If I had to pick one place that perfectly balances wild beauty with mindful travel, it would be Botswana. This extraordinary country has embraced a low-impact, high-cost tourism model that limits visitor numbers in order to preserve its pristine ecosystems.
In its vast parks and remote reserves, only a handful of lodges are allowed, meaning fewer vehicles, less disruption to wildlife, and more intimate animal encounters for guests.
That rare sense of exclusivity is what truly sets Botswana apart from other African destinations.
Most lodges here run on renewable energy and employ locals as guides, trackers, and staff, ensuring tourism directly benefits nearby communities. A significant portion of travel costs also goes back into conservation, helping to protect these wild places for future generations.
It’s no wonder Botswana remains one of my all-time favorite countries to visit. In this article, I’ll walk you through everything you need to know to plan your trip.
How to Plan A Trip To Botswana
Planning a trip of this nature can be a daunting task, especially for first-time visitors to Africa. There are four basic ways of booking a trip.
- Self-drive. Self-driving can be an excellent option for those confident driving abroad, especially for those on a budget. You can rent a car in many places, including a rooftop tent. Many visitors choose to combine a self-drive adventure in Botswana with neighbouring countries like Namibia and Zimbabwe. As many car rental companies have offices in multiple destinations, this can be a really great way to see southern Africa. It’s also a great option if you want to see more of Botswana, beyond the typical safari destinations.
- Booking through an international travel agent. They may be the most convenient as they take care of everything, including international flights, but agents end up being an expensive option.
- Book directly with lodges. This type of safari also offers convenience as the lodges typically take care of everything once you’ve arrived in Botswana, including any domestic flights to the lodge. However, lodges in Botswana, especially those within parks and reserves, are typically expensive due to their remote locations. Therefore, this option is mostly suited for travelers with a higher budget.
- Book a mobile safari with local tour operators. In my opinion, booking a mobile safari with a local tour operator is the perfect balance between being cost-effective and relaxing. Accommodation isn’t as luxurious as lodges, as it’s mobile and can be packed up in a few hours, however, it’s still comfortable, with spacious tents equipped with beds.
Best Places to Visit in Botswana
Below are some of the best parks and reserves in Botswana that you could include in your itinerary.
Chobe National Park
Situated in the northwestern corner of Botswana, Chobe is one of the world’s best wildlife destinations and the country’s premier national park. Its multi-ecosystems, comprised of vast open grasslands, dense woodlands, riverine forests, and wetlands, sustain a dense and abundant range of animals, including the Big Five. Rhinos are, however, rare and only found in some private areas of Chobe.
Other wildlife commonly seen here includes cheetahs, hyenas, hippos, crocodiles, giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, and numerous antelope species. Chobe also holds a massive concentration of elephants, with over 50,000 passing through the park every year. It is also one of the best places in Africa to see extremely rare wild dogs and is home to over 500 bird species.
The endless miles of rivers and channels provide excellent boating and fishing cruises, ranging from simple dugout canoes known as mokoros to luxurious houseboats from which you can view the wildlife from close range.
Chobe waterways, especially the Chobe River, also offer breathtaking scenery for landscape and wildlife photographers, with jaw-dropping sunsets every evening. Not-to-be-missed areas include Linyanti and the enigmatic Savuti Channel, located on the western perimeter of Chobe. Both are well-known for their number of big cats.
Chobe is easily accessed by road or air via Kasane, which is also a short drive from the famous Victoria Falls.
Okavango Delta
Fed by the Okavango River, which creates a maze of channels, lagoons, and islands spread across 20,000 km² (7,800 mi²), the Okavango Delta is our planet’s largest oasis and home to a vast concentration of wildlife. It is one of the most pristine and gorgeous wilderness spaces you could ever hope to see anywhere in the world.
The Okavango Delta is, however, not only famous for its natural beauty and abundant wildlife, but is also of immense archaeological importance, with the legendary Tsodilo Hills situated around the panhandle. Dubbed the “Louvre of the Desert,” they hold thousands of San rock paintings that date back 20,000 years.
The Big Five are found here, including rhinos, which are only found on Chief’s Island in the heart of the delta, a place not to be missed. The intricate waterways and tranquil lagoons provide one-of-a-kind boating excursions perfect for superb photography and wildlife sightings. Eco-friendly lodges and campsites offer luxurious accommodations and exclusive safaris into remote areas, where you’re the only human in sight—the ultimate sustainable wildlife experience.
Moremi Game Reserve
Situated in the heart of the Okavango, Moremi is a most desirable travel destination known for its diverse ecosystems of grasslands, woodlands, crystal-blue lagoons, and winding waterways, all teeming with a dense and diverse range of animals and birds. Taking up over one-third of the entire delta, Moremi is a paradise for wildlife and nature lovers.
The multi-habitat ecosystem supports a rich variety of wildlife, including the Big Five, cheetahs, wild dogs, giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, and numerous buck species. The waterways teem with hippos, crocodiles, and tons of aquatic birds, while tigerfish provide fantastic sport fishing opportunities.
Incorporating the famous Chief’s Island, which is the only place to see endangered rhinos, Moremi is best visited during the dry season. Floodwaters arrive from the Angolan highlands and create deep, navigable channels, allowing boats to penetrate deep into the jungle. Meanwhile, the shorter grasses make for better game viewing.
The best way to visit Moremi is by booking a safari through a local tour operator based in Maun, which is a few hours’ drive away. They offer accommodation in permanent, eco-friendly lodges or, alternatively, in mobile camps in the bush, which have virtually no impact on this sensitive ecosystem.
Makgadikgadi Basin
Makgadikgadi Basin offers a complete change of scenery, landscape, and climate. The green grasslands, dense woodlands, crystal-blue lagoons, and lush floodplains of the north give way to endless semi-arid sand dunes and vast, snow-white salt pans dotted with clusters of mopane trees and tall, ancient baobabs.
And yet, when the rains arrive, this seemingly inhospitable, lunar-like wilderness bursts into life. The desert and bone-dry salt pans are transformed into lush green grasslands and a watery oasis, bursting with abundant wildlife, including several rare and unique species, such as brown hyenas and lovable meerkats.
While both seasons have something spectacular to offer, the best time to come here is during the wet season. Here you’ll find the famous Kalahari black-maned lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, giraffes, gemsbok, springbok, massive herds of zebras and wildebeest, and the occasional elephant. The flooded salt pans also attract myriads of bird species, forming the largest flamingo colony in the world, making it a birder’s paradise.
The best places to stay are around the Boteti River on the western rim of the park, which is a favourite haunt for the wildlife during the dry season. There are also lodges and camps on the edge of the pans offering stunning scenery, spectacular night skies and incredible wildlife throughout the year.
You can reach Makgadikgadi by a 3-hour drive or a 30-minute flight from Maun.
The Central Kalahari Game Reserve
Situated further southwest of the Makgadikgadi and covering an area more than twice the size of Wales, the Central Kalahari Game Reserve is the largest game park in Africa and the second-largest in the world. It is also one of the remotest places on our planet, where you can drive for days and not see a soul, except for wildlife and magnificent scenery.
The terrain is similar to Makgadikgadi, being mostly flat, with desert-like sand dunes dotted by grasslands, bushes, mopane trees, salt pans, watering holes, and fossilised riverbeds. But when the rains arrive, the desert blooms and the pans fill with water; thus, the wildlife becomes more abundant. Lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, and wild dogs are the prime predators here, with zebras, giraffes, gemsbok, eland, kudu, springbok, and various other gazelles providing the prey.
The northern areas are the most popular, with several eco-lodges and camps scattered around the watering holes where animals and birdlife mostly congregate. Most have no electricity or internet signal, having virtually no effect on the environment.
Photographers will love the several unusual natural phenomena here, including the bizarre salt pan known as Deception Valley. Red-coloured grasses surround the pan, while the blue clay gives the impression of water, deceiving many visitors and aviators into thinking there is water below.
Victoria Falls
The iconic Victoria Falls lies just across the Zimbabwe border, less than an hour’s drive from Kasane on the edge of Chobe, so it’s a wonderful day trip to end or begin a visit to Botswana.
You can spend the day viewing the falls from many magnificent viewpoints by following scenic footpaths along its entire length. The waters plummet 108 metres across 1.7 km, throwing a cloud of spray in the air, and you can hear its roar up to 40 km (25 mi) away.
While here, other activities include visiting the famous Devil’s Pool, where you can swim right up to the edge of the falls, taking a boat cruise to Livingstone Island, or kayaking the Zambezi, Alternatively, relax over a delicious meal at a restaurant or hotel with full view of the majestic falls spread out below.
Best Time of Year to Visit Botswana
Although Botswana is an all-year-round destination, it has two main seasons – the wet season and the dry season.
From May to September, the dry season is the best time to visit Botswana, as the weather is mostly sunny with mild temperatures in the north. In the central and southern regions, conditions are more extreme, with hotter days and bitterly cold nights.
During this season, the flood waters from Angola reach the Okavango, creating ideal boating conditions, and the short grasses provide excellent game viewing. It is also a good time to witness the 30,000 zebras and wildebeest in the Okavango and Chobe, having migrated from the dry Makgadikgadi Basin.
The rainy season is from October to April, with January and February being the hottest and wettest months. Generally, the rain falls mainly in the afternoons, allowing sufficient time for morning excursions. It also does not rain every day. This is the best time to visit the Makgadikgadi and Kalahari, as the pans become lush wetlands that attract a vast number of birds and animals, including the migrating zebras and wildebeest.
Costs of Traveling in Botswana
Restricting the number of visitors to each park to protect the environment has, unfortunately, led to higher prices as a consequence. Fewer visitors mean higher individual prices, and many lodges are remote, increasing costs. These factors have made Botswana possibly the most expensive travel destination in Africa. The experience, however, is incomparable.
Costs of safaris and traveling in Botswana depend mainly on the level of comfort you choose. For example, a mobile camping safari with a tour operator may cost around $450 per person per day, excluding international flights and tips. Lodging safaris can be significantly more than this; some of the more luxurious lodges can cost as much as $4,000 per person per night.
However, your final cost will largely depend on personal preferences, such as the time of year you visit, how you travel between parks, who you book your trip with, and where you stay.
How Many Days Do You Need in Botswana?
To truly enjoy Botswana’s beauty, a minimum of 7 to 10 days is required. If you have more time, a 14-day visit would be less rushed and more relaxing; two weeks would allow you to visit parks on both the northern and southern circuits, which offer totally different experiences.
Conclusion
Having traveled extensively throughout Africa, Botswana has provided some of my best wildlife experiences ever. Expensive? Yes — but the breathtaking landscapes, incredible wildlife, genuine sense of safety, and commitment to conservation make Botswana an unbeatable choice for a nature-filled escape.
