Luxury Cape Town and Botswana Safari
This unforgettable ten-day tour starts in Cape Town, where locals will guide you through the city’s rich culture and complex history. Then, head into Botswana’s extraordinary Okavango Delta. With a private driver-guide, seek the Big Five among the floodplains, palm islands and savannah.
Trip highlights
- Learn about Cape Town's creative scene with specialist guides, and meet local artisans
- Tour Robben Island and see Nelson Mandela's cell, hearing stories from former political prisoners
- Look for the Big Five in the savannah, woodland and floodplains of the Okavango Delta
- Take game drives completely tailored to you, with a private safari vehicle and guide
- Cruise in a mokoro canoe down waterways and around islands studded with date palms
- Go birdwatching to seek out rare slaty egrets, carmine bee-eaters and Pel's fishing owls
Our bespoke trips include
We design one-of-a-kind journeys incorporating luxury in all its forms. Our bespoke trips include:
- Luxury accommodation throughout
- Privately guided tours
- Private transfers
- Meticulously selected experiences
- Expertise and support from your Jacada Concierge
Itinerary in detail
Days 1–4
Cultural immersion in Cape Town
Cape Town’s natural beauty is undeniable. South Africa’s capital stretches out around Table Mountain, on a peninsula whose dramatic coastline blends pale sandy beaches and rocks occupied by penguins.
During your time here, you’ll stay in some of Cape Town’s best luxury hotels, explore exciting, diverse neighbourhoods and ascend Table Mountain. You’ll also experience Cape Town private tours that take you a little deeper into the city’s history and culture.
While there, we recommend The Old Biscuit Mill for Cape Malay curries and shisa nyama (grilled meats). Or explore Bo-Kaap, the oldest residential area, with bright pastel houses and stalls with half-moons (stuffed savoury pastry pockets) and warme worsies – hot, spiced sausages.
Where you could stay
Cape culture
Arts tour
Robben Island
Explore the creative Woodstock suburb with local artists
One of Cape Town’s oldest, and most arty, suburbs, Woodstock has some of the city’s most striking street art. Guided by experts from the Zabalaza Art Faktory, a local art collective, you’ll visit contemporary art galleries. Learn how South Africa’s political history and culture has shaped street-level art and view bold murals and installations. You’ll meet local creatives, spending time with a longstanding antiques dealer, a glass sculptor and a blacksmith.
A guided tour of Robben Island and Table Mountain
Robben Island’s complex history spans half a millennia. After a ferry ride, you’ll be driven by a private guide to sites that existed when the island was a leper colony. Visit Lime Quarry, where prisoners were forced to work, and spend time in Nelson Mandela’s cell, where former political prisoners will share their stories. You’ll then return by ferry for a bespoke city tour, including a cable car ride up Table Mountain for city and Atlantic views.
Days 4–7
Delve into the Southern Okavango Delta
Journeying north from Cape Town, you’ll spend the rest of your adventure in the extraordinary landscapes of the Okavango Delta. The world’s largest inland river delta, or alluvial fan, creates an extraordinary patchwork of land and water across northern Botswana.
The first days of your luxury Okavango Delta safari will be spent in the more arid southern swathes, whose open savannahs and dense woodland are ideal for land-based safaris. Explore at your own pace with a private vehicle and dedicated guide, who will help you to seek out the wildlife that interests you most.
The region is home to around 130 species of mammals, including the Big Five, cheetahs and antelopes like red lechwes and semi-aquatic sitatungas, best spotted on a boat safari along the waterways of the floodplains.
Where you could stay
Land and water
Nature walks
Boat safari
See more wildlife on a guided walking safari
Exploring the Delta on foot allows you to focus on the smaller details that might otherwise be missed. On this nature walk, track the footsteps of elephants and big cats and look for tiny frogs and insects. Your local guide will point out birdsong and share their deep knowledge of life in the Delta.
Cruise the channels on a mokoro safari
When the water levels are high enough, navigate the channels of the Delta in a traditional dugout canoe or mokoro, captained by a guide who will point out painted reed frogs, crocodiles and birds. You can also explore the canals and lagoons by motorised boat, looking for hippos, elephants and red lechwes.
Days 7–10
Land and water safari in the Okavango Delta
Your luxury Botswana safari continues north, where the Okavango Delta is at its wettest – particularly during the dry season from May to October, when the Okavango River floods the plains and draws a rich array of wildlife.
Its northern swathes are lush and verdant all year round though, with canals, lagoons and wetlands drawing the Big Five and some of Botswana’s most enchanting birds. On an Okavango Delta boat safari, look for crocodiles, hippos and waterbirds, or take a more peaceful cruise down the channels in a mokoro canoe.
Your private guide will create bespoke itineraries dictated by you, and the wildlife. Pause for picnics and sundowners, and head out on nighttime drives, using filtered spotlights to look for bushbabies, aardwolves and Pel’s fishing owls.
Where you could stay
Into the Delta
Fishing
Birdwatching
Scenic flight
A catch and release fishing experience
Catch and release fishing here is serene, unhurried and soundtracked by birdsong. A guide will take you to quiet channels to try to catch fast-moving tigerfish and barbel, which often swarm in high numbers. Or fish in clear channels for tilapia and African pike, taking in the rhythms of the Delta.
Look for rare and endemic birds with an expert guide
The Delta provides habitat for nearly 500 species of birds, with resident species joined by migratory birds in the wet season from November to March. With a guide, you’ll look for breeding colonies of egrets and storks, along with beguiling residents including lilac-breasted rollers and carmine bee-eaters.
See the vast Delta and its wildlife from above
It’s hard to comprehend the region’s vastness from the ground. This helicopter flight takes you above the patchwork of channels, islands, wetlands and plains for a sense of its scale. You’ll also view wildlife from a new perspective, seeking wading elephants and herds of zebras and Cape buffalos.
We worked with a Travel Planner from Jacada, Jamey Lowis, to design a trip around our desire to see the Okavango delta area of Botswana as well as a camp in the Kruger National Park area of South Africa. We requested an opportunity to see animals and birds up close in their natural environments without the presence of large crowds…
Why book with Jacada
Personalised design
We’ll plan your trip around your personal interests, tastes and preferences, providing honest advice based on first-hand knowledge.
Authentic experiences
Our expert guides and brilliant Concierges are hand-picked for their ability to bring your destination to life with care and passion.
Positive Impact
We seek out unforgettable experiences that benefit both local communities and the environment.
