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Namibia

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Botswana

Namibia

South Africa

Botswana Horse Safari on the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans

Start planning your safari

PRICE FROM:

Enquire with reservations

DURATION:

5 nights/ 6 days

DEPARTURE:

Departures on demand

GROUP SIZE:

Enquire with reservations

Start planning your safari

PRICE FROM:

Enquire with reservations

DURATION:

5 nights/ 6 days

DEPARTURE:

Departures on demand

GROUP SIZE:

Enquire with reservations

Explore one of the most extraordinary and mezmerising parts of Botswana from a different perspective – high up on horseback!

Why You’ll Love It:

  • Follow in the footsteps of great explorers, and search for ancient artefacts and prehistoric engravings in the heart of the desert.
  • Feel the wind in your hair as you ride across the sun-scorched earth, herds of zebra and wildebeest by your side.
  • Visit four generations of the Zu/’hoasi people of the Western Kalahari, a fascinating community who offer a window into the past.
  • Fly-camp in the middle of the vast Makgadikgadi, and fall asleep to the murmurings of the trees and the snuffling of the wildlife.
  • Embark on day and night game drives to search for black-maned lion, springbok, oryx, and the rare nocturnal species.

This itinerary is fully customizable. To change this itinerary, please enquire with us.

What’s Included:

  • Traveling costs as per itinerary and entrance and park fees
  • Accommodation as specified on a sharing basis, all meals and local drinks
  • Activities (most!) and road transfers
  • Applicable tourism levies, taxes, and all relevant VAT

Exclusions: Premium brand drinks, gratuities and fully comprehensive travel insurance.

Start Planning this Safari

Botswana from the saddle

We’ve teamed up with the much-admired David Foot Safaris to offer this fabulous Botswana horse safari. The six-day trip combines three nights at Camp Kalahari with two nights fly camping in the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans.

You’ll explore this vast and mysterious area on horseback, just as the earliest explorers, hunters and missionaries did. There’s also the chance to get up close and personal with the habituated meerkats of the Makgadikgadi, meet the Bushmen who call the desert their home, and search for rare and elusive desert-adapted species.

Itinerary

Day 1: Arrive at Camp Kalahari, Makgadikgadi Pans

Today you’ll meet your host, David Foot, at Camp Kalahari. You’ll be matched with your four-legged companion, before getting stuck straight into the action with an afternoon horse ride across the plains.

Accommodations

This journey begins at Camp Kalahari on Brown Hyena Island at the edge of the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans. The camp is laidback, quirky and fun. As well as six twin tents and four doubles, there’s also a family unit with two tents and an inter-leading bathroom, perfect if you’re travelling with younger kids. The swimming pool is the ideal spot for some siesta-splashing.

Day 2: Camp Kalahari, Makgadikgadi Pans

Kick off the day with a lengthy ride through the ancient lakebed, grasslands and sand dunes. In the afternoon, the horses will have a break as you head out on a game drive to search for the desert-adapted species.

Day 3: Xau Xai Fly Camp, Makgadikgadi Pans

It will take most of the day to reach Xau Xai Fly Camp by horseback. You’ll canter through mopane and acacia woodlands, stop at the famous Green’s Baobab for lunch, and search for ancient hunting tools in Gutsa Pan, before arriving at the fly camp as the sun sets.

Accommodations

During your time at Xau Xai Fly Camp, you’ll be staying in rustic but comfortable dome tents. Each has a private bathroom with a loo and bucket shower, and there’s plenty of hot water too. Meals will be cooked over the fire, and you will experience the magic of camping in the heart of the bush.

Day 4: Xau Xai Fly Camp, Makgadikgadi Pans

Today you’ll meet the Kalahari’s fascinating habituated meerkats and enjoy a bush walk to a nearby water hole to look for some of the Kalahari’s bird species.

Wildlife

There aren’t many experiences than can beat riding a horse through Botswana’s Makgadikgadi salt pans, especially when there’s wildlife involved too. You’ll ride alongside herds of zebra, wildebeest and hartebeest, and will probably encounter an ostrich or two along the way. Game drives will yield sightings of springbok, gemsbok, red hartebeest and, if you’re lucky, the brown hyena, one of the rarest species on the continent. There may also be a chance to see the black-maned Kalahari lion, and some magnificent birds of prey. And then of course, the habituated meerkat of the Kalahari. Meeting the cheeky creatures is a special experience, and on cooler days they’ll sometimes snuggle into you for warmth. In fact, some will even clamber onto your head to use you as a lookout post!

Day 5: Camp Kalahari, Makgadikgadi Pans

Ride back to Camp Kalahari exploring another area of the pans.

Extension Idea: See the Boteti Rivier

Discover a different part of the Makgadikgadi and spend two or three nights at Meno a Kwena camp, overlooking the magnificent Boteti River.

Day 6: Depart from Camp Kalahari

Spend the morning in a traditional Zu/’hoasi Bushmen village. You’ll meet the community elders, before walking with the Bushmen and learning how they survive in the harsh environment. In the afternoon, it’s time to bid farewell to your horse, and begin the journey home.

Ready to book this safari?

This itinerary starts at Enquire with reservations/person* and is fully customizable based on the number of people and travel dates.

Start Planning

Additional Information

When to Go & What to Pack:

This trip runs throughout the year, but activities may vary slightly in the green season (November to March) and the dry season (April to October).

When it comes to packing your bag, we recommend that you include neutral, cotton, long-sleeved tops and trousers; a warm sweater; a broad-brimmed hat (preferably with a strap so it doesn’t fall off when you’re riding!); sunglasses; sunblock; insect repellent; lip salve; two pairs of lightweight riding shoes and extra socks (in case they get wet); a head torch; binoculars; a camera; a kikoi; a good book; and swimming kit, all year round. Those coming during the summer should also pack a light, compact jacket, and those visiting in the winter should bring layers, warm leggings to go beneath trousers, and a hat gloves, and a scarf. If you have your own jodhpurs, please bring them but don’t worry if not.

Policies & Access:

Child Policy: Please enquire with reservations.

Disabled Access: Please enquire with reservations.

Wifi: Wifi is not available for the duration of the trip.

Excluded: Expenses of a personal nature, such as telephone expenses & shopping; premium brand drinks; tips and gratuities; additional activities; scheduled flights and related taxes; Visa fees where relevant; cancellation, baggage, medical, and evacuation insurance.

Gallery

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