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By Audley Botswana specialist Harriet

As you explore Botswana’s mix of wet and dry landscapes, there’s always something to catch your eye. Big cats lie lazily at the feet of trees. Lines of elephants march past, speeding up excitedly as they approach water. Skittish impalas jump and run like athletes warming up for a race. And, no matter where you are, you’ll be able to spot a variety of birds, be it a brown snake eagle perched on the tip of a tree or a lilac-breasted roller flashing its rainbow of feathers.

For me, Botswana represents safari at its best. And that’s without mentioning the exceptional level of comfort you’ll find at each camp, the quality of guiding, and the three-course meals that round off each day.

Safaris in Botswana: what to expect

Botswana is one of Africa’s most exclusive safari destinations thanks to the government’s focus on quality experiences and conservation rather than mass tourism. Most camps and lodges are kept to around 16 guests or fewer, so you’re unlikely to see many, if any, other vehicles when out in the bush.

I never tire of wildlife drives, but they aren’t your only option here. Sunset boat cruises, bush walks, scenic helicopter rides, and peaceful mokoro (traditional canoe) trips are all on the cards, depending on where you are and the time of year you visit. I recommend mixing and matching wet and dry areas for a more varied trip.

Even if you don’t encounter big cats on a wildlife drive, you’ll return to camp with a new-found knowledge of the many species your guide points out. Almost all guides and staff are native to Botswana, and the guiding qualifications here are some of the most rigorous in Africa. Part of the safari experience is witnessing the tracking skills of your guides and trackers. They’ll show you the differences between the paw prints of a lion and a hyena, for example, so you can also look out for signs of life as you explore.

Green season vs dry season in Botswana

Botswana’s year splits roughly between a summer green season (November to April) and a winter dry season (May to October). Which season you travel in can impact what you see and do on your safari.

Confusingly, the dry season sees water levels at their highest, thanks in part to the water that flows down from Angola. This makes boat and mokoro trips possible in many areas, giving you a wider choice of activities. Animals are easier to see in the shorter grasses, and bush walks are more widely offered.

The green season has drier ground conditions, but you’re more likely to experience short thundery downpours (though these are a welcome relief from the high temperatures). Grasses are long and trees are thick with leaves. You can see animals with their young, and it’s the best time for birdwatching, with summer migrants swelling numbers.

• Find out more about the best time to visit Botswana

Getting around

The easiest way to move between areas is by light aircraft because most camps are within a short drive of an airstrip. Flights usually last no longer than 40 minutes, though you may stop to pick up other passengers en route. The views often make these transfers an experience in themselves, and you might spot elephants cooling off in waterholes below. You can often opt to travel by helicopter instead, if you’d prefer.

Below, I’ve shared some of the best safari destinations in Botswana. It’s possible to combine several or all of these areas in one trip.

Flying into Kasane, you can head straight to Chobe National Park, before exploring several concessions in the Okavango Delta. From there, it’s easy to catch a flight from your safari camp back up to Kasane for Victoria Falls. Alternatively, you can see the falls before Chobe — the drive between them is just two hours.

As another option, you could combine the delta with the Kalahari Desert for a mix of landscapes and experiences.

Okavango Delta

The Okavango soaks through the otherwise arid land, fanning out like a splayed hand. It’s the world’s largest inland delta, and the abundance of water here has a magnetic effect on wildlife, big and small.

Even when water levels are lower, you can see grazing herds with their young, watched by big cats lying in the shade of acacia trees. Elephant families traipse in orderly lines between waterholes, lion roars echo at dusk, and rainbow-plumed bee-eaters cling to reeds lining waterways, which themselves have been carved out by wandering hippos.

Without doubt, the Okavango is what most people come to Botswana for — it’s the epitome of untouched nature at its rawest. The variety of activities here is another huge draw, as are the guides, who, in my eyes, are exceptional. Narrators, trackers, storytellers, naturalists, and refreshments providers all in one, they make every moment of your safari shine.

The delta is grouped into different reserves and concessions, which vary in water levels and the activities on offer. Below are a few that I particularly enjoy visiting.

Moremi Wildlife Reserve, Okavango Delta

Covering much of the eastern side of the delta, Moremi Wildlife Reserve is one of the drier areas of the area. Your days here are focused around morning and afternoon wildlife drives, which give you a chance to see antelopes, wildebeests, zebras, and buffaloes grazing on the open savanna.

That said, motorboat trips may also be possible, depending on water levels. Pockets of woodland shelter leopards and wild dogs, though they can be difficult to spot as this isn’t a private reserve where vehicles can go off-road.

Where to stay in Moremi Wildlife Reserve

I like Camp Okuti, a stylish property with five rooms based on traditional mosasa reed houses. They have both indoor and outdoor showers and private teak decks facing the Maunachira River. Two-bedroom family mosasas accommodate families with children aged seven and over.

Kwara Concession, Okavango Delta

Bordering Moremi, the private Kwara Concession has a good mix of dry and wet areas, so you’ll always have a different way to explore. It’s latticed with lily-scattered lagoons and glistening channels, which you can navigate by motorboat or mokoro as the early morning mist rises from the water. Look out for jewel-like malachite kingfishers on the papyrus and long-necked slaty egrets on the water.

The concession is also excellent for spotting bigger wildlife on day and night drives, whether it’s a pride of lions grooming each other in the shade, a pair of cheetahs on the lookout for their next meal, or an elephant family cooling off along the banks. At dusk, you might witness a pack of wild dogs beginning their evening hunt as zebras keep watch for any lurking danger.

Guides can also lead you out on foot into the drier areas for a chance to zoom in on the more subtle aspects of the ecosystem, from plant life to dung beetles.

Where to stay in the Kwara Concession

I recommend unpacking at Kwara Camp, which sits on the edge of a lagoon that’s often visited by animals big and small. The nine luxurious tents each have a private deck facing the water, an en suite bathroom with both an indoor and outdoor shower, and a bathtub overlooking the animal-dotted floodplain. There are also two pools where you can relax between activities.

Chobe National Park

In the north of Botswana, east of the Okavango Delta, Chobe National Park covers a huge expanse of open grassland and the verdant floodplains of the Chobe River. Large numbers of buffaloes, impalas, and kudus graze on the plains, which unsurprisingly attract predators like lions, cheetahs, wild dogs, and leopards. Wildlife drives are your best chance of seeing the drama unfold.

As soon as you arrive here, you’ll notice there’s one particular animal that appears to form part of the landscape: the elephant. There are thousands of them. Tens of thousands in the dry season, when other water sources have run dry. You can watch from a boat as they line the riverbanks, roll in the thick mud, and submerge themselves gleefully in the water.

Boat cruises are arguably the main draw of this region. Not only can you get almost within splashing distance of the elephants, but you’ll also see clusters of partially submerged hippos, just their eyes visible as they watch you from the water’s surface. Waterbucks stand majestically among the reeds, and birds are everywhere.

On my last trip, I saw pied, malachite, pygmy, and giant kingfishers flit, hover, and dive, as well as African darters drying their wings in the sun and African fish eagles carefully watching the water from their lofty perches.

Where to stay in Chobe National Park

I recommend staying at one of the lodges on the park’s western border. They each have a separate jetty, so you can enjoy boat trips away from the busier stretches of water near the town of Kasane. This includes Chobe Elephant Camp, which sits on a ridge overlooking the Chobe River.

Rooms are built from sandbags to keep them cool in the summer, and the airy main area has a pool, lounge, small library, and communal dining table. There’s also a two-bedroom family chalet for up to five people.

Linyanti Wetlands, Chobe National Park

Within Chobe National Park and close to the Namibian border, the Linyanti Wetlands encompass swamps, forests, and open grasslands stretching along the Linyanti River.

You can take part in a variety of activities here, particularly during the dry season, when there’s more water around for mokoros, boating, and fishing. Vehicles can go off-road in the private concessions and bush walks are an option for much of the year.

When I first visited, this area immediately felt different to elsewhere in Botswana as we drove through leafy forests of jackalberry and knobthorn trees. Baboon troops swung from the branches and groomed each other in the shade. Families of warthogs scuttled past, stopping to watch us and decipher if we were friend or foe. Every few minutes, I’d hear the laughter-like call of a woodland kingfisher echoing through the trees.

Along the river, you have a good chance of seeing waterbucks, red lechwes, zebras, and hippos, as well as elephants. And, wherever you are, spotting predators is also a possibility. Lions, hyenas, and leopards compete for prey, along with the occasional pack of wild dogs.

One evening, we encountered a male lion sitting beneath a tree with his latest prize: the carcass of a young buffalo. He was completely engrossed in his meal, and every so often he’d glance up at us and snarl as a warning: I didn’t need telling twice.

Where to stay in the Linyanti Wetlands

Linyanti Bush Camp has just six spacious tents, set on a bank overlooking marshes that flood seasonally. It’s a remote area, so staying here feels very secluded, and there’s plenty of wildlife to spot without even leaving the camp. From your private deck, you might see sable antelopes, hippos, or elephants.

Between April and October, you can also enjoy a complimentary helicopter flight, giving you a completely different perspective of the bush.

The Kalahari Desert

The Kalahari Desert sweeps across most of Botswana, and much of Southern Africa. I find the landscape starkly beautiful, and if you’re coming from the watery reaches of the Okavango Delta, the contrast is drastic.

Here, instead of mopane forest and riverine woodland, the threadbare soil is scattered with thorny scrub and acacias. In certain areas, you see dazzling-white salt flats stretching to the horizon, while desert grassland feeds wildlife that’s specially adapted to this environment, like springboks and elands.

It’s worth saying now that the desert isn’t where you go to see the big hitters — here it’s all about enjoying a mix of activities that help you appreciate the landscape and see wildlife species you wouldn’t find in the delta, from bat-eared foxes to meerkats.

You can also spend time with San guides, whose roots in this area go back millennia. They’ll show you techniques they’ve used to survive in this harsh environment, such as making fire, crafting weapons using natural resources, and using the local flora for herbal remedies.

There are several different safari areas within the Kalahari. Which you visit will depend on the activities you want to do, the animals you want to see, and the time of year you want to go. Here are a couple of my favourites.

Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Kalahari Desert

The Central Kalahari Game Reserve is a vast sweep of sandy wilderness punctuated by salt pans. White-backed vultures and bateleur eagles perch on wizened trees, and towers of giraffes kick up dirt as they cross the barren landscape.

It’s best to visit during the green season when the plains sprout grass under the rains. This sudden food source attracts migratory herds of zebras, springboks, and wildebeests. Hot on their tails are lions, leopards, cheetahs, and jackal hungry for a meal, plus scrounging hyenas and the odd pack of wild dogs.

Activities here include morning, afternoon, and night drives, as well as guided bush walks where you can look out for kori bustards — the world’s heaviest flying bird.

Where to stay in Central Kalahari Game Reserve

Elevated on a sand-dune ridge overlooking a permanent waterhole, Tau Pan Lodge boasts far-stretching views of the Kalahari’s sun-drenched wilds and the animals who live there, including black-maned lions. Due to its remote location, the sky is inky black at night — ideal for stargazing (there’s a sleepout deck you can use during your stay).

I particularly like how the lodge has been carefully designed to integrate into the surrounding environment. It’s 100% solar-powered and each thatched-roofed chalet has been constructed in a way that keeps you cool in the heat and warm in the colder months.

Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, Kalahari Desert

Northeast of the Kalahari, the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park is home to huge, perfectly flat salt pans that shimmer in the heat. These are relics of a vast super lake that covered much of Botswana’s surface millions of years ago. Around the edges of the pans are large tracts of grassland speckled with centuries-old baobabs.

The landscape and wildlife here changes dramatically with the seasons. As you explore the park on wildlife drives during the dry season, playful groups of meerkats frolic across the cracked, sunbaked land. Many are habituated and might come right up to you for a closer inspection. You also have a chance of encountering bat-eared foxes patrolling the pans’ perimeters and brown hyenas scavenging for carcasses.

In the green season, everything changes. The rains typically fall from November onward, turning the landscape green and filling the pans with water. At this time, you can see large flocks of flamingoes gathering in the shallows. Zebras and wildebeests also migrate in their thousands from the Boteti River in the west of the park, and the air fills with the calls of birds and frogs.

Where to stay in Makgadikgadi Pans National Park

Walking into Jack’s Camp feels like stepping back in time — the tents are draped in a moody burnt orange fabric, with dark wooden floors, four-poster beds, woven rugs, and antique chests. It’s impeccably stylish, akin to a safari camp from the 1940s.

During your stay, you can explore the surrounding salt pans in various ways: on wildlife drives, on horseback, from the lofty heights of a helicopter, or on foot with local Zu/’hoasi Bushmen.