Zebra herd wading through shallow delta water

Private safari

14-Day Grand Botswana Private Safari: Delta, Linyanti, Savuti & Chobe

14 daysPrivate safariBotswanaIndividually quoted

Thirteen nights from a mokoro at dawn in the Delta to elephants crossing the Linyanti at dusk and a last boat trip on the Chobe.

Customize This Journey
Duration14 days · 13 nights
Best monthsMay–October
Comfort levelsLuxury · Ultra-Luxury
RouteMaun · Okavango Delta · Moremi Game Reserve · Linyanti, Selinda & Kwando · Savuti · Chobe Riverfront · Kasane
Best forReturning safari travelers, photographers and anyone with two weeks to see northern Botswana properly
Trip typePrivate safari

This 14-day Botswana safari itinerary threads five very different areas onto one light-aircraft route, from Maun in the south-west to Kasane in the north-east, without doubling back. A typical eight-day trip covers the Delta, Moremi and Chobe; the extra time here goes where shorter safaris rarely reach, the private Linyanti, Selinda and Kwando concessions and the Savuti Marsh in the heart of Chobe National Park.

It is also a lesson in how land rules shape a Botswana safari. At the Delta water camp and in the Linyanti, the concession holders set the rules, so night drives, walks and off-road tracking are usually possible. In Moremi, Savuti and on the Chobe riverfront, reserve and park regulations keep vehicles on the tracks and back in camp by dark, the trade for some of the country’s richest daytime game. Three nights at each of the first three camps and two at the last two keep the rhythm steady.

Why this route works

The route runs roughly south-west to north-east, so each flight is short and none retraces the last. It opens in the Okavango Delta, a brief hop from Maun, because a water camp makes a gentle first stop after the long trip from the US. Moremi Game Reserve is next door for concentrated predator viewing, and the Linyanti follows once you are fully in the rhythm, since its night drives and walks reward energy. Savuti and the Chobe riverfront each get two nights: both lie inside the national park, where activities stop at dusk, so two full days capture their best. Ending in Kasane gives you flights to Johannesburg, or Victoria Falls about 80 km away by road.

Itinerary

Day by Day

A suggested flow — every day can be reshaped around you.

  1. Aerial view over the winding channels and islands of the Okavango Delta

    Day 1 · Okavango Delta

    Maun to a Delta Water Camp

    Flight · MaunDelta water camp · about 20–45 minutes

    The scheduled flight from Johannesburg lands in Maun in about two hours, and a light aircraft is waiting for the last short leg into the Delta. Pilots often fly low enough for you to pick out elephants wading between islands and the pale tracks of hippo paths cut through the reeds. The water camp stands on stilts at the edge of a permanent channel. There is time to settle in, then a motorboat outing as the light softens, the first of many evenings on the water.

    • Light-aircraft flight into the Delta
    • Welcome and camp briefing
    • Evening motorboat outing
    Overnight
    Okavango Delta water camp
    Meals
    Lunch & dinner
  2. Day 2–3 · Okavango Delta

    The Delta at Water Level

    A mokoro puts your lens a few centimetres above the water, the angle photographers come here for: a malachite kingfisher on a reed, a lily trotter on a pad, an elephant’s reflection in a clear channel. Your poler reads the currents and hippo movements with a skill learned from childhood. Walks on the larger islands add tracks and termite mounds, and the motorboat reaches lagoons where African fish eagles and, with luck, Pel’s fishing owl hunt. The Delta is fed by rain that fell months earlier in the Angolan highlands, so the water here is often deepest in the driest months.

    • Mokoro excursions at dawn and dusk
    • Island walks with your guide
    • Motorboat trips to distant lagoons
    • Birding and low-angle photography
    Overnight
    Okavango Delta water camp
    Meals
    Breakfast, lunch & dinner
  3. Wetland channels of Moremi Game Reserve

    Day 4 · Moremi Game Reserve

    Into Moremi Game Reserve

    Flight · Delta water campMoremi (Chief’s Island or Xakanaxa) · about 20–30 minutes

    A short flight lands you in Moremi, either on Chief’s Island, once a royal hunting ground and added to the reserve in the 1970s, or among the Xakanaxa lagoons on its north-eastern side. Moremi was proclaimed in 1963 by the BaTawana people, one of the first reserves in Africa created by the local community. Your afternoon drive follows the tracks across open floodplain and through mopane and leadwood, and at Xakanaxa a boat trip on the lagoons is possible when water levels allow.

    • Short flight into Moremi
    • Afternoon game drive
    • Lagoon boat trip at Xakanaxa, water permitting
    Overnight
    Moremi Game Reserve
    Meals
    Breakfast, lunch & dinner
  4. Day 5–6 · Moremi Game Reserve

    Predator Days in Moremi

    Moremi is known for its lions, leopards and packs of African wild dogs, and for cheetah on the more open plains, though sightings always depend on the animals. Reserve rules keep drives on the tracks and within daylight hours, so the day has a clear shape: out at first light, a long morning following fresh spoor, a midday rest, then back out until sunset. At a private-lease camp you still share the tracks with very few vehicles, and a full-day outing with a picnic lunch lets your guide range further when the hunting is good.

    • Full-day or morning and afternoon drives
    • Bush picnic lunch
    • Predator tracking on the floodplains
    Overnight
    Moremi Game Reserve
    Meals
    Breakfast, lunch & dinner
  5. An African wild dog on the move — a Botswana wilderness signature

    Day 7 · Linyanti, Selinda & Kwando

    North to the Linyanti Concessions

    Flight · MoremiLinyanti concessions · about 40–60 minutes

    The flight north crosses the drier heart of northern Botswana to the Linyanti, Selinda and Kwando concessions, where the Kwando River spreads into swamps and lagoons on the Namibian border. Each concession covers well over a thousand square kilometres and hosts only a few small camps. The change of rules is immediate: after the afternoon drive, your guide switches on the spotlight and keeps going, looking for leopard, porcupine, genet and the chance of a lion hunt after dark.

    • Light-aircraft flight north
    • Afternoon game drive
    • First night drive
    Overnight
    Linyanti, Selinda & Kwando
    Meals
    Breakfast, lunch & dinner
  6. Day 8–9 · Linyanti, Selinda & Kwando

    Freedom of a Private Concession

    These are the days when concession rules pay off. Where the lease holder permits, your guide can leave the track to stay with wild dogs on the move, sometimes near their dens between about June and August, or position you for elephants crossing the river channels in the late afternoon, a scene that grows more dramatic as the dry season wears on. A morning walk slows everything down to tracks and birdsong. With so few guests on the land, a sighting can be yours alone for as long as you want to stay with it.

    • Day and night game drives
    • Off-road tracking where permitted
    • Optional morning walk
    • Elephant river crossings in the dry season
    Overnight
    Linyanti, Selinda & Kwando
    Meals
    Breakfast, lunch & dinner
  7. A male lion in warm evening light on the open savanna

    Day 10 · Savuti

    A Short Flight to Savuti

    Flight · LinyantiSavuti · about 20–30 minutes

    A short hop east brings you to Savuti, in the middle of Chobe National Park, a land of big skies, camelthorn trees and rocky outcrops rising from the sand. The Savuti Channel runs here from the Linyanti toward the Savuti Marsh, and over the past century it has dried up and flowed again several times, leaving skeletons of drowned trees along its bed. Your afternoon drive heads for the marsh, where resident lions and spotted hyenas keep a close eye on anything that comes to drink.

    • Light-aircraft transfer to Savuti
    • Afternoon drive to the marsh
    • Sundowners among the camelthorns
    Overnight
    Savuti
    Meals
    Breakfast, lunch & dinner
  8. Day 11 · Savuti

    Marsh, Channel and Resident Predators

    Savuti has no water-based activities and no night drives, since park rules apply, so the day is built around two long drives. Lions here have a reputation for tackling young elephants, and cheetah hunt the open grassland of the marsh, but it is the atmosphere that stays with people: the dust, the dead trees and the elephant bulls queuing at waterholes in the heat of the dry months. Ask your guide about the Mababe Depression to the south, once part of a vast ancient lake.

    • Morning drive on the Savuti Marsh
    • Midday rest at camp
    • Afternoon drive along the channel
    • Photography at waterholes
    Overnight
    Savuti
    Meals
    Breakfast, lunch & dinner
  9. Elephant herd on the Chobe riverfront floodplain

    Day 12 · Chobe Riverfront

    Kasane and the Chobe River

    Flight · SavutiKasane · about 45–60 minutes

    The last flight takes you north to Kasane, on the Chobe River where Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe almost meet. After lunch at your river-view lodge, the afternoon is spent on a boat. In the dry season, breeding herds of elephants come down to the river in their hundreds, drinking, mud-bathing and swimming to the islands, while buffalo graze the floodplain and hippos haul out on the banks. A photographic boat with swivel seats lets you shoot at water level.

    • Flight to Kasane
    • Afternoon Chobe River boat safari
    • Sunset over the Namibian floodplain
    Overnight
    Chobe Riverfront
    Meals
    Breakfast, lunch & dinner
  10. Day 13 · Chobe Riverfront

    Riverfront Drive, River Boat

    Start with an early drive along the riverfront to beat the busier mid-morning traffic from town; the sand tracks follow the floodplain past sable, puku and big buffalo herds, and lions often rest in the thickets. Chobe National Park counts more than 460 bird species, so carmine bee-eaters, rollers and kingfishers are rarely far from the lens. Return to the water in the afternoon, perhaps on a smaller private boat, for a last session with the elephants as they cross in golden light.

    • Early riverfront game drive
    • Midday at the lodge
    • Final afternoon on the Chobe River
    Overnight
    Chobe Riverfront
    Meals
    Breakfast, lunch & dinner
  11. Day 14 · Kasane

    Depart Kasane, or Continue to the Falls

    Flight · KasaneJohannesburg · about 1.75 hoursOr continue by road to Victoria Falls, about 1–1.5 hours plus border formalities

    Kasane’s airport is a short drive from the riverfront, with scheduled flights to Johannesburg for connections home. If you have more time, Victoria Falls is about 80 km away by road through the Kazungula border, and combining Botswana and Victoria Falls explains how two nights there round off the trip. Whichever way you leave, the final morning can include one last short outing on the river before breakfast.

    • Optional early river outing
    • Transfer to Kasane airport or the Zimbabwe border
    • Onward flight or road journey
    Meals
    Breakfast

Lodges

Where You’ll Stay

Choose a comfort level to see the stay style for each part of the journey. We match specific camps to your dates and availability.

Exclusive-use reserves and a handful of suites: privacy, space and complete flexibility.

  1. 3 nights · Okavango Delta water camp

    Luxury lodge deck with loungers and umbrellas at golden hourUltra-Luxury

    Okavango Delta · private concession

    Exclusive Floodplain Water Lodge

    Lodge

    • Suites with private plunge pools
    • Private guide and vehicle at many
    • Water and land activities by season
  2. 3 nights · Moremi — Chief's Island & the lagoons

    A canvas safari tent set among trees at a private tented campUltra-Luxury

    Moremi · Chief's Island

    Predator-Country Ultra Camp · Chief’s Island

    Tented camp

    • Suite-sized tents with plunge pools
    • Floodplain drives with very few other vehicles
    • Private vehicle and guide at many
  3. 3 nights · Linyanti, Selinda & Kwando

    A canvas safari tent set among trees at a private tented campUltra-Luxury

    Linyanti · private concession

    Exclusive Linyanti Marsh Camp

    Tented camp

    • Suites with private plunge pools
    • Private vehicle and guide at many
    • Night drives and walks on the concession
  4. 2 nights · Savuti

    A canvas safari tent set among trees at a private tented campLuxury

    Savuti · Savuti Channel

    Channel-Edge Luxury Camp · Savuti

    Tented camp

    • Tents overlooking the channel or a waterhole
    • Daytime drives to the Savuti Marsh
    • Resident predators close to camp
  5. 2 nights · Chobe Riverfront

    Luxury lodge deck with loungers and umbrellas at golden hourLuxury

    Chobe Riverfront · river-view, in or beside the park

    Floodplain-View Luxury Lodge · Chobe

    Lodge

    • Suites with river or floodplain views
    • Private boat and drive options
    • Plunge pools at some

Price

Price

Every private safari is priced for your dates, party and choices — here is what moves the number.

Individually quoted

Custom pricing based on your dates, comfort level, party size and routing.

  • SeasonPeak months sit at the top of the range; green-season and shoulder months are noticeably softer at many camps.
  • Party sizeYour private vehicle and guide are shared across your party — the per-person cost typically falls as your group grows from two to four or six.
  • Comfort levelMoving from Comfort to Ultra-Luxury changes the nightly rate more than any other choice.
  • RoutingFlying the long legs saves hours on the road and adds light-aircraft fares; driving keeps costs lower.

What’s Included

  • Professional guiding throughout: a private vehicle and guide on road-based legs, and the camp’s own guides at fly-in camps (a private vehicle can often be added)
  • Accommodation at your chosen comfort level
  • Meals as listed day by day
  • Park and conservation fees for the itinerary
  • Airport meet-and-greet and road transfers as listed
  • Drinking water on game drives
  • Support from our team before and during your journey
  • Five light-aircraft flights: Maun, Delta, Moremi, Linyanti, Savuti and Kasane
  • Mokoro, motorboat and island walks at the Delta water camp
  • Night drives and off-road tracking in the Linyanti where the concession allows
  • Chobe River boat safaris on both Kasane days
  • A vehicle reserved for your party at every camp

Not Included

  • International flights
  • Visa and entry fees
  • Travel and medical insurance (strongly recommended)
  • Gratuities for guides and camp staff
  • Premium drinks and personal expenses
  • Scheduled flights into Maun and out of Kasane
  • A private guide who travels with you between camps (available on request)
  • Dedicated photographic vehicle or boat, and the optional helicopter flight
  • An extra light-aircraft seat for heavy camera equipment
  • Road transfer and hotel nights at Victoria Falls

A typical inclusion list — your written proposal itemizes exactly what is and isn’t included.

Activities

Activities & Add-Ons

Included experiences and optional upgrades for this journey.

Aerial view over the winding channels and islands of the Okavango DeltaIncluded

On the water

Mokoro Excursions

At the Delta water camp; channels are usually fullest from June to August.

Guests on a small safari boat watch an elephant herd grazing the river floodplainIncluded

On the water

Chobe River Boat Safaris

On both Chobe days; ask for a photographic boat with swivel seats.

Optional

On foot

Walking Safaris in Botswana

In the Delta and Linyanti concessions only; not inside Moremi or Chobe National Park.

Map

Route Map

Route map: Maun · Okavango Delta · Moremi Game Reserve · Linyanti, Selinda & Kwando · Savuti · Chobe Riverfront · Kasane1Maun2Okavango Delta3Moremi Game Reserve4Linyanti, Selinda & Kwando5Savuti6Chobe Riverfront7Kasane
By roadBy air

Approximate locations — not for navigation.

How This Journey Changes Through the Year

May–June
The flood is spreading through the Delta and the bush is still thick after the rains. Nights turn cool, May often still falls in the shoulder season, and the Linyanti’s herds start to gather as seasonal pans dry up.
July–August
Peak water for the mokoro, cold dawns and clear skies. Wild dogs are often denning in the Linyanti around these months, though never predictably. Camps on this route fill a year or more ahead.
September–October
The hottest, driest and most concentrated weeks: elephants crowd the Linyanti and the Chobe, dust turns the light gold for photography, and Savuti’s waterholes are busy. Flood levels vary by year and seasonal channels shrink, while October can pass 38°C.
November–April
Rain transforms the north, fills pans far from the rivers and disperses the herds. For these months, the green-season safari builds a better trip around the Kalahari.

Make It Yours

  • Continue by road to Victoria Falls for two nights
  • Start with three nights on the Makgadikgadi pans, flying in from Maun
  • Travel from Moremi to Chobe by road with a private mobile camp instead
  • Take the ultra-level camps on Chief’s Island and in the Linyanti
  • Book a private guide and vehicle to travel with you between camps
  • Add a doors-off helicopter flight in the first days

Good to know

Frequently asked questions

Is 14 days too long for a Botswana safari?

Not on this route, because each stop feels different: water, then predators, then private-concession freedom, then the dry Savuti country and finally the river. Two or three nights per camp keep packing to a minimum, and middays are for resting. Travelers with less time can shorten it by dropping Savuti.

What can we do in a private concession that we cannot do in Moremi or Chobe?

Night drives with a spotlight, guided walks and, where the concession allows, off-road driving to stay with predators. Vehicle numbers are also far lower. Moremi and Chobe National Park keep vehicles on the tracks and in camp after dark, in exchange for some of the richest daytime game viewing in the country.

How do light-aircraft transfers work over two weeks?

You take five short flights between camps, each typically under an hour, in small aircraft with luggage stowed in a pod or hold. Allow about 20 kg (44 lb) per person, cameras and hand luggage included, in soft bags. Photographers with heavy kit can often buy an extra seat.

Can we end this safari at Victoria Falls?

Yes, and it is a natural finish. Victoria Falls is about 80 km from Kasane by road through the Kazungula border, roughly one to one and a half hours plus formalities. Two nights there give you a full day at the falls before an international flight home.

Which months suit this Botswana itinerary best?

May to October, when the dry season concentrates wildlife and the Delta flood is high. July to October offers the most intense game viewing in the Linyanti, Savuti and Chobe, and June to August brings the fullest channels for the mokoro. October is very hot, and the busiest months book up a year or more ahead.

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Zebra herd wading through shallow delta water

Customize This Journey

Tell us your dates, who is traveling and your preferred comfort level. A safari specialist will tailor this route around you — nothing is booked until you approve every detail.

Customize This Journey