We will start our journey in Johannesburg, South Africa. We’ll meet at a local hotel, close to the O.R. Tambo airport where we will have a group dinner, discuss the trip, and get answers to last-minute questions. The following morning, we will head to the airport where we will catch a flight to Maun, Botswana. Once through customs, we’ll hop on a small, Cessna Caravan and fly to the Tau Pan Lodge in the Central Kalahari Reserve. This comfortable lodge is our soft-entry into the wilds of the Kalahari. We’ll have an evening and a morning game drive from the lodge before heading deeper into the Kalahari.

We will head to the wild Passage Pan area where we will “camp” for three nights. I put “camp” in quotes because the mobile safari camps we use are extremely comfortable. Large, sturdy, wall tents with real beds, a private bathroom area, daily hot showers, and great food are the norm.

The Passage Pan area is home to a number of cheetahs, a lion pride, and abundant wildlife. With the Kalahari in green, the wildlife will be plentiful. Morning and evening game drives will get us out into the country when the light is best and the wildlife most active. We’ll leave camp each morning before dawn, getting out with our cameras before the sun breaks the horizon. During those early hours, we’ll be looking for predators, hoping to catch them when they are active and before they settle into the shade for their daytime naps. During the midday hours, we’ll settle back into our own shade, have lunch, review our photos, and relax until it’s time to venture out again.

After our three nights at Passage Pan, we will relocate to the famous Deception Valley area of the Central Kalahari Reserve. This low valley, an ancient river bed, is home to the highest abundance of wildlife in the area. Springbok, Oryx, Brown Hyena, Cheetahs, lions, giraffes, wildebeest, and numerous other species call the valley home. We will spend 3 nights camped in the area exploring it in depth with our cameras during our twice-daily game drives.

From Deception Valley we will relocate to the Menoakwena Lodge near Makgadikgadi National Park. The park is not nearly as large as the Central Kalahari but it’s home to some very strange landscapes, and unique wildlife. We’ll have two long game drives to experience the weird and wonderful landscape of the park’s salt flats, and the enormous zebra herds that spend the rainy season in the area. Black and white animals on a white landscape… think of the photographic potential!

Our final stop is Camp Kalahari a tented lodge on the outskirts of Makgadikgadi National Park. The big draw is the colony of habituated meerkats that call the area home. We’ll have the opportunity to get up close and personal with these charismatic creatures during our stay. Additionally, we’ll have the chance to get out on foot with the local Zu’/hoasi San bushmen, who will show us how their culture survived for millennia in this challenging environment.

On our final, full day, we will head back to Maun via a private mini-bus to catch our flight back to Johannesburg. We’ll spend a final night at the hotel in Johannesburg before heading home or off on independent adventures in Africa.

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$11,500/person. Double Occupancy. ($500 single supplement applies).