Botswana safari tours · Private fly-in & mobile journeys
Okavango Delta. Chobe. Linyanti. Makgadikgadi. Kalahari.
Water camps, private concessions and salt pans, matched to your month and designed by a US-registered travel company with vetted local partners in Botswana.
Safari finder
A few quick questions about your month, your party and the moments you care about most, and we’ll point you to the sample journey to start from, ready to reshape around you.
Why Botswana
Botswana made a deliberate choice in 1990: fewer visitors, paying more, in wilder places. That high-value, low-volume policy is why the inner Okavango Delta is reached only by light aircraft, why its camps are small and temporary by design, and why a morning in a private concession can pass without another vehicle in sight. It is also why Botswana sits at the upper end of safari pricing, and our Botswana safari cost guide explains the structure behind it.
Three decisions shape a Botswana safari more than the choice of camp. The first is the land: private concessions and community areas usually allow night drives, guided walks and off-road tracking, while the national parks and Moremi Game Reserve keep you on the tracks by day. The second is the calendar: the Delta’s flood arrives in the dry winter, months after the rain fell in Angola, while the Kalahari and the salt pans peak in the summer rains, as the month-by-month guide shows. The third is logistics: a Johannesburg connection, soft bags of about 20 kg for the bush planes, and paperwork for children and yellow fever.
Most journeys pair a water camp in the Delta with a land camp in the Linyanti or Moremi, then add Chobe’s riverfront, the Makgadikgadi or Victoria Falls, about 80 km from Kasane by road. We design the route around your month and book it through vetted partners on the ground.
Figures are widely published approximations.
Botswana safari itineraries
Seven sample routes, from a road-linked Victoria Falls add-on to a two-week fly-in circuit, each planned around your dates, your pace and your comfort level.
Victoria Falls · Kasane · Chobe Riverfront · Khwai · Okavango Delta · Maun
First-time visitors who want Victoria Falls and Botswana’s finest water country in one trip, without rushing either
Maun · Okavango Delta · Moremi Game Reserve · Linyanti, Selinda & Kwando · Savuti · Chobe Riverfront · Kasane
Returning safari travelers, photographers and anyone with two weeks to see northern Botswana properly
Maun · Okavango Delta · Northern Delta concessions · Makgadikgadi Pans
Couples who want privacy, water and wilderness rather than a resort-style honeymoon
Kasane · Chobe Riverfront · Okavango Delta · Makgadikgadi Pans · Maun
Families with children roughly 12 and older who want variety, activity and a little adrenaline
Maun · Moremi Game Reserve · Khwai · Savuti · Chobe Riverfront · Kasane
Travelers who value wilderness and a guide’s company over lodge comforts, and don’t mind long, sandy drives
Maun · Makgadikgadi Pans · Nxai Pan · Central Kalahari · Okavango Delta
Return visitors, photographers and the Kalahari-curious, happy to trade some certainty for solitude
Where to go
Delta water, Chobe’s riverfront, the private concessions of the north and the Kalahari’s pans and grasslands: each has its own season, its own rules and its own way in.
Approximate locations — not for navigation.
More Botswana regions
Botswana’s flooded heart: papyrus channels, palm islands and small fly-in camps where the safari happens on the water as well as by vehicle.
Explore
Elephant country on the Chobe River, minutes from Kasane and a short drive from Victoria Falls, with boat safaris as the highlight.
Explore
The Okavango’s famous public reserve — Chief’s Island, the Xakanaxa lagoons and Big Five country — explored from a fly-in lodge or a private mobile camp.
Explore
Botswana’s far-north private concessions: exclusive camps, night drives, walking and some of the country’s best wild dog country.
ExploreSalt pans, grassland and the Boteti River: green-season zebra, habituated meerkats, sleep-outs under the stars and Baines’ Baobabs.
ExploreMoremi’s northern neighbour: a community concession on the Khwai River with night drives, guided walks and superb dry-season elephant.
ExploreBeyond the game drive
Many depend on where you stay: walks and night drives need a concession, and a mokoro needs the flood. We match each one to the right camp and month.
On the water
Glide through the Okavango’s papyrus channels in a poled canoe, low enough to meet reed frogs and lily-trotters at eye level.
On the water
Watch elephant herds drink, swim and cross the Chobe River from a boat, the riverfront’s signature way to see its wildlife.
In the air
See the Okavango’s channels, islands and wading herds from the air, on a doors-off helicopter flight or a fixed-wing scenic flight from Maun.
On foot
Follow a qualified walking guide across Delta islands, Linyanti floodplains or Kalahari sand, and read the bush from ground level.
On horseback
Ride among zebra, giraffe and lechwe on horses schooled for big-game country, splashing across Delta floodplains or cantering over the Kalahari pans.
Culture
Walk with San guides in the Kalahari as they share tracking, plant knowledge and fire-making skills handed down through many generations.
Where you’ll stay
Four comfort levels across the Delta, Chobe, the northern concessions and the Kalahari. These are the stay styles we plan with; we choose the specific camp for your dates.
ComfortChobe Riverfront · Kasane
Lodge
PremiumOkavango Delta · permanent channels
Tented camp
PremiumMoremi · Khwai · Savuti — moves with your route
Seasonal mobile camp · Typically operates April–November
LuxuryLinyanti, Selinda & Kwando · private concessions
Tented camp
LuxuryMakgadikgadi · edge of Ntwetwe Pan
Tented camp
Ultra-LuxuryOkavango Delta · private concession
Lodge
Travel your way
Best time to visit
The dry season, roughly May to October, is peak time for the Delta, Chobe and the northern concessions, and the Okavango flood is usually highest from about June to August. The summer rains, December to March, belong to the Kalahari and the salt pans, when the grasslands fill with zebra and antelope.
| Experience | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Okavango Delta — mokoro & boat (flood levels) | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Good | Good | Fair | Fair |
| Okavango & Moremi — game viewing | Good | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Good | Good |
| Chobe riverfront — elephant herds | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Good | Fair |
| Linyanti & Savuti — predators & dry-season game | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Good | Fair |
| Nxai Pan & Makgadikgadi — wet-season zebra herds | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Excellent |
| Central Kalahari — Deception Valley | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good |
| Salt-pan quad biking & sleep-outs | Limited or closed | Limited or closed | Limited or closed | Fair | Good | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Good | Fair |
| Rainfall | Rainy season | Rainy season | Rainy season | Showers | Mostly dry | Mostly dry | Mostly dry | Mostly dry | Mostly dry | Mostly dry | Showers | Rainy season |
| Travel season | Green season | Green season | Green season | Shoulder | Shoulder | High season | Peak season | Peak season | Peak season | High season | Shoulder | Green season |
General guidance for northern Botswana. The Okavango flood follows Angolan rainfall, not local rain, and its size varies from year to year; the Kalahari and pans need good rains for their wet-season herds (in the dry season the Makgadikgadi zebra gather along the Boteti River instead). Late December and early January often carry festive-season supplements. Some camps close or change activities in the rains.
Why African Safari Reserve
Traveler reviews
We only publish genuine, verified reviews. Read what past travelers have written about us on TripAdvisor.
Botswana travel guide
Seasons, costs, combinations, entry rules, flights and safety, written for travelers planning a private Botswana safari and dated so you know how current they are.
When to Go
The two calendars behind every Botswana safari, a month-by-month guide, and an honest look at the green season, the heat, the cold dawns and the least expensive months.
Cost & Value
Why Botswana sits at a higher price level, what an inclusive camp rate covers and leaves out, how the fees work, and practical ways to shape the spend.
Combining Countries
Routing, borders, order, nights and timing for a Botswana safari with Victoria Falls, plus an honest answer on the Chobe day trip from the falls.
Botswana Travel Guide
How to get to Botswana from the US: the Johannesburg connection, choosing Maun or Kasane, light-aircraft transfers, luggage limits and what to do with extra bags.
Botswana Travel Guide
What US travelers need to enter Botswana at the time of writing: passport rules, the tourism levy, yellow fever proof on certain routings, children’s documents and cash limits.
Botswana Travel Guide
An evidence-based look at safety in Botswana: town crime, wildlife in unfenced camps, roads and floods, advice for solo women and LGBTQ+ travelers, and official sources.
Good to know
Yes, if you value privacy and variety over the biggest herds. A first Botswana trip of eight to ten nights can combine a Delta water camp, a land camp and Chobe or the salt pans. Travelers set on the Great Migration usually start in Tanzania or Kenya instead.
Most travelers spend seven to ten nights across two or three areas, with about three nights per camp so the flights do not eat into the trip. Five or six days suits a Victoria Falls and Chobe add-on, and two weeks lets you add the Linyanti, Savuti or the Kalahari.
For the Delta, Chobe and the northern concessions, the dry season from about May to October is peak time. The Kalahari and the salt pans are at their best in the summer rains, from December to March. April, May and November are shoulder months, often with lower rates.
Private concessions and community areas are leased wilderness where camps can usually offer night drives, guided walks and off-road tracking, with few vehicles. National parks and game reserves, such as Chobe and Moremi, keep vehicles on the tracks and generally allow activities only by day. Many itineraries combine both.
We design your route and book it through vetted local partners; the camps, aircraft and guides are independent businesses we select for you. At most fly-in camps, activities are shared with a few other guests unless you reserve a private vehicle, which many camps offer on request. On a mobile safari, your own guide and crew travel with you throughout.
There are no nonstop flights, so most travelers connect through Johannesburg, often with an overnight, to Maun for the Delta or Kasane for Chobe. From there, small aircraft reach the camps, with luggage limited to about 20 kg per person in soft bags.
Easily. Victoria Falls is about 80 km by road from Kasane, and Johannesburg, the usual gateway, connects to Cape Town and the Kruger area. Namibia and Zambia are also natural neighbors for a two-country trip.
At the time of writing, US citizens do not need a visa, but children need full birth certificates, and a yellow-fever certificate is required if you arrive from or transit through a risk country such as Kenya. All northern safari areas carry malaria risk, so see a travel clinic early and check current rules before you travel.
Share when you can travel, who is coming and what you most hope to see in Botswana. A specialist will shape a private route around it and walk you through every choice before anything is booked.
Plan My Botswana Safari