Botswana

Botswana made a deliberate choice: fewer visitors paying more, to protect more land. The result is some of the most exclusive, least crowded wildlife viewing in Africa — at a price.

The Okavango Delta

Rain falls in the Angolan highlands in the summer and takes months to flow down into the Kalahari. It reaches the Okavango in the winter, so the delta floods in the dry season, peaking around June to August. Islands, channels and floodplains create a mosaic you explore by mokoro, boat, on foot and by vehicle. Most camps are reached by light aircraft from Maun.

Chobe and Linyanti

Chobe National Park is famous for elephants — Botswana has the largest elephant population in Africa — and the Chobe River boat cruises from Kasane are spectacular in the dry season. The Linyanti and Savuti areas to the west are known for predators and private concessions.

Central Kalahari and the Makgadikgadi

In the green season, roughly December to March, the Central Kalahari and Makgadikgadi Pans come alive with zebra and wildebeest migrations and the predators that follow. Stark, vast and very different from the delta.

When to go

June to October for the delta and Chobe, when floodwater and dry conditions concentrate wildlife. November to March for the Kalahari and Makgadikgadi, with lower prices in many delta camps. See when to go.

What it costs

Botswana is one of Africa’s most expensive safari destinations, mainly because camps are small, remote and supplied by air. Mobile safaris and the shoulder months bring costs down. See safari costs.