Botswana & Zimbabwe Group Trip

More than okay: almost everyone joining comes solo. Six people who each said yes to the same wild idea, guides who feel like friends by day two, and me photographing all of it. Solo on paper, never alone for a minute.

Rooms are shared as standard — two people per room, always with two separate beds. If you’re coming solo I’ll pair you with another solo traveller of the same gender, and I never assign mixed-gender rooms unless friends or a couple ask for it. I have a proper conversation with everyone first, so I know who’s an early riser, who needs quiet in the evening, and who’d rather talk until midnight.

Yes. A single room is available on both routes at a supplement, and the number is limited — tell me on your application and I’ll confirm the exact amount and hold one while we talk.

At the four lodges you have a proper bed and your own ensuite bathroom. At Chobe Mobile Camp — the two canvas nights — you have a mattress in your tent, with the shower and toilet just outside it. It’s simple on purpose, and nobody has ever regretted it.

Route A flies into Maun (MUB) and home from Victoria Falls (VFA). Route B is the reverse. It’s a multi-city ticket, not a return — I checked this week: around €1,180 from Amsterdam for our dates, one stop in Johannesburg. Worth setting an alert for even while you’re still deciding.

Visas are quick and straightforward for most passports, and I’ll walk you through yours. Book nothing until your seat is confirmed — I’ll tell you exactly when.

All camps and lodges, all meals, local drinks, every scheduled activity, all game drives, the charter flight into the Kalahari, the mokoro, the Chobe boat cruise, the guided Victoria Falls tour and the Flight of the Angels helicopter flight. Your international flight, visa, travel insurance and tips are the things you arrange yourself — and I’ll guide you through each one.

If you can sit in a vehicle and walk to dinner, you’re fit enough. This is slow luxury with wild edges, not a trek. The mornings are early, and on the two canvas nights the bathroom is just outside your tent rather than inside it. Everything else is arranged for you.

Botswana is one of the most stable and safest countries in Africa, and I felt safer on this route than in most European cities. In camp you’re always escorted after dark, and the guides have decades in the bush between them. The one thing I insist on is proper travel insurance with medical evacuation — see below.

November is the turn of the seasons. Route A rides the tail of the dry season, with wildlife concentrated at the last water. Route B catches the first dramatic afternoon storms — newborn animals, green landscapes and cinematic skies. The heavy rains arrive in December. November is one of the smartest windows of the year: fewer vehicles, softer rates.

Of course — the form at the top of this page sends you the complete document: every day, every camp, every activity, exactly as it’s been built.

Yes. Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free and most other requirements are handled well at every camp — the food on this route genuinely surprised me. Tell me on your application and I’ll pass it on well in advance.

Start with the application — about five minutes. I read it and come back to you within two days, usually with a call so we can both be sure it’s the right fit. From there I confirm your seat with AfriTourism, who operate the journey on the ground. A deposit secures your place; I stay involved from your first email to the airport pickup.

Yes — it’s required, and not just any policy will do. Your cover needs to include air medical evacuation to South Africa, with Botswana and Zimbabwe specifically named. For anything serious the right answer is being flown to Johannesburg — and that only happens if your policy allows it. I upgraded my own policy for that one month, it cost me €10 extra, and I switched it back afterwards. I’ll help you check yours before you book.

A deposit confirms your seat and is non-refundable; the balance is due well before departure. I’ll give you the exact amounts and dates in writing before you commit to anything — nothing about this should ever be a surprise.

Early-bird: if your deposit is in by 30 September 2026, I send you €200 cashback personally — my thank-you for deciding early, which is what lets me hold your seat and your room with the camps.

Yes. The same two routes run again in November 2027, on the same dates — six seats per departure, and two are already reserved. Same application form; just tick 2027 when it asks about dates.