Botswana: Okavango Delta, Chobe and Rafting at Victoria Falls

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Botswana is the wildest and most exclusive destination on the African continent. With one of the lowest population densities on the planet, vast expanses of untouched wilderness and a policy of high-value, low-impact tourism, this country offers a safari experience in its purest form. This 10-day extreme itinerary takes you to the most remote and spectacular corners of Southern Africa, culminating in the adrenaline of Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwean side. The journey begins in Maun, the gateway to the Okavango Delta, one of the largest inland deltas in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here, instead of vehicles, you travel by mokoro — traditional canoes hollowed out of tree trunks — drifting through crystal-clear channels among water lilies and papyrus, accompanied only by the sound of the water and the birds. Walking safaris on the delta's islands put you at eye level with the wildlife: the feeling of following the tracks of an elephant or a lion with an armed guide is impossible to put into words. From the delta, the route heads into the Moremi Game Reserve, the jewel of the Okavango, where open-vehicle game drives let you spot leopards, African wild dogs and herds of buffalo. You will continue on to Chobe National Park, home to the largest elephant population in all of Africa, with herds of up to one hundred individuals bathing in the Chobe River at sunset. The climax of the trip comes when you cross the border into Zimbabwe. Victoria Falls, known locally as Mosi-oa-Tunya (The Smoke That Thunders), is the largest curtain of falling water in the world. Here the ultimate adrenaline awaits: swimming in the Devil's Pool, a natural rock pool right at the edge of the falls where the water miraculously holds you back, and running the grade 5 rapids of the Zambezi River on an epic day of rafting.