Boutique hotels in Botswana

Botswana protects a very large share of its land for wildlife, and it has built its tourism on high-value, low-impact stays. Camps are small, often with fewer than a dozen tents, and many are raised on decks above lagoons or set on private concessions where walking, night drives and mokoro canoe trips are allowed.

The Okavango Delta

The Delta is a vast inland wetland, flooded each year by rain that fell in Angola months earlier. Camps on its islands and concessions offer boat and mokoro trips as well as game drives, and the flood peaks between June and August, when the surrounding land is at its driest. Moremi, on the eastern edge, combines floodplain and woodland and is famed for predators.

Chobe, Linyanti and Savuti

In the north, the Chobe River draws some of the largest elephant herds in Africa, and Kasane is a handy base close to Victoria Falls. Linyanti and Savuti are quieter and remote, known for hippos, lions and wild dogs.

Salt pans and the Kalahari

The Makgadikgadi and Nxai Pan are ancient lake beds with baobabs, meerkats and, after the rains, zebra migrations. The Central Kalahari is a huge, empty reserve where camps run walking and horseback trips with San guides.

When to go

The dry season from May to October is best for wildlife, and the Delta is at its fullest from June to August. The green season from November to March brings birds and baby animals, though some camps close and the pans become impassable.