Off to Botswana, in Southern Africa, and Orient Express Safaris.
In the next 6 days we spent 3 nights at Khwai River Lodge  and 2 nights at Eagle Island Camp, Botswana. Both camps are in the Okavango Delta. Accommodations at both were everything we expected from a luxury safari experience. The luxury tents are on permanent raised platforms, offering great views, shaded by a traditional African thatch roof. Comforts include an en-suite bathroom, four poster bed with mosquito netting, a fully stocked mini bar as well as air conditioning. Both camps have one honeymoon suite, which also has a private Jacuzzi as well as a very private outdoor shower and free standing tub.
 
Our flight took us from Johannesburg to Maun, then by private plane transfer to Khwai. On arrival at our tent at Khwai we were greeted by an elephant grazing within 15 feet of our accommodations, safely separated. Within our first 24 hours at Khwai we saw elephants, giraffe, lion and leopards. Khwai is a traditional safari camp, offering an early morning and an afternoon game drive by 4-wheel land rovers.

The transfer from Khwai to Eagle Island was again by private plane transfer, this time in a 4-seater Cessna 210. As Eagle Island is a “wet” camp, game drives are by motorboat or dugout canoe (mokoro). We also took part in a walking safari, first by boat to a separate island, then walking through the bush single file with a guide in front and at the rear, spying on game, monkeys, zebras and a lot of birds, of course. Eagle Island also offers a “Must Do” helicopter tour that will be unforgettable in my mind. Soaring over the delta with incredible views over the vast African landscape and seeing herds of animals that were simply not visible from land is an experience that everybody at the camp kept talking about.
 
The quality of accommodations, friendliness and service and the exceptional food absolutely exceeded our expectations. Our guides in Botswana were very well educated in their field, professional and good communicators. We felt safe, well informed about what to expect and what we saw, about their culture and  about their lives and country.

Wido Schaefer
wido.s@travelstoreusa.com

Tags: Africa, Botswana, Eagle Camp, Khwai River Lodge, Orient Express, Wido Schaefer

This entry was posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 12:35 pm and is filed under Africa, Botswana. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.