Things to Do in Botswana

About Botswana

The first thing you notice is the quiet. It’s a deep, ringing silence that settles over the Okavango Delta just before sunset, broken only by the distant kweh of a fish eagle and the hollow splash of a hippo submerging. This isn’t a landscape curated for visitors—it’s a place that operates on its own ancient logic. The Chobe Riverfront in the north is a raw, thrumming theater where herds of 500 elephants wade through chest-high water, their low rumbles vibrating in your sternum. In the Makgadikgadi Pans, a 12,000-square-kilometer ghost of a prehistoric lake, the horizon dissolves into a white-hot mirage where you can hear your own heartbeat. The Kalahari, covering 70% of the country, isn’t the Sahara’s golden-dune stereotype; it’s a sea of red sand and silver grass where meerkats stand sentinel and the San people have tracked oryx for millennia. This commitment to wilderness comes at a cost—Botswana is likely the most expensive safari destination in Africa, with a policy of high-cost, low-impact tourism. A single night at a top-tier lodge in the Delta can run from USD $2,500 per person, and self-driving through the salt pans requires a 4x4, GPS, and a genuine tolerance for getting profoundly lost. But you’re paying for emptiness: for the privilege of watching a leopard drag its kill up a tree in the Moremi Game Reserve with no other vehicle in sight, for the shock of seeing 30,000 zebra migrating across the Nxai Pan, and for the right to float through papyrus channels in a mokoro dugout canoe, your hand trailing in water the colour of strong tea. It’s a country that trades convenience for a kind of purity you didn’t know still existed.

Travel Tips

Transportation: Getting around Botswana independently is an adventure in logistics, not a simple A-to-B proposition. Domestic flights on Air Botswana or charter carriers like Mack Air are the only realistic way to reach the heart of the Okavango Delta lodges—a 45-minute hop from Maun to a bush airstrip might cost around BWP 3,500 (USD $260) one way. For the Makgadikgadi Pans or Central Kalahari, a fully-equipped 4x4 is non-negotiable; renting one in Maun with roof tents, recovery gear, and a satellite phone runs about BWP 900 (USD $67) per day. The pitfall: underestimating distances. The drive from Kasane to Maun is 500km of rough, elephant-crossed tar. The insider move? If you’re flying into the Delta, pack soft-sided duffels—hard suitcases won’t fit in the tiny Cessna cargo holds.

Money: Botswana runs on the Pula (BWP), and cash is still king outside major hotels. ATMs in Maun and Kasane dispense Pula, but once you’re on safari, everything is charged to your room and settled by card at checkout. Tipping is expected on safari; a guideline is about USD $15-20 per guest per day for your guide, and USD $10 for camp staff, pooled. The potential pitfall is assuming you can pay for incidental items in USD or Euros at remote camps—you can’t. The insider trick? If you’re on a mobile safari, bring small notes in Pula (BWP 20, BWP 50) for curios at village stops; the handicraft co-op in Sankuyo village, for instance, sells beautiful woven baskets for BWP 300-500 (USD $22-37), and they don’t take cards.

Cultural Respect: Batswana society is formal and reserved; a warm, broad smile and a polite ‘Dumela’ (hello) go a long way. When meeting someone, especially elders, a slight bow or lowering of your eyes shows respect. Handshakes are common, but use your right hand—the left is considered unclean. In villages, always ask permission before taking photographs of people. The major pitfall is treating cultural visits, like to a San community in the Kalahari, as a human zoo. These are living cultures, not museum exhibits. Pay for the experience (around BWP 500 / USD $37 per person), listen more than you speak, and consider buying handcrafted ostrich eggshell jewelry or leatherwork directly from the artisans. It supports the community far more than a generic souvenir from a hotel shop.

Food Safety: The food at safari lodges is generally excellent and very safe—chefs are used to international stomachs. It’s the in-between moments where caution matters. In Maun, the Old Bridge Backpackers does a reliable and hearty beef braai (barbecue) for about BWP 120 (USD $9). Street food is limited, but in towns like Francistown, you’ll find stalls selling fat cakes (fried dough) and boerewors rolls. The rule: eat it hot, straight off the grill. The pitfall is the water. Never drink tap water, even in cities. Lodges provide filtered water, but for road trips, buy sealed bottled water (BWP 25 / USD $1.85 for a 5L jug) or use purification tablets. The insider move? Try the mopane worms if they’re offered at a cultural village—they’re dried and crunchy, tasting vaguely of smoked paprika and nuts, and are a protein staple. It’s a story to take home.

When to Visit

Choosing your month in Botswana is less about good versus bad weather and more about choosing which version of the wilderness you want to see. The dry season (May-October) is the classic safari window. From May, the floodwaters from Angola begin filling the Okavango Delta, peaking around July-August, when daytime temperatures are a mild 25°C (77°F) and nights can drop to 5°C (41°F). This is when wildlife clusters around shrinking waterholes, making for spectacular, reliable sightings. It’s also peak season—lodges book up a year in advance, and prices are at their absolute highest, often 30-40% more than shoulder seasons. The ‘Green Season’ (November-April) is a trade-off. November and December bring short, dramatic afternoon thunderstorms and temperatures soaring to 38°C (100°F), but the landscape erupts in green, migrant birds arrive, and you’ll have places like the Central Kalahari Game Reserve almost to yourself. Lodge prices tend to drop by as much as half. January and February are the wettest months; some tracks in the Delta become impassable, and the humidity is intense, but this is when the predators have their young. For birders, it’s paradise. March and April are the sweet spot—the rains taper off, the crowds are still thin, and temperatures are pleasant. A middle-tier lodge that costs USD $800 pppn in July might be USD $500 in April. If you detest both extreme heat and other tourists, aim for the shoulder of April or late October. Families with school holidays are locked into July-August or December; for them, it’s worth the premium and the chillier mornings. Budget travellers and photographers chasing dramatic skies should brave the Green Season—just pack a quality rain jacket and serious mosquito repellent.