From the Bush to the Delta

Cape Town · Timbavati · Okavango Delta

13 NIGHTS13 NIGHTS

5 LODGES5 LODGES

FROM $47,422

Your journey, chapter by chapter

Chapter 1 · Days 1–4

Cape Town

Mount Nelson Hotel · 3 nights

A curved lodge arrival area is framed by trees and stone walls, with warm light streaming through the foliage at sunset. A person walks along the entrance path toward the building.

Chapter 2 · Days 4–7

Tanda Tula

Tanda Tula Safari Camp · 3 nights

Chapter 4 · Days 8–11

Kiri Camp

Okavango Delta · 3 nights

Chapter 5 · Days 11–14

Vumbura Plains

Wilderness Vumbura Plains · 3 nights

Thirteen nights that cross a continent of landscapes. You begin at the foot of Table Mountain. You end in the channels of the Okavango, where water and land trade places with the seasons. Between them, three unhurried nights in the Timbavati with the same guide and tracker at first light and last light. For travellers who want to stay deep in the bush for as long as the bush will have them.

Think of this as a flavour of what's possible. Every journey is shaped around your party, your dates, your pace. Any lodge, night count, or activity can be swapped in or out.

Wilderness Vumbura Plains · Okavango Delta

At a glance

Thirteen nights across three very different Africas: a city under the mountain, the dry Timbavati with the Tanda Tula suites at its heart, and the water world of the Okavango. The kind of journey where the contrast does the talking.

13 nights
5 lodges
Best season: May to September for peak Delta flood
Ideal for: Safari travellers wanting the Timbavati and the Okavango in one long journey

I. Cape Town: a grand opening

Mount Nelson Hotel, Cape Town · Days 1–4

Day 1: Arrival in Cape Town

You land at Cape Town International to a meet-and-greet, then a private transfer to the Mount Nelson. The afternoon is yours. High tea on the terrace when you're ready.

Day 2: Table Mountain and the Cape Peninsula

A full day with Escape+Explore. Fast-track up Table Mountain on the cableway. Chapman's Peak Drive south. Boulders Beach for the penguins. Cape Point at the far end.

Day 3: Into the winelands

A full day in the Franschhoek and Stellenbosch valleys: two estate tastings, a farmhouse lunch, and the slow road home as the light settles on the mountains.

Activities

Table Mountain cableway (fast-track), Cape Peninsula drive, Boulders Beach penguins, Winelands day tour, High tea on the terrace

Included at this hotel

Bed and breakfast, Buffet breakfast

A spacious main lounge with contemporary seating, a central fireplace, and warm pendant lighting. The bar area sits to the right, with guests seated at the counter and views out toward the surrounding bush.

An open-air lounge with cushioned seating and warm lighting overlooks a sandy riverbed and bushveld beyond. A large tree stands beside the deck under the evening sky.

A modern safari suite is surrounded by lush green bush and tall trees. A small private plunge pool sits on the deck, with a person relaxing in the water.

Guests are seated around warmly lit dining tables inside a modern lodge dining room. A staff member stands near the center while pendant lights and textured wall panels create an inviting atmosphere.

A long rectangular swimming pool glows blue at dusk beside a wooden deck with lounge chairs, umbrellas, and lanterns. The lodge building and surrounding trees are softly lit in the background.

II. Tanda Tula: the Timbavati

Tanda Tula Safari Camp · Days 4–7

Day 4: Fly to the bush

A transfer to Cape Town Airport, then Airlink 4Z 657 to Hoedspruit (10:15 to 12:45). A drive through the Timbavati brings you into camp for the afternoon drive. Welcome home.

Day 5: Dawn, drive, dinner

Coffee at first light. A long morning drive, then brunch on the main deck. The afternoon at your own pace. A second drive into the last of the light. Dinner under stars.

Day 6: On foot, by firelight

A guided bush walk with an armed tracker in the morning. In the evening, a boma dinner around the fire, the sounds of the Timbavati close and unhurried.

Activities

Twice-daily game drives, Guided bush walks, Night drives, Bush dinners and sundowners, Return airstrip transfers

Included at this lodge

Full board, All activities, Selected beverages, Sustainability levy

III. Johannesburg: a night in transit

InterContinental Johannesburg O.R. Tambo · Day 7

Day 7: A night between skies

Airlink 4Z 874 from Hoedspruit into Johannesburg (14:30 to 15:30). Walk to your room at the InterContinental. Sleep early. The Delta waits for the morning.

Activities

Airport-adjacent rest

Included at this hotel

Bed and breakfast, Breakfast

IV. Kiri Camp: water and light

Kiri Camp, Okavango Delta · Days 8–11

Day 8: Into the Delta

Airlink 4Z 300 from Johannesburg to Maun (12:05 to 13:45). A helicopter lifts you into the Delta with a scenic flyover before setting down at Kiri Camp. From the air, the channels look like a map of themselves.

Day 9: By boat, by mokoro

You glide through the papyrus at first light in a mokoro, poled by a guide who reads the reeds like a book. Back for brunch. A motor-boat winds through the channels at sundown, the sky doing its thing behind the palms.

Day 10: On foot in the floodplain

A morning walking safari with a tracker on one of the islands. The Delta read at a slower scale: tracks, signs, the way the ground gives under your boots. An afternoon drive finds the predators as the day cools.

Activities

Twice-daily game drives, Mokoro canoeing (water level dependent), Motor boating (subject to water levels), Walking safaris, Return airstrip transfers

Included at this lodge

Full board, Local beverages, Laundry, All activities, Conservation levy

V. Vumbura Plains: the northern Delta

Wilderness Vumbura Plains · Days 11–14

Day 11: A short flight north

A helicopter transfer from Kiri Camp to Vumbura Plains. A light lunch on the deck. An afternoon drive into the concession as the heat comes off the day.

Day 12: Lion country

A long morning drive in the Vumbura Concession, where predator density is among the highest in the Delta. A second drive at last light, or a motor-boat out through the channels, as the water decides.

Day 13: One more full day

The shape of the day is yours to draw. A game drive, a walking safari, or a quiet one on the deck watching the floodplain do what floodplains do.

Activities

Twice-daily scheduled camp activities, Game drives, Motor boating (water dependent), Walking safaris, Bird watching

Included at this lodge

Full board, Local beverages, All activities, Park fees, Laundry service

A flavour, not a menu

From $47,422

2 GUESTS SHARING · 13 NIGHTS

Shaped to you

This itinerary is where the conversation starts, not where it ends. Every trip we run is built around you: your party, your dates, your pace. Any stop, night count, or activity can be swapped.

Start the conversation

Frequently asked

The flood arrives in the northern Delta around May and holds through September. March is early: the channels run but many mokoro routes depend on water levels. Your travel consultant will match your arrival to the flood.

Kiri and Vumbura sit in different concessions and give you different reads of the Delta. Kiri is classic, intimate, and water-based. Vumbura is bigger-country and predator-rich. Three nights at each is the shortest stretch that does justice to both.

It is ambitious for a first safari, but possible. The Tanda Tula leg settles you into a safari rhythm. Kiri and Vumbura then show you what a water-based safari feels like. A shorter version (Tanda Tula + one Delta camp) is an easier first trip.

Yes. Either works as a three- or four-night extension after Vumbura. Flights route cleanly via Maun or Kasane, and your travel consultant can build it in.