Botswana

Botswana: History & Culture

Discover Botswana

Updated 10 October 2026

Botswana is a landlocked country in the heart of Southern Africa, and the Kalahari covers about 70% of it. It is best known for the Okavango Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and for wildlife-rich parks such as Chobe and Moremi. This guide covers when to go, how to get in and around, what to see, and what to check before you book (facts checked October 2026).

Botswana at a glance

• Capital: Gaborone
• Population: 2,359,609 (2022 census)
• Area: 581,730 km²
• Currency: Botswana pula (BWP)
• Languages: English is official and Setswana is the national language
• Time zone: UTC+2
• Driving: on the left

Getting to Botswana and getting around

Three hubs carry most visitors. Flight times below come from search-result summaries and were not checked against airline schedules (checked October 2026), so confirm them with your airline.

• Gaborone: the capital. Sir Seretse Khama International Airport is about 9 miles north of the city and handles most international arrivals. It has domestic flights to Maun, Kasane and Francistown. Gaborone to Maun takes about 1h30.
• Maun: the safari hub for the Okavango Delta, Moremi Game Reserve, the Makgadikgadi Pans and the wider game reserves. Johannesburg to Maun is about 1h35. Remote lodges are mostly reached by light aircraft from Maun.
• Kasane: the gateway to Chobe National Park. Kasane to Maun is about 45 minutes by air.

Our Gaborone, Maun and Kasane city pages cover each hub in more detail. We have not yet sourced road distances between hubs or to the border posts, so check them before a self-drive trip.

Best time to visit Botswana

The best time depends on the region and on what you want to see (checked October 2026).

Dry season: May to October

This is the best time for wildlife, because animals gather at waterholes. August to October is the usual pick for first-timers. Delta water peaks around August. It is also peak season, with higher prices and earlier booking. October is the hottest month, with temperatures in the mid-30s °C and possibly over 40 °C in the north. Kalahari winter nights in June and July can approach freezing.

Green season: November to March

Expect newborn animals, migratory birds and late-afternoon thunderstorms. This is also when the Kalahari and the Makgadikgadi Pans are at their best. April, May and September are the mildest months, at roughly 25–28 °C in the day.

Region by region

• Okavango Delta: water from the Angolan highlands travels about 1,200 km and spreads across the delta between March and June. The flood peaks from June to August, in Botswana’s dry winter.
• Moremi Game Reserve: the best months are July to October, and walking safaris are possible.
• Chobe National Park: elephants return around May and cluster at the water through October.
• Makgadikgadi Pans: a zebra migration from the Boteti River runs February to March. Flamingos are possible in the green season.
• Central Kalahari Game Reserve: black-maned lions, best December to April.

Sources disagree on the exact peak and low-season months. Some operators quote peak as July to October and low as December to April, so treat the regional notes above as the guide.

Top places to see

Okavango Delta

The Okavango is an inland delta in the Kalahari endorheic basin. It covers about 2 million hectares and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 22 June 2014, the 1000th site on the UNESCO list. It was also named one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa in February 2013. The flood swells it to about three times its permanent size. Mokoro (canoe) trips are the signature activity. Water depth limits them, and March is hard.

Moremi Game Reserve

Moremi sits on the delta’s eastern side. It protects all of the big five and about 88,000 red lechwe, with over 400 bird species.

Chobe National Park

Chobe, reached from Kasane, is known for big elephant concentrations and is credited with 450+ bird species.

Makgadikgadi Pans and the Central Kalahari

The Pans come alive with zebra and, in the green season, possibly flamingos. The Central Kalahari Game Reserve is the place for black-maned lions.

Tsodilo

Tsodilo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001, is a set of quartzite outcrops in the Kalahari with over 4,500 rock paintings and more than 100,000 years of human occupation.

History and heritage

The Bechuanaland Protectorate was established in 1885. Botswana became independent from the UK on 30 September 1966. Seretse Khama was banished in 1950 over his interracial marriage, then returned and became the first president. Botswana is described as a liberal democracy on the Westminster model. Diamonds were discovered in 1967 and transformed the economy.

Entry rules, park fees and health

Rules and fees change, so confirm them with an official source before you travel.

• Visas: TourRadar says UK, US, Canadian and Australian citizens need no prior visa. We could not confirm the exact visa-free stay for South African passport holders, so check it with the Botswana authorities. One source says a passport valid for 6 months with at least 3 blank pages is needed (checked October 2026, unconfirmed).
• Travel advice: the UK FCDO page (gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/botswana) showed an update on 1 June 2026 about entry requirements for travellers from Ebola-affected regions. Read the current advice before you go (checked October 2026).
• Park fees (reported by safarifind.com, not verified with the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, checked October 2026): non-resident fees at Chobe and Moremi are BWP 270 per adult per day from 1 April 2026. Children under 8 are free, and ages 8–17 pay 50%. Central Kalahari and other parks are BWP 500 per adult per day for non-residents. SADC residents pay BWP 205 at Chobe and Moremi and BWP 300 at other parks. Vehicle fees run from about BWP 115 for a small foreign-registered vehicle to BWP 1,500+ for large ones. Payment is in cash at the gate or in advance at wildlife offices.
• Health: TourRadar lists typhoid, hepatitis A and B, rabies and antimalarial tablets as advised. This is a tour-operator list, not medical advice, so ask a travel clinic or official health service.

Things to do

• Game drives and walking safaris in Moremi
• Mokoro trips in the Okavango Delta
• Self-drive or guided visits to Chobe and Moremi
• Rock-art visits at Tsodilo
• Excursions to the Makgadikgadi Pans

Where to stay

Browse the stays listed on our Maun, Kasane and Gaborone pages. Book early for the dry season, which is peak season (checked October 2026).

Sources

Last checked 10 October 2026.

• en.wikipedia.org: Botswana
• responsibletravel.com: best time to visit botswana
• originaltravel.co.uk: transport
• en.wikipedia.org: List of World Heritage Sites in Botswana
• airlinepros.com: Destination Air Botswana.pdf
• wildvoyager.com: maun
• safari.com: travelers guide to botswana
• en.wikipedia.org: Okavango Delta
• tourradar.com: botswana
• visago.dev: from south africa
• gov.uk: botswana
• safarifind.com: botswana national park fees availability 2026
• responsibletravel.com: best time to visit botswana**
• safari.com: **
• tourradar.com: botswana**

Photo by Christian Baffy, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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