Gaborone is the capital, but it is not why most people fly to Botswana. That honour belongs to the north: the Okavango Delta, where a river from the Angolan highlands spreads into the Kalahari sand and creates a wetland the size of a small country — inscribed in 2014 as the 1,000th UNESCO World Heritage Site — and Chobe National Park, whose riverfront holds some of the largest concentrations of elephants in Africa.
Both are a long way from the capital — Maun is about 850 km by road and Kasane more than 900 km — but direct flights make them easy to add. If you have two or three spare days after business in Gaborone, this is how to spend them.
Top things to do: Okavango Delta & Chobe
Glide through the delta by mokoro
From Maun, day trips take you to the delta’s edge, where polers push traditional canoes through lily-covered channels, with a walk on an island to look for game. It is the best-reviewed Botswana experience on GetYourGuide — see the tour list.
Fly over it
A 45-minute helicopter or light-aircraft flight from Maun shows the pattern of channels and islands that you cannot grasp from the ground, with elephant and hippo visible below.
Game-drive Moremi
Moremi Game Reserve, on the eastern side of the delta, is prime country for lion, leopard and wild dog. It can be done as a long day from Maun or, far better, on a two- or three-night camping safari.
Cruise the Chobe River
From Kasane, a boat cruise and a game drive along the Chobe riverfront deliver elephants by the hundred, plus buffalo, hippo and crocodile. Victoria Falls is about an hour and a half away across the Zimbabwean or Zambian border.
How to get to Okavango Delta & Chobe
- By air: Air Botswana links Gaborone with Maun and Kasane; flights take roughly one to one and a half hours, sometimes with a stop. Schedules change with the season — check current timetables.
- By road: Gaborone to Maun is a full day’s drive, about 10 hours, either via Francistown and Nata or on the Trans-Kalahari Highway via Kang and Ghanzi. Kasane is 10–11 hours via Francistown and Nata. Break the journey at Khama Rhino Sanctuary, Francistown or Nata.
- By bus: long-distance buses run daily from Gaborone to Maun and to Kasane (usually changing in Francistown). They are cheap and slow.
Insider tips
- The dry season, roughly May to October, is the best time for wildlife in both areas; the delta’s flood usually peaks between June and August.
- Northern Botswana is a malaria area, unlike Gaborone. Take medical advice on prophylaxis before you go.
- Light aircraft into delta camps have strict soft-bag luggage limits, typically around 20 kg in total.
- Lodges and safaris in July–October book out many months ahead. Day tours from Maun and Kasane are easier to get at short notice.
Best tours: Okavango Delta & Chobe
These top-rated experiences are the easiest way to see Okavango Delta & Chobe:
Day trip from €152 Okavango Delta: Full-Day Mokoro/Canoe Tour All-Inclusive
The classic Okavango day and the most-reviewed delta experience on GetYourGuide. Maun is a flight of roughly an hour from Gaborone; from there, local polers take you out through the reed-lined channels by mokoro, with a bush walk and lunch on an island.
- Poled through the channels in a traditional mokoro
- Guided nature walk on an island
- Lunch and transfers from Maun included
Boat cruise + game drive from €108 From Kasane: Chobe National Park Full-Day Wildlife Safari
The Chobe riverfront by boat and by 4x4 in one day, at a very fair price and with more than a hundred reviews. Kasane has flights from Gaborone; from there this is the easiest way to see the elephant herds Botswana is known for.
- Morning boat cruise on the Chobe River
- Buffet lunch at a riverside lodge
- Afternoon open-vehicle game drive
Game drive from €280 Okavango: Moremi Game Reserve Guided Safari Adventure
The best-rated way to see Moremi Game Reserve without a camping safari: a long, early day from Maun on the tracks around the floodplains and mopane woodland, with lunch in the bush. This is the big-cat country that the reserves around Gaborone cannot offer.
- Full day of game driving in Moremi
- Open 4x4 with a local guide
- Chance of lion, leopard, elephant and wild dog
Helicopter flight from €298 Maun: 45-Minute Doors-Off Scenic Flight
The delta only makes sense from the air. This doors-off helicopter flight leaves from Maun Airport, so it fits neatly around a flight connection from Gaborone, and gives photographers an unobstructed view of the herds below.
- Helicopter flight with the doors off
- The delta’s channels and islands from above
- Elephant, buffalo and hippo seen from the air
Camping safari from €1066 From Maun: 3-Day Moremi Game Reserve Safari Tour
Three days and two nights camping in Moremi with a guide and crew — enough time to be out at first and last light, when the predators move. If you have come all the way to Botswana and can spare the days after Gaborone, this is the kind of safari the country is famous for.
- Two nights camping inside Moremi
- Morning and afternoon game drives
- Guide, camp crew and meals included
Day trip from €169 Chobe Park Day Safari: Game Drive & River Cruise
A longer Chobe day with a game drive and a river cruise, also bookable with pickup from the Victoria Falls side. A solid alternative when the cheaper Kasane option is sold out, and a natural end to a trip that began in Gaborone.
- Game drive in Chobe National Park
- River cruise among hippos and crocodiles
- Lunch included
