Stunning Beauty and Unimaginable Wilderness

Discover Botswana

Wild | Exclusive | Abundance

Landlocked Botswana lies at the heart of Southern Africa and is undoubtedly one of the great safari destinations in Africa. The land of the Okavango Delta and the Kalahari Desert is home to some of the greatest wildlife spectacles on earth. Wild Africa at its best.

Botswana is known as an exclusive and expensive safari destination, which on the whole is true. Unless you are prepared to self-drive and camp (only recommended for experienced Africa travellers), or join a group and camp, it is hard to visit Botswana on a ‘budget’. However, if you are looking to immerse yourself in the natural world, there are few places that can compete.

Prices vary considerably due to the season of travel. July to October is generally considered high season, with April to June and November as the shoulder season, and December to March as the low/green season. Typically, a tailor-made 10 day safari, not including international flights, may start at around Eur 5000 per person.

BOTSWANA Highlights

Botswana is a stable, multi-party democracy with a visionary government that has set aside over 40% of the country for wildlife. While diamond mining has fuelled much of the country’s expansion, tourism has become Botswana’s second-largest industry.

Botswana is two hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)/Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Its currency is the Pula (BWP) and the official language is English, with  Setswana being the most widely spoken.

See Highlights

Okavango Delta

There is quite simply nothing like the Okavango Delta anywhere else in the world. The waters of the delta travel 1000 kilometres from the Angolan highlands before they spread out over the Kalahari Desert's flat surface. This area, covering 15 000 km², filled with channels, lagoons, swamps, and islands, provides an extremely varied range of habitats and is home to one of Africa's most significant wildlife concentrations. The Okavango is one of the natural wonders of the world. This still pristine yet fragile ecosystem richly rewards exploration.

Moremi Game Reserve

The Moremi Game Reserve lies in the eastern corner of the Okavango Delta. One of the most beautiful and diverse of all the great game reserves of Africa, it protects both huge concentrations of wildlife and incredible scenery. The reserve consists of both seasonally-inundated areas such as Xakanaxa and drier areas such as Khwai.

Chobe National Park

Chobe National Park in Botswana's northeast is a true wildlife paradise. Famed for its massive elephants, and their large herds. Here you will also find a full suite of predators and more than 440 bird species. Chobe was first set aside as a wildlife reserve in the 1930s and became Botswana's first National Park in 1968. It's three iconic areas are the Chobe Riverfront, the Linyanti Marshes and the remote and soulful Savuti.

The Chobe Riverfront

The lush Chobe River Front is renowned for its abundance of elephants. Chobe is also noted for its large herds of buffalo, its rich birdlife and exquisite sunsets reflected in the river's ripples. It all adds up to an unmissable wildlife experience.

The Savute

The Savute is noted for the shifting shapes and transience of its most important landmarks: the Savute Marsh and the Savute Channel which supplies it. The Marsh itself is one of Africa's most exciting wildlife destinations – anything can, and often does, happen there. Rising above the otherwise level landscape of Savute are the Ghoha and Gubatsa Hills which hide perfectly preserved San Bushmen paintings. The Savute hills have a very healthy leopard population, and the best time to see them is either at first or last light as they leave their stony refuges to hunt in the surrounding bush. The Savute Channel is known as the 'stolen river'. Its recent history includes several episodes where it has dried up for several years, only to flow again - seemingly at random, but in fact due to tectonic movements. This means that you could encounter either a river or a ribbon of dry savannah grassland. The skeletons of numerous dead trees stand as mute witnesses to the erratic ebb and flow of this most unpredictable river. Beyond the channel is an area of extensive open game-filled plains, home to various dry-land animals, including zebra, wildebeest, kudu, giraffe, wild dog, cheetah and lion.

Central Kalahari Game Reserve

South of the Okavango Delta and toward Botswana's centre, a large expanse of pale-coloured sand emerges from beneath the water and papyrus. This is the Kalahari Desert, the most extensive, unbroken stretch of sand in the world. Extending from South Africa to the Congo. The Central Kalahari Game Reserve dominates central Botswana. When the rains transform the sweeping vistas into a tapestry of green in summer, it attracts a dense concentration of antelope. This, in turn, lures predators like the legendary black-maned Kalahari lion, cheetah, brown hyena and black-backed jackal.

Makgadikgadi Pans National Park

Within striking distance of the Okavango Delta lies the Makgadikgadi, the largest salt pans network in the world. The most famous of the pans are Sua Pan, Nxai Pan and Ntwetwe Pan. The delta's blues and greens are forsaken for shimmering whites, golden grasslands, palm islands, and iconic stands of baobab trees. The dry season is best to experience the otherworldly landscape of the gleaming white salt pans. This is also the setting for Africa's second-largest migration when large herds of zebra and wildebeest make the long trek from the Okavango Delta to the pans searching for fresh grazing.

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Botswana Safari Itineraries