Botswana adventure vacation
Highlights
Windoek, Namibia | Ghanzi, Kalahari | Traditional San communities | Houseboat on the Okavango Delta | Guided canoe safari | Maun | Makgadikgadi Pans | Chobe National Park | Victoria Falls |
Travel Team
If you'd like to chat about this vacation or need help finding one we're very happy to help. The Travel Team.
Toll free 1-866-821-6866 Calling from outside the US? rosy@responsibletravel.com
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Small group adventure
What is a small group adventure?It's a great way to travel! Whether you are traveling on your own, with a partner or with friends, a small group trip is a fantastic way to see the world. You'll travel on a fixed itinerary that has been designed to help you discover the best of region. From the known highlights, the hidden gems that you won't find in the guidebooks.
Itineraries run on set departure dates, accompanied every step of the way by an English speaking local group leader. You chose the itinerary and the date that suits you best and you book on.
Why travel on a small group adventure?
Small groups allow us to explore where larger tour groups can't. Our maximum group size of 16 travelers allows us to use local transport to get from A to B, to visit rural villages, spend time with the locals and even stay at a local home overnight, and it allows us to give our travelers genuine, real life experiences of the countries we are visiting; what you'll be doing and how you'll travel depends entirely on your chosen itinerary.
Is an adventure right for me?
The word adventure means something different to everyone, and our range of trips reflects that. Whether you want to explore local markets, visit out of the way temples and meet local people or go on an early morning safari drive searching for the 'big five', we'll have a trip for you. If you are looking for a physical challenge such trekking the Kokoda Track or summiting Kilimanjaro, we can help with that too.
So what can I expect on this trip?
This is a classic style of small group adventure. You'll find your trip combines a good mix of included activities and free time, with some meals included as per your itinerary. We don't want you to feel chaperoned, it's your vacation not ours. Your group leader will be on hand to assist with organising anything you might wish to do in your free time, but how you spend it is up to you. Anything listed as included in your itinerary will be included in trip price; whereas anything listed as optional will be at an additional cost should you wish to take part.
These trips are great value, including things that you would struggle to organise independently, such as a night at a homestay in a remote village, or local guides around a remote place of interest. Transport will be a combination of private vehicle and public transport, whichever is the most appropriate for the route we are traveling; this might include train, plane, camel, tuk tuk, bicycle, boat…
On a majority of these trips you'll stay in 2-3 star accommodation, locally owned and reflective of the region you are traveling through. All solo travelers will be automatically roomed on a twin share basis with another group member of the same sex, unless you opt to pay for your own room at time of booking. There are no compulsory single supplements for solo travelers willing to share. Single rooms aren't available on camping trips, and you will be expected to help out with camp tasks such as setting up and breaking down your camp.
Can I book my flights with you?
Yes! We are a fully ATOL bonded tour operator meaning that we can book flights from the UK as part of your vacation package. Just ask us for a quote including flights when you make your inquiry.
Responsible tourism
As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we screen every trip so you can travel knowing your vacation will help support conservation and local people.
While wildlife watching is a big part of this itinerary, we strive to only observe animals in their natural habitat and do so with the greatest level of respect. From an unfenced lodge where elephants frequent the watering hole, to Botswana’s inland delta and Chobe National Park. We actively discourage the participation of travelers in any activities that exploit wild or domestic/working animals. Unfortunately, at Victoria Falls there are many businesses offering an optional 'walk with the lions' experience. We ask all travelers to steer clear of this activity as it’s contrary to our responsible travel policy. The lion walking industry directly contributes to the captive breeding and canned hunting of lions.
In an effort to reduce single use plastic on this trip we provide reusable cloth bags to all of our travelers. It’s easy to use plastic excessively, especially in the hot months. However, we encourage our travelers to buy large 5-10 litre bottles to refill their small water bottle.
Botswana is a semi-arid country with limited water resources. This coupled with extreme hot weather, means that the country can be prone to severe water shortages. Our trained tour leaders are well versed in advising travelers on initiatives to manage water consumption, and we are working with our suppliers to encourage better management of this precious commodity. We encourage our travelers to take short showers and to never leave the tap water running unnecessarily.
Unfortunately, on the vast majority of this itinerary, using local transport is not reliable or feasible. So, we use private, locally owned transport instead. We ensure our vehicles/fleets are well maintained and fuel-efficient. We also endeavour to include a range of other local transport options such as mokoro (a type of canoe) where possible.
The Impacts of this Trip
This trip is run by our own local South African operator who shares our commitment to responsible travel, from waste and water management to ensuring we leave as minimal a footprint as possible. Our local team are trained on our global responsible travel policies and practices. We also use a range of other local suppliers for different activities throughout this three-country itinerary.
All aspects of this trip (on the ground) are operated by local Southern Africans (most of whom live locally) including all our leaders, vehicle drivers, local site guides, suppliers and accommodation providers.
On this trip we stay in a lodge just outside the small cattle ranching town of Ghanzi. The lodge is situated in the Kalahari region of Botswana that is inhabited by a large portion of Botswanas’ San/Bushman community. Unemployment is one of the main social issues that affect the San community, who have become an increasingly marginalized minority is Southern Africa . The lodge helps empower the community through employment.
The cloth bags provided to our travelers on every trip are sourced and supplied from a local community NGO.
Our philosophy is to act local and that means respecting the local traditions and ensuring both men and women are conservatively dressed with legs and arms covered when entering villages and other small communities. We also take care to form genuine and mutually beneficial relationships with local people.
We have a foundation which was set up to empower travelers to have a positive impact on the communities they visit. It now supports over 50 local, grassroots projects around the world. Over the past 15 years, the foundation has distributed over AU $5 million to projects tackling areas such as sustainable development, human rights, child protection, environmental conservation, wildlife protection, education and healthcare.
While wildlife watching is a big part of this itinerary, we strive to only observe animals in their natural habitat and do so with the greatest level of respect. From an unfenced lodge where elephants frequent the watering hole, to Botswana’s inland delta and Chobe National Park. We actively discourage the participation of travelers in any activities that exploit wild or domestic/working animals. Unfortunately, at Victoria Falls there are many businesses offering an optional 'walk with the lions' experience. We ask all travelers to steer clear of this activity as it’s contrary to our responsible travel policy. The lion walking industry directly contributes to the captive breeding and canned hunting of lions.
In an effort to reduce single use plastic on this trip we provide reusable cloth bags to all of our travelers. It’s easy to use plastic excessively, especially in the hot months. However, we encourage our travelers to buy large 5-10 litre bottles to refill their small water bottle.
Botswana is a semi-arid country with limited water resources. This coupled with extreme hot weather, means that the country can be prone to severe water shortages. Our trained tour leaders are well versed in advising travelers on initiatives to manage water consumption, and we are working with our suppliers to encourage better management of this precious commodity. We encourage our travelers to take short showers and to never leave the tap water running unnecessarily.
Unfortunately, on the vast majority of this itinerary, using local transport is not reliable or feasible. So, we use private, locally owned transport instead. We ensure our vehicles/fleets are well maintained and fuel-efficient. We also endeavour to include a range of other local transport options such as mokoro (a type of canoe) where possible.
The Impacts of this Trip
This trip is run by our own local South African operator who shares our commitment to responsible travel, from waste and water management to ensuring we leave as minimal a footprint as possible. Our local team are trained on our global responsible travel policies and practices. We also use a range of other local suppliers for different activities throughout this three-country itinerary.
All aspects of this trip (on the ground) are operated by local Southern Africans (most of whom live locally) including all our leaders, vehicle drivers, local site guides, suppliers and accommodation providers.
On this trip we stay in a lodge just outside the small cattle ranching town of Ghanzi. The lodge is situated in the Kalahari region of Botswana that is inhabited by a large portion of Botswanas’ San/Bushman community. Unemployment is one of the main social issues that affect the San community, who have become an increasingly marginalized minority is Southern Africa . The lodge helps empower the community through employment.
The cloth bags provided to our travelers on every trip are sourced and supplied from a local community NGO.
Our philosophy is to act local and that means respecting the local traditions and ensuring both men and women are conservatively dressed with legs and arms covered when entering villages and other small communities. We also take care to form genuine and mutually beneficial relationships with local people.
We have a foundation which was set up to empower travelers to have a positive impact on the communities they visit. It now supports over 50 local, grassroots projects around the world. Over the past 15 years, the foundation has distributed over AU $5 million to projects tackling areas such as sustainable development, human rights, child protection, environmental conservation, wildlife protection, education and healthcare.
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