History & Background

Botswana was formerly known as Bechuanaland and was a British colony until 1966. It was first inhabited by the San (Bushmen) and then by the Khoi-Khoi (Hottentots). The Setswana migrated southwards and slowly occupied the region from the 16th century onwards, until early in the 19th century. By mid-century missionaries arrived, including David Livingstone and Robert Moffat, and by 1885 the territory was a British protectorate. 

Botswana gained its independence in 1966 and is one of Africa’s  most stable democracies with a remarkable economic success story, often cited as a model for the African continent.

The country has a strong currency with one of the highest per capita incomes in Africa, maintains a neutral international political stance. It is heavily reliant on mining (especially diamonds) & tourism.

Botswana is famed for its basketry, wood carvings and Bushmen crafts. Visitors have many opportunities to purchase intriguing mementos of this exciting country.

Tourism

Wildlife is abundant in Botswana and its tourism policy is one of “low volume, high cost”.  Although this policy limits the number of people able to afford trips and safaris into Botswana, it has protected the fragile environment and resources from the onslaught of mass tourism, which have taken its toll in other countries.

Geographically Botswana is relatively flat (the average elevation of about 1000 m). It is a landlocked nation a little larger than France and is bordered by South Africa in the South, Namibia to the west, Zambia to the north, and Zimbabwe to the east.  Much of the country is semi-arid with the wide plains of the Kalahari covering 2/3 of the territory. 

It is in the northwest of the country that the Okavango River drains inland from Angola to form the Okavango Delta – the largest inland delta in the world – which provides sustenance to a rich profusion of wildlife. The delta is extremely beautiful, big sky country with spectacular scenery across grassy plains and limpid lagoons, a complexity of channels, lagoons, floodplains and islands – the ultimate African safari destination.

Chobe National Park

Established in 1968, the park covers approximately 11,700 sq kms. Chobe’s vast floodplains along the river, dry savanna and permanent swamp, dense teak woodland provides perfect eco-systems for a diverse variety of wildlife. 

Watching the elephant families drink and bathe in the river is an unforgettable sight, all the more impressive when herds of buffalo, rafts of hippo and gigantic Nile crocodiles are part of the scene. Lion and spotted hyena are frequently seen on the floodplains, where red lechwe, puku, zebra, sable and roan come out to graze.

Savute

Savute – remote and wild -is situated south of the Chobe River. Unlike the vast majority of the country, Savute is not a totally flat landscape. Large outcrops of volcanic rock reach up out of the Kalahari sands, towering over the endless savannah. These hills provide habitat for a completely different array of small wildlife, birds and plants. The Savute Marsh has been the stage for many of the most dramatic wildlife documentaries in Africa. The wide-open country, good ungulate populations and particularly strong prides of lion and hyaena clans make for dramatic wildlife interaction and excellent viewing opportunities.

The area’s main feature is the mysterious Savute Channel, which flows and dries up seemingly unrelated to the rainfall. Stretching from the waterways of the Linyanti all the way to Savute Marsh, the winding waterways of Savute Channel have pumped life into the western section of Chobe National Park for many thousands of generations. But this fickle and unpredictable channel has a fascinating history of flooding and drying up independently of good rainy seasons and flood levels elsewhere – a mystery that has intrigued geologists and other researchers for many years.

Wildlife: Undoubtedly it is the interaction between lion and elephant that is the most interesting aspect of Savute. The area is inhabited by a huge pride of lions with numbers fluctuating from 20-30 members. These remarkable lions have learned over the years how to hunt these massive pachyderms that are supposedly above predation. Launching their attack under darkness and using their numbers, they manage to kill adolescent and even young adult elephant. The marsh is prime cheetah country and in the wet season it is not unusual to have the wild dog hunting here in Savute. 

The area is also a famous battleground for lion and spotted hyena, whose ongoing fight for dominance has been captured in the brilliant National Geographic documentary film Eternal Enemies by Derreck and Beverly Joubert. With grazing plentiful, the area is also popular with zebra, wildebeest, buffalo, giraffe, tsessebe and kudu.

Okavango Delta

The Okavango Delta is one of the last remaining unspoiled wilderness areas of Africa. The Delta is fed by the floodwaters of Central Africa and covers an area of some 16000 sq kms and is the largest inland delta system in the world. These waters fan out into the Okavango Delta forming a wetland system of beautiful palm-fringed channels, lagoons and islands that support a wealth of fauna and flora alike.

Renowned for its abundant wildlife, the Okavango Delta sustains a huge diversity of fauna and flora, including a number of species adapted to the semi-aquatic lifestyle, such as the elegant red lechwe and shy sitatunga. Families of hippo wallow in the deeper channels and lagoons. The area supports the continent’s largest surviving concentration of elephant and buffalo, while roan and sable antelope roam the open woodlands. Lion, cheetah, leopard and African wild dog are occasionally also encountered.

One of the unique ways to explore it is by Mokoro (the traditional dugout canoe) paddled by a local guide/poler. Botswana’s Bayei people, who live around the Okavango Delta make dugout canoes from trees that have been chosen for them at birth. These days most Mokoros are made of fiberglass to preserve the trees. Your poler/guide knows the narrow waterways like the back of his hand and sometimes you’ll encounter mostly birds and a few shy antelope and then again, you may end up face to face with an elephant – a rather exciting experience. They are much larger than you can ever imagine!

Moremi Game Reserve

At the point where the life-giving waters of the Okavango Delta meet the vast plains of the Kalahari Desert, Mother Nature has created a sanctuary of Mopane forests, open grasslands, seasonal floodplains and riverine habitats, resulting in one of the most magnificent and welcoming animal environments in all of Africa. 

Wildlife: Moremi is amongst the best game reserves in Africa for viewing the endangered African wild dog. It is home to a resident herd of several hundred buffalo whose range covers the territories of at least 4 prides of lion, which may often be seen flanking the ever moving herd. Breeding herds of elephant move between their browsing areas in the mopane forests and the fresh water of the Okavango. Red lechwe are one of the more unusual antelope species and commonly found here.

Moremi Game Reserve offers a broad range of safari activities on both land and water. For many guests, the highlight of their stay comes during the morning and afternoon game drives. Conducted in open 4×4 safari vehicles, the exhilarating game drives provide the chance to track wildlife in the beautiful surroundings renowned for frequent sightings of lion, leopard and cheetah. Water activities involve the exploration of water lily-ringed lagoons and surrounding Okavango Delta channels by motorboat.

The birdlife – which ranges from water birds to shy forest dwellers – is prolific and varied, and each boat trip affords guests exceptional bird-watching opportunities. Other sightings include hippos enjoying the clear, cool water, and the chance to watch big game making their way through the reeds to drink or bathe at the water’s edge.

Central Kalahari Game Reserve

The Kalahari is the largest sand basin in the world, stretching 1,560 miles (2,500km) from the northern part of South Africa, through Namibia and Angola and ending in the DRC (Congo). It may have no permanent surface water, but unlike the image of most deserts, the Kalahari is well vegetated with a wide variety of habitats including acacia trees and areas of flat grasslands that seem to stretch forever.

The CKGR is also the largest game reserve in the world and has until recently been closed to the public. Its remoteness, unforgiving climate and harsh terrain have kept it pristine and only the fully self-sufficient traveller would venture into the reserve alone. Those that do are rewarded with untamed Africa at its best.

The CKGR was originally created as a refuge for the San Bushmen – the inhabitants of the Kalahari for the past 30,000 years. They lived in nomadic hunter-gatherer family groups only taking what they needed to survive – which is an art form in the Kalahari. Their simple lifestyle became anathema to the sophisticated Europeans who colonized Southern Africa and the Bushmen found themselves the hunted rather than the hunter.

Bushmen survival became an issue in 1961 when Botswana was still a British Protectorate, and the CKGR was formed as their homeland. Most have now intermixed with other tribes such as the Bakgalagadi and live in villages at the southern end of this reserve. Their traditional lifestyle is all but gone but some bush survival knowledge is still passed down from generation to generation.

Makgadikgadi Pans

The lesser-known Makgadikgadi Pans National Park is situated roughly between Maun and Nata in Botswana. The shimmering saltpans of Makgadikgadi are the size of Switzerland and most of the time appears as glaring, white, endless plain. When the rain comes a dramatic change takes place as the pans come to life with frantically feeding water birds and great herds of game. The best time to visit this area to coincide with the Zabra migration is from December to March or in the dry season from April to October when the pans are dry.

The park contains four main vegetation types: riverine woodland, scrubland, pure grassland and saltpans. The pans support palm groves and peculiar looking Baobab trees whose branches look more like roots, giving rise to the name ‘upside down tree’. These are interspersed with short spiky yellow grass found on rises between the pans, known as ‘prickly salt grass’. This is extremely saline resistant to the extent that salt crystals can sometimes be seen on the leaves. The interior of the reserve comprises scrub and grassland with a few ‘islands’ of Real Fan Palms and Camel thorn acacia. From April to November game such as springbok, gemsbok, wildebeest and zebra move slowly from the pans area in the south east of the park, to the Boteti River on the western side. During this migration animals accumulate in their thousands. The heavily wooded areas beside the river also contain shy antelopes like duiker and bushbuck.

Nxai Pan National Park

Located on the northern fringe of the Makgadikgadi basin, Nxai Pan National Park includes an ancient lake bed that was once part of the vast Lake Makgadikgadi. At roughly 2 580 km² this incredible destination offers stark contrasts between its dry and wet seasons. During the dry season, visitors will be treated to sightings of wildebeest, springbok, impala, gemsbok, hartebeest, giraffe, lion, cheetah, wild dog, brown hyena, bat-eared fox, and occasionally elephant and buffalo. In the rainy season, it is home to the seasonal Zebra Migration, where vast herds (accompanied by a slew of predators) can be seen on open grasslands, amidst the mottled shade of acacia trees.

Republic of Botswana:

Botswana is a landlocked country that provides a natural habitat for a huge variety of African wildlife.

• Area: 600 370 km² of which nearly 17% is protected wildlife area. The country has one of the lowest population densities in Africa with an average of less than three people per km²

• Capital: Gabarone

• Currency: Pula

• People: Botswana 95%, Kalanga, Basarwa, Kgalagadi 4%, European 1%

• Official language: Setswana is the national language and English is the business language

• Time: GMT +2

Climate: 

The climate is semi-arid with 85% of the country covered by Kalahari sands. Temperatures soar in the summer months (November to March) reaching highs between 30°C and 40°C. Erratic rain-showers are common in the summer.

In winter months (June to August) warm days are followed by cold nights. Daytime temperatures average around 23°C with night-time lows averaging 5°C.

BEST TIMES TO VISIT BOTSWANA

Having recently been named Africa’s Best Safari Destination, Botswana offers spectacular sightings of wildlife in their natural habitat. Whether you’re looking to spot animals on a game drive or by mokoro (dug out canoe) around the shallow waters of the Okavango Delta, these are the best times to plan your trip according to the seasons.

June to October is the dry season and offers unmatched game viewing, because it attracts thousands of animals including herds of elephants, buffalo and antelope alongside predators to the water-rich areas of the Okavango Delta and the Chobe and Linyanti Rivers.

November to March - these are the country’s hottest and wettest months. The landscape transforms as flowers begin to bloom and the land that was once brown and dry is covered in lush greenery. If you’re a bird lover, plan your trip around the green season.

The magic months are April and May, when the heat and showers of the summer should be long past, and the African fall begins to make itself known. The wildlife viewing may not be quite as strong as during the unbeatable dry season because the grasses are long and water is widely available to wildlife, but it’s still better than many other safari areas during their strongest season. Plus, it’s a photographer’s delight because the skies are crisp, the bush is full of flowers and baby animals, and the birding is phenomenal.

Safari FAQ’s

• General Safari FAQ's
• Describe a Day on Safari
• Who are the Big Five
• About Sustainability
• Debunking Safari Myths
• What is a Luxury Safari
• Choosing a Safari
• Multi-generational Safaris
• About Giving Back

1. It’s home to the world's largest inland delta, the Okavango Delta, which is formed by seasonal flooding of the Okavango River. This unique ecosystem is a safari paradise where you can find about 170 mammal species, including lions, cheetahs, hippos, crocodiles and many bird and reptile species.

2. Botswana encompasses the 900,000 km² Kalahari Desert, home to many antelope species, big cats including the black-maned lion and incredible birdlife. Here you can meet the San people, hunter-gatherers who have survived in this semi-arid region for 20,000 years and who still hunt with bows and poison arrows.

3. Although Botswana is landlocked, you can enjoy boat cruises and fishing on the Chobe River and Mokoro (dug-out-canoe) rides in the Okavango Delta.

4. Botswana is a real-life wonderland for elephant lovers! The country has the world's largest population of elephants which are protected by strict anti-poaching laws, meaning you can see them in all their majestic glory.

5. It’s home to a number of different ethnic groups, each with their own unique culture and traditions. Visitors can experience the rich culture and traditions of these groups through traditional village visits and cultural performances.

6. Botswana is known for its stability and democracy, which is great for travellers because it allows for the conservation and protection of the country's wildlife and natural resources.