Botswana Safaris

Planning the Perfect Botswana Safari

From the watery wildlife paradise of the Okavango Delta to the vast herds of elephants drinking at dusk in the Chobe River, a Botswana safari competes with the best in Africa. There are few places in Africa where nature still dictates the rhythm of every day quite like Botswana.

A commitment to conservation has preserved vast wilderness areas across the country. Around one-sixth of Botswana is protected, allowing exceptional wildlife populations to flourish in landscapes that remain remarkably untouched.

Most Botswana safaris focus on four outstanding regions: the Okavango Delta, the Moremi Game Reserve, Chobe National Park and the private concessions in the Linyanti Swamps (Selinda, Linyanti and Kwando concessions). Each offers a different perspective on Botswana's wildlife, and we almost always recommend combining at least two areas to experience both land and water-based safaris.

When planning your Botswana safari, it is worth considering:

When is the best time of year for your priorities?
Is seeing the highest concentration of wildlife more important than travelling at a lower cost?
Would you prefer a fly-in safari, a mobile camping safari, or perhaps a journey into the remote Kalahari?
Do you have enough time to combine two or three different regions and enjoy the full diversity of Botswana's landscapes and wildlife?

We can help you mull over these questions and design a safari that perfectly matches your interests, budget and travel style.

Best Time for a Botswana Safari

Botswana offers excellent wildlife viewing through the year, but every season has its own character. The green or rainy season, from December to March, transforms the landscape when the animals spread out over the

northern plains and Kalahari Desert. Summer rains bring lush vegetation and an abundance of birdlife.

It’s followed by the dry winter with warm sunny days. As winter progresses from May onwards, and the land dries out, the animals migrate north to the Chobe National Park and north-west into the Okavango Delta in search of fresh water sources. Typically, Botswana’s peak season is from July to October, the second half of the dry season. This is when the Okavango Delta is in full flood and the animals have amassed in the Delta, around the Savute marsh or the rivers of Chobe, Linyanti and Kwando. The annual flood that fills the Okavango Delta originates in Angola, arriving during Botswana's dry season and creating one of the world's most extraordinary inland wetlands.

If you're planning to travel during these months, we strongly recommend booking early to secure your preferred lodges. If you're booking closer to departure, flexibility becomes increasingly valuable, and this is where our experience really makes a difference. We know the full range of camps across Botswana and can often suggest excellent alternatives that perfectly suit your safari.

We know the full range of camps on offer and have long-standing relationships with them.

Various Styles of Botswana Safari

One of the biggest decisions is how you want to experience Botswana. Depending on the time of the year, you can travel from camp to camp by light safari aircraft or take a mobile safari.

The vast majority of our clients opt for a fly-in safari, travelling between remote camps aboard light aircraft. This maximises your time on safari, allows you to combine contrasting ecosystems and provides access to wilderness areas that would otherwise take many hours to reach by road. We'll help you compare the different lodges and camps before creating an itinerary that reflects exactly what you're looking for. Most visitors fly into Maun, although many combine Botswana with Victoria Falls, spending a couple of nights there before taking a straightforward road transfer into the Chobe region.

The alternative is to take a mobile camping safari in Botswana. Mobile safaris are a particularly evocative way of enjoying the delta and the desert as you see more of the country. They vary extensively in style and luxury. But most are well-priced compared to fly-in Botswana safaris. See our blog post on mobile safaris here.

Price versus Peak Season

Travelling during Botswana's peak safari season does come at a premium. Lodge rates between July and October can increase by up 40% or more compared with other times of the year. If your dates are flexible, consider travelling during April, May or June. These shoulder-season months often offer excellent wildlife viewing, fewer visitors and noticeably better value.

Even during the green season, Botswana remains one of Africa's outstanding safari destinations. While wildlife is more dispersed than during the dry months, you'll enjoy beautiful landscapes, exceptional birding, fewer vehicles and rewarding game viewing. The best time to visit depends less on a single "perfect" month and more on the kind of safari experience you want.

Our safari specialists know Botswana's camps inside out. Let us help you choose the right regions, lodges and travel season for an unforgettable safari. Let's chat!