Family holiday to Botswana & Zambia

We had the most wonderful family trip and formed some memories that will be with us forever. The Okavango Delta is a truly special place and Natural Selection was a good choice. We loved both lodges and were super impressed with the guiding and the kindness and attentiveness of the staff which is incredible considering the vast majority of the staff were from the local villages and have been trained to work in tourism. We met some truly lovely people but our guides in particular were incredible. A 7-night safari was plenty and perhaps in the future I may chose 6 nights. Visiting two sites was critical as while they were both in the Delta, they were very different in terms of feel and in terms of the landscape and wildlife. This season the floods were especially heavy at Tuludi so this had I think pushed some game out somewhat. This means we had to rely on our wonderful guide KG to track the wildlife. What we did have was incredible bird life, lots of hippos and truly magical flood lands, covered in crystal clear waters. We will remember the landscapes forever, driving through flooded grasslands and orchards. North Island had an abundance and actually slightly less water which was unexpected. The temperature was colder that we had expected as it was unusually cold for August but we really needed super warm winter clothes in the morning like a down jacket and woolly hat. Whilst there was a space pair of binoculars, I think everyone should have their own really. In future we would take more with us. Zambia / Livingstone was also great as we loved the activities. The hotel was great but it did have some clear deficiencies in terms of patchy service and very mixed food experiences. We really enjoyed the activities though and the falls were spectacular. We did visit the Zimbabwe side for the reportedly better views and I think it was worth it but the admin and cost to cross the border and visit the national park there was not insignificant. For example, the visa and park entrance fee was over $100 each so it probably cost us $500-600 to see the falls from the other side. Fishing was great in the Delta and well-organized at Royal Livingston but we didn't find fish over 3.5 hours and it was expensive costing $600 for 4 of us. Horse riding from the hotel was a bit chaotic in terms of organization and the safety equipment, such as helmets, was really poor. We had some frustrations with the hotel management and reached out a few times to discuss things but they never came back to us. In fact, we only spoke to the assistant manager on departure. The hotel was in a wonderful location and aspects of it were great like the pool and the amazing view across the lawn with the wildlife, but at times the management and food was a bit lacking. We loved the white water rafting and walks to see the falls. The spa was great too and the gym was decent. It feels like the Royal Livingstone could be an amazing hotel with a few management tweaks. So, in summary a truly memorable holiday and a brilliant experience for the whole family.