Botswana is legendary for exceptional wilderness areas such because the epic Okavango Delta and Chobe Nationwide Park – and the prospect to expertise them by staying in some severely fancy luxurious lodges – making this the most effective locations in Africa for wildlife lovers. The nation is a singular playground for novice anglers and birdwatching fans too, and it additionally presents enjoyable experiences for culture-seekers and outdoorsy adventurers.
The stark Kalahari Desert covers a lot of Botswana, offering an unorthodox stage for an African safari. At first, the desert might sound lifeless and uninhabited, however the dry plains play host to uncommon delights that make for a magical journey expertise: countless salt pans, ephemeral lakes, islands of baobab timber, pleasant meerkat colonies, Neolithic websites that talk to an enchanting previous and an oasis of epic proportions within the type of the world’s largest inland delta.
Regardless of being lined by massive areas of desert, what really units this nation aside is the miracle of water. Fueled by rains from the mountainous watersheds of Angola, the life-fueling annual floods create beautiful river programs and replenish the Okavango Delta for the terribly numerous wildlife that lives right here.
Whether or not your tastes run to wildlife encounters or elemental desert surroundings, plan your journey to incorporate these high 16 unmissable issues to do in Botswana.
E-book a traditional Botswana safari
Though the phrase originated in East Africa, Botswana has perfected the artwork of the safari. Virtually half of the nation has been put aside for wilderness tourism, and nationwide parks, wildlife conservancies and sport reserves account for greater than 40% of Botswana’s land allocation.
Chobe Nationwide Park is probably the most accessible wilderness, partly as a result of it sits on the finish of a tarmac freeway inside straightforward attain of Kasane Chobe Airport. It additionally presents an effortlessly rewarding rendezvous with wildlife. This a part of Botswana has the world’s largest focus of elephants (roughly 126,000), and the easiest way to see Africa’s elephant capital is to board a ship and cruise the Chobe River’s game-rich shores.
Close by, Moremi Sport Reserve covers one-third of the Okavango Delta. The Batawana individuals of Ngamiland created this reserve in 1963, making it one of many first reserves in Africa to be declared by native residents versus colonial powers. Most luxurious lodges and camps lie in concession areas rented out by the federal government to implement a extra accountable high-value, low-volume tourism technique. The very best reserves sit within the swamps of the Okavango Delta and guests fly in on small bush planes from Maun.
The logistics of reaching these remoted areas inevitably hikes up the worth of a game-viewing expertise – stays price a minimal of US$650 per individual per evening and may attain as much as US$4000 an evening – however decrease customer numbers decrease adversarial environmental results on these pristine wildlife areas. It additionally means vacationers are extremely prone to have viewings of lions, painted wolves and different creatures all to themselves.
For an much more far-flung journey, search out the desert-adapted animals of the Kalahari, an unlimited wildlife park that opened to the general public within the late Nineties. Black-maned lions, stately oryx antelope and comical floor squirrels all roam the Central Kalahari Sport Reserve (CKGR), which covers a staggering 5 million hectares (12.4 million acres).
The CKGR can be the ancestral dwelling of the San individuals. Usually referred to in Botswana as bushmen, the San historically adopted a nomadic life-style, looking and gathering solely what was wanted from the desert, and you may nonetheless see glimpses of this life when visiting native communities.
Go wild tenting
If you happen to’re feeling intrepid however don’t wish to shell out for a luxurious camp, you may hire a automobile and drive to easy demarcated campsites dotted all through the nation. You will want a completely outfitted 4X4 camper, however these are straightforward to hire from corporations in Botswana or South Africa (many flights to Botswana are routed by way of Johannesburg) and sometimes price US$140 a day. These rugged autos include all-terrain tires, restoration gear and primary tenting tools, corresponding to rooftop tents, chairs, cutlery, crockery and even battery-powered fridges.
Most of Botswana’s wildlife parks and camps are usually not fenced in, and there is not any higher technique to really feel the rugged depth of the wilderness than tenting alongside the creatures of the Kalahari. It’s possible you’ll effectively need to dodge noticed hyenas on the way in which to the lavatory (if there’s a rest room!) or look forward to hippos to scamper again into the river after an evening grazing alongside the riverbanks. Many campsites within the CKGR require whole self-sufficiency, however some in Savuti and Moremi Sport Reserve have flushing bogs and scorching showers.
The preferred self-drive tenting route hits the entire nation’s iconic wildlife hotspots on one two-week circuit, connecting Baines’ Baobabs in Nxai Pan Nationwide Park with Third Bridge in Moremi Sport Reserve, earlier than continuing north to Savuti and the Chobe River within the Chobe Nationwide Park.
Botswana: the fun of a cellular safari
Honor San tradition with a nature stroll
The San have referred to as the Kalahari dwelling for greater than 50,000 years, and any journey to this desert space ought to consider a while to understand their historical knowledge. Tragically expelled from their ancestral land within the central Kalahari, the San have lengthy been thought to be the unique inhabitants of southern Africa, and nature walks with expert trackers provide culturally delicate insights into the normal bushmen lifestyle.
Once you enter their world to study their traditions, it helps to ensure the conservation of this fast-vanishing tradition. You could find accountable excursions organized by lodges corresponding to Tau Pan Camp, Nxai Pan Camp and Jack’s Camp. Alternatively, go to Dqãe Qare San Lodge, which is run by the native San neighborhood.
Go to a recent San artwork gallery in D’kar
A daring neighborhood challenge within the village of D’kar close to Ghanzi presents an alternate manner of experiencing Botswana’s oldest tradition. Punchy prints and vivid work protect accounts of the lives of the Naro San individuals on the Kuru Artwork Undertaking. Guests can see backcountry artwork studios and discover artworks that commemorate botany, wildlife and conventional beliefs. Do not miss the little museum subsequent door to the artwork challenge.
Take a canoe throughout the Okavango Delta
In most components of Africa, a safari takes place aboard a rattling 4WD automobile, however Botswana’s most iconic safari automobile presents a extra serene technique of communing with nature. The Okavango Delta is Botswana’s crown jewel, and the easiest way to discover this wondrous, watery Unesco World Heritage website is on board a standard mokoro canoe.
The world’s first human inhabitants traveled the wild waterways of the delta utilizing these flat-bottomed boats, steered by standing behind the vessel and pushing ahead with a protracted pole. Trendy guests do the identical – licensed skilled polers observe paths cleared by herbivore hippos and hungry elephants. You will sit at water stage, inches above the floor, and benefit from the river in silence, sharing the channels with attractive water lilies, cute Angolan painted reed frogs and aquatic lechwe antelopes. It is how the Okavango Delta has been savored for hundreds of years.
Most luxurious lodges in Okavango provide canoe experiences, most requiring an costly flight. You may as well do day journeys or in a single day tenting adventures from the city of Maun with the Okavango Kopano Mokoro Community Trust – a very good possibility for vacationers on a funds. Enquire immediately at their workplace or make preparations by way of a hostel, such because the Previous Bridge Backpackers or Delta Rain.
From delta to abandon, with a river in between: a story of three safaris in Botswana
Hop onto a scenic flight to view the Delta from above
To understand the dimensions of the swollen swamps that make up the Okavango Delta, it’s essential to take to the sky. From inside a small Cessna airplane or a bush helicopter with the doorways eliminated, the serpentine channels reveal themselves in all their glory. Lagoons beautify the delta in watercolor swatches of emerald, olive, pea, lime and each different possible hue of inexperienced, whereas elephants and buffalo herds decide their manner throughout the panorama.
Okavango Delta Maun Airport is the hub for a number of scenic flight operators, and you may e book immediately on the workplaces of corporations corresponding to Mack Air and Helicopter Horizons.
Do not miss a Maun strolling (and tasting) tour
A turnstile to the safari world, Maun is the bottom city utilized by many vacationers to discover the untamed northern areas of Botswana. You’ll want to find time for an immersive guided strolling tour to see the trendy face of Maun with Your Botswana Experience. Walks begin with a visit to the city market, the place family necessities corresponding to cattle bells, water faucet locks, palm-leaf baskets and fats cast-iron cooking pots are busily traded.
Guides will clarify the normal makes use of of the whole lot out there earlier than you strive your hand at basket-weaving – you will quickly perceive why it could possibly take two weeks to craft considered one of these intricate vessels! Afterward, you’ll get to dig into regional delicacies, corresponding to tswi, a water lily stew made out of potato-like roots harvested from Okavango waters, served with magwinya, a deep-fried donut-like bread roll, on the charming Akacia Cafe.
Discover sacred legends within the rock artwork of the Tsodilo hills
Unesco-listed however off the overwhelmed observe, the Tsodilo Hills defend greater than 4000 prehistoric rock work created by Botswana’s first inhabitants, the San. Archaeological excavations and stone instruments discovered right here date the location again to 500 CE and the well-preserved work delicately depict historical customs from a time when human and animal lives intertwined. You are solely allowed to stroll this sacred website with a skilled information, who will unlock the secrets and techniques of the stones.
Guides can be found on the info middle and don’t have to be booked prematurely; merely arrive and take your decide from the 4 strolling trails. The shortest and hottest observe is the Rhino Route, resulting in beautiful rock artwork of rhinos, penguins and whales. If you happen to’re up for a problem, you may climb to the best level in Botswana at 1489m (4885ft) by way of the Male Hill Route.
Catch an African tiger on a fishing journey
Okay, actual tigers don’t dwell in Africa, however a menacing toothy fish named after this massive cat may be discovered within the higher reaches of the Okavango Delta. Reached by a brief drive alongside a tarred however pothole-riddled street from Maun, this space is called the “Panhandle” – the higher phase of the Okavango Delta the place the primary Okavango River glides south as a single channel earlier than splintering off into separate streams creating the Delta correct. Whereas this area just isn’t as brimming with massive sport because the swampy floodplains of the decrease Delta, it’s no much less beguiling.
Even amateurs will love fishing up right here. When hooked, feisty tiger fish vault into the air with unimaginable acrobatics, after which they’re safely launched again into the water. The so-called ‘barbel run’ is the very best time for catching tiger fish; a feeding frenzy happens when the water ranges drop after the winter floods, flushing small baitfish from the papyrus beds the place they have been safely feeding into the mouths of ready barbels (catfish) and tiger fish. The timing varies relying on flood water ranges, however the run sometimes happens between September and October.
Mokoro and extra: a safari like no different within the Okavango Delta
Sleep on the salt pans after a quad biking journey
A sprawling community of large salt flats, the Makgadikgadi Pans are so immense they are often seen from house. Quad biking throughout this unimaginable white panorama with a information is probably the most exhilarating technique to savor the dimensions of the panorama, as you drive for miles in the direction of the horizon with out ever reaching it. Many end a visit by sleeping beneath the celebs in the midst of nowhere – for those who thought the Makgadikgadi was huge by day, wait till the Milky Approach unfolds within the dome above your pillow at evening.
If you cannot afford a go to to the enduring Jack’s Camp, the primary lodge to be constructed on this relatively unforgiving panorama, the charming village of Gweta is an effective base for reserving inexpensive excursions with Planet Baobab or Gweta Lodge.
Meet the Makgadikgadi meerkats
Colonies of meerkats which might be effectively habituated to people occupy the fringes of the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, burrowing tunnels into the golden grasslands. These animals are wild however are very used to human presence, and every colony has a devoted caretaker. Wake early, and these curious critters would possibly clamber up onto your head for a greater lookout place, all the higher to maintain a beady eye out for predators! Journeys to fulfill these cute little creatures may be organized by way of Planet Baobab or Gweta Lodge, or the operators of San Camp, Jack’s Camp or Camp Kalahari.
Take a enjoyable 4X4 journey to Kubu Island
Rising just like the humps of kubu (hippos) wallowing in water, Kubu Island is a becoming identify for the mounds of rock that poke by way of the in any other case flat plain of the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans. Operated by the Gaing O Group Belief, a campsite set amidst the baobabs presents breathtaking views of the countless creamy white salt pan panorama.
The waters of the Okavango Delta as soon as stuffed up this huge space, and attracted by the bounty of this water, people periodically settled right here. Scattered stone partitions and pottery shards courting to 1200 CE are nonetheless seen dotted across the panorama.
You will have to be self-sufficient on this journey and pack the whole lot you want, together with water, firewood, gas and bathroom paper. The route is greatest approached by way of the village of Letlhakane, a route the place there’s much less probability of getting caught within the Makgadikgadi mud.
The last word playground: plan a Botswana safari for teenagers
Discover Gaborone with a neighborhood
At first look, Botswana’s capital metropolis of Gaborone doesn’t appear to have a lot to divert consideration, apart from a handful of statues or wandering by way of buying malls, so it’s not sometimes on the checklist for first-time guests. Nevertheless, an immersive tour with female-run Happy Soul Adventures reveals the layered life lived by bizarre residents.
Discover the encircling sprawl of villages on a bicycle journey, following scenic filth roads by way of a pastoral panorama, and interact with rural communities by crafting pottery, studying find out how to cook dinner native dishes or singing karaoke within the bars of Gaborone.
Witness the extraordinary zebra migration at Nxai Pan
The nationwide animal of Botswana is the zebra, and you may see them of their 1000’s after nourishing rains spill over Nxai Pan Nationwide Park between December and March annually. These herds make an arduous journey from the Chobe area, looking for candy grasses, and a safari to this less-visited park is a monochrome spectacle.
Monitor rhinos on a strolling safari
Rhino monitoring is a memorable technique to examine off one of many high animals from the Huge 5 checklist. The federal government reintroduced 138 white rhinos into northern Botswana between 1967 and 1986, however an aerial rely within the early Nineties discovered the inhabitants had declined by 80%, largely due to poaching. In response, the federal government moved the remaining rhinos to refuges the place they could possibly be intently monitored, together with the Khama Rhino Sanctuary in Serowe and Mokolodi Sport Reserve in Gaborone.
Strolling safaris may be booked immediately at Mokolodi or the Khama sanctuary, however put aside a full morning. It may well take wherever from 20 minutes to 5 hours to find a rhino safely on foot, aided by two expertly skilled area guides. These modestly-sized reserves are additionally dwelling to giraffes, zebras, warthogs and kudus, so you will see lots apart from endangered rhinos when setting out on a strolling safari.
Float underneath the world’s solely quadripoint
There is just one place on the planet the place the corners of 4 nations come collectively, but it surely’s extra a theoretical level on the map than a bodily journey vacation spot. A tour to the newly accomplished Kazungula Bridge, which connects Botswana with Zambia and Zimbabwe and overlooks Namibia, is the easiest way for geography nerds, structure appreciators and journey nuts to tick off the quadripoint as visited.
Boat journeys to the confluence of the Chobe River and Zambezi River may be booked from most riverfront lodging, together with Chobe Safari Lodge. Deliver binoculars to maintain observe of the full of life kingfishers and colourful bee-eaters you’ll spot on the way in which right here.
