Botswana
Africa’s last great wilderness — water, wildlife and wide-open space
Discover Botswana
Botswana does safari differently. Instead of chasing volume, the country made a deliberate choice decades ago to keep visitor numbers low and quality high, and you feel that the moment you arrive. Camps are small, roads are few, and huge tracts of wilderness are left almost entirely to the animals. For a lot of our travellers, it is the trip they compare everything else to.
The country is landlocked and mostly flat, with the Kalahari filling much of the interior. What makes it extraordinary is water in an unexpected place: every year the Okavango River spills out across the sand and creates a vast inland delta, drawing elephant, buffalo, lion and wild dog into one of Africa's richest concentrations of game. To the north, the Chobe River holds some of the biggest elephant herds on the continent, and out east the Makgadikgadi salt pans stretch to a horizon so empty it feels like standing on the moon.
We have been sending guests into Botswana for years, and we handle the parts that are genuinely tricky to arrange on your own — the light-aircraft transfers between camps, the timing around the annual flood, the balance between water-based and land-based areas. Every itinerary here is put together by hand and fully adjustable.
Highlights at a Glance
Why Go to Botswana
Low-impact, high-quality travel is the whole point in Botswana. Concessions cap the number of vehicles, so a sighting is rarely shared with a crowd — often it is just you and your guide.
The Okavango Delta is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the few places where you can track big game from a mokoro (a traditional dugout canoe) in the morning and a 4x4 the same afternoon. Chobe delivers elephants in numbers you have to see to believe, best enjoyed from a boat at sunset. And the Kalahari and Makgadikgadi give you the flip side — desert-adapted wildlife, habituated meerkats, and some of the darkest night skies in Africa.
It suits travellers who want space and privacy over ticking boxes: honeymooners after somewhere quiet and romantic, families wanting a genuine wilderness for their children, and repeat safari-goers ready for the real thing.
What to See & Do
The Okavango Delta is the headline act — a maze of channels, islands and floodplains that supports leopard, lion, elephant and the endangered African wild dog. Mokoro trips, guided walks and game drives all run from the delta camps.
Chobe National Park, in the north, is elephant country. The riverfront supports thousands of them, along with hippo, crocodile and enormous flocks of birds, and a late-afternoon boat cruise here is one of the great safari experiences.
Moremi Game Reserve covers the eastern delta and is consistently rated among Africa's best reserves for predators. Further south, the Makgadikgadi and Nxai salt pans turn from cracked white desert in the dry months to a shimmering wetland full of flamingos and zebra after the rains. The Central Kalahari, one of the largest reserves on earth, is famous for black-maned lions and the green-season plains game.
When to Go
The dry season, roughly May to October, is prime time. Water sources shrink, vegetation thins out, and animals gather around the rivers and remaining waterholes — the best game viewing of the year, with warm days and cold mornings.
Counter-intuitively, the Okavango Delta flood peaks in the dry season. Rain that fell in the Angolan highlands months earlier arrives around June to August, so this is the ideal window for mokoro trips and water-based safaris even though the rest of the country is parched.
The green season, November to March, brings dramatic skies, newborn animals and superb birding, plus lower rates and quieter camps. It is the time to visit the Kalahari and the pans, when the desert briefly comes alive. We match the season to the experience you are after when we plan your route.
Peak Season
May to October for the dry-season game viewing; June to August for the Okavango Delta flood.
Talk to us for month-by-month advice and shoulder-season value.
Botswana Safari Packages
Four tiers for every traveller — luxury, semi-luxury, mid-range and budget. Every itinerary is fully customisable.
Okavango & Chobe Luxury Fly-In
Our finest Botswana journey — intimate fly-in camps deep inside private Okavango concessions and on the Chobe River, with just a handful of tents, private plunge pools and superb guiding. Designed for honeymooners and couples who want the delta at its most exclusive, romantic and quiet.
Chobe & Okavango Explorer
The classic Botswana pairing done in stylish semi-luxury camps: the elephant-lined Chobe River and the waterways of the Okavango Delta. Combine game drives, boat cruises and a mokoro glide through the reeds, with light-aircraft flights linking the two regions.
Chobe River Safari
Comfortable mid-range lodges on the Chobe riverfront, home to the largest elephant population in Africa. Days are split between afternoon boat cruises among the herds and morning game drives in the national park — an easy, rewarding trip that works beautifully for families and first-timers.
Kalahari & Makgadikgadi Camping Adventure
A well-run participation camping safari into the Makgadikgadi pans and the edge of the Kalahari. Sleep under canvas, sit with habituated meerkats at sunrise and cover big desert distances with an expert guide — the most affordable way to experience wild Botswana without cutting the wildlife short.
Handpicked Safari Lodges
World-class accommodation for every budget. Click any lodge for photos, amenities & booking.
Mombo Camp
5★Widely regarded as the best safari camp on Earth, Mombo Camp sits on Mombo Island in the Moremi Game Reserve — the predator capital of Africa. With just 9 tents on an elevated deck overlooking vast floodplains, this is the ultimate exclusive wildlife experience. Big cat encounters here are unparalleled, with lion, leopard, and cheetah seen almost daily. National Geographic has called Mombo "the Place of Plenty."
12 amenities · 6 highlights
&Beyond Sandibe Lodge
5★Inspired by the armoured scales of a pangolin, &Beyond Sandibe Lodge is an architectural masterpiece hidden in a canopy of ancient trees on the edge of the Okavango Delta in Botswana. The 12 suites feature organic curves, private plunge pools, and sweeping views of the delta floodplains. This is a place where design, nature, and luxury unite in one of the world's most pristine ecosystems.
11 amenities · 6 highlights
Chobe Game Lodge
5★The only permanent safari lodge inside Chobe National Park, this iconic 5-star property sits on the banks of the Chobe River — famous for the largest concentration of elephants in Africa. With 44 rooms, river-facing suites, and both land and water safari options, Chobe Game Lodge has hosted royalty and heads of state. It's also Africa's first fully solar-powered lodge.
12 amenities · 6 highlights
Botswana in Pictures
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Let our team craft the perfect safari for you. Every itinerary is fully customisable to your travel style and budget.
Botswana Safari Packages — Okavango Delta & Chobe 2026
Botswana represents Africa's finest wilderness experience. The Okavango Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, floods annually creating a unique inland delta teeming with wildlife. Chobe National Park boasts the largest elephant concentration in Africa. Our Botswana safaris offer exclusive, luxury bush experiences.
Okavango Delta Experience
Glide through crystal-clear channels in a traditional mokoro (dugout canoe), surrounded by hippos, crocodiles, and countless birds. Walk on pristine islands spotting elephant, buffalo, and antelope. Stay in luxury tented camps under the Milky Way. The Okavango Delta is Africa's last Eden.
Chobe National Park
Famous for its 120,000-strong elephant population, Chobe offers spectacular river cruises where elephants swim across the Chobe River at sunset. Game drives reveal lion, leopard, wild dog, and vast herds of buffalo. Chobe is accessible from Victoria Falls, making it perfect for combo trips.
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