9-Nights Ultimate Botswana Safari - Small Group Journeys from $12,495

1 Arrive Johannesburg, South Africa

An energetic urban hub for finance with a dynamic arts scene and on-trend café culture, Johannesburg is your journey’s jumping-off point. Start with a gourmet welcome dinner and enjoy tips from a pro photographer on nailing great game shots.

Fly to Livingstone in Zambia, where elephants, hippos and other iconic African species roam. Journey overland to settle into your luxurious tree house lodge. As the sky dims, cruise the Zambezi River, sipping cocktails and taking in the wild night.

This morning, enjoy one of these Design Your Day activities.

• Venture Up Close to Rhinos during a game drive in Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park, visiting the giants on foot.
• Set Out on a Walking Safari to experience and better understand Africa’s wildlife, bush country and ecosystems.
• Visit The Livingstone Museum, Zambia’s oldest and largest museum, and learn more about the country’s history and heritage.

Tour Nakatindi Village with a local village guide and visit community projects supported by A&K Philanthropy, including a women-owned bike shop, locally owned glass bead-making operation, school and medical clinic. Tonight promises a chef’s demonstration of traditional Zambian fare, followed by dinner.

Drive to Zimbabwe, with its rolling highveld landscapes, to join your private guide on an awe-inspiring exploration of Victoria Falls. Its cascades plummet over 350 feet to cast up the mist that inspired their original name, Mosi-oa- Tunya (The Smoke That Thunders). After lunch at a local restaurant, continue to your lodge just outside Botswana’s Chobe National Park, taking in panoramic views across the islands and floodplains of the Chobe River. Later, set out on a river cruise or game drive that includes the opportunity to see elephants — some 120,000 live in the park — along with impala, buffalo and possibly lions. Gather for an A&K-exclusive cultural experience with a local dance group.

From the floodplains of the Okavango Delta to the woodlands of Chobe National Park, Botswana’s diverse habitats provide the perfect settings for extraordinary safari excursions. A sunrise game drive catches the animals at their most-active time of day while a Chobe River safari cruise ushers you into the realm of crocodiles, hippos and the elephants that come down to drink and play in the water. The park’s beautiful wetlands also lure a wealth of birdlife to the region, and you may glimpse many of the 460 species.

Fly to a vast private concession in the Okavango Delta, the largest inland delta in the world. A watery haven spread across more than a million acres of permanent swamp and seasonally flooded plains, the Okavango Delta is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that attracts countless animals from throughout Southern Africa to its thriving ecosystem. The afternoon is yours to enjoy at leisure with a choice of activities, such as a seasonal ride by mokoro (dugout canoe) or a nighttime game-viewing drive.

Continue exploring the teeming delta on guided morning and afternoon game drives in a customized 4x4 vehicle. You may opt to safari on foot, taking a bush walk with an armed, expert guide instead of a drive.

Fly over the Okavango Delta by helicopter to your next amazing safari camp, the panorama of the delta spread out before you. Widely acknowledged as the “Predator Capital of Africa,” this is one of the best places in Botswana to see big game — lions, leopards, elephants and Cape buffalo — drawn here by the lush delta. Cheetahs and spotted hyenas also make the scene. View game with your experienced guides or watch life unfold from your private viewing deck.

Great predators, including rare wild dogs, as well as elephants, buffalo, red lechwe, giraffes and impala roam the Okavango Delta, as you discover on an early morning game drive. Listen for roaring lions on the hunt or spy nocturnal animals as they start out for the night on your choice of game drives. Back in camp, gather for a farewell dinner beneath African skies.

Fly to Johannesburg for your flight home. Relax in the Premier Lounge, compliments of A&K, before your departure flight or starting your Post-Tour Extension to Cape Town.