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Maun

As the main gateway to the Okavango Delta, Maun (mau-uunn) is Botswana’s primary tourism hub. With good accommodation and a reliably mad mix of bush pilots, tourists, campers, volunteers and luxury-safari-philes, it’s a decent-enough base for a day or two. That said, if your only business in Botswana involves staying in the lodges and tented camps of the delta, you may do little more than hang around the airport. No great loss: the town itself has little going for it – it’s strung out over kilometres with not much of a discernible centre – but some of the hotels and camps have riverside vantage points.

Top attractions

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

  • Museum

    Nhabe Museum

    This neglected museum is in a historic building built by the British military in 1939 and used during WWII as a surveillance post keeping tabs on German Namibia. The museum offers a few displays about the history of the Ngamiland district and some dusty exhibitions of photography, basket weaving and art. Donations are welcome. The museum also houses a centre for local artists.