Things to Do in Botswana in May
May weather, activities, events & insider tips
Shoulder Season · Good Value
May Weather in Botswana
Temperature, rainfall and humidity at a glance
78°F (25°C)
High Temp
46°F (8°C)
Low Temp
0.3 inches (8 mm)
Rainfall
70%
Humidity
Is May Right for You?
Weigh the advantages and considerations before booking
Advantages
- + The handover from wet to dry keeps the land lush and green, waterholes brim, and the Okavango Delta's channels stay navigable. Yet the pounding rains have quit.
- + Daytime temps sit pretty for long game drives or walking safaris, free of summer's furnace and winter's icy dawns.
- + This is the sweet spot for wildlife. Grass thins, animals pop into view, and the first gatherings around permanent water start to form.
- + You taste Botswana's seasonal beat: a sudden afternoon thunderstorm may split the sky, then petrichor drifts over the braai and dinner smells even better.
Considerations
- − Those 10 rainy days, though short, can turn dirt airstrips and sandy tracks slick and muddy, sometimes delaying camp transfers.
- − Nights and dawns demand layers; 46°F (8°C) in an open safari vehicle with wind chill bites if you packed only for warm afternoons.
- − May straddles seasons, so you may not get the cloudless cobalt of peak dry nor the flooded drama of peak wet.
Best Activities in May
Top things to do during your visit
Botswana in May feels like the country is exhaling after a long summer. The heavy rains have gone, leaving air so dry it crackles and skies so blue they look painted. Daytime temperatures hover around 25°C, but nights drop cold enough to make you reach for a fleece. This is the dry season's doorstep. Waterholes shrink and wildlife clusters around every remaining sip. No festivals interrupt the rhythm, just the bush getting sharper, clearer, easier to read. Compared with January's steam or October's furnace, May is the sweet spot. Visit now and you sidestep the classic timing angst. Rain rarely spoils a drive, roads firm up, and animals already stage their daily parade. Safari remains the headline, yet Gaborone's streets, markets, and music give a useful counterbeat. Where to stay? Pick anything from city hotels to bush camps now reachable again. Expect warm days, cold beers, brighter stars, and predators that know the season has turned in their favor.
Gaborone City Tour (Half Day tour)
guided_experienceA Gaborone City Tour shoves you straight into the nation's modern pulse. You'll eye the glass-and-steel government enclave, feel traffic thrum along broad avenues, and run a hand over the cool marble of the Three Dikgosi Monument. Most guides swing through a local market where roasting maize scents the air and bolts of bright cloth stack shoulder-high.
This half-day walk gives the fastest primer on how Botswana leapt from protectorate to confident republic.
Insider tip: Ask the guide to decode the National Assembly's angular concrete fins, a love letter to 1966 optimism.
This month: May's dry mild air makes the walking sections painless.
Multiday Tour From Gaborone: 2 day Gaborone Experience
day_tripThe Multiday Tour From Gaborone stretches the capital's story across two days into southeastern Botswana. You'll crunch gravel on a short bush walk, taste smoky braai meat, and scan hills that hide 4,000-year-old rock art. Urban polish, colonial relics, and thornveld silence are stitched into one itinerary.
It answers the question most visitors forget to ask: what sits beyond the city limits?
Insider tip: Pack a jacket. Once the sun drops, May nights outside Gaborone flirt with frost.
Around Gaborone Adventure
otherAn Around Gaborone Adventure heads for the bushveld and rural villages that ring the capital. Expect the rasp of a francolin from dry grass, dust curling behind the wheels, and the tight weave of baskets at a roadside co-op. This is quick, dirty, and direct contact with wild Botswana.
It proves you don't need a week up north to feel the bush breathing down your neck.
Insider tip: Closed shoes only. Thorns don't negotiate.
This month: May thins the foliage and gifts you sightlines for small game and birds.
No.1 Ladies Detective Agency Literary Tour (Mma Ramotswe Tour)
guided_experienceThe No.1 Ladies Detective Agency Literary Tour drags fiction into sunlight along Gaborone's streets. You'll eye the acacias McCall Smith describes, nose around a garage that could be Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, and sip iron-rich bush tea that stains the cup brick-red.
It is the only tour that lets book lovers step through the pages and shake hands with Precious Ramotswe's world.
Insider tip: Read one novel first. The jokes land harder.
Half Day Tour from Gaborone (Manyana Village Visit)
guided_experienceA Half Day Tour from Gaborone to Manyana Village targets rock art that has watched centuries pass. You'll see faded giraffes and eland scraped across a granite wall, feel the cave's cool breath, and hear the guide's voice bounce softly off stone.
It is the easiest, richest rock art site within striking distance of the capital.
Insider tip: The final scramble is short but steep. Grip the fixed rope and take it slow.
This month: May's dry trails are firm underfoot.
1 Night Madikwe Game Reserve
otherA 1 Night Madikwe Game Reserve trip slips across the South African border for a lightning safari. You'll watch a thorn tree cut a black silhouette against sunset, hear a lion grunt somewhere just beyond the firelight, and maybe lock eyes with wild dogs mid-hunt. Dinner is served under stars that feel close enough to pocket.
Big-five country without malaria risk and only a few hours from Gaborone.
Insider tip: Sort every border paper and transfer detail with the operator before departure.
This month: May starts the dry season. Animals mob waterholes and sightings come easier.
Where to Stay in Botswana in May
Hand-picked hotels across price tiers for May travellers.
Packing Checklist
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Climate-specific gear, brand recommendations, and what to leave at home.
View Botswana Packing List →Essential Tips
Insider knowledge and common pitfalls to avoid
Insider Knowledge
The 'green season' pricing often extends into early May at some camps. It's worth asking if lodges are still offering their lower wet-season rates, as the weather and game viewing are already shifting toward dry-season quality.
If you hear the deep, rolling thunder of an approaching storm in the afternoon, don't retreat to your tent immediately. Watch from the camp's main area. The lightning shows over the vast plains are theatrical and memorable, and the smell of the rain hitting the hot earth - petrichor - is one of Botswana's most powerful sensory memories.
This is a good month to specifically request birding guides if that's your interest. The migratory birds from Europe and northern Africa are still present, adding to the memorable resident variety, and the guides have more time for dedicated spotting before the high-season rush.
In Gaborone, visit the Main Mall on a Friday afternoon. You'll hear the click-clack sound of Setswana conversation mix with gospel music from shop radios, and you can pick up a seswaa (slow-cooked shredded beef) and pap (maize porridge) lunch from a street vendor for a taste of everyday life.
Avoid These Mistakes
Don't pack only for the daytime high of 78°F (25°C) and freeze on the first 5:30 AM game drive. The temperature swing is extreme. Bring fleece.
Don't assume '10 rainy days' means a washout. It usually means a magnificent, brief downpour around 4 PM that clears by dinner, leaving the stars looking freshly washed.
Don't overlook the cultural experiences because you're solely focused on safari. Botswana's modern identity in Gaborone or its ancient history in the Tsodilo Hills has an important counterpoint to the wildlife narrative.
Don't forget to confirm the specific water levels at your chosen Okavango Delta camp. 'The Delta' is vast, and water heights can vary significantly between regions in May.
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