Kruger and northern Botswana are malaria areas, and Etosha carries a seasonal risk. Speak to your doctor before travel. The Cape, the Karoo and the Garden Route are free of malaria, and in Windhoek, the Namib and on the Namibian coast the risk is very low.
Wildlife is wild. Each tour says plainly what its reserve holds, and no sighting is ever promised.

What happens next.

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