16 Fun—and Fascinating—Facts about Botswana’s Wildlife & Wonders

Imagine watching a herd of elephants—all different ages and sizes—wade across the Chobe River at sunset. It’s one of the things that surprised me most during my too-brief stay in Botswana…I didn’t expect to see elephants happily hanging out submerged in deep water, trunks holding greenery up over their heads out of the water.

It wasn’t the only surprise in Botswana, though. From the shimmering Makgadikgadi Salt Pans to the lush Okavango Delta, Botswana’s diverse ecosystems are a haven for both wildlife and people.

Before that first visit, I didn’t know much about Botswana—its history or how it came to be one of Africa’s premier safari destinations, known for breathtaking landscapes and abundant wildlife that thrive on protected lands in reserves, wildlife management areas and national parks.

Here are 16 fascinating facts about Botswana—from its ancient cultures and landscapes to the unique policies that make it a year-round African safari destination. Whether you’re drawn to the wildlife or the wide-open spaces, Botswana offers something unforgettable for the whole family.

Botswana’s Wildlife from Antelope to Zebra

1. Well over 800 animal species live in Botswana, including the Big Five—lion, leopard, elephant, black rhino and buffalo—as well as an array of other wildlife, from giraffes, zebras, and hippo to no fewer than 22 species of antelope (think herds of graceful impala, solitary bushbuck and large groups of wildebeest).
2. Botswana is home to the largest elephant population on the planet. The best place to see them is on a boat in the Chobe National Park, where they cross the Chobe River every afternoon to drink and swim.

Known as “The Land of The Giants,” Botswana’s Chobe National Park is home to Africa’s largest population of elephants (Loxodonta africana). There are an estimated 120,000 Kalahari elephants in Chobe.

3. On its website, Birdlife Botswana provides a downloadable list of nearly 600 avian species that have been spotted in Botswana. Botswana’s bird species come from 92 families. Particularly well represented are diurnal and nocturnal raptors, cuckoos, francolins and spurfowls, larks, cisticolas, and, perhaps surprisingly for a semiarid country, ducks, geese, herons and egrets. There is no better place in the world to see the slaty egret or wattled crane than the Okavango Delta.
4. The national bird of Botswana is the kori bustard; it roams the Kalahari grasslands and is the largest flying bird native to Africa.
5. The annual zebra migration across northern Botswana is the longest and one of the most stunning migrations on the continent —and very few people know about it! Thousands of plains zebras make an annual 300+ mile migration from Namibia to Botswana and back again, moving with the seasons and rainfall, in search of fresh grazing land.

It starts with the rains in late November or December when they leave the wetlands of northern Botswana and head deeper into the Kalahari Desert and Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, bursting with life from the rains, and repeats at the end of the season, around April and May, as the land dries up again.

6. Botswana’s Linyanti Game Reserve is a great place to see leopards and African wild dogs. The northwestern corner of Chobe meets the Linyanti River—this is a fragment of almost 350 square miles (900 square kilometers) of the secluded Linyanti Reserve. It’s quiet, and wildlife viewing in the Linyati region is excellent. Large concentrations of elephant, lion, sable, roan antelope, hippos and wild dogs peak in the dry winter months.

The Linyati area offers spectacular birding year-round and is best known for its enormous herds of elephants, which move down to the Linyanti River at the start of the winter months and only move back inland once the main rains arrive.

Our new Epic Botswana & Namibia Safari includes witnessing the huge game and predator populations of the Linyanti. Limited to just 7 travelers, this ultimate African safari adventure also includes coasting the emerald waterways of the Okavango Delta and June through October.

 

Botswana’s Diverse Landscapes: Desert to Delta 

7. For a sense of scale, Botswana is approximately the size of France but has only 2.5 million people. France has a population of over 68 million!
8. About 84% of Botswana’s land mass is covered by the Kalahari Desert. But desert does not mean desolate! On the contrary, the driest areas receive 4.3–7.9 inches (110–200 millimeters) of rainfall per year; the wettest can receive more than 20 inches (500 millimeters) in very wet years.

Even where the Kalahari Desert is dry enough to qualify as a desert due to low precipitation, it is not technically a desert because it has dense ground cover that supports wildlife. Key flora include:

• acacia species (such as camelthorn and blackthorn),
• shepherd’s trees,
• silver cluster-leaf, and
• grasses like Schmidtia and Stipagrostis.

In wetter areas, vegetation can be dense, with forests of Rhodesian teak and acacia dominating the north and east. The kiwano fruit, native to the Kalahari, thrives in certain areas, too.

To see the Kalahari in the green season, check out our new Botswana: Kalahari, the Delta & Beyond itinerary, limited to just 7 travelers from November to March.

9. The Okavango Delta is the largest inland delta in the world with an area of over 8,000 square miles (20,000 square kilometers) during the driest periods. During the green season, the waters of the Okavango flow from the highlands of Angola, carving out spillways that extend the delta to an incredible area of 9,000 square miles (23,000 square kilometers).

The Okavango Delta is a marshy, swamp-like area teeming with life. Because Botswana experiences little rainfall, sometimes for long periods, wildlife finds it safer to live closer to the delta, where water is available year-round. For us, this means guaranteed wildlife sightings!

10. Southeast of the Okavango Delta and surrounded by the Kalahari Desert, the Makgadikgadi Salt Pan is not a single pan, but several with sandy desert in between.

Together, the salt pans cover 6200 square miles (16,057.9 kilometers) in the Kalahari Basin and form the bed of the ancient Lake Makgadikgadi.

• the largest, Sua (Sowa) Pan, covers about 1,900 square miles (4,921 kilometers).
• Ntwetwe Pan
• Nxai Pan is a seasonal home to large herds of zebra and wildebeest. The x in its name represents the click sound in the Khoisan language.

There’s some confusion over the world’s largest salt pan, with both the Makgadikgadi and Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni described that way online. The Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia is a single salt flat of 4,100 square miles (10,619 square kilometers), rarely has much water, and is generally claimed to be the world’s largest salt pan.

Botswana’s History, Culture & Conservation

11. Recent studies of human mitochondrial DNA suggest that modern Homo sapiens first began to evolve in the Makgadikgadi-Okavango around 200,000 years ago. New DNA analyses suggest that a founding maternal line of Homo sapiens emerged in a region of what’s now Botswana that was home to the ancient Makgadikgadi-Okavango wetlands. Members of that population migrated northeast and southwest between 130,000 and 110,000 years ago.
12. Taylor Swift’s music video ‘Wildest Dreams’ was shot in the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans. If the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans look familiar to some of your family members on safari, it might be because Taylor Swift’s ‘Wildest Dreams’ music video was shot there in 2015.
13. Did you know that you can go on fantastic horseback safaris in Botswana? (Taylor Swift did.) Botswana offers diverse safari experiences: safari boat cruises, mokoro canoe adventures, hikes, safari walks and and even solar-powered safari vehicles!
14. The San of Botswana are considered the oldest inhabitants on Earth. Archaeological evidence suggests they have lived in Southern Africa for around 25,000 years. The Tsodilo Hills are the spiritual home of the San, and the hills are home to many well-preserved examples of rock art and engravings. The highest point in Botswana is Tsodilo Hills, 4,500 ft above sea level.
15. Botswana’s government is committed to preserving nature and wildlife and offering visitors exclusive safari experiences. Almost 40% of Botswana’s land is protected in national parks, concessions and wildlife management reserves.

Nat Hab Staff Rachel Walker shared on her first trip to Botswana:

“Botswana has long prioritized wildlife conservation. The country’s approach to tourism centers around community involvement and carefully managed visitation. It’s become a model of sustainable wildlife tourism that promotes both conservation and rural economic development. For visitors, that translates into healthy wildlife populations and incredible viewing.”

16. The border between Botswana and Zambia is the shortest in the world. Botswana shares borders with Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, but the border between Zambia and Botswana is only 492 feet (150 meters) long. Travelers can cross between Botswana and Zambia via the Kazungula Ferry on the Zambezi River.

On the new November–March Botswana Green Season Photo Expedition, 8 guests stay in a luxurious stilted lodge overlooking the Zambezi River from the Zambia side, and enjoy time in Nat Hab’s private Gomoti Camp in the Okavango Delta. 

When’s the best time for a Botswana safari?

We’re often asked, “When is the best time of year for a Botswana safari?” The answer is not as simple as you might think.

The best time for your Botswana safari is different for landscape photographers, birders, visiting the Kalahari for the zebra migration, and if you’re embarking on a safari with kids. The question isn’t, “When is the best time for a safari in Botswana?” but “When is the right time for your best safari in Botswana?” The answer depends on your needs and desires:

• Do you want to see the zebra migration, photograph lush green landscapes or catalog migrating birds as they make their way across the northern Botswana landscape? A Green Season safari may be just right for you.
• Do you relish the idea of cool June evenings and mornings on safari, watching wildlife as they adapt to increasingly dry conditions? Do you love taking your holiday time just before kids around the world are out of school on vacation? Look for late May or early June itineraries.
• If you aim for peak wildlife viewing—including a bit of wild time with your kids or grandkids—then perhaps a peak season family Botswana safari is exactly what you’re looking for.
• Check out our Botswana Weather and Climate page for more information.