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This magnificent country, covering about 582 000 square kilometres, is home to the
Kalahari Desert, the desolate Makgadikgadi Pans, a wealth of wildlife, and the world’s largest oasis – the unique
Okavango Delta. Botswana has made a significant commitment to conservation, and 17% of the land has been given protected National Park status.
Two thirds of the country lies within the tropics, and the majority of their rain falls between December and February, usually in the form of short, intense thunderstorms. The only rivers which flow all year round are the Okavango and Chobe Rivers. The Okavango River meanders south, crosses the Caprivi Strip and enters Botswana just north of Shakawe. The Chobe River crosses the Caprivi Strip just 200km east of the Okavango, but never enters the country. This wide body of water defines the international border between Botswana and Namibia.
The Okavango Delta and Moremi Wildlife Reserve
is easily Botswana’s major tourist attraction. The Delta covers more than 15 000 square kilometres, making it
the world’s largest oasis. It has lush wetlands, diverse wildlife, rich vegetation and contains 95% of the surface water in Botswana.
This area literally teems with wildlife, and camps situated within this area tend to concentrate more on aquatic activities such as fishing and mokoro (dug-out canoe) safaris.
The Makgadikgadi is the largest salt pan in the world. The size of Portugal, it covers over 12 000 square kilometres of barren flatness. Once the bed of a huge prehistoric lake, the flooded pans attract water birds and migrating wildlife after annual rains. These pans attract
the largest breeding flamingo population in southern Africa, as well as gemsbok, giraffe, kudu, hartebeest, wildebeest, zebra, hyena, lion and leopard. Also keep an eye out for the
Seven Sisters, a remarkable group of baobabs clustered on the Kudiakam Pan, first painted by Baines in 1862 and also by Prince Charles of Britain.
 Chobe National Park covers almost 12 000 square kilometres, and is home to
the highest concentration of game in the whole of the southern African subcontinent. This is big game country, full of lion, elephant and buffalo. Varying rainfalls patterns result in spectacular annual zebra migrations, similar to the migrations in the Serengeti in Tanzania.
The highest elephant population in the world is also found in this incredible game reserve, as well as a stunning landscape which changes from thick riverine forests to swamp land, and then from deciduous forests to open grasslands.
 Botswana is a destination for the nature lover – a rare wilderness area where the Big Five and unique wildlife take centre stage, and you as the explorer get to discover it!
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