Photo Expedition to Botswana: Okavango Delta Wildlife Immersion
Trip Summary
The Okavango Delta is unlike anywhere else on Earth. Each year, floodwaters from Angola’s highlands spill southward into the Kalahari, transforming a vast inland basin into a shimmering mosaic of channels, islands, and floodplains that teems with life in extraordinary density. This is one of Africa’s great wildlife sanctuaries — a UNESCO World Heritage Site where elephants move in herds of hundreds, leopards drape themselves over tree limbs in the golden afternoon light, wild dogs hunt in coordinated packs, and the birdlife is so rich it defies easy counting.
This photo expedition is designed for photographers who want more than game drives. We’ve built an itinerary that puts you in exactly the right place at the right time: at water level in a floating hide as elephants crowd the Boteti River, watching herds splash and slurp within arm’s reach; on open platforms overlooking active waterholes as predators emerge at dusk; beneath a canopy of African stars as lions call in the darkness; and deep in leopard country in one of the most exclusive wilderness areas in the Delta. Every camp has been chosen for its photographic opportunity, and at each one, our photo guide Corrynn Cochran will be at your side, helping you read the light, work the moment, and bring home images that do justice to what you’re seeing.
We arrive as the Delta’s waters are rising and the wildlife is most concentrated and active. Chances are our vehicle will be the only one tracking a hunting lion or sitting quietly beneath a leopard overhead. This is Botswana at its most exclusive. Solitude, space, and wild action in equal measure.
This trip starts in Maun on May 26, 2027. We’re happy to assist with flights and pre- or post- hotels.
Itinerary
Days 1–3 | Maun & the Boteti River
Upon arrival at Maun Airport, you’ll be met by your guide and transferred by road to our first camp, perched dramatically on a rocky clifftop above the Boteti River, the only permanent water source for miles, and a magnet for wildlife in extraordinary numbers. From the moment you arrive, the show begins: elephants, zebra, and wildebeest converge on the riverbanks below, all within camera range from your private veranda.
Our days here revolve around the river and the extraordinary access it provides. The camp’s floating photographic hide is a highlight unlike anything a conventional safari vehicle can offer – a water-level platform that puts you eye-to-eye with elephants drinking and splashing just meters away, low-angle light pouring across the scene. It is the kind of shot most photographers only dream about. We’ll also venture into Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, where towering baobabs rise from shimmering expanses of crusted salt and desert-adapted wildlife, including one of Africa’s great seasonal migrations of zebra and wildebeest. Walking safaris with the local San Bushmen, a people with an ancient and intimate relationship with this landscape, offer a rare cultural and portrait photography opportunity. Back at camp during breaks, Corrynn will lead image reviews, editing discussions, and technique sessions to sharpen your eye for the days ahead.
Accommodations: Clifftop camp, Boteti River
Meals (Day 1): Dinner
Meals (Days 2-3): Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Days 3–5 | Elephant Pan, Khwai Private Reserve
We transfer into the Khwai Private Reserve, 200,000 hectares of private wilderness in the northeast Okavango Delta, and settle into Elephant Pan, a camp that delivers exactly what its name promises. Set amid sandy mopane forest and overlooking a busy waterhole, this is one of the most intimate elephant experiences in Africa. You’ll open your tent flaps in the morning directly onto trumpeting herds below, spend siesta watching them splash and snort in the shallows, and fall asleep to antelope grazing just outside your canvas walls. This isn’t a camp that’s trying to impress with opulence. It impresses with Africa, raw and unfiltered.
Game drives into the wider reserve reveal Khwai’s remarkable diversity: lions, leopards, wild dogs, cheetah, hippos, crocodiles, giraffes, and a supporting cast of smaller predators and hundreds of bird species. Corrynn will work with you on waterhole composition and the challenges and rewards of elephant photography at close range, including the wide-angle work that captures the sheer scale of these encounters.
Accommodations: Elephant Pan, Khwai Private Reserve
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Day 5 | Skybeds, Khwai Private Reserve
Tonight is unlike any other on this expedition, or, quite possibly, in your life. Skybeds, also within Khwai Private Reserve, is precisely what it sounds like: three-story raised platforms open to the sky, each with your bed draped in white linens positioned directly beneath the stars. Below your platform, a busy waterhole draws a procession of nocturnal visitors. In a single night here it’s possible to watch wild dogs, lions, elephants, and hyenas come and go. With the Milky Way wheeling overhead, the photographic possibilities are exceptional.
Before dark, Corrynn will lead a session on night sky and low-light photography settings, composition, and technique for capturing both the wildlife action and the celestial show above. You may not sleep much. You won’t mind.
Accommodations: Skybeds, Khwai Private Reserve
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Days 6–9 | Mokolwane, Xudum Concession
A scenic helicopter transfer carries us over the Delta for our final and perhaps most extraordinary chapter – 180,000 hectares of exclusive wilderness in the Xudum concession, where Mokolwane sits as the only camp for miles in any direction. This is leopard country in the most literal sense: the area records one of the highest leopard densities anywhere in Africa, and the terrain is tailor-made for big cat photography. The acclaimed Netflix documentary Living With Leopards, which received five Emmy nominations, was filmed in the very terrain we’ll be exploring.
Leopards are just the beginning. Enormous herds of elephants and buffalo move through the concession; lions, cheetah, wild dogs, and hyenas round out a predator lineup that rivals the best in Africa; and the solitude of having this vast wilderness lends every encounter to a depth and stillness that busier reserves simply cannot offer. By now, with days of field experience and Corrynn’s guidance behind you, your eye will be sharper and your instincts more attuned than when you arrived. This is a fitting finale to a photographic journey through one of the world’s great wildlife destinations.
Accommodations: Mokolwane, Xudum Concession
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Day 9 | Helicopter to Maun & Onward
After a final morning in the field, a scenic helicopter flight returns us to Maun offering one last chance for aerial images of the Delta’s extraordinary patchwork of channels, islands, and plains before the journey home begins.
Meals: Breakfast
About Your Photo Expedition Leader
Corrynn Cochran brings an infectious energy to every expedition she leads, and more importantly the experience to back it up. Based in Montana, Corrynn has spent her career at the intersection of photography, storytelling, and the natural world. She served as both photo editor and digital content editor at Alaska Magazine, where she developed a deep fluency in wildlife imagery and the kind of editorial eye that translates directly to fieldwork. Her time at Women’s Adventure Magazine further sharpened her instinct for finding the shot in wild, unpredictable environments.
Corrynn has led wildlife photography expeditions from Alaska to Africa and India, working with photographers of all skill levels and consistently bringing what her colleagues describe as a “superfun” attitude to some of the most demanding environments on Earth. Whether she’s coaching a guest through the nuances of composition at a Botswana waterhole or helping someone nail the exposure on a running big cat at close range, Corrynn’s teaching style is hands-on, encouraging, and deeply rooted in a love for the animals and habitats she photographs.
Details
Price: $15,695* per person based on double occupancy accommodations – two people sharing a room. Due to limited availability, private rooms aren’t available.
Includes: accommodations; all meals from dinner on Day 1 through breakfast on Day 9; road transfers, helicopter and charter flights as listed; photo expedition leader Corrynn Cochran; expert local driver/guide for photo safaris with private vehicle for the group; community, conservation and reserve fees; fuel surcharges; and applicable taxes.
Excludes: international flights (we have an Air Desk to assist with flights); passport fees; excess baggage fees; required travel insurance policy with emergency medical evacuation benefits; pre- or post- hotels; gratuities; personal items; and activities not listed.
*Reflects payment by check or ACH. Credit card fees, if applicable, will be assessed at the time of booking.
Group Size: 5 photographers, plus Corrynn Cochran and safari driver/guide.
Level of Difficulty: This expedition is designed for travelers comfortable with long days in safari vehicles and early morning starts to take advantage of optimal wildlife activity and light. Walking is generally limited and optional.
Important Information: This itinerary is designed to allow flexibility in response to wildlife movement, weather, and local conditions. While every effort will be made to deliver the itinerary as described, expedition leaders reserve the right to make adjustments as necessary to ensure the best possible experience and the safety of all participants.