For an all-round safari experience of a lifetime, visit Botswana. It’s not the magnificent Okavango Delta alone and its diversity of habitats, but the opportunity to gaze at it from different angles by air, water and land.

The legendary inland waterway, the Okavango Delta, slices sinuously through a large part of Botswana, creating an area of unimaginable natural splendour. Millions of litres of water reach miraculously into this part of the Kalahari Desert, infinitely enriching an environment that supports an incredible diversity of mammal, fish and bird life.

To fly over the Delta in a light aircraft is scenically arresting and awe-inspiring for the tracking and viewing of game. It is also, in certain cases, the only way to reach the more remote camps! Some camps are water based, others offer both wet and dry game viewing. Meander slowly through the watery courses in a traditional canoe or Mokoro, or travel over land in an open safari vehicle.

Botswana may be best known for its Delta, but the country also boasts two of Africa’s finest game reserves: Moremi, renowned for its huge herds of elephant, buffalo, giraffe and antelope; and Chobe, further north, thought to have the highest concentration of elephants in the world. For a thrilling end to a memorable day, take a sunset cruise at Chobe, and watch hundreds of dusty elephants ponderously cavorting with each other at the river’s edge as they quench their thirst.

 

The Linyanti Region lies within Chobe and here, in the dry season, the concentration of game is such that the visitor will see buffalo by the thousand, followed by sizeable prides of lion. The Savuti Channel, also a part of Chobe, stakes its own unique claim – here the legendary Bushmen left the unique mark of their native paintings on their ancient home.

 

Further Bushman artwork is marvellously preserved in the Makagadikgadi Salt Pans of the Kalahari in the southern part of Botswana. The scenery and game viewing in this remote region is altogether different from the lush waterways and grasslands of the Delta. Here, on the sand dunes and in the vast dry pans, quad bikes are the order of the day.

 

MUST DO:

• Watch in awe as thousands of elephant converge on the Chobe River.
• See the wild dogs, as you view the game in the Moremi Wildlife Reserve.
• View the abundance of lions in Savuti.
• Enjoy the prolific bird life in the world-famous Okavango Delta, as you are gently poled along in a mokoro.
• Take a game or nature walk in the Delta.