Botswana is one of the best African safari adventure destinations in Africa. This country has huge herds of wild animals within its large tracks of open land, from the Okavango delta to the Kalahari desert. Botswana is a perfect  choice for any body looking for an African safari vacation.

With so many private game conservancies, and with only a small number of intimate, well-designed safari lodges, Botswana yields some of the most exclusive safari experiences in Africa – including night game drives. But that also means Botswana is one of the more expensive safari destinations in Africa. But it is a good value and truly magical.  As usual the safari package will include accommodation, park fees, meals and transportation.

Choosing the Botswana Safari
There are quite a number of considerations when trying to choose a Botswana safari.  For example, will you opt to stay in permanent lodges or use mobile safari tents. Will you choose to go to the private conservancies or public reserves?  Do you want to visit the wet areas or dry areas.

Choosing between Public and Private  Game Parks
Chobe National park and Moremi game reserve, located in the northern part of Botswana’s protected areas, are the main public parks. These 2 offer great game viewing and the scenery is breath-taking. But they do not always offer the most exclusive safari experiences. You will find yourself with other people. Vehicles are restricted to remain on tracks (no off-road driving) and night game drives and walking safaris are also forbidden.

The private game reserves, otherwise known as private concessions offer a much more exclusive experience as they have more flexibility in terms of safari activities. Night game drives are allowed as well as walking safari with armed rangers. The concessions are huge, up to 2,500 sq kilometres yet there are only small and privates safari camps. This means game viewing is mostly private and intimate with little disturbances.

SHOULD ONE VISIT THE WET AREAS OR THE DRY AREAS?
Botswana’s physical environment can be divided into 2 categories.

1. The dry areas
   These are the parts in which you are likely to easily drive with a safari vehicle and explore. The dry areas offer the best sightings for the big game, and the even the bird species. Most safari camps in Botswana are located close to or on dry areas.
2. The Wet Areas
   The wet areas have less game compared to the dry areas of Botswana. The wet areas, are explored using motor-boats if they happen to be the deep water areas. The shallow floodplains are explored using the mokoro, a canoe dug out from a tree trunk. A sizeable number of camps have access to the wet areas.

To have a fuller experience of Botswana, it is advisable to mix the different type of environments.

Should you use Mobile camps or Permanent luxury camps?
Tented camps are smaller & more intimate than lodges. Offer a wide variety of style from simple to luxurious. Most provide spacious, furnished, twin-bedded tents, pitched on concrete or wooden bases.  Tents and chalets usually have en suite flush toilet and hot or cold showers.

Comfortable camping and luxury tented safaris are a great way to explore the best wildlife areas in Botswana, led by a professional and knowledgeable guide. Join a small group of like-minded travellers on a scheduled holiday or take a private guided mobile safari to a location of your choosing on dates that suit you. See our Wild about Africa programme for a wide range of safaris to Botswana. Game drives are conducted in open 4×4 vehicles and professional safari guide and most are very comfortable.

WHERE TO GO ON BOTSWANA SAFARI HOLIDAYS
For most people thinking of a Botswana safari holiday, the Okavango Delta springs to mind. And rightly so: it hosts Botswana’s greatest concentration of different environments. Yet the patchwork of ecosystems that makes the Delta so fascinating is found all over northern Botswana. So by all means focus on the Okavango Delta, but explore beyond this area and you’ll leave with a much broader picture.

PLACES TO VISIT IN BOTSWANA FOR SAFARI HOLIDAYS
Okavango delta is the place in Botswana that most people think of when it comes to safari holidays. This delta is indeed fascinating to warrant this type of attentions. However, other areas beyond the delta are equally worthy of your consideration.

Within the confines of the Okavango delta, you will find a wide range of options including the Moremi Game reserve and the private game sancturies.  Other areas with superb big game experiences are  the one near the waterways of Kwando and Linyanti Rivers, as well as the Chobe Riverfront closer to the Zambia/Zimbabwe border and the Victoria Falls.

Savuti usually has very few visitors and is good for mobile safaris. Still within Okavango, along the western boundary of the delta, the Okavango river widens into a huge river – the Okavango Panhandle. There is not much of big game here, but the proximity to ancient rock art found at the Tsodilo Hills may be well-worth your of time.

No mention of a Botswana safari would be complete without the vast, flat saltpans at the heart of the Kalahari, host to fleeting herds of game and big, open skies, and encompassing the truly remote Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Then there’s the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, which is usually best visited as part of a holiday from neighbouring South Africa.