Botswana Photo Safari

Welcome to Africa, welcome to Zimbabwe! At Victoria Falls airport, you are met by your transfer driver and taken to your accommodation, Insika Lodge.

There you have time to check in at leisure and recover from your journey – whether in the garden or by the swimming pool. In the afternoon or evening, you meet your guide and your fellow travellers for the upcoming Botswana photo safari.

You end the day with a shared dinner at the lodge restaurant (at your own expense).

Early in the morning, you set off on a tour along Victoria Falls, when the light is particularly good for impressive shots and the paths are still comparatively quiet.

With a width of 1.7 km and a height of 108 m, the falls are among the largest in the world and offer numerous exciting perspectives for photographers.

Afterwards, there is time for a stroll through the town of Victoria Falls or a visit to the souvenir market. If you fancy more impressions from a bird's-eye view, you can book a scenic flight on site; activities such as bungee jumping are also possible. In the late afternoon, you can optionally book a boat trip on the Zambezi, ideal for capturing the warm colours of the sunset and the reflections on the river.

In the evening, you go with the group to a restaurant in town (at your own expense). You spend the night at Insika Lodge again.

Today the safari part of your Botswana photo safari begins. Together with your guide, a transfer driver takes you across the border to Kasane. After check-in and a light lunch at the lodge, your first big photo subject awaits in the afternoon: a sunset boat trip on the Chobe River.

As the light softens and the colours glow warmer, elephants, hippos and birds make their way to the riverbank – perfect opportunities for impressive shots. You might even manage to photograph elephants bathing and playing in the water.

You spend the evening at Kubu Lodge, where you can let the day's impressions sink in at your leisure.

After breakfast, you set off with an experienced lodge guide on your first game drive in Chobe National Park – one of the highlights of your Botswana photo safari. The park is famous for its huge elephant population: with more than 40,000 animals, it is considered the area with the highest elephant density in the world, which is why it is also known as the “Land of Giants”.

Along the way, you have the chance to watch and capture elephant herds in impressive scenic settings. But it is not only the pachyderms that shape the picture: lions, buffalo, antelope species and numerous smaller animals may also come into your lens.

In the late morning, you return to the lodge, where you can relax in the shade during the hot part of the day.

In the afternoon, you head out again in an open safari vehicle into the National Park, always on the lookout for more exciting photo subjects. You leave the park at sunset, return to Kubu Lodge and round off the day with dinner in a pleasant atmosphere.

After breakfast, you set off on another game drive in Chobe National Park. In the changing morning light, numerous subjects for wildlife photography open up: from elephant herds on open plains to zebras, giraffes and antelope in the dense bush.

You enjoy lunch on the way in the form of a packed lunch, before continuing in the afternoon through Ngoma Gate towards the Chobe Forest Reserve.

Your destination is Thobolo's Bush Lodge. From the lodge's viewing deck, you have excellent opportunities to watch elephants, buffalo and other wildlife at the waterhole – often in atmospheric backlight while you enjoy a sundowner.

Today a particularly exciting safari day awaits you, so you start very early. Even before the first rays of sun, you set off for the Savuti region. This area is known for its varied landscape and diverse wildlife.

Early in the morning, your chances are especially good of seeing predators such as lions, leopards or hyenas, which are often on their way back from their nocturnal activities – perfect subjects for the camera.

The landscape of the Savuti area seems almost surreal and has been shaped by the mysterious Savuti Channel, whose flow has constantly changed the surroundings over the years. At times the channel flows for years and supplies the region, then it dries up completely unexpectedly. A fascinating spectacle of nature, reflected in the dramatic light moods and textures of the landscape.

After a long, eventful day, you reach your accommodation for the next three nights, Khwai River View Lodge, just 10 km north-west of the north gate of Moremi Wildlife Reserve. Dinner and a well-earned night's rest await you there.

Mokoro tour and game drive

On safari, the day usually starts very early, as the animals are especially active in the cool morning hours and late afternoon. Today, however, you can take a little more time. After breakfast, you drive to the nearby poler station, where you leave your vehicle and switch to the traditional mokoros.

The dugout canoes in which you explore the Mbudi Channel are mostly made of fibreglass or plastic these days, but the experience is the same as centuries ago in the Okavango Delta. Lean back and glide silently across the water while your poler, a member of the nearby village community, gives you insights into the flora and fauna around the Khwai.

After this peaceful and special safari experience, you return to camp for lunch. A short siesta prepares you for the next game drive in the tour vehicle in the afternoon, where your guide, thanks to a trained eye, spots animals and details that would otherwise easily be overlooked. Dinner and overnight at Khwai River View Lodge.

Game drives

After breakfast, a full safari day in Moremi Game Reserve awaits you. With open windows and an open roof, you roam the varied reserve and, with a little luck, encounter elephants, lions, leopards and buffalo, as well as the rare African wild dogs. Savuti is certainly one of the best places for wildlife photography in Africa.

At lunchtime, you enjoy a picnic in the bush, surrounded by the sounds of nature. In the afternoon too, the delta landscape with its reed belts and waterways offers atmospheric subjects.

In the late afternoon, you return to Khwai River View Lodge. There you can enjoy the surroundings before ending the eventful day with dinner, listening to the sounds of the African bush.

Today your day begins with another morning game drive around the camp. In the cool morning hours, many animals are especially active – ideal conditions for capturing their movements and interactions in warm, soft light.

No safari day is like another, and it is precisely the uncertainty about which subjects will come into your lens today that makes it so appealing. With, hopefully, many impressive shots, you return to camp for brunch.

Your Botswana photo safari then continues south to Mogogelo Camp, which lies in a private concession on the southern edge of Moremi Game Reserve. Here you experience the last sundowner of your trip: from the deck, you watch the animals at the waterhole quench their thirst as the daylight slowly softens – a perfect opportunity for beautiful shots in the evening sun.

You spend the night in one of the spacious safari tents at Mogogelo Camp.

After a hearty breakfast, it is time to pack your bags. Your Botswana photo safari comes to an end today. Your guide takes you to Maun airport, where you say goodbye to one another.

From here, you begin your journey home or, alternatively, continue your adventure and fly on to the Okavango Delta.

Depending on your onward journey, you may still have time this morning for a helicopter flight over the delta (optional). Please get in touch with us – we will be happy to help you plan.

Whatever you decide, we are sure that your time amid the nature and wildlife of Botswana has left a lasting impression, and we hope to see you again soon!