Adventure World

Botswana

Botswana provides a good sense of the adventure of safari. Its expansive game parks and preserves, while offering wildlife as diverse and abundant as that found anywhere else, are still largely undeveloped and untamed.

Top Highlights

Okavango Delta: The 1300km-long Okavango River, located in north-western Botswana is southern Africa’s third largest river and is a major source of water. The Okavango is a maze of lagoons, channels and islands.

The best way to experience the Okavango Delta, is to travel by mokoro (a shallow-draft dugout canoe). The water attracts great numbers, and a wide variety of wildlife including elephant, zebra, buffalo, wildebeest, giraffe, hippo, kudu and over 450 species of birds. Best months to visit the Okavango are July to September.

Moremi Wildlife Reserve: Encompassing over 3000 sq km it is a mixture of dry land rising between vast wetlands. Camps include: Camp Moremi, Mombo Camp and Little Mombo. Offers best game in the Delta and now offers the Big 5 with Rhino, just being introduced.

Chobe National Park: The park encompasses 11,000 sq kms, and a cruise or drive along the riverfront, where the bulk of the park's animals congregate is recommended. Elephants - around 73,000 of them, in herds of up to 500 - are the main attraction. You also have an excellent chance of spotting lion, cheetah, hippo, buffalo, giraffe, antelope, jackal, warthog, hyena, crocodile, otter, zebra and any number of species of bird.

Makgadikgadi / Nxai Pan: The 12,000 sq km Makgadikgadi Pans are the remains of a great lake that once covered much of northern Botswana. In December (rainy season), flamingos, pelicans, ducks, geese and other water birds flock to the area. Wildlife is plentiful, but the animals are free to wander across the savanna. Feb-Apr herds of wildebeest, antelope and zebra migrate north, and return early May, once the rain eases. The in-migration (May-Jun), gives the opportunity to see antelope (impala, gemsbok, kudu), lion & cheetah.

More Highlights

• Gaborone
• Kasane
• Savuti Channel
• Linyanti Marshes
• Maun
• The Kalahari

Fact Sheet

• Country Dialling Code: + 267
• Electric: Botswana uses 220-240 volts AC (50 Hz)
• Capital: Gaborone
• Population: 1,500,765 million
• Official Language: English
• Currency: Pula (BWP) which is divided into 100 thebe.
• Tipping: Tipping is not required, but if you receive good service, then leave about 10%. In most places a service charge is added to the bill. Taxi drivers generally aren’t tipped.
• Geography: Botswana is a landlocked country covering 600,370 sq kms. Roughly the size of Kenya or France. Much of the country consists of a vast and nearly level sand-filled basin savannah.
• When to Go: Winter (late May-Aug) the days are normally clear, warm and sunny, and nights are cool to bitterly cold but is the best time to view the wildlife as they stay close to the waterholes.
• Gateway Airport: Maun (MUB)
• Air: Air Botswana, the national carrier operates scheduled domestic flights within the country.
• Bus: Bus and minibus services operate in the populated areas of eastern Botswana.