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Botswana

Blessed with some of the greatest wildlife spectacles on earth, Botswana is one of the great safari destinations in Africa.

Nature's Abundance

The Okavango Delta – there's nowhere quite like it on earth. This is a place where wild creatures roam and rule, where big cats and much bigger elephants walk free in one of the world's last great wildernesses. The delta is a byword for abundance – for animal numbers, for the variety of species, for the birdlife, for floods of Biblical proportions. And it is also a place of singular and unparalleled beauty where safari possibilities can seem as endless as the waters themselves.

Stark Desert Beauty

The Kalahari Desert, the largest unbroken stretch of sand on the planet, is not your ordinary desert. From the salt pans of Makgadikgadi, the baobabs of Nxai Pans, and the spare magnificence of Kubu Island in the north, to the wonderful wildlife of Kgalagadi in the south, this is a desert of exceptional variety. Throw in the fossil river valleys, swaying golden grasses, black-maned lions and the echoes of the indigenous San people in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and there are few more beautiful deserts on Earth.

Exclusive Travel

Botswana didn't just turn its back on mass tourism. It ushered in an era of utterly exclusive safari experiences, the likes of which are seen no where else. These are sumptuous lodges and remote tented camps, especially in the Okavango Delta and surrounds that are sometimes contemporary in style, and at other times problematically awash in colonial nostalgia. And they will provide you a front-row seat for wildlife spectacles that you may just have all to yourself.

Africa's Best Camping

You can experience Botswana by renting your very own 4WD vehicle that doubles as an ingenious camping home away from home. This is about experiencing wild Africa at your own pace, travelling from one campsite to the next, where you may lie awake at night listening to lions roar their bone-trembling roar, or hippos, elephants, or the chilling saw-like grunt of a leopard. Build a campfire, gaze at the stars and feel at one with this gloriously beautiful country.

Explore Botswana

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Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Botswana.

  • Landmark

    Chapman’s Baobab

    About 11km south of Green's Baobab is the turn-off to the far more impressive Chapman’s Baobab, which, until it crashed to the ground suddenly on 7…

  • Arts Centre

    Kuru Art Project

    This fabulous art project provides opportunities for local artists (14 at last count) to create and sell paintings and other artwork; it’s worth spending…

  • National Park

    Central Kalahari Game Reserve

    The dry heart of the dry south of a dry continent, the CKGR is an awesome place. If remoteness, desert silences and the sound of lions roaring in the…

  • Nature Reserve

    Moremi Game Reserve

    Moremi Game Reserve, which covers one-third of the Okavango Delta, is home to some of the densest concentrations of wildlife in Africa. Best of all, it’s…

  • National Park

    Chobe National Park

    Chobe National Park is one of Africa's great wildlife destinations. Famed for its massive elephants and enormous elephant population, Chobe, which…

  • Island

    Chief's Island

    The largest island in the Okavango Delta, Chief’s Island (70km long and 15km wide) is so named because it was once the sole hunting preserve of the local…

  • Nature Reserve

    Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

    In 2000 the former Mabuasehube-Gemsbok National Park was combined with South Africa’s former Kalahari Gemsbok National Park to create the new Kgalagadi…

  • National Park

    Khutse Game Reserve

    This 2500-sq-km reserve, which is an extension of the southern boundary of the CKGR, is a popular weekend excursion for Gaborone residents, but it’s still…

  • National Park

    Nxai Pans National Park

    This 2578-sq-km park is one of the most accessible places to experience the salt pans that are a Kalahari speciality, although it's more about smaller…

  • National Park

    Makgadikgadi Pans National Park

    This 3900-sq-km park, the southern section of the Makgadikgadi and Nxai Pans National Park, extends from the Boteti River in the west to the Ntwetwe Pan…

  • Wildlife Reserve

    Khama Rhino Sanctuary

    With the rhinos all but disappeared from Botswana, Serowe's residents banded together in the early 1990s to establish the 43-sq-km Khama Rhino Sanctuary…

  • Landmark

    Leopard Rock

    The rocky monoliths that rise up from the Savuti sand provide more than welcome aesthetic relief amid the flat-as-flat plains. The outcrops’ caves, rocky…

  • Landmark

    Baines’ Baobabs

    In the south of the park are the famous Baines’ Baobabs, which were immortalised in paintings by the artist and adventurer Thomas Baines in 1862. Baines,…

  • Island

    Mboma Island

    The grassy savannah of this 100-sq-km island, a long extension of the Moremi Tongue, contrasts sharply with the surrounding landscapes and provides some…

  • Historic Site

    Tree of True Knowledge

    This odd-looking tree, near a small pool at the start of the Rhino Trail on Female Hill, was described to Laurens van der Post as the Tree of True…

  • Landmark

    Horned Serpent Natural Cistern

    Cliff Trail passes an amazing natural cistern (in a rock grotto near the northwestern corner of Female Hill), which has held water year-round for as long…

  • Lake

    Xakanaxa Lediba

    With one of Africa’s largest heronries, Xakanaxa Lediba is renowned as a birdwatchers’ paradise. In addition to herons, potential sightings here include…

  • Lake

    Paradise Pools

    One of the prettiest corners of Moremi, the area known as Paradise Pools is as lovely as the name suggests. In the dry season, trails lead past forests of…

  • Historic Site

    Dancing Penises

    Directly across from the hollow on the southeastern side of Female Hill, one of the few Tsodilo paintings containing human figures depicts a dancing crowd…

  • Historic Site

    Zebra Painting

    One of the most fascinating paintings is the zebra painting on a small outcrop north of Female Hill. This stylised equine figure is now used as the logo…

Top experiences

Whether it’s a guided tour of a historic landmark, private tasting of local delicacies, or an off-road adventure — explore the best experiences in Botswana.

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