Botswana Travel Bucket List

Our Ultimate Botswana Travel Bucket List For Those That Are Looking for That Something A Little Different

Looking for a great travel bucket list for when on safari in Botswana? Well, we have you most certainly covered on that front, check out our personal list below for some great ideas.

Do you want to visit the best places in Botswana? Are you looking for a travel bucket list? Then look no further than our top 10 destinations. These are some of the most special and exciting destinations that offer a once in a lifetime experience. You won’t find these amazing locations anywhere else, so why not check them out today?

Botswana is one of the most beautiful countries on earth, and it offers some amazing experiences you can only have there. It has incredible wildlife, stunning landscapes, unique natural attractions and a very interesting cultural diversity and history.

If you want to see Africa at its best, Botswana is where you need to be looking! And with that said, lets us get straight into our "top 10 travel bucket list for Botswana".

Our Top 10 bucket list destinations that everyone should visit in Botswana at least once in their lifetime

1. Makgadikgadi Meerkats

Makgadikgadi Pans

Makgadikgadi Pans National Park is Botswana's largest national park and it's home to a large population of meerkats. Visitors can take guided walks with park rangers to see the meerkats in their natural habitat, as well as learn about their behaviour and ecology. Amazing photographic opportunities are on offer, make sure your memory card has space and those batteries are fully charged.

There are also a number of other exciting activities available in the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, including game drives, horseback riding, cycling, and the option of spending the night out on the pans under the African stars.

The best accommodation options that offer Meerkat viewing tours; Jacks Camp, San Camp and Planet Baobab.

2. A Trip To Baine's Baobabs

Nxai Pan National Park

Baine's Baobabs (or the Sleeping Sisters) is one of Botswana's more famous but yet seldom visited attractions. The artist Thomas Baines painted these trees back in 1860 while en route to Victoria Falls, yes he was taking a long way around.

Nxai Pan National Park is a national park in Botswana, located in the Kalahari Desert. The park is named for Nxai Pan, a salt pan located within its boundaries. It was proclaimed a protected area in December 1971. The park is administered by Botswana's Department of Wildlife and National Parks.

The very location of Baine's Baobabs means that one has to spend the night in the area. It is just simply too far for a day drive from Maun.

There is only one lodge that we would recommend and that is Kwando Nxai Pan, so accommodation options limited also look at to overnight fly camping or luxury tented safari.

3. Rhinos At Khama Rhino Sanctuary

Khama Rhino Sanctuary

The Khama Rhino Sanctuary is a Botswana wildlife reserve that offers visitors the opportunity to see rhinos and plains game in their natural habitat. The one destination where it is almost guaranteed of photographing rhino in Botswana.

A community project, established to protect and save Botswana's rapidly decreasing rhino population. The more people that visit, the more money in the coffers and the better chance the rhinos have of being there for our grandkids and their grandkids.

There are a number of different tours on offer, including game drives, nature walks and importantly rhino tracking.

Accommodations options within the Khama Rhino Sanctuary include numerous campsites and basic thatched chalets. To be honest, basic and rustic with absolutely no thrills, a bed to spend the night in is how we would describe the accommodation. But we are here for rhino conservation and not luxury!

4. Rock Art At Tsodilo Hills

Tsodilo Hills UNESCO World Heritage Site

Tsodilo Hills held huge religious and spiritual significance for Botswana's San people. The rock art (over 4500 rock paintings) found on the stone faces and caves dates and these artworks date back to well over 20 000 years.

A remote and wild destination as far off the tourist route as one could possibly find. This is a spiritual destination, it is something that one can feel in the air as one walks around. There is something very special about Tsodilo Hills, and only those that have visited know what we mean.

The best way to experience the area is to spend at least two nights camping or glamping at the main campsite area. This again due to its remoteness requires a tailor-made safari itinerary, but it will be well worth the effort.

There are day and half-day trips available by helicopter (Helicopter Horizons) from Maun should one be on a limited time frame.

5. Sundowners At Pipers Pan

Central Kalahari Game Reserve

The Central Kalahari Game Reserve is one of the largest game reserves in the world. It covers an area of 52,800 square kilometres and is home to a variety of wildlife, including lions, leopards, cheetahs, wild dogs, elephants, and numerous desert-adapted plains game.

Pipers Pan is in our humble opinion the best spot in the entire Central Kalahari Game Reserve for a sundowner. The perfect way to take in the complete and utter remoteness of what surrounds one is totally breathtaking. Not another human for at least 50 kilometres in any direction. for a brief moment in time, Pipers Pan is yours and yours only.

There are absolutely no lodges or safari camps anywhere near Pipers Pan, so it is camping or glamping all the way.

6. Watch The Largest Zebra Migration On Earth

Makgadikgadi Pans and the Moremi Game Reserve

The longest terrestrial wildlife migration in Africa in which 1000's and 1000's of Zebra migrate between the Makgadikgadi Pans and the waters of the Moremi Game Reserve. They follow the summer rains south and when the rains stop, they migrate back to the waters of the Okavango Delta.

The best time of year to see the migration is in the summer months, from approximately December to March when they are head south and from April to May when they begin to head back north.

As there is no way of telling exactly where the migration is at any given time, the best option for viewing this amazing migration is via a mobile tented safari in which each day is taken at a time, in a nutshell, you move with the migration.

Further, scientific reading on the migration.

7. A Mokoro Safari On The Okavango Waterways

Okavango Delta and Moremi Game Reserve

Mokoro safaris are a peaceful and unique way to explore the Okavango Delta. You'll be gliding through the waterways in a traditional dugout canoe, giving you a perfect view of the wildlife, vegetation and waterways of the Okavango. Moremi Game Reserve is also an excellent destination for mokoro safaris, with plenty of lions, elephants, and other animals to see.

The key to any mokoro safari is finding a lodge in either (or both) the Okavango Delta or Moremi Game Reserve that offers water-based activities. Remember, there is a low water and high water season in the Okavango. It is key that one looks at a lodge or safari camp that offers year-round water activities or one looks at booking when the waters of the Okavango have risen, peaking normally in the winter months between June and August.

Accommodation options to look at can be found here; Okavango Delta Lodges or Moremi Lodges

8. A Night Or Two On A Chobe River Houseboat

Chobe River

Houseboats on the Chobe River present a very luxurious and unique way to experience this beautiful river. Not only do you have all the amenities and creature comforts of home, but you are also right in the heart of one of Africa's best game viewing locations, the Chobe National Park. The decks of the boats offer amazing views of hippos, elephants, buffalo and other animals coming down to drink from the river at sunset and throughout the day.

Activities onboard include photography, fishing, bird watching, water-based game viewing and relaxing in a jacuzzi as the world passes by.

Most (probably all) Chobe River Houseboats are located and depart from the Namibian side of the Chobe River. Accessing the houseboats involves a transfer from Kasane through the Chobe National Park and into Namibia's Caprivi Strip. Good news if you are looking for more country stamps in your passport.

Have a look at a few of the houseboats that we at Uyaphi.com have on offer via this link; Caprivi Strip Lodges

9. View 250 000 Flamingos On Sowa Pan

Nata Bird Sanctuary

Nata Bird Sanctuary is situated on the shore of Sowa Pan, which is famous for its 250 000 flamingos. The sanctuary is home to over 230 indigenous bird species and is the perfect place for photographers wanting to capture images of this important natural habitat.

The best time to visit the Nata Bird Sanctuary to view the 250 000 flamingos is during the dry season when the birds are congregating on the pan in large numbers. The sanctuary is open all year round, but it is during the dry season from May to October that you are most likely to see the greatest number of flamingos.

In terms of accommodation in the area, one has quite a few options ranging from lodges to guest houses to campsites. There is only one establishment that we can highly recommend and that would be Nata Lodge (---LINK---); with luxury thatched chalets, an excellent restaurant and numerous activities on offer.

10. Photograph The Elephants And Big Cats At Savute

Savuti, Chobe National Park

The Savute region of Botswana's Chobe National Park is well-known for its high density of elephants and big cats, including lions, leopards, and cheetahs. It's a great place to photograph these animals in their natural habitat.

The Savute region within the Chobe National Park is a five-hour drive from Maun in the south and Kasane in the north. The area is accessible only via 4x4 safari vehicles or light aircraft transfers. The best time of year to visit is around November and March when it's not too dry or wet.

There are a number of luxury lodges in the Savute area that offer guests the chance to experience the beauty and wildlife of the region first-hand. View our selection of the best Savuti lodges here.

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We can tailor-make a safari around all 10 of the above, no problem at all, should one wish. or even a variation of the above that only includes a few within a safari itinerary.

And that is it for now, our ultimate Botswana travel bucket list blog by Uyaphi.com