Desert Safari Expedition
Experience the Kalahari Desert during the rainy season when new pastures attract the 'Zebra Migration' - Africa's second largest land migration.
Why This Safari is Special
Open Vehicle Game Drives
All game drives conducted in specially modified open 4x4 vehicles providing unobstructed views and exceptional photography opportunities - the same vehicles used at Botswana's top luxury lodges.
Luxury Lodge Quality
The wildlife experience equals that of private concessions and luxury lodges. Our locations are carefully selected for exceptional game viewing, and our guides' knowledge rivals the best in Botswana.
Quality Food
Three good meals a day prepared by our camp chef. Healthy continental-style breakfasts, hearty lunches in camp, and evening dinners around the campfire using fresh ingredients.
Expert Service
All our staff trained in some of Botswana's finest luxury lodges. From your guide to camp staff, expect attentive, professional service that anticipates your needs while respecting the wilderness setting.
Locations We'll Explore
Your Accommodation
Classic Dome Tents
Traditional 3x3m dome tents with stretcher-style beds, premium memory-foam mattresses and private ensuite bathrooms with hot bucket showers and flushing toilets. The camp moves with you deep into the Central Kalahari and out onto the pans — set up in remote, private campsites by a chef and camp crew trained in Botswana's top lodges. Desert nights are cold and starlit; the campfire and a hearty evening meal are a genuine comfort after a day in the big silence, and the hot bucket shower has rarely felt so welcome.
Typical Daily Schedule
Wake-up call with hot tea/coffee delivered to your tent
Depart for morning game drive in open 4x4 vehicle
Return to camp for full breakfast
Midday at leisure - rest, read, or enjoy lunch
Afternoon tea and cake
Evening game drive with sundowner stop
Return to camp for showers and dinner around the campfire
Retire to your tent or enjoy stargazing
Wildlife You May Encounter
Wildlife sightings vary by season and cannot be guaranteed, but these species are regularly seen in the areas we visit.
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1
Arrival — Central Kalahari Game Reserve
Drive from Maun into the vast Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Your dome camp is set up in this remote wilderness, and you experience your first desert sunset over a landscape so wide the horizon seems to curve. The silence and the cold desert night are immediate and unforgettable — a complete contrast to the watery Delta.
Days 2-4
Central Kalahari Game Reserve
Three days exploring the Deception Valley area. The rainy season (Nov-Apr) transforms the desert into lush grassland, drawing thousands of zebra and springbok — and behind them the famous black-maned Kalahari lions, cheetah and leopard. Brown hyena and bat-eared fox are seen year-round, and pale chanting goshawks and kori bustards are regular on the pans. The silence and sheer space are as memorable as the game; a highlight is tracking lion prints in the fresh sand of the riverbeds.
Days 5-7
Nxai Pan National Park
The camp moves to Nxai Pan, famous for Baines' Baobabs and its open fossil lakebed. In the migration season, vast herds of zebra and wildebeest gather on the pan; in the dry months, the pan draws cheetah, gemsbok, ostrich and the occasional wandering elephant bull. The photographic opportunities on the open pan are exceptional, and the night sky here is among the darkest in Africa.
Days 8-9
Makgadikgadi Pans
Two days on the world's largest saltpan — the bed of an ancient super-lake. Spend time with habituated meerkats as they forage and sentry, visit Chapman's Baobab (one of the largest in Africa), and look for brown hyena and the pans' specialist birdlife. At night, the absence of light pollution delivers some of the clearest stargazing on the planet.
Day 10
Departure
A final morning drive and breakfast, then the journey back to Maun with unique desert safari memories and a real sense of the Kalahari's scale and silence.