Introduction
Most of Botswana is a roadless wilderness, with vast tracts of space given over to wildlife and dramatic scenery, making it ideal for people on a Botswana safari or wildlife holiday, or simply looking to experience something particularly memorable.
The Okavango Delta, described as 'the river that never finds the sea' is the world's largest inland delta; rising in central Africa, the Okavango river simply dissipates into the Kalahari sands. Paddle a mokoro, traditional canoe, through the maze of waterways and islands to get close to the wildlife that makes its home here.
Other wildlife holidays in Botswana centre on Chobe National Park, which is home to huge numbers of elephant. A sunset cruise along the Chobe River will also bring you into close contact with crocodile, hippo, gazelle, giraffe and other plains game as well. The Moremi Game Reserve is also considered one of Africa's great, pristine wild spaces.
The Makgadikgadi Pans are the dried bed of a ginormous super-lake that covered much of the country at one point. These days the water has evaporated leaving spectacular, surreal saltpans that stretch as far as the eye can see. During the rainy season the pans are transformed into a wonderful watery landscape full of birds and wildlife.
Elsewhere, the Kalahari comprises the vast majority of the country. The last remaining San Bushmen live here; head to the Tsodilo Hills, which are considered sacred, to see 4,000 rock paintings daubed on cliffs by the ancestors of the current population.