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How many days in Botswana? 8 days from the salt pans to the Okavango and Chobe
By Tony Panopoulos · travel-agency planner in Greece · Updated
Botswana has very few people and very large protected areas, and keeps it that way with high park fees and small camps. The classic route runs from Maun, on the edge of the Okavango Delta, through Moremi and Savuti to the Chobe River at Kasane, with Victoria Falls an hour beyond. Give it eight days, and first decide how you move: self-drive 4x4 and camping, a guided mobile safari, or light aircraft between fly-in lodges.
Short answer
Six days covers the Delta, Moremi and the Chobe River. Eight days adds the Makgadikgadi salt pans, the long sand track through Savuti and a day at Victoria Falls.
The 8-day plan, day by day
Day 1: Maun and a flight over the Delta
Morning. Arrive at Maun airport. Pick up your 4x4 or meet your operator, buy supplies and fill every tank and jerrycan; there is no fuel in the parks.
Afternoon. Take a scenic flight over the Okavango Delta from Maun airport, about 45-60 minutes in a small plane for roughly P2,000-3,000 per person. From 150 metres you see the river channels, islands, elephant herds and hippo trails that are impossible to grasp from the ground.
Evening. Stay by the Thamalakane River, where lodges have bars on the water; grilled beef and a St Louis lager cost about P150-250.
Light aircraft to Delta camps allow about 15-20 kg in soft bags only, including camera gear. Pack for that limit from home.
Day 2: The Makgadikgadi Pans
Morning. Drive about 2.5 hours east of Maun on the tarred A3 to Gweta and the Makgadikgadi Pans, among the largest salt flats on Earth, a white crust to the horizon in the dry season.
Afternoon. Join a guided visit to habituated meerkats, which climb onto people as lookouts, or drive into Nxai Pan National Park for Baines' Baobabs, painted by the explorer Thomas Baines in 1862.
Evening. In the dry season some camps take you by quad bike or vehicle to eat or sleep under the stars on the open pan.
From about December to March, the rains bring thousands of zebra to the Makgadikgadi and Nxai Pan, the second-largest zebra migration in Africa.
Day 3: Into the Okavango Delta by mokoro
Morning. Return west and fly 25-40 minutes into the Okavango Delta, or go by boat and road to a camp on its edge. The Delta is a river that ends in the Kalahari sand, spreading over some 15,000 km² in flood.
Afternoon. Glide through the reeds in a mokoro, a dug-out canoe (now usually fibreglass) poled by a local guide. You see frogs on lilies, kingfishers, and hippos at a careful distance.
Evening. Sundowners on an island and a night in a tented camp, listening to hippos. Community-run mokoro trips from the Maun side cost far less than fly-in camps.
The Delta flood peaks in the dry winter months (June to August), months after the rains fall in Angola. Mokoro trips depend on water levels.
Day 4: Walking and wildlife in the Delta
Morning. Take a guided walking safari on a Delta island at first light, the best way to learn tracks and plants. Guides keep you well away from elephants and buffalo.
Afternoon. Rest through the heat, then take a boat or vehicle drive. Look for red lechwe, the antelope that runs through shallow water, and the rare sitatunga in the papyrus.
Evening. Night drives are allowed in private concessions, not in national parks: your chance for leopard and hyena.
Wear khaki, green or brown; dark blue and black attract tsetse flies.
Day 5: Moremi Game Reserve
Morning. Drive about 100 km from Maun to South Gate of the Moremi Game Reserve, roughly 2.5-3 hours on gravel and sand. Moremi mixes dry land and Delta water, so lion, leopard, wild dog and elephant herds can share one day.
Afternoon. Game drive on the loops around Xakanaxa or Third Bridge, where a wooden bridge crosses a channel. Park entry is charged per person per day, plus vehicle fees.
Evening. Camp at an unfenced public campsite, or stay in the Khwai community area just outside the reserve, where night drives are permitted.
Park campsites sell out from June to October; book them before your flights.
Day 6: Savuti, Chobe National Park
Morning. Drive north from Khwai through the Mababe depression to Savuti in Chobe National Park, 4-6 hours of deep sand; many travellers fly this leg.
Afternoon. Savuti is known for lions that hunt elephants, and for the Savuti Channel, which can stay dry for decades and then flow again. The Gubatsa Hills hold San rock paintings.
Evening. Sleep in Savuti, where the ablution blocks are fortified against elephants.
Driving after dark is forbidden in the parks, and outside them elephants and cattle on the road are the main danger.
Day 7: Kasane and the Chobe River
Morning. Drive about 4 hours from Savuti to Kasane on the Chobe River, near the borders of Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and game drive the Chobe riverfront, where hundreds of elephants come to drink in the dry season.
Afternoon. Take a Chobe River boat cruise at about 15:00, roughly 3 hours for about P400-700 per person on shared boats. From the water you watch elephants swim, buffalo herds on Sedudu island, hippos, crocodiles and fish eagles.
Evening. Sunset from the boat, then dinner at a riverside lodge in Kasane, roughly P250-450.
Small photography boats with swivel seats cost more but sit lower on the water.
Day 8: Victoria Falls day trip
Morning. Cross at Kazungula and drive about 1h15 to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, or about 1 hour to Livingstone on the Zambian side. Day tours from Kasane handle the border; the KAZA visa covers both countries for many nationalities.
Afternoon. Walk the rainforest path facing the falls on the Zimbabwe side (entry about US$50), with 16 viewpoints along the 1.7 km curtain. From March to May the spray soaks you and can hide the view.
Evening. Return to Kasane, or fly home from Victoria Falls or Kasane airport.
Carry US dollars in cash for the border and the Zimbabwe park fee.
Only have 6 days?
With 6 days, skip the Makgadikgadi and fly from Maun into the Delta for two nights, then fly to Kasane for the Chobe riverfront and boat cruise. You lose the pans, Savuti and Victoria Falls.
Got extra days?
With 10 days, add the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and Deception Valley, about 4-5 hours from Maun, or the private Linyanti concession for wild dog.
Where to stay in Botswana
| Budget | Area | Why | Typical double/night |
|---|---|---|---|
| Budget | Public campsites in Moremi, Savuti and Chobe; Maun and Kasane campsites | Self-drive with a rooftop-tent 4x4; you need advance bookings for every park night. | P400-900 per site |
| Mid-range | Maun and Kasane riverside lodges | Comfortable bases on the Thamalakane and Chobe rivers for day trips and boat cruises. | P1,800-4,000 |
| Mid-range | Guided mobile safari camps | Guide, cook and tents moved for you between Moremi, Savuti and Chobe; meals included. | P4,000-8,000 per person |
| Comfort | Fly-in camps in private Okavango and Linyanti concessions | Small, all-inclusive camps with night drives, walks and mokoro; usually priced in US dollars. | P15,000-35,000 per person |
Getting around
Driving is on the left. Tarred roads link Maun, Nata and Kasane (about 600 km, 7-8 hours), but park tracks are sand and need a high-clearance 4x4; rentals with rooftop tents cost about P2,000-3,500 a day. Light aircraft link Maun and Kasane with Delta camps in 20-60 minutes. Airlink flies from Johannesburg to Maun and Kasane, and Air Botswana from Gaborone.
What to eat in Botswana
Lodges serve international food, but try the local dishes. Seswaa, the national dish, is beef or goat boiled and pounded until it falls apart, served with pap (maize porridge) or bogobe (sorghum porridge). Morogo is wild spinach, and magwinya are fried dough balls sold at roadside stalls for a few pula. Adventurous eaters try dried mopane worms. In Maun and Kasane, a restaurant meal costs P120-250 per person.
Best time to visit
May to October, the dry season, for game viewing: animals gather at water and grass is short. Days are 25-30°C, but June and July nights can drop near 0°C. October is hottest, often above 40°C. The green season (November to April) brings rain, newborn animals, the zebra migration on the pans and lower camp prices.
Month-by-month weather for Botswana →
What a day costs
| Budget | Mid-range | Comfort | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bed (per person, sharing a double) | P300 | P2,500 | P15,000 |
| Food & drink | P300 | P500 | P500 |
| Sights & tickets | P400 | P1,200 | P1,500 |
| Local transport | P900 | P1,500 | P3,000 |
| Total per person, per day | about P1,900 | about P5,700 | about P20,000 |
Approximate 2026 prices in Botswana pula (roughly P13-14 to US$1); fly-in camps include meals and activities in the bed price, and most lodges quote in US dollars. Add park entry fees per person per day and the US$30 Tourism Development Levy.
Before you go
Common questions
Can I do Botswana as a self-drive?
Yes, if you have driven a 4x4 in deep sand before. You need a fully equipped vehicle, bookings for every park campsite, offline maps, extra fuel and water, and ideally a satellite communicator. Campsites are unfenced and animals walk through them. If you have never driven in sand, take a guided mobile safari.
Why is Botswana so expensive?
The government follows a high-value, low-volume tourism policy: few camps, small groups and high fees in the Okavango concessions, which keeps the areas quiet. You save by travelling in the green season, combining a self-drive with a short fly-in stay, or using community mokoro trips from the Maun side.
Do I need malaria tablets for Botswana?
The north, including the Okavango Delta, Moremi, Chobe and Kasane, is a malaria area, with the highest risk in the rainy months from November to April. Most travellers take preventive tablets; ask a travel clinic before you go, and use repellent and long sleeves in the evenings.
When is the best time for the Okavango Delta?
For water activities and game viewing together, June to September: the flood is high, mokoro trips run everywhere, and animals gather on the islands. May and October are also good, though October is very hot. In the green season prices fall and birding is excellent, but some mokoro areas lack water.
How this guide was made
Compiled by TonyPlan from official tourism, transport and attraction sources and on-the-ground travel knowledge. Prices are approximate for 2026 and change with season; anything we could not confirm is marked as approximate.
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