April – October
Dry season
The Okavango flood peaks from June to August while the land is bone dry — wildlife concentrates on the water.
Botswana The wet side
A country the size of France with fewer than 2.4 million people — and the largest elephant population on earth. Every year the Okavango pours eleven cubic kilometres of water into the Kalahari and never reaches the sea.
Discover the highlightsBotswana — water in the Kalahari
Where Namibia is dry, Botswana is wet — at least in the north. The Okavango Delta, Moremi, Savuti and the Chobe form one of the last great unfenced wilderness areas in Africa. Our Botswana journeys begin in Windhoek, cross the Kalahari at Ghanzi and end weeks later at Victoria Falls — or back in the Kaokoveld.
Key figures
Botswana in numbers
- surface area
- 581,730km²
- about the size of France
- inhabitants
- 2,359,609
- 2022 census
- elephants
- ~130,000
- the largest population on earth
- Okavango Delta at peak flood
- 15,000km²
- UNESCO’s 1,000th World Heritage Site
- Central Kalahari Game Reserve
- 52,800km²
- the second-largest reserve in the world
- people per km²
- 4.1
- the Kalahari covers about 70 % of the country
Highlights
Where the highlights are
Hover over a place to find it on the map, click it for the full story.Tap a place for the full story.
BotswanaHighlights
- 01A river that never reaches the sea
Okavango Delta
Every year the flood from the Angolan highlands spreads across the Kalahari sand into 15,000 km² of channels, lagoons and islands. Mokoro rides, hippos in the reeds and the 1,000th UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- 02The heart of the delta
Moremi
The first reserve in Africa set aside by the local community — the BaTawana, in 1963. Third Bridge, Xakanaxa and Khwai: deep sand, wooden bridges and camps without fences.
- 03Africa’s highest elephant density
Chobe
In the dry season tens of thousands of elephants gather along the Chobe river. Buffalo herds take over the tracks, and the sunset boat cruise from Kasane is the finest in southern Africa.
- 04Lions, and a channel that comes and goes
Savuti
The Savuti Channel stopped flowing in 1982 and returned in 2008 — nobody knows why. Its marsh is famous for lion prides and elephant bulls at the waterholes.
- 0552,800 km² of nothing — and everything
Central Kalahari
The second-largest game reserve in the world. Fossil river valleys, black-maned lions, meerkats — and in the green season, herds of springbok and oryx on the plains.
- 06One of the largest salt pans on earth
Makgadikgadi Pans
The bed of a lake that was once bigger than Switzerland. Baobabs on the shore, flamingos after the rains, and at night the whole Milky Way.
- 07Mosi-oa-Tunya — the smoke that thunders
Victoria Falls
Reached overland from Kasane: 1,708 metres wide, 108 metres high — the largest sheet of falling water in the world, on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia.
- 08Mud, sand, water crossings
The tracks in between
Botswana in the green season is a 4x4 driver’s dream: black-cotton mud, river crossings up to the bonnet and the deep sand of the Kalahari — this is why we carry recovery gear.
Okavango Delta
Botswana
Good to know
Independence
30 September 1966. One of Africa’s most stable democracies; the currency is the pula — “rain”.
Few visitors, lots of space
Botswana deliberately limits visitor numbers: few camps, vast areas. The parks are unfenced, and the campsites inside them are wild.
Kalahari
About 70 % of the country is Kalahari sand — the delta sits on it too.
Time zone
CAT, UTC+2, same as Namibia.
Getting there
Via Windhoek: our Botswana journeys start in Namibia and cross the border at Buitepos/Mamuno.
Driving
Left-hand traffic. Inside the parks there are no fences and no fuel stations — we carry everything.
When to go
The year at a glance — Botswana
Month by month: when each season runs, and what it means on the road.
- January: Green season
- February: Green season
- March: Green season
- April: Dry season
- May: Dry season
- June: Dry season
- July: Dry season
- August: Dry season
- September: Dry season
- October: Dry season
- November: Green season
- December: Green season
Now
November – March
Green season
Rains, newborn antelopes, zebras migrating across the Makgadikgadi — and the muddiest driving of the year.
Signature journeys
Every route can be tailored — tell us what you have in mind.
Journeys through Botswana
View all journeys
More destinations
Four countries, one rhythm: most of our routes cross at least one border.
Where the tracks lead next
Okavango Delta
At a glance
- A river that never reaches the sea
- WhereOkavango Delta · Botswana
- On the mapNo. 01
Every year the flood from the Angolan highlands spreads across the Kalahari sand into 15,000 km² of channels, lagoons and islands. Mokoro rides, hippos in the reeds and the 1,000th UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Moremi
At a glance
- The heart of the delta
- WhereXakanaxa · Botswana
- On the mapNo. 02
The first reserve in Africa set aside by the local community — the BaTawana, in 1963. Third Bridge, Xakanaxa and Khwai: deep sand, wooden bridges and camps without fences.
Journeys that pass here
Chobe
At a glance
- Africa’s highest elephant density
- WhereKasane · Botswana
- On the mapNo. 03
In the dry season tens of thousands of elephants gather along the Chobe river. Buffalo herds take over the tracks, and the sunset boat cruise from Kasane is the finest in southern Africa.
Journeys that pass here
Savuti
At a glance
- Lions, and a channel that comes and goes
- WhereSavuti · Botswana
- On the mapNo. 04
The Savuti Channel stopped flowing in 1982 and returned in 2008 — nobody knows why. Its marsh is famous for lion prides and elephant bulls at the waterholes.
Journeys that pass here
Central Kalahari
At a glance
- 52,800 km² of nothing — and everything
- WhereCentral Kalahari · Botswana
- On the mapNo. 05
The second-largest game reserve in the world. Fossil river valleys, black-maned lions, meerkats — and in the green season, herds of springbok and oryx on the plains.
Journeys that pass here
Makgadikgadi Pans
At a glance
- One of the largest salt pans on earth
- WhereXhumaga / Boteti · Botswana
- On the mapNo. 06
The bed of a lake that was once bigger than Switzerland. Baobabs on the shore, flamingos after the rains, and at night the whole Milky Way.
Journeys that pass here
Victoria Falls
At a glance
- Mosi-oa-Tunya — the smoke that thunders
- WhereVictoria Falls · Zimbabwe
- On the mapNo. 07
Reached overland from Kasane: 1,708 metres wide, 108 metres high — the largest sheet of falling water in the world, on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Journeys that pass here
The tracks in between
At a glance
- Mud, sand, water crossings
- On the mapSpread across the country
Botswana in the green season is a 4x4 driver’s dream: black-cotton mud, river crossings up to the bonnet and the deep sand of the Kalahari — this is why we carry recovery gear.
Plan your trip
Every route starts with a conversation — tell us what you have in mind.
No booking yet — just a first conversation. Tell us roughly what you have in mind; we reply within two working days with an honest assessment and a first route.
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