Namibia to Botswana

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The Okavango Delta, Victoria Falls, Kalahari and Etosha game reserve: you’ll visit all these and more during this motorbike tour! During the day you ride tarred roads to the most beautiful spots of Namibia and Botswana and at night you sleep in carefully selected hotels, lodges and guesthouses. The moment you leave Windhoek you’ll experience the solitude of the Kalahari Desert. Your first encounter with the rich wildlife will take place on a cheetah farm. Your ride then takes you to the Okavango Delta in the middle of Botswana’s desert. Your comfortable tented camp is your base to explore the Delta and close-by Moremi game reserve. Next up is the ‘smoke that thunders’, the imposing Victoria Waterfalls. In Chobe wildlife reserve you’ll board a boat to go looking for hippos, crocs and elephants. Etosha national park is the perfect place for a game drive to find lions, giraffes, rhinos and antelopes. This magnificent motorbike safari is suitable for all riders and perfectly suited to ride with a pillion.

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DAY 1.  Welcome to Windhoek

Our representative is waiting for you at the airport. He will transfer you to your hotel. In the evening we have a ‘meet & greet’ in a nice restaurant where you can meet your fellow travellers. Do you want to spend some time before your tour in Windhoek, or are you flying via Cape Town and want have a better look around there? Here you will find the possibilities.

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DAY 2: The land of the Bushmen

Your first day on your motorbike. Your luggage goes into the back-up vehicle. We ride beautiful, quiet roads so you can get used to your motorcycle – and, if necessary, to driving on the left. Along the road you’ll see Herero women with their characteristic wide skirts and impressive headgear. Your overnight stop is close to the border and in the middle of Khoisan territory. Next morning, after breakfast, you can go for a walk with a Bushman (Khoisan).

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DAY 3: The solitude of the Kalahari

After crossing the border you continue your ride through the Kalahari. The solitude is only broken by small towns like Tshootsa and Ghanzi, your lunch stop. At the end of this long riding day you reach Maun. After seeing nothing but desert today it is hard to imagine that you are actually on the edge of one Africa’s largest river deltas!

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DAY 4. The living delta in the dry desert

The Okavango Delta is not for nothing one of the natural wonders of the World! During the wet season the delta fills up with water, which partly evaporates during the dry season. Since there is water all-year round, both the wildlife as well as the birdlife are abundant. Open safari vehicles take you to our tented camp deep in the delta. Large tents, mattresses and sleeping bags are provided for. This special place is your home for the next two nights.

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DAY 5. Water and wildlife

Our camp is in the border area between the wet Okavango Delta and the much drier Moremi game reserve. As a result of these differences between dry and wet habitats this area is one of the richest in wildlife. The open safari vehicles are by far the best way to spot animals and birds and to take the best pictures. To finish it all off you also go on a night drive to look for animals that are only active after dark. Staying here is so special that you’ll remember your visit to the Okavango Delta for the rest of your life!

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DAY 6.  Sunset over endless salt flats

The morning sees our return to the lodge in Maun where we pick up our motorbikes for the ride between endless salt flats and leafless Baobab trees to Nata. Here we take you for a sundowner so you can enjoy a typical orange African sunset over one of the immense salt flats!

 

DAY 7:  Game cruise with hippos and crocs

We’ll be riding in a northerly direction through an area rich in wildlife. Sightings from the motorbike are common. Rarely do we see lions, but they have never expressed interest in motorcyclists – at least till now. You stay two nights in Kasane, just outside Chobe national park. After arrival we go for a game cruise on the Chobe River. The boat takes us between dozens of elephants on the shores and hundreds of hippos in the water. This is a boat ride you definitely don’t want to miss out on!

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DAY 8:  The Smoke that Thunders

Early in the morning our Zimbabwean colleagues will pick you up and take you across the border into Zimbabwe. From far you can see mist rising above the landscape from the Victoria Falls. This is what gave them their local name: Mosi-oa-Tunya, the Smoke that Thunders. You’ll have ample time to admire this natural wonder. Walk along the edge of the gorge into which the waterfalls drop, take a flight high above the falls and lunch in cosy Vic Falls. At the end of a long day you return to your lodge in Kasane, Botswana.

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DAY 9:  The green strip

You ride across a corner of Chobe to the border with Namibia. Maybe you’ll spot some more game before crossing the border. The road continues through the Caprivi Strip, very different from the desert you have mostly seen till now. With a bit of luck you will catch glimpses of a bushbuck, a kudu or an elephant. From the sundeck at the edge of the Okavango River you will see this river turning orange from the light of the setting sun.

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DAY 10:  African villages and towns

As the day goes on you’ll see more and more traffic on the road. The distance between villages gets shorter and shorter. All signs you are nearing one of the more densely populated areas of Namibia. You’ll sleep in Grootfontein, a typical African town that looks like a busy city compared to the emptiness of the last week.

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DAY 11:  Farms and wild animals

At Tsumeb you leave the last of the villages and towns behind you and ride through a fertile area with large farms. As the day goes on the desert starts taking over again and you’ll start spotting springbokkies, a first sign of the rich wildlife you’ll encounter tomorrow. At the end of the day you’ll arrive at our cosy guesthouse outside Etosha National Park.

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DAY 12:  Big game safari in Etosha

Early in the morning you board the safari vehicle for your full-day game drive. Etosha is home to the largest population of both black as well as white rhino in the whole of Africa. Did you know a white rhino is just as grey as a black rhino? You’ll also see many giraffes, kudus, gazelles and other antelopes. You’re also at risk to encounter predators like lions, cheetahs, leopards, jackals and hyenas. Most animals are active in the morning and at the end of the day. The warmest time of the day is for resting, an excellent example which we will follow.

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DAY 13:  Leave the wilderness behind you

Your last day on the motorbike! You ride a good tarred road into Windhoek and the civilised world. The busy traffic makes you realise how far you have been from civilization the last weeks. Fortunately civilisation has its advantages, like ice-cold beers, terraces and a scrumptious dinner in a nice restaurant.​​​​​​​

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​DAY 14.  Goodbye, or more Namibia or Cape Town?

Too soon the time has come to say goodbye! Depending on your departure time we will transfer you solo or together with others to the airport. If you fly via Cape Town, you might want to make a stopover on the way back and spend some additional time in Cape Town. Cape of Good Hope, a wine tour, Robben Island or shark cage diving – Cape Town awaits you.

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IMPORTANT INFORMATION

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MINIMUM NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS: 6

If the minimum number of participants isn’t reached, the tour may be cancelled or run with a different format.

 

WHAT IS INCLUDED:​

• All overnights (comfortable middle-class hotels) during entire tour

• Breakfast every day

• Picnics/lunches

• Evening dinners

• Motorcycle rental with unlimited mileage

• Excursions

• Third party liability insurance for motorcycles

• Comprehensive vehicle insurance for motorcycles with deductible according to the booked motorcycle model

• English and Afrikaans speaking tour guide on motorcycle

• Support van for luggage transportation (1 piece per person) and space for passengers (limited) on entire tour

 

IS NOT INCLUDED:

• All services not mentioned as included and all items of a personal nature

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OPTIONAL SERVICES:​

• All motorbikes come with a liability insurance, but everything you break yourself, you pay yourself. We use your credit card as a guarantee. 

• For the full duration of the tour, including extensions, a travel insurance policy is mandatory. This policy needs to include full coverage of motorbike riding with (if applicable) your pillion, any activities you plan to do and a Flying Doctor service. A good cancellation insurance is also mandatory to avoid problems in case of a cancellation. You will need to inform us about your insurance details before the tour departs.

 

TERMS OF PAYMENT:​

• Immediately after you receive our mail with the official confirmation of your booking, you need to pay a deposit of 20% of the tour price into the bank account of Zulu Overland in South Africa.

• Make sure the remainder is in our bank account no later then 29 days before the departure date of your tour (= day 1 of the day to day description).

• So if you book within 5 weeks before departure you need to transfer the whole amount when you book.

• Note: if your payment is not in our bank account in time and in full, this constitutes a cancellation of your tour and the applicable cancellation fees will be applied.

 

CANCELLATION POLICY:

If you cancel the tour the following costs and fees apply:

• If you cancel the tour the following costs and fees apply:

• Up to 30 days before departure: your 20% down-payment

• Between 29 and 15 days before departure: 50% of the tour costs

• Between 14 and 8 days before departure: 75% of the tour costs

• 7 days or less before departure: the total tour costs