Botswana, one of the top safari locations in Africa, is blessed with some of the most breathtaking animal spectacles on earth.
No other place on earth compares to the Okavango Delta. This is one of the last great wildernesses left on Earth, where wild animals still roam and dominate. There are big cats and considerably larger elephants here. The delta is synonymous with abundance—with respect to animal populations, species diversity, birdlife, and biblical-scale floods. Furthermore, it is a site of exceptional and unmatched beauty where the options for a safari can seem as boundless as the waterways themselves.
The Kalahari Desert, the longest continuous swath of sand on Earth, is unlike other deserts. This is a desert of amazing variety, ranging from the salt pans of Makgadikgadi, the baobabs of Nxai Pans, and the minimalist splendour of Kubu Island in the north to the spectacular animals of Kgalagadi in the south. There aren’t many more stunning deserts on the planet when you include the fossilised river basins, flowing golden grasses, black-maned lions, and the echoes of the indigenous San people in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.
Botswana didn’t simply reject commercial tourism. It brought about an age of completely unique safari experiences that aren’t found anywhere else. These are opulent lodges and far-flung tented camps, mainly in the Okavango Delta and vicinity, that are occasionally modern in style and, problematically, occasionally drenched in colonial nostalgia. Additionally, they’ll provide you a front-row view of any wild life spectacles that you might just have all to yourself.
Renting a 4WD vehicle that can also serve as a creative camping home away from home will allow you to fully enjoy Botswana. This is about exploring the wilds of Africa at your own leisure, stopping at several campsites along the way to hear the bone-shivering roar of lions, hippos, elephants, or a leopard’s eerie, saw-like grunt as you lay awake at night. Build a campfire, look up at the stars, and experience a sense of oneness with this stunningly magnificent land.
