Things to do in Botswana

Supporting conservation and the community at Desert & Delta’s camps

We want to not only minimise our footprint but have a positive impact on the people and wildlife around us…

By James Wilson

Director of Sales and Marketing at Desert & Delta Safaris

As a safari operator with camps in remote parts of Botswana, we know how important it is to make tourism sustainable – both in terms of supporting local communities and protecting the nature around us.

All of our camp staff are from Botswana and trained under our Citizen Development Program, which teaches them the skills they need to become camp managers. We’re also committed to gender equality – 50% of our camp managers are women, and Chobe Game Lodge has Africa’s first all-female safari guiding team. We also have a doctor and wellness team on hand for all staff at our camps.

We offer a number of initiatives to support local communities, such as a Youth Trainee Development Program targeted at young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. At Leroo La Tau, we work closely with the primary school in the village of Khumaga, offering career advice, taking students on daytrips into the national park and helping with their education more generally. Guests visit the village on the last day of their stay, so they get to see the positive impact they’re having – $60 from every guest who books the Community and Conservation Package is put towards funding these initiatives.

The other half of our work is focused on the environment. Chobe Game Lodge is home to Africa’s first electric safari vehicles and boats, as well as a big recycling facility, while Camp Okavango runs entirely on renewable energy, with a solar plant on site.

Over the years we’ve also supported several conservation projects, including the government’s Rhino Relocation and Reintroduction Project, and the Chobe-Zambezi Lion Group, which monitors lion numbers. We work closely with Elephants Without Borders (EWB), which supports local farming communities in wildlife areas, helping them produce crops without conflict with elephants. We recently raised over $20,000 for the project through our Cares Movement, where we asked future travellers to buy open-dated travel vouchers and donated 10% of all proceeds to EWB.

By building a sustainable tourism model, we want to not only minimise our footprint but have a positive impact on the people and wildlife around us – helping local communities while ensuring guests can enjoy the best of this country for years to come.

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 & James Wilson

James grew up in South Africa and has lived in Botswana for 10 years. He began as Marketing Manager at Chobe Game Lodge before being promoted to Director of Sales and Marketing at Desert & Delta Safaris’ head office in Maun. He has a passion for birding and wildlife photography and runs Inspiring African Travel, a podcast and digital platform promoting responsible travel in Africa.

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.