This ultimate safari and island journey is for a seriously special occasion - a honeymoon, major birthday milestone, retirement or perhaps just because you really would like to spoil yourself!
It takes you around the very finest safari camps in the very best areas of Botswana to North Island in the Seychelles, which is frequently talked about as the worlds most incredible and unique destination. It starts in Johannesburg and ends in Mahe in the Seychelles, our price includes all the flights in between - some of these will be spectacular helicopter transfers.
Days 1 & 2
You will depart Johannesburg International Airport on Air Botswana for Maun. On arrival in Maun you will be met by your pilot who will take you to your light aircraft for your flight to Kings Pool camp. Kings Pool is the premier camp of the Linyanti and Chobe region of Botswana and you will stay here for two nights.
Kings Pool is an incredibly luxurious camp overlooking the Kings Pool Lagoon and the Linyanti River in the private 275,000 acre Linyanti Game Reserve. Accommodation is in nine fantastically designed and furnished rooms of canvas and thatch. Each room has a large bedroom area, lounge, private plunge pool and outdoor sala. The lounge, dining room and bar are under thatch and there is a swimming pool and an open-air boma for dining under the stars.
The Linyanti area is known for its high concentration of predators and large herds of elephant and buffalo, especially in the dryer, hotter end of the dry season. Activities include day and night game drives, walks and, water levels permitting, boating along the Linyanti River and fishing. There are a couple of awesome "hides" from where spectacular game viewing is possible.
Days 3, 4 & 5
Following an outstanding brunch your guide will drive you to the Kings Pool airstrip where your light aircraft will take you to Abu Camp on the western side of the Okavango Delta in a private 500,000 acre concession. Botswana’s Okavango Delta is one of the most incredible natural wonders of the world, you will be flying over 16,000 square kilometres of pristine wilderness, waterways and palm islands - your flight to Abu Camp will be truly awe-inspiring!
This luxurious premier camp consists of only six custom built, stunningly furnished canvas "tents" with ball and claw copper baths and matching showers and double copper basins. Each is constructed on raised decks and faces west overlooking a stunning lagoon teeming with birds and animal life. The setting of Abu Camp is one of the most beautiful in all of Africa.
Guests at Abu Camp are invited to share with the resident elephant family what is, without doubt, the ultimate elephant education safari. This elephant experience offers many magical moments including interacting with the resident herd of eight elephants by riding or walking with them, as well as with the herds of wildlife in the Okavango Delta area. In May 2006, a new baby elephant was born into the Abu herd. The whole elephant safari experience at Abu Camp is a totally unique and incredibly special one.
Other activities on offer at Abu Camp are day and night drives, mokoros, speed boating, fishing and walking.
As this is a fixed departure three night safari with no guests coming or going through the safari you are assured an incredibly intimate experience. The Ultimate House Party. Abu Camp is also renowned for its exceptional food and wine cellar.
Days 6, 7 & 8
After bidding the elephants and their handler’s farewell you will have brunch before your guide takes you back to the airstrip for your onward flight to Mombo Camp. Here your guide will meet you and game drive you back to camp. Mombo Camp is a premier camp situated on Mombo Island within the Moremi Game Reserve of the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana.
Mombo Camp has nine very luxuriously furnished tents, raised off the ground. The guests' rooms and connecting walkways are up to two metres off the ground, allowing game to wander freely through the camp while at the same time allowing for guest safety. One often finds that animals take refuge under the rooms.
The camp offers abundant big game safari viewing, arguably the best in Botswana. The highlight is the concentration of plains game and all the predators - including the big cats. Lion sightings are particularly good. Guests can also see leopard, large herds of buffalo, cheetah, wild dog, elephant, hyena, giraffe, wildebeest and zebra. Black and white rhino have been reintroduced to this area of the Okavango with outstanding success thanks to the Botswana Rhino Reintroduction Programme.
Days 9 & 10
After brunch your guide will transfer you to the airstrip for your flight down to the Makgadikgadi Pans on the edge of Botswana’s Kalahari Desert. This is a spectacular flight as it leaves the waterways of the Okavango Delta, flies over Kalahari grassland savannah and finally "The Pans".
"The Pans" area is a little over 38,000 square kilometres of nothing; an area almost the size of Switzerland of absolutely nothing…. but it is truly an awe inspiring experience. Your home here for two nights is Jacks Camp.
Jacks Camp’s ten roomy and stylish canvas tents have en-suite bathrooms and indoor and outdoor showers for those who want to feel the Kalahari breeze on their skin. The tents are set into a palm grove creating an oasis of civilisation in what can be the harshest of stark environments. Persian rugs underfoot and cool cotton sheets form a striking contrast with the rugged wilderness viewed from the comfort of one's own veranda. The camp's hub, a romantic canvas pavilion is where everyone meets for lavish and elegant meals at a long communal dining table.
On "The Pans" remote archaeological sites can be found, periodically discovering never-before-documented fossil beds of extinct giant zebra and hippo. The fact that you can travel across the pans at great speed on a quad bike and still arrive nowhere only underlines the pan's immensity. Botswana’s Kalahari Desert is its own universe.
A safari to Jacks Camp is also a complete desert experience, focusing on species unique to the area such as aardvark, gemsbok and springbok. It is the only place where guests are virtually guaranteed to see the rare and elusive brown hyena and are able to walk through Botswana’s Kalahari with a gang of habituated, yet wild meerkats.
Day 11
After an excellent brunch your guide will take you back to Jacks Camp airstrip for your light aircraft transfer back to Maun. Here you will take the Air Botswana flight back to Johannesburg where you will connect with your overnight flight to Mahe in the Seychelles via Nairobi.
Days 12 to 18
You will be met off your flight into Mahe in the Seychelles and taken to your helicopter which awaits to whisk you off to the North Island.
You will spend one week on North Island. This deeply private luxury lodge is streets ahead of the game in capturing the essence of "barefoot luxury". It has been described as "a truly sublime vision of castaway heaven" and has won many world class accolades.
There are only 11 ultra luxurious, vast 450 square metres-plus open fronted villas looking out onto powder white sand beaches. North Island is undoubtedly a new breed of destination where attention to detail, respect for space and a truly personalised experience are paramount to creating a unique, once-in-a-lifetime holiday experience.
Activities at North Island include mountain biking, gym, guided walks, snorkelling, fishing, boating, sea kayaking, and scuba diving (all diving and PADI courses included in the price). There is also a world class spa.
Day 19
This morning your helicopter will whisk you the 15 minutes back to Mahe.
19 Days from £17,999 per person.