Small camps, private concessions and a flood that arrives in the dry season: the Okavango is safari at its quietest.
Botswana keeps visitor numbers low by design. Much of the Okavango is divided into large private concessions shared by a handful of small camps, so a lion sighting is often yours alone. Night drives, walking and off-road tracking, restricted in national parks, are normal here.
The trip is built around the water. The Okavango River floods the Delta in the dry winter months, months after the rain has fallen upstream. We pair a water camp for mokoro and boating with a land camp in Khwai or the Linyanti, then add the Makgadikgadi pans for contrast.
The caveat is cost and logistics. Camps are expensive, you fly between them in small aircraft with soft bags and tight weight limits, and the north is a malaria area.
The experiences we plan most often, with the months they are at their best.
A mokoro is a shallow dugout, poled by a guide standing at the stern. You sit at water level among lilies and papyrus, watching for painted reed frogs, malachite kingfishers and hippos to give a wide berth. It works best from a water camp between June and September, when the flood is high. Ask for an early outing, when the channels are glassy.
The eastern edge of the Delta, where Moremi Game Reserve meets the Khwai River, is some of the most reliable predator country in Africa: lion, leopard and wild dog, which often den here mid-year. Camps in the Khwai community area can drive at night and off-road, which Moremi itself does not allow.
In the late dry season, elephants come down to the Chobe River in their hundreds each afternoon to drink, swim and cross to the islands. A small boat out of Kasane puts you at eye level. The park is busy, so we favour private boats, and Victoria Falls is a short drive away.
The Makgadikgadi is a different Botswana: flat white salt pans, baobabs and a sky that runs to the ground. In the dry months you can walk with habituated meerkats and, when the crust is firm, sleep out on the pans. After the rains, zebra and wildebeest arrive to graze.
The Central Kalahari Game Reserve is dry scrub most of the year, but after good rains fossil valleys such as Deception Valley turn green. Springbok and oryx gather to graze and black-maned Kalahari lions follow. It is remote and hot, and suits a second safari rather than a first.
The Okavango makes most sense from above: a fan of channels, lagoons and palm-ringed islands. A doors-off helicopter flight from Maun or a camp airstrip shows you the scale, and the elephant and buffalo herds crossing the floodplains. Go in the morning, before the heat haze builds.
Choose camps by season and concession, not by photographs of the tents. In high-flood months include a water camp; late in the dry season, land camps in Khwai or the Linyanti see more. Private concessions cost more but bring night drives, walking and fewer vehicles.
Five canvas tents at a semi-permanent site in northern Chobe, with no electricity, bucket showers, and the elephant herds of the Chobe River close by.
A lodge of curved timber shingles on a private concession next to Moremi, with walks, night drives and a welcome for children of every age.
Five tented suites on a private concession of palm islands and floodplain, famous for the lions that hunt buffalo through the water.
A 1940s-style tented camp on the edge of the Makgadikgadi salt pans, for meerkats, zebra migration and nights out on the crust.
Thatch-and-canvas suites on a lagoon in the Linyanti, with a hide at elephant eye level and dry-season herds at the river.
Wilderness's flagship camp on the north-eastern tip of Chief's Island, where the game density is the whole point of the trip.
Sample routes to start from. Every one can be changed.
Three camps and one waterfall: Chief's Island for big game, the Duba Plains for lion and buffalo, the Chobe riverfront for elephants, and two nights above the Zambezi to see Victoria Falls from the Zimbabwe side.
Rain falls from November to March, heaviest in January and February. Winter, from May to August, is almost completely dry, with sunny days and nights that can drop below freezing. The flood ignores the local rain: it comes down the Okavango River from Angola and is highest when the country is at its driest.
That makes June to September the classic window, and the most expensive. October is hot but excellent for game. The green season, December to March, is our favourite for returning travellers: lower rates, newborn animals and zebra on the pans.
A water camp, a predator camp, northern elephant country and the salt pans, joined by short light-aircraft hops. 10 nights.
Connect in Johannesburg for Maun, then take a light aircraft to a water camp near Chief's Island for mokoro trips, boating and island walks.
Hop east to the Khwai community area for day and night drives along the Moremi boundary, looking for wild dog, leopard and lion.
Fly north to the Savute Channel for big elephant herds, open marsh and resident lions.
Finish on the edge of the Makgadikgadi pans for meerkats, San-guided walks and a night under the stars, then fly back through Maun and Johannesburg on day 11.
Practical notes checked against their sources. For entry and safety, the FCDO advice for Botswana (opens in a new tab) is always the authority.
There are no direct flights from the UK. Fly overnight from Heathrow to Johannesburg, about 11 hours, then connect to Maun or Kasane in under two hours. Camps are reached by light aircraft from Maun, with a strict limit on soft-sided luggage.
UK passport holders can currently visit Botswana without a visa for short stays. Rules change, so read the FCDO entry requirements (opens in a new tab) before you book and again before you fly.
Read the FCDO entry requirements for Botswana (opens in a new tab)
The northern half of the country, including the Okavango, is a malaria area, with the highest risk from October to May. Check TravelHealthPro (opens in a new tab) well before you go. Pack a warm layer for winter drives and strong sun protection.
The currency is the pula, also the Setswana word for rain. Camps are prepaid, so you need cash mainly for tips; US dollars are widely used in camps.
Mobile networks cover the towns and parts of the main highways, and Mascom, Orange and beMobile SIM cards are sold in supermarkets. In the Delta, expect limited wifi in the main area of camp at most.
Tipping is not obligatory in Botswana and is at your discretion. In camps, most guests tip their guide and tracker and leave something in a shared staff box. We include current guidance with your travel documents.
June to September is the classic window: the flood is high, the weather dry and game concentrates around the water. It is also the most expensive and heavily booked period. October is hotter but excellent for game. For lower rates and newborn animals, consider the green season from December to March.
Botswana deliberately keeps visitor numbers low, so camps are small, sit in large private concessions and are supplied by light aircraft. What you pay for is space: few vehicles, night drives, walking and guides who can follow animals off-road. Mixing one high-end camp with simpler ones keeps the cost manageable.
Yes, and it is one of the easiest combinations in Africa. Kasane, the gateway to the Chobe River, is a short road transfer from Victoria Falls, with flights on to Maun. Two nights at the Falls at the start or end also breaks up the journey from Johannesburg.
Many camps set minimum ages for game drives and mokoro trips, so choice narrows with young children. Family tents and a private vehicle let you set your own pace, and the meerkats and Chobe boat trips are reliable hits. For toddlers, consider malaria-free South Africa.
Tell us a little and a specialist will reply with ideas, dates that work and a price. Best months: June to September.
Walking safaris in South Luangwa, canoes on the Lower Zambezi and Victoria Falls: bush country at walking pace.
Most of the Victoria Falls viewpoints, Hwange's elephant herds and walking in Mana Pools with rigorously trained guides.
Red dunes at Sossusvlei, desert elephants in Damaraland and Etosha's waterholes: a classic self-drive, or flown in by light aircraft.
Cape Town, the Winelands and a private Kruger reserve in one trip, with direct flights and barely any jet lag.
