Southern Africa's safari capital

Botswana has secret safari superpowers. It clears cobwebs from overstressed brains and recalibrates souls by humbling them, wrestling egos into submission! All through the sheer magnificence of its wilderness areas and the prolific wildlife species that call them home. 

Indeed, Botswana puts the wild into wilderness with no small degree of aplomb, being blessed with some of the most legendary national parks and UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa. Chief amongst these is the off-the-charts amazing Okavango Delta, where the waters of the Okavango River empty into the sands of the Kalahari, forming what is perhaps the most breathtakingly beautiful wetland on Planet Earth. 

Add legendary destinations like Chobe, the Makgadikgadi Pans, the Central Kalahari, Savute, the Selinda Spillway and the Moremi Game Reserve and you have a country packed with adventure and excitement waiting to be explored. 

Botswana is also one of the last remaining homelands of the San Bushmen - Africa's First People - whose ancient way of life as hunter-gatherers offers a fascinating glimpse into the continent's past and a cultural revelation par excellence. 

With its wonderful array of safari accommodation from mobile tented safaris and bushcamps that immerse you into the wonders of wild Africa to some of the most renowned luxury camps and lodges on the continent, and everything in between, Botswana is the poster child of exceptional safari experiences. So, you really need to get there, and we'd be delighted to help!

BOTSWANA IN A NUTSHELL

The where...

Here are some of the must-visit places we recommend including on a Botswana safari that can easily be combined with one another as well as a range of other complementary destinations...

The Okavango Delta

Without a doubt one of the absolute legends of African safari destinations, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is a natural phenomenon in every sense of the word. The world's largest inland alluvial fan delta is a fascinating anomaly that provides life-giving water in the height of the winter dry season. This is thanks to its annual inundation that sees it double in size thanks to heavy rains at its source in the Angolan Highlands. These waters flood south, stopping just north of Maun - the access point for everything Okavango. At this time the Delta becomes a magnet for what feels like all of Botswana's wildlife and is literally teeming with life.

Musts: Mokoro rides along the Delta's channels; boat-based safaris through endless lagoon systems; walking safaris on countless islands; helicopter flights; birding.

Chobe National Park

This vast wilderness in the north-east of Botswana is named after the permanent river that forms a natural border with neighbouring Namibia before meeting the mighty Zambezi River close to the town of Kasane. Synonymous with huge herds of elephant and buffalo, Chobe is also renowned for its predators and exceptional birding, with a cornucopia of life found along the river and inland in its woodland thickets and vast savannah floodplains. The Chobe River itself is where you'll find luxurious houseboats that cruise the waters in style and a range of exceptional lodges offering river-based safari experiences.

Musts: Sundowner cruises along the river; visits to yellow-billed stork roosts and nurseries; boat-based safaris through the Chobe rapids; cruising the various islands in the middle of the river; fishing for tiger fish and bream.

Makgadikgadi Pans

The remains of an ancient lake that once covered 80,000km2, the vast expanses of the Makgadikgadi are today one of the most spectacular sights in Africa. Made up of a series of huge salt pans, the largest of which are the Sua, Nwetwe and Nxai pans, during the rainy season this region transforms into a lush wetland filled with nutritious grasses that make it the destination of Africa's longest zebra migration, along with wildebeest, elephants, and other large herbivores, as well as the predators that prey on them. At this time of year, it's also a birder's paradise and Sua Pan is an important flamingo breeding site. In the winter you can sleep out on the pans and explore on quadbikes and horses. The pans are dotted with rocky outcrops like Kubu Island, famous for its large baobabs.

Musts: Sleepout on the pans (winter); quadbike safaris (winter); horse safaris; explore Kubu Island; see Baines' Baobab; birding; photography; game viewing.

The Central Kalahari

Covering 70% of Botswana, the ancient Kalahari Desert is unbelievably beautiful and truly vast. The Central Kalahari Game Reserve is wild and mysterious, with horizons that seem to stretch without end filled with waist-high golden grasses that are punctuated by the odd tree and bush. Covering 52,800km2, the Central Kalahari redefines the meaning of remote and is the second largest wildlife reserve in the world. Home to unique desert-adapted species, the summer rains see the grasslands in the north teem with wildlife, with huge herds of springbok, gemsbok, wildebeest and eland common. Giraffe are also found here, as are the usual itinerant predators that feed on plains game. The Central Kalahari is also a sanctuary for the San Bushmen, providing them with space to follow their traditional way of life.

Musts: Walking safaris; sleepouts under incredible starlit skies; San Bushmen cultural experiences; game drives; night drives.

Northern Botswana

The far northern reaches of Botswana, around the panhandle of the Okavango Delta and along the Kwando River and its many iterations, are among the most wildlife-rich and stunningly beautiful in the country. This is the home of the legendary Selinda Spillway, Linyanti and Savute marshes and more wildlife than you can shake a stick at! Renowned for its resident predators - lion, leopard, cheetah, caracal, serval and packs of African wild dogs - not to mention hundreds of elephant and buffalo, the year-round animal action here is phenomenal. With the presence of permanent water you can also do boat-based safari activities like canoeing along the Selinda Spillway or fishing the various lagoons. The sunsets are epic, the lodges and camps wonderfully authentic and remote and the safari experiences are just fabulous.

Musts: Walking safaris; helicopter flights; canoeing the Selinda Spillway; fishing the lagoons; birding along the Kwando River; mokoro safaris (waterlevels permitting); picnics overlooking waterholes.

The when...

January, February, March? Befuddled brain bothering you? Try this easy breakdown of the seasons in Botswana with some recommendations on the best times to visit and why. We hope it does the trick!