Best Time to Visit Botswana

The height of summer in Botswana can get hot, allowing for warm morning and night game drives, and humid, leading to afternoon thunderstorms that put on a spectacular show from the comfort of our luxurious safari camps. Join us on one of our Private Journeys at a discounted low-season rate for an epic adventure without the crowds.

As Botswana enters into peak rainy season, the Kalahari Desert teems with new growth and activity (Baby animals! Water lilies!), while the Okavango Delta shrinks, making for variable wildlife spotting but excellent bird-watching as hundreds of wattled cranes blanket the lush delta. If you’re looking to travel at a quieter and less-expensive time, join us on one of our exciting Private Journeys.

Dropping temperatures and fewer afternoon showers usher in a slow end to summer, as grasslands reach peak greenery, herds of grazers (and their predators) migrate from the Boteti River to the Kalahari, and elephants head to the Okavango Delta to feast on ripened fruit. Book a Private Journey at a marked-down rate to have this popular safari destination to yourself.

This time of seasonal transition makes for unique game-viewing opportunities, as wildlife begin to migrate according to the shifting landscape and male antelopes vie for female attention as their breeding season gets underway. Our Botswana: Kalahari Explorer Safari is timed specifically for this month to catch the movement of grazers and their attendant predators across the verdant plains.

Seasoned safari-goers argue that May is the best time of year for game viewing—even better than the peak months of July and August. That’s because of the transition of water sources, from the sweeping plains to permanent supplies like the Chobe River and Okavango Delta, which usually reach full flow by this month. Little to no rainfall and cooler nights also allow for more pleasant sundowners and clear night skies. Join us on our Ultimate Namibia and Botswana or Botswana Wildlife Safari experiences, which kick off this month.

While the bush thins and water sources dry up, the Okavango Delta is in full flood, making for some of the best game-viewing conditions on the continent. This month kickstarts the best time for all types of safari—by foot, 4WD, riverboat, and canoe—which you can experience on one of our many adventures.

We enter the start of peak season, when the Okavango Delta reaches ideal water levels for congregating wildlife of every spot and stripe, as well as for traversing riverways by boat and canoe. Chobe National Park and Moremi Game Reserve are also in full wildlife-spotting swing. Our mobile safari camp experience follows all the action while keeping us away from the crowds.

Just like July, this is an ideal time to explore much of the country. Clear skies, perfect weather, and excellent game viewing both on land and by water are the order for the day. While this is the busiest time of the year, our mobile safari camps are designed to keep you close to wildlife and far from the safari circuit.

One of the hottest and driest months of the year, September is when wildlife desperately seeks out scarce water and food supplies, this fight for survival ups the ante on game-viewing. This is the last month to embark on many of our group departures, including our Great Elephant Migration Safari which links the famed elephant strongholds of Botswana’s renowned Chobe National Park with Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe.

For many travelers, this month’s intense heat can be stifling. For others, October offers rewarding sightings due to the lack of vegetation and water sources. Not only does this mean long sightlines over vast expanses, but every level of the food chain gathers at the same watering holes.

Temperatures remain high, and rainfall can be unpredictable, varying significantly year over year. This spring shoulder season ushers in exciting changes, when migrant birds return and newborns arrive in spades—shadowed by predators.

Afternoon rains revive the parched landscape, where migrating birds, blooming trees, and newborns are a common sight, along with on-the-hunt cheetahs, lions, and leopards. The game viewing at Kalahari’s parks is especially dynamic this time of year.