Botswana travel advice
Getting around tips
“Botswana is a great place to ditch the Land Rover in favour of a vehicle-free wildlife-watching experience. Guided bushwalks, horse riding and boat trips offer a refreshingly different perspective to conventional game drives. The experience can be exciting, serene or both, depending on what you encounter.
Our Botswana Vacations
Botswana camping safaris
Botswana's premier game parks, Okavango Moremi Savuti Chobe
Botswana safari and Victoria Falls
An unforgettable wildlife and scenery experience
Namibia and Botswana safari vacation
Namibia & Botswana lodge safari Caprivi Etosha Okavango
Botswana safari and wild camping
Botswana's premier game parks, Okavango Moremi Savuti Chobe.
Botswana safari vacation on a shoestring
Affordable safari and camping experience through Botswana
Botswana small group lodge safari
Botswana affordable lodge safari including Okavango
Namibia and Botswana camping safari
Camping safari to Namib desert, Caprivi, Etosha & Okavango
Botswana safari vacation
A semi participation and mobile safari in Botswana
Botswana lodge safari
Botswana affordable lodge safari Okavango, Moremi, Chobe
Cape Town to Vic Falls vacation in Southern Africa
A spectacular and diverse African journey
Zimbabwe & Botswana game tracker safari
A lodge safari through Kruger, Zimbabwe & Botswana
Cape Town to Victoria Falls small group lodge tour
Classic route lodge safari to Namibia, Botswana & Zimbabwe
Camping safari in Southern Africa
Camping safari highlights of Zimbabwe, Botswana & Kruger
Botswana wildlife safari
Explore Botswana on this small group wildlife safari
Windhoek to Victoria Falls self drive tour
A self-drive adventure through Namibia, Botswana & Zimbabwe
Botswana highlights small group tour
See the big name attractions of southern Africa
Zimbabwe & Botswana safari, elephant paths
Follow in the paths of one of Africa's most iconic creatures
Kalahari desert expedition safari, Botswana
Central Kalahari Game Reserve & Kgalagadi National Park
Botswana safari and Chobe river cruise
An exclusive combination of land & water based adventures
Botswana and Zimbabwe Ivory Route lodge tour
Classic journey adventure safari Botswana, Zimbabwe Namibia
Botswana luxury safari with Victoria Falls
An amazing off-road and river safari in beautiful Botswana
Zimbabwe & Botswana self drive vacation
Victoria Falls and incredible wildlife on self drive tour
Okavango Delta and Victoria Falls luxury vacation
A unique trip, combining rich wildlife with the Victoria Falls
Southern Africa budget vacation
Discover the iconic wildlife and nature of South East Africa
Southern Africa luxury wildlife & beach vacation
Pristine beaches and rich wildlife on this Southern African tour
Best of Botswana and Zimbabwe
Visit two of southern Africa’s most amazing countries
Botswana and Zimbabwe lodge safari
Victoria Falls to the meandering waterways of the Okavango Delta
Namibia and Botswana safari
Two week adventure tour of Namibia and Botswana
Botswana safari and Mozambique beach break
An outstanding safari, Victoria Falls and deserted beaches
Luxury Botswana safari & Victoria Falls
Luxurious lodges & spectacular wildlife viewing
Season tips


Photography advice
The benefits of a bush camp safari
Dirk Reiche from our supplier Sunway Safaris, which specialises in bush camp safaris in Southern Africa: “I was a guide for 14 years on both accommodated and camping trips and on a camping safari the group dynamic is much stronger than on an accommodated tour. You are literally in each others’ faces the whole time in a confined camping area with no option to go back to your room and watch TV. So you need to be more friendly but groups do gel better I find, because you are with each other 24/7. The other main benefit is the immersion. When you’re wild camping in Botswana, for instance, there are no facilities and nobody else around – you’re in nature.”Luxury travel in Botswana
Simon Mills, from our supplier Native Escapes, is an expert in travel to Africa and has packing tips and advice on what to expect from a luxury vacation in Botswana:“Botswana’s wilderness is second to none, in my opinion, and the wildlife viewing is exclusive by the very fact that the government there has restricted the number of bed spaces, which restricts the number of visitors, therefore creating a privileged safari experience. Compared to Tanzania or indeed South Africa you are unlikely to see another vehicle whilst out on a game drive (especially in the Delta, Linyanti, Savute and the Pans). Botswana is a fly in destination; the roads (and I use the term loosely) are virtually nonexistent sand tracks, with no rescue service, signs or comfort. A journey that might take 25 minutes by light aircraft will take six to eight hours on a bumpy sand track road. This, of course, all comes at a price; it is a high end safari destination, and the costs correspond.”

Traveling in the green season
Bruce Taylor, founder of our supplier Sunway Safaris, describes his best time to go to the Okavango Delta: "I enjoy the green season, from December to April, because there's no dust. The beauty of the rains in Botswana is that they’re generally late afternoon thunderstorms that come rolling through then pass on, so you can still have gloriously sunny days. The rain cools things down a bit, there are a lot of young animals around and all the migratory birds are in the Okavango at this time – and they’re spectacular."Responsible tourism insights
Simon Rowland from Wildfoot Travel:“Travel goes hand in hand with responsible travel in Botswana, regardless of the quality of the accommodation. The government have been very wise and sensitive when it comes to sustainable tourism in the bush. There are stringent rules and regulations and a huge encouragement to be eco friendly and sustainable with the use of solar and other natural energies. All of the safari lodges by law have to be small and low impact, only allowing in most cases between six and 10 rooms. Whether the lodges are located within national parks or private reserves, laws are keen surrounding sustainable tourism which should act as a guide and marker for other African countries, but alas in some cases it does not. All grades of lodges encourage the use of local community whether this be bushman guides or lodge staff. I’m a huge fan of Botswana and one of the main reasons is because they are ahead of the curve when it comes to animal protection. No hunting is allowed and the government banned elephant rides in 2016! Wonderful.”
Health & safety in Botswana
HEALTH
SAFETY
Our top Botswana Vacation
Botswana camping safaris
Botswana's premier game parks, Okavango Moremi Savuti Chobe
2021: 2 May, 9 May, 23 May, 30 May, 20 Jun, 27 Jun, 11 Jul, 25 Jul, 1 Aug, 15 Aug, 29 Aug, 5 Sep, 19 Sep, 26 Sep, 17 Oct, 24 Oct, 7 Nov, 14 Nov, 21 Nov, 5 Dec, 12 Dec, 19 Dec, 26 Dec
Botswana advice from our travelers
We have selected some of the most useful Botswana travel tips that our guests have provided over the years to help you make the very most of your vacation - and the space inside your suitcase.


“Get a Visa credit/debit card: had problems with MasterCard in Botswana.” - Johann Trojer
“You can't expect the wildlife to come that close, so if you want a close-up picture make sure you have a big zoom. Although we had a 10x optical zoom camera, one of our group had an 18x optical zoom. The benefit was certainly apparent when taking close up shots of the birdlife.” - Barry Woodfin


“Take warm clothes: it was absolutely freezing some nights. I'm not sure what the freezing point of washing up liquid is, but that's how cold it was.” - Julia Ward
“Take a cushion or neck cushion for sleeping in the truck.” - Janet Aston
“We went to Nata and the salt lakes expecting to see vast numbers of birds but there were none! This was because it is the dry season and therefore there was no water to lure the birds – we were all disappointed in this, although the salt lake was very tranquil. If we had known this we would have spent more time elsewhere and scrapped the visit to Nata.” - John/Cathy Baldock