Botswana is situated in the southern part of Africa, famous for its pristine wildlife areas and exceptional safaris. The country is largely covered by the Kalahari Desert, but the safaris focus more on the water wonderland of the Okavango Delta, the Chobe National Park and Linyanti, all situated in the northern parts of Botswana

This enormous landlocked country covers 582 000 square kilometres of Africa's great interior plateau. It extends more than 1100km from north to south and 960km from east to west. The Kalahari covers 85% of the country in the central and south-western areas

The area is largely flat, dry and intensely hot with sandy soils, thin grasslands and areas of woodland savannah that sustains a human population of not much more than 1.6 million people.

When it comes to tourism the focus is on the great desert parks, on the lunar landscapes of the Makgadigadi Pans, on the wetland wonder of the Okavango Delta, Chobe and to the east, Tuli. Botswana's national parks are among Africa's wildest and most spectacular. We at Into Africa Safari offer a variety of packages throughout this "wildlife heaven".

Please note that on top of our packages offered we can also arrange a number of "Luxury Lodge Fly-In Safari's". Should you have any interest in Botswana, and we do not offer it amongst our packages, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We will do our best to tailor make any tour to suit your needs in Botswana.

The San were among the first human inhabitants of this region before the Setswana migrated southwards and slowly occupied the region from the 16th century onwards, until early in the 19th century. By mid century missionaries arrived, including David Livingstone and Robert Moffat, and by 1885 the territory was a British protectorate. Botswana gained its independence in 1966 and has been the most stable democracy in Africa. The first president ruled from 1966 until his death in 1980, the second till 1994 (re-elected twice, then resigned) and the third from 1998.

The country has a strong currency with one of the highest per capita incomes in Africa, maintains a neutral international political stance. It is heavily reliant on mining (especially diamonds) & tourism and maintains close ties with its neighbor South Africa, an economic powerhouse for the region.

Wildlife is abundant in Botswana and includes lions, giraffes, leopards, antelope, elephants, crocodiles and ostriches. Botswana is a semiarid and has average annual (summer) rainfall of 640mm (about 25in) in the north to less than 230mm (less than 9in) in the Kalahari. Drought is therefore a not uncommon and the vegetation is mostly savannah.

Geographically Botswana relatively flat (the average elevation of about 1000m) and can be viewed (for all intensive purposes) as three major regions follows:

Chobe National Park in the north, another outstanding wilderness area of enormous diversity – lion and elephant can be viewed from river of 4x4 game drives.

The Okavango Delta is a vast marshland and one of the largest inland river deltas in the world – 15 000km2 of wilderness and prime of safari area. The Kalahari Desert in the central and southwestern regions occupies over half the land areas of Botswana. It is a mystical, harsh and unspoiled landmass.

The saltpans of north-central Botswana and the Tuli block in the far eastern corner of Botswana are also areas of significance.

1. Okavango Delta
   

The Okavango Delta in northern Botswana near Maun incorporates the Moremi Game Reserve and is a unique wildlife paradise - one of the finest in the world. It is one of the largest inland river deltas in the world. This unsurpassed natural environment is a maze of waterways, islands and reed banks creating a perfect place for lion, elephant, leopard, buffalo, giraffe, hyena, wild dog, kudu, impala, roan, zebra, lechwe, hippo, and crocodile, amongst others. There are 440 bird species in the delta and fish species are also abundant, including tiger fish, sharp-toothed catfish, barbell and bream.

Travel through the swamps ands surrounding areas is generally by open 4x4 game viewing vehicle or a peaceful meander in a 'Mokoro', a flat-bottomed dugout canoe. The Delta is hot throughout the year with temperatures ranging from about 14°C in January to 24°C in July. Rainfall averages 525mm annually, but varies greatly from year to year. Water levels and flooding reach a maximum between March and July, after rains at the source and the usual 15 000km2 can expand to approximately 22 000km2 in high-rainfall years.

1. Chobe National Park
   

Chobe is about 11 000km2 of wilderness area watered by the Chobe & Savuti Rivers and thus attracting huge concentrations of game.

This includes lion and some of the highest concentration of elephants in Africa – an estimated population of around 25 000 in winters. Game viewing is renowned and the in the Northern areas near Kasane, both the riverboat game viewing experience and the 4x4 vehicle option are popular. In addition the spectacular annual summer migrations of plains game, especially zebra, is a highlight, as well giraffe, warthog and numerous antelope including sable, roan, oribi, reedbuck, lechwe and the colorful Chobe bushbuck.

Bird watching opportunities in Chobe are ample and include some 350 species including the awesome African fish eagle, the rare Pell's fishing owl, saddle-billed storks, long-toed plovers, pink-backed pelicans, African skimmers, Bradfield's hornbills and carmine bee-eaters. Finally, the sunsets are spectacular.