Things to do in Botswana

See wild dogs and cheetahs in the Moremi Game Reserve

The highlight for many is seeing the endangered wild dog – they’re exceptional hunters and you often see large packs together…

By Harrison Mangwegape

Guide at Camp Xakanaxa

What I love most about guiding in the Moremi Game Reserve is the variety. The landscapes change from deep waterways and floodplains to open savannah and forests, and that attracts a huge range of wildlife.

You can see lions, buffaloes, wildebeest, giraffes, zebras, impalas and more. If you’re lucky you might spot a cheetah or a leopard. The highlight for many, though, is seeing the endangered wild dog – they’re exceptional hunters and you often see large packs together. We’re also home to the rare lechwe and sitatunga antelopes, and we get lots of big herds of elephants here too.

We take guests out on game drives to see all this, visiting different spots like Douglas Island, Maya Pan and Dead Tree Island, which is named for its landscape of barren mopane trees, which drowned when the channel changed. Another of my favourite spots is Paradise Pools, where antelopes drink around the watering holes next to swamps filled with reeds. These islands offer amazing flora and fauna and are popular grazing areas for a variety of animals and birdlife, so I always include them in my route plan.

As well as the game drives, we also offer motorboat tours on the lagoons and channels, with chances to spot hippos, crocodiles and lots of colourful birdlife – especially in the spring and summer, when migrant birds are breeding. Fish eagles, crested cranes and the sacred ibis are among the birds that call this area home, and you get a different perspective when you see it all from the water.

We offer sundowners in the bush as the sun sets, which is when I enjoy talking to my group and teaching them about the smaller things in nature, like termites, which are actually fascinating and whose mounds are key features in these areas. It also gives me a chance to share the history of Botswana, helping guests better understand the culture as well as the wildlife of the country I’m proud to call home.

Available in these itineraries…

Itinerary

Best of Botswana and Victoria Falls
by Adele Jones

Length11 Days

Price range£6,895 - £9,675pp
Itinerary

Botswana Conservation and Community
by Dagmar Marrocco

Length9 Days

Price range£6,095 - £8,595pp

Alfred & Harrison Mangwegape

Harry was born in the Botswanan village of Thamaga, near capital Gaborone. He loved wildlife growing up and trained at the Okavango Guiding School in Maun to pursue his passion. He started working as a guide at Desert & Delta’s Savute Safari Lodge in 2010 and later joined Leroo La Tau in Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, before moving to Camp Xakanaxa.

Plan your holiday withAlfred&

Your journey will start with one of our UK team – someone like Louise, who's travelled extensively in Botswana. They’ll shape your ideas into the trip of a lifetime. But they won't do it alone. They'll draw on the expertise of our contacts on the ground, connecting you to the people who'll make your holiday one you'll always remember - the rangers who'll ensure you'll spot the best wildlife in Chobe, the village chiefs who'll give you an insight into local life and the helicopter pilots who can land you on an island in the Delta never visited by humans before.

Louise Dean

Africa Expert for Alfred&

When it comes to Africa, Louise is well versed. She’s flown into an empty Namibian beach to eat lunch on the aircraft wing, experienced Tanzania’s Great Wildebeest migration and listened to stories of the Anglo-Zulu War on the battlefields where it happened over a centennial ago. While she’s witnessed vast, incredible game including the last two northern white rhinos, it’s the people who she finds most inspiring; the native Maasai women whose lives are deeply rooted within the Olare Motorogi Conservancy and the local guides - resilient, highly knowledgeable, and ever smiling.
Harrison Mangwegape

Guide at Camp Xakanaxa

Harry was born in the Botswanan village of Thamaga, near capital Gaborone. He loved wildlife growing up and trained at the Okavango Guiding School in Maun to pursue his passion. He started working as a guide at Desert & Delta’s Savute Safari Lodge in 2010 and later joined Leroo La Tau in Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, before moving to Camp Xakanaxa.
Keitumetse 'KT' Mogale

Guide at Camp Okavango

Keitumetse has been guiding for 12 years. He grew up in the village of Mogotho in the Okavango Delta and began his career as a tracker. He now leads walking safaris and game drives at Camp Okavango and enjoys sharing his stories with guests from all over the world.
Florence Kagiso

Senior Guide at Chobe Game Lodge

Florence grew up in a farming family in the Okavango Delta and has been a guide at Chobe Game Lodge for 17 years. When she joined in 2004, she was the first female guide at the camp - she now mentors a team of 17 women. Her work was recognised in National Geographic Traveller’s recent Reader Awards 2021, where she won The Innovator award.
Andrew Baker

Founder and Managing Director of Helicopter Horizons

Andrew grew up in Zimbabwe before moving to the US to train as a pilot. Botswana had always held a place in his heart, so he began his aviation career as a fixed wing pilot in the Okavango Delta. He founded Helicopter Horizons in 2004, offering photographic flights - without doors - for organisations such as the BBC and National Geographic. The company now offer scenic flights for tourists in the Okavango Delta, Linyanti region and the Makgadikgadi Pans, as well as transfers between safari camps.
Ollie Maitapiso

Guide at Leroo La Tau

Ollie grew up in the village of Xaxaba in the Okavango Delta and began his career as a trainee poler in 1999, taking guests out on mokoro trips. He started guiding in 2004 and joined Camp Xakanaxa in the Moremi Game Reserve in 2007, before moving to Leroo La Tau in 2014.