Travel guide to Botswana

Botswana truly offers some of the most varied and distinct safaris in Africa, with an enormous congregation of wildlife across hypnotic landscapes. Deserts, wetlands, savannahs, the world’s largest in-land delta and wildlife-rich game reserves create one of the most beautiful regions on the continent. The majority of the country’s land surface is dominated by the Kalahari Desert, an endless expanse of land that occupies the center of Botswana where the San people live. However, Botswana is perhaps even more renowned for the spectacular Okavango Delta (the largest inland delta on Earth), the Moremi Game Reserve (known for its predators and big five game viewing) and Chobe National Park (where the highest concentration of elephants in Africa roam freely). With an incredibly strong commitment to conservation, Botswana is also home to some of the most luxurious safari lodges in Africa, attracting discerning travelers from all over the world.

Get the most out of your (luxury) trip to Botswana with my travel guide. Find out more about:

Best time to visit
Travel requirements
How to get there
Getting around
Recommended tour operators
Inspiration, highlights, & travel tips
Suggested itineraries
Recommended luxury hotels (+ reviews)

TRAVEL GUIDE TO BOTSWANA: BEST TIME TO VISIT

Botswana offers year-round safari activities, with each season bringing a unique appeal. The country has hot, wet summers from October to April while winters from May to September are often dry and cool with chilly mornings and evenings. The rainy season is from late December to late February, sometimes continuing into March, with rain generally falling in the form of afternoon thundershowers.

The best time to visit Botswana is during the dry season from June to September, when wildlife in Botswana’s main game reserves – the Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park – is abundantly present. Although called the ‘dry season’, the water levels of the Okavango Delta are at their highest point in these months as the flood waters are arriving from Angola, with animals flocking to the waters from the dry hinterland. This is also when many camps can offer water activities (e.g. boat rides, mokoro tours). Going by the rule of thumb, water in the Delta starts to flow in June (when it arrives from the Angolan Highlands), while by the end of August, most of the water has passed through the Delta and water levels start to drop again.
In the summer months (December to March), the temperatures in Botswana are soaring and thundershowers are frequent. During this time of the year, some areas in the Okavango Delta become waterlogged, making road travel challenging and airstrips trickier to traverse. That said, excellent game viewing can be enjoyed in the summer months too, in the right areas with good resident game and permanent water channels. Also, if you are a birder, the best time to visit the Okavango Delta is generally during the summer months when the Okavango is bursting with resident and migratory birds.
The shoulder months (October-November and April-May) are also good months to visit Botswana and its game reserves. However keep in mind that occasional rain showers may occur during these months; vegetation is quite dense in April right after the rainy season (which makes it more difficult to spot wildlife); and the Okavango Delta will probably not be flooded during this time of the year (with lower concentrations of wildlife and no water activities).

TRAVEL GUIDE TO BOTSWANA: ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

Requirements for entry into Botswana differ from country to country, and are subject to change. Prior to departure, always check with your government and your nearest Botswana embassy or consulate what documents you need for travel to Botswana.

You need a valid passport. The passport must be valid for six months after entry into the country. Two blank passport pages are required when traveling to Southern Africa. Check the number of days given on arrival at the immigration desk as there are steep fines for overstaying the number of days given.
For most passports, a visa is required. Visas are to be obtained in advance and cannot be issued at port of entry. Please check with local authorities for details. Please visit www.botswanaembassy.org for a full list of nationalities requiring visas for entry into Botswana.
It is advisable for visitors who intend traveling to Botswana’s neighbouring countries and back to apply for multiple entry visas.
Foreigners from most Commonwealth and European Union countries, as well as the United States, are not required to obtain visas for entering Botswana, except in cases where the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs has directed otherwise.

Please note this information serves as a guide only. Travelers should check for visa requirements pertaining to their citizenship, as entry requirements can vary.

Make sure you read my 10 tips to plan a worry-free trip.

TRAVEL GUIDE TO BOTSWANA: HOW TO GET THERE

Most travelers arrive in Botswana via one of its international airports:

Most tourist arrive in Botswana via Maun Airport, which serves as the main gateway to the Okavango Delta and the Moremi Game Reserve.
Kasane International Airport is another airport often used by tourists to enter Botswana since he airport is close to Chobe National Park.
Sir Seretse Khama International Airport is the main international airport of the capital city of Botswana. The airport is named after Sir Seretse Khama, the first president of Botswana The airport has the largest passenger movement in the country, but is less convenient for tourists since it’s a bit further away from Botswana’s premier wildlife areas.

There are relatively few international flights directly into Botswana and it is often easier to fly into Johannesburg in neighbouring South Africa and catch a connecting flight from there to Maun (or Kasane). Airlink and Ethiopian Airlines are currently your best options to get to Maun.

It’s also possible to arrive in Botswana overland as part of a multi-country itinerary. Botswana is bordered by Namibia to the west and north, Zimbabwe to the east, and South Africa to the south. Many travelers combine Namibia, South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe in one single holiday (often starting at Cape Town in South Africa and ending at the Victoria Falls in Zambia or vice versa).

Before you buy a plane ticket, consider reading my tips & tricks for buying the cheapest plane ticket.

TRAVEL GUIDE TO BOTSWANA: HOW TO GET AROUND

To reach most of Botswana’s National Parks, reserves and places of interest, you will need to rent a 4WD vehicle or charter a plane.

Air travel: shuttle and/or charter flights are the only way of reaching the majority of camps in the Chobe, Moremi, Central Kalahari and the Okavango Delta. Scheduled light aircraft flights depart from Maun and Kasane and handle all inter-camp transfers in this area. In most cases, the lodge where you’ll stay will take care of arranging and booking the transfers (most flights are only confirmed 24 hours in advance).
Self-Drive: Although Gaborone, Maun and Francistown are accessible by 2-wheel drive cars, travel into Moremi, Chobe and the Central Kalahari can only be undertaken by 4-wheel drive. Self-drive travelers have access to most of the Moremi, Savute and Chobe lodges, but lodges in the Okavango Delta itself are only accessible by light aircraft. However, keep in mind that Botswana is not a recommended self-drive destination unless you are prepared for serious 4×4 driving and check weather conditions carefully, as these impact on the road conditions.

TRAVEL GUIDE TO BOTSWANA: RECOMMENDED TOUR OPERATORS

Most travelers will book their trip in Botswana through a safari company. The latter will take care of all the transfers, whether it be by light aircraft, a (guided) vehicle, or a combination of both. I highly recommend booking via Wilderness or &Beyond if you are considering a luxury trip to Botswana.

Wilderness is the largest luxury operator in Botswana, managing more than 20 camps and operating its own airline (Wilderness Air). Wilderness was founded in 1983 in Botswana by two young guides, who wanted to ensure both conservation of wildlife areas and that the financial benefits of their safaris flow to Botswana and its people. Today, Wilderness Safaris is widely acclaimed as the continent’s foremost ecotourism operator, dedicated to conserving and restoring Africa’s wilderness and wildlife. They do this by creating life-changing journeys in some of the most remote and pristine areas in Africa, hereby helping to conserve Africa’s spectacular biodiversity and share ecotourism’s benefits with the local communities. Wilderness’ top lodges in Botswana are Jao, Vumbura Plains, Mombo and DumaTau.
&Beyond, one of world’s most exclusive travel companies, was established in 1991, and combines conservation efforts with sustainable tourism. The company has established an intimate relationship with some of the world’s last remaining unspoiled natural places and the communities that surround them. In combination with highly-skilled guides and rangers, this allows &Beyond to deliver extraordinary guest experiences that feel profoundly meaningful. As of today, &Beyond owns and operates 30 extraordinary lodges and camps in iconic safari, scenic and island destinations in Africa, Asia and South America, enabling the company to positively impact more than 9 million acres of wildlife land and 2000 km (1200 mi) of coastline. This includes several top lodges in Botswana (four &Beyond lodges as well as dozens of partner lodges).

Two other top luxury safari companies to consider are Belmond and Sanctuary Retreats, although their network of lodges is not as extensive as compared to Wilderness and &Beyond: Belmond operates two lodges in Botswana and Sanctuary Lodge four lodges.

TRAVEL GUIDE TO BOTSWANA: INSPIRATION, HIGHLIGHTS & TRAVEL TIPS

There are many reasons why Botswana should be on your bucket list:

A strong commitment to conservation that supports a vast array of endangered species including African wild dogs
Home to the Okavango Delta, the largest inland delta in the world
Chobe National Park is home to the largest concentration of elephants in Africa
A diversity of landscapes, from savannah and desert, to salt pan, wetland and flood plain
Mokoro excursions, a unique adventure trip along the waterways of the Okavango Delta

Botswana’s two main areas of interest for tourists are the Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park:

The Okavango Delta is the largest inland delta in the world, and instead of flowing into the sea, the annual flood of fresh water flows inland, spreading over 15,000km of the Kalahari sand in a maze of lagoons and channels. The delta forms part of the Kalahari Basin, situated at the southern periphery of the Great Rift Valley and covers an area of 22,000 square kilometres. This is home to an estimated 9,000 species of flora and fauna – as such the delta is widely regarded as one of the premium destinations for game viewing. Although the periphery is semi-arid, the delta itself is a patchwork of cool clear streams, lagoons, floodplains and forested islands. In the dry winter season vast numbers of wildlife flock to where the floodwaters infiltrate the delta – providing one of the natural world’s most spectacular sights.
In Botswana’s northwest, immense teak forests grow where, within Chobe National Park, the largest population of elephants (estimated at 100,000) in the world live a secure, protected existence. Lions, leopards and rare wild dogs roam the broad plains that shrink and grow with the change of the seasons as the rivers and streams flood. The lush Chobe riverfront is noted for the large concentrations of mega fauna (elephant and buffalo) that gather on its banks in the dry season. During the dry season the Chobe is the only major source of water north of the Okavango, hence the number of game attracted from great distances. Like the Okavango, the river originates in the highlands of Angola and flows into the mighty Zambezi. The Chobe boasts Bushbuck and Puku antelope, as well as a variety of birds, in addition to elephant and buffalo.

The following,detailed articles may also inspire you and help you plan your holiday to Botswana:

TRAVEL GUIDE TO BOTSWANA: SUGGESTED ITINERARIES

It’s impossible to suggest one itinerary for Botswana in this travel guide, but I hereby share with you a schedule based on my own holiday in Botswana. Because of the amount of effort involved in getting to Botswana and the number of destinations worth visiting, it is recommended that travelers set aside ten days to two weeks for their Botswana safari.

6 nights in the Okavango Delta, which can be divided between two to three lodges. Make sure to choose at least one lodge with great water activities and one lodge in the Moremi Game reserve for spotting big game and predator action. A good combination of lodges would be:
- Wilderness Jao Camp: 3 nights
- Wilderness Mombo Camp: 3 nights
3 nights in the Linyanti private concession near Chobe National Park, where you can spot the highest concentration of elephants on earth
- Suggested camp: Wilderness DumaTau (3 nights)

For your information, the exact itinerary of my own holiday in Botswana with Wilderness can be found here (this site also allows you to book the same trip).

If you have more time, you may consider combining Botswana with Namibia, South Africa, and/or Zimbabwe in one single holiday (starting your journey in Cape Town in South Africa and ending at the Victoria Falls in Zambia or vice versa).

TRAVEL GUIDE TO BOTSWANA: RECOMMENDED HOTELS (+ REVIEWS)

I recommend to visit my top 10 list of the most fabulous hotels in Botswana if you are eager to know how I rank Botswana’s top hotels, based my own experience.

Below, you find my detailed reviews of lodges in Botswana (with pros, cons, and tips to save money per hotel).

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