Botswana Travel Guide

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Top Things to See

• Spot antelopes in the Gaborone Game Reserve and the Mokolodi Nature Reserve, and giraffes striding through the Khutse Game Reserve. Be dazzled by flamingoes on the Makgadikgadi Plains.

• Search for lions and leopards stalking their prey or just lazing around in the shade in the Moremi Game Reserve.

• Steer clear of charging buffalo in Chobe National Park, and marvel at hippos, while watching out for crocodiles, along the Chobe River.

• Grimace at rare brown hyenas in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park, a bi-national Peace Park created on ancient animal migration routes between Botswana and South Africa.

• Admire Botswana's remaining rhinos, carefully protected from poachers, at the Khama Rhino Sanctuary in Serowe.

• Watch baboons playing in scattered rocky kopjes in the Savute area, the northern shore of the prehistoric lake that once covered most of Botswana.

• Visit the Tsodilo Hills, considered a sacred site by the Bushmen; known to have been inhabited for at least 100,000 years, these isolated hills are decorated with thousands of rock paintings.

• Venture into the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Remote and virtually unexplored, it's a refuge both for animals and the country's few remaining Bushmen.

• Gaze at the pot pourri of rocks, millions of years old, that make up the incredible scenery of the Tuli Block. It has a patchwork of private game ranches and ruggedly beautiful countryside.

• See the Okavango Delta, an extremely beautiful region of vast grass flats, low tree-covered ridges and narrow, shallow waterways opening into lagoons which fill with water during the annual flood.

See Contact Addresses for further information.

Top Things to Do

• Experience a sundowner. Sip a cool drink and enjoy a glorious sunset at the end of a satisfying afternoon game drive.

• Go on a walking safari - not for the faint-hearted but an exhilarating experience. In the hands of an experienced guide, you'll see nature in close-up, and may, if you're lucky, get thrillingly close to wild animals.

• Climb on the back of an elephant for a safari trek to remember. As well as learning all about elephants, you may see zebras, giraffes, gazelles and other animals - with no distracting vehicle noise.

• Float along on a mokoro, a traditional Okavango Delta canoe, expertly poled by a local guide who stands in the stern. Originally made from hollowed-out wood, but now just as likely to be fiberglass, they offer an unforgettable perspective.

• Fly over the Kalahari Desert in a hot-air balloon, and experience the thrill of landing in an open floodplain.

• Experience some of the best sport fishing in Botswana, in the Okavango Delta and Chobe river systems. You can also fish near Shashe, Bokaa or Gaborone.

• Mountain bike through the bush of the Mashatu Game Reserve in the Tuli Block, stopping to watch passing elephants.

• Take off from Maun by helicopter or light aircraft to get a bird's eye view (and take some amazing photographs) of the Okavango.

• Experience Botswana's culture in Serowe, a village with historic royal cemetery; or visit Lobatse with its Livingstone Memorial and the Botswana High Court.

• Roar across the Makgadikgadi Plains on a quad bike, revelling in the wide-open vistas.

See Contact Addresses for fourther information.