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Feasibility of adding Okavango Delta to this trip
The Wildlife Odyssey is what we are leaning toward. The deal breaker may be if we can add Okavango Delta to this trip? I love the idea of Chobe and Kruger but really wanted the Delta that the Botswana Zambia trip affords. I am all about the animals and as this may be our last Africa trip (after already being on K & T) I want the biggest bang. Appreciate any advice. Thank you.
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Having been to Botswana ( not with Tauck), there are several camps at the level that Tauck might use, if you want to add them independently. Not sure if Tauck would arrange add ons to your trip, but you can ask. We found staying in the Delta very expensive, as the Botswana government controls the number of tourists every year. Rooms/ tents can cost thousands per night. Much higher cost than South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania, which we also visited independently. If you want to PM me, I can give you some names.
The researches we have done on other companies of equivalent quality show that they are quite a bit more expensive. Same with booking one lodge independently. Their cancelations policies are also nowhere as good as Tauck. We still might lean that way going forward, but as we are going on the Bridges tour next year, that may be a couple of years off now. I’m still hoping Tauck will offer a tour of Namiba as they did for a while years ago, became we loved it there…..but if animals are your priority, them I would not recommend it. We loved seeing the desert elephants and oryx and they have lots of rhinos. The scenery is superb.
Botswana is known for HIGH VALUE/LOW VOLUME tourism. They definitely want to limit the people going through there. The camps are very expensive although I believe a number of them are all inclusive and I believe a number of them have offers such as "stay 4, pay for 3" at various times. Still expensive but at least a little bit of a break.
I am going to the Okavango Delta next month on a SA/Botswana trip with another provider. We are staying at a camp in the Okavango Delta. I did not opt for extra days there because the logistics of getting back to Johannesburg for the flight home made me a little nervous so I wanted to leave with the rest of the group and the tour director. I know that camp had some promotions at least at the time I was considering staying on by myself.
We went on the Tauck Zambia and Botswana trip in 2015 and it was WONDERFUL!! We saw all the big 5 in Botswana (in one day!!) and loved the various camps. We'd spent 3 weeks of our lives in Capetown so, when the tour went there, we left and went to Namibia. We parted in Nairobi airport and it was a good decision. We went with a com[any called Wilderness Safaris because Tauck doesn't to to Namibia. So, you could certainly go to the Delta OR maybe go to Namibia, it's a very different African country.