Botswana Tailor-made Safaris

If you want to see Botswana's main highlights, we recommend you give yourself at least 10 days. With this duration of time you can comfortably visit Chobe National Park, the Okavango Delta and the Makgadikgai salt pans. If you wanted to include the Kalahari then allow an additional three days. Botswana's proximity to Zimbabwe also means that you can easily add a visit to Victoria Falls to your itinerary. It's just an hour's drive from Chobe National Park to the Falls and if you wanted to include the best of Botswana with this natural marvel then you'll need a fortnight to do so.

In Botswana accommodation is geared towards the higher end of the market with a great selection of mid-range to deluxe lodges while cheaper options are few and far between. Lodges tend to be remote and intimate with excellent facilities and incredible views. In many cases, lodges in Botswana are an attraction in themselves, beautifully designed and ideally situated. Botswana also has a number of eco-lodges which tend to be more pricey than less sustainable properties. All in all this means that anyone on a tight budget will struggle to find properties within their price range and would be better considering a small group safari rather than a tailor-made holiday. As many lodges are on the smaller side, it's best to book in advance as properties sell out quickly over high season - we recommend that you start booking a year before you intend to travel.

Overall, the transport infrastructure in Botswana isn't great. Road conditions are quite abysmal and flights are needed to get between destinations, especially around the Okavango Delta, which adds to the overall cost of a holiday. There are airstrips in the national parks and reserves with small passenger planes connecting destinations. These planes have strict luggage allowances with a maximum of 15-20kg per person and this includes all hand luggage. Bear this in mind when packing before you set off on holiday.

Lodges offer a range of activities that are usually included in the package rate, from game drives to boat cruises, fishing excursions to mokoro trips. If there is something particular that you would like to do when you're in Botswana, let us know and we'll choose lodges that offer your desired activity or, where possible, will find other opportunities to add the activity to your itinerary.

There's no getting around it - Botswana is expensive and one of Africa's highest priced safari destinations thanks to the combination of high-end accommodation and need for flights. It is possible to save money by staying in lodges owned by the same company. For instance, Under One Botswana Sky holds a collection of six safari lodges in Botswana and if you stay at their Chobe Safari Lodge, Gunns Camp and Nata Lodge on an itinerary that includes Chobe National Park, the Okavango Delta and Makgadikgadi salt pans then you'll pay much less than if you were to pick three independent lodges in each destination. The reason for this is not only the special package rates that these companies offer but also for the fact that booking lodges in the same collection means shared road transfers to and from the airstrips for flights rather than individually booked private transfers, which are considerably more expensive. To provide you with the best value for money, we will always quote on properties that fall under one collection so if you have particular lodges in mind that do not, be prepared to pay more. It's best to think of Botswana as a once-in-a-lifetime destination and spend accordingly - unless you join an overland camping expedition, there's no cheap way to do Botswana.

Home to superb wildlife and incredible landscapes, Botswana is fun for all the family with a number of camps and lodges geared towards families. However, be aware that travelling with children younger than 12 years does work out to be more expensive. The reason for this is that the Botswana government decided that children younger than 12 cannot travel in shared transfers - they must travel in private vehicles and therefore any families travelling with infants or young children will need to pay the additional expense.