Botswana

Botswana has chosen to keep its tourism small and expensive. Camps are limited in size, many areas are private concessions with only a few vehicles, and nearly 40% of the country is under some form of wildlife protection. The result is some of the most exclusive safari country in Africa.

The Okavango Delta is the centre of it: a wetland in the Kalahari that floods during the dry winter and is explored by mokoro canoe, boat, vehicle and on foot. To the north-east, Chobe National Park has the largest elephant population on the continent, and boat cruises on the Chobe River in the late afternoon bring you alongside herds drinking and swimming. Between the two, Savuti and the Linyanti are known for lion and wild dog.

Further south the country turns to desert. The Makgadikgadi and Nxai pans are vast salt flats that draw a zebra migration after the rains, and the Central Kalahari Game Reserve has black-maned lions.

June to October is the dry season and the best for wildlife. Most trips start with a flight to Maun or Kasane, and Chobe is close enough to Victoria Falls to combine the two.