African Adventure in Botswana
New Dates TBA - 2024 & 2025
A soul-sating Southern African Safari
Immerse yourself in an all-encompassing, soul-sating Southern African safari set in Botswana. Buy or borrow the best camera and prepare for 24 hours of epic game viewing where the big five abounds with twice-daily game drives on land and the river. Your stays vary from the eco-luxe Chobe Game Lodge, which employs the only all-female guiding team in Botswana, to the bush boys of Botswana and Letaka’s premier mobile safaris.
With the mobile camp, you are sure to get off the grid and dive deep into an authentic African safari experience. Expect bucket showers, being serenaded to sleep by the roar of the wild, and five-course meals, including fresh bread baked daily. The meals are as much of a feast as the experience itself. Your rustic-chic retreat at Gomoti Plains is the pitch-perfect finish to this epic trip.
African Adventure
New Dates TBA - 2024 & 2025
Price: USD 6,560
Group Size: 10-13
20% deposit due ASAP to secure a spot
Extremely limited space!
If interested,
Email ASAP to get on the WAIT LIST and inquire about -
Dates, pricing, and the detailed itinerary.
Adventure Details
About the Trip
This all-women African safari adventure was meticulously planned by Karen Loftus and an esteemed team, from a boutique safari company based in Botswana. It’s the same team behind a long-running TV show on Nat Geo TV.
This bespoke approach will have you staying in seductive camps where the game viewing can be done from the edge of a deck in between twice-daily game drives.
Chilled sundowners, epic sunsets, and spirited conversations around the fire and under the stars are second nature, as is the seamless service. Impassioned guides, empowering talks, and local women are sure to inspire.
Space is severely limited in any African bush property.
It is best to commit as early as possible to ensure space.
Trip Basics
Dates - New Dates TBA for 2024 & 2025
Days - 8 Days/7 Nights
Size - Minimum of 10, Maximum of 13
Style - Rustic Chic Wildlife & Adventure
Needs - 20% nonrefundable deposit is needed ASAP to secure a spot.
Deadline to book - ASAP
(African safari lodges are very small with extremely limited availability and book up quickly. It's on a first-come basis.)
Treats - Only all-female guide team in Botswana
Accommodations - Premier Safari Camp & Rustic Chic Safari Lodges
Host- Karen Loftus/"Lofty
WAT's Adventuress in Chief
Fees - $ USD - TBD
Day to Day Itinerary
Day 1 and 2 | Chobe National Park
Your safari begins with the legendary Chobe National Park, renowned for its large elephant population and excellent wildlife sightings. What makes your stay here so unique is that Chobe Game Lodge, your chosen accommodation for the first two nights in Botswana, employs the only all-female guiding team in Botswana.
You’ll notice that Chobe Game Lodge also takes its environmental responsibilities very seriously. It is the only lodge in Botswana to use electric game-viewing vehicles and boats (rather than the traditional diesel and petrol-powered craft used elsewhere) and the reduced noise emphasizes the serenity of the wilderness.
You will enjoy the opportunity to head out on both these modes of transport with your guide by land into Chobe National Park and onto the Chobe River, where you might be lucky enough to see the elephants enjoying a swim.
Day 3 & 4 | Khwai Concession
Departing Chobe Game Lodge, you will return to Kasane Airport for the fixed-wing charter flight of around 50 minutes over the vast Chobe National Park and into Khwai Concession to meet your Letaka guide. The Khwai concession is a community-run wildlife management area. Due to its location nestled between the Chobe National Park and Moremi Game Reserve – both unfenced protected areas – the abundance of wildlife is phenomenal.
The added draw of this area as a concession, rather than a government-run park or reserve, is that night driving and guided walks are permitted. Additional activities include a traditional mokoro (a dugout canoe) where you will glide silently and seamlessly through the reeds in an almost spiritual form of travel, giving you a more intimate and immersive perspective on your wild surroundings.
You have two nights to explore this area with your safari guide, who will ensure that any qualms about camping are quickly put at ease. These tours are non-participation – meaning a crew of staff erect and dismantle our tents when moving camps and serving meals. We'll also enjoy three-course meals served under the African night sky.
Day 5 | Moremi Game Reserve
Your day between Khwai Concession and the Moremi Game Reserve will be a full day’s drive. You will have the opportunity to see the change in habitat as you drive between the areas, enjoying several stops along the way for snacks and lunch.
This Game Reserve was the first reserve in Africa to be established by the residents rather than the Government. The Batawana tribe, led by Mrs. Moremi, the deceased Chief Moremi III’s wife, initiated the move to protect this area in the 1960s due to their concern about the rapid depletion of wildlife on their ancestral lands because of uncontrolled hunting and cattle encroachment.
Day 6 & 7 | Gomoti Plains
After saying farewell to our safari guide, we will hop on a plane for the short flight to Gomoti Plains. Gomoti Plains camp offers extensive land and water activities with an incredible diversity of fauna. The wildlife viewing in the area, both by vehicle or boat, is superb with wild dog dens, a large pride of lions, recent sightings of leopard and cheetah, as well as plenty of other wildlife. The camp is located just 18 km from Chitabe Camp and is named after the Gomoti River situated nearby with roaming flood plains based on either side of the camp strewn with towering palm trees.
Day 8 | Gomoti Plains - Maun
You will have time for a final, short morning game drive on the way to the airstrip before flying into the frontier town of Maun. Here, you will have lunch and the chance to meet with some of the inspiring women from a local women’s group doing some groundbreaking work with women in the community in Maun. After a short presentation, you will be able to discuss any topics with them before you say goodbye to Botswana.
Accommodations
Accommodations vary from the iconic eco-luxury at the Chobe Game Lodge, the rustic ambiance in the bush with Letaka, and the effortlessly chic enclave at Gromoti Plains.
Chobe Game Lodge
Chobe’s five-star, fully ecotourism-certified safari lodge is the only lodge located within the Chobe National Park. Chobe guests get first dibs on early morning sightings as they venture into the park one hour before anyone else arrives. The abundant game viewing is land and water-based and can continue in a leisurely manner once back at the lodge while lounging on the viewing deck and boardwalk. The lodge is staffed with the only all-female guide team in Botswana.
Letaka Safaris Premier Mobile Camp
If you truly want to get off the grid, Letaka Safaris' premier mobile camp is sure to give you that necessary reset with a few days of living in the bush. Dinner is served under a blanket of stars, and stories are shared around a roaring fire at night.
Gomoti Plains
Your African adventure is complete after a few chic sleeps in one of the ten luxury tents at Gomoti Plains. Game drives, guided safari walks, boating, and mokoro safaris are all available, as are dining and sundowners in the lovely lounges and dining areas. Your private veranda is the pitch-perfect place to count your lucky stars...
*All images of Botswana are courtesy of Karen Loftus, except for accommodations.
Rates & Availability
New Dates for 2024 & 2025 - TBA
SHARED ACCOMMODATION: $ USD - TBD
A 20% non-refundable deposit is required to hold your spot on this once-in-a-lifetime adventure.
Deadline to book - ASAP! Space in lodges is extremely limited in Africa, now more than ever. It's on a first-come basis.
Please note: Due to limited inventory, the remaining 80% payment must be made in full six months before departure.
Our exclusive program welcomes a maximum of 13 travelers with a minimum capacity of 10.
Email us ASAP to Secure Your Spot!
Inclusions
Exclusions
Your Host
Karen Loftus is a well-known and respected luxury travel and lifestyle writer and photographer with a sense of humor, a wicked sense of adventure, and an insatiable appetite for off-the-beaten-path endeavors.
She hit her international stride twenty-plus years ago as an award-winning feminist playwright. She was also a groundbreaking international comedian in the US, Europe, Asia, and The Middle East.
She also ran her nonprofit, Body Comedy, where she used humor to heal. She worked with thousands of survivors of physical and sexual violence, women, and children in many facilities, juvenile halls, prisons, and shelters.
Ten years later, Karen ended up on Hollywood's red carpet, interviewing the celeb set and writing about travel, fashion, beauty, food and wine, and the Hollywood lifestyle. Since then, she has traveled to seven continents and 70+ countries while working as a writer and photographer.
Her compelling and entertaining stories have appeared in Vogue, Architectural Digest, Forbes, Robb Report, American Way, Hemispheres Magazine, The NY Daily News, The Globe & Mail, South China Morning Post, The Gulf News, Huffington Post, and Men's Journal among many others.
This serial entrepreneur has produced comedy tours and theatrical events worldwide through her production company, Goddess Productions, and lifestyle and fashion-driven events through her event company, The Lofty Style Lounge.
Lofty loves hitting the road, sharing her wild stories and entrepreneurial endeavors with other women. She speaks at college campuses, conferences, and corporate events.
In addition to WAT, she arranges well-curated travel for individuals and groups under her travel advisor umbrella, Lofty Traveler. Lofty Traveler is a part of Cloud 10 Travel - An Independent Affiliate of Cadence Travel, a Virtuoso Agency.
Final Notes
There are several reasons why I love this adventure. For starters, if you are a camping gal, this trip is going to blow your mind. If you are not a camping gal like me, this is a big leap that may seem daunting at first but exciting throughout.
We will start in a lodge for a few days on safari in Botswana and will finish off in a stunning safari camp. As far as that delicious middle, it’s an incredible experience. We stay in rustic yet incredibly comfortable tents. The crew handles every single thing imaginable! You will be spoiled and properly looked after in this rustic-luxe experience.
Chances are we won’t see many people, if at all. When creating this trip, I wanted to offer a safari that was approachable price-wise for those really wanting to go. Botswana is one of the most expensive safari spots in Africa. We have managed to create a trip that features luxe accommodations and unforgettable experiences at a price point we're proud of. This trip is a truly immersive, raw, and real experience. It is, by far, one of my all-time favorite safari experiences. We will set up camp in the middle of nowhere, around no one, in the bush, surrounded only by nature. It is the trip and the experience of a lifetime with unbelievable wildlife and equally adventurous women!