Botswana Travel Report 2025

Hi Leony,

Nice of you to email. Indeed, it's been a while and we were also planning to let you know how it had been, but once we were back home there was so much to do straight away that we hadn't got round to it yet 🙂

It was a truly fantastic trip! We are hugely impressed with Botswana. We also really enjoyed doing it in our own car with a rooftop tent. We already knew that from previous trips, of course, but it was confirmed once again here. And what was really different here was that none of the campsites are fenced, so all sorts of animals walk right past your camping spot!

The roads were quite challenging at times, but that also made it an adventure. We were very impressed with Chobe and the stretch from there up to and including Moremi, as well as Makgadikgadi and the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. The sheer number of animals was so impressive, and the feeling of being truly in the wilderness was often present.

The car you arranged for us was good, and most of the campsites we stayed at certainly were too! The African Ranches River Camp, on the border of Botswana and South Africa, was a particularly special place, it was nice that we stayed there twice.

We noticed along the way again that we place great value on flexibility. The fact that everything had already been arranged in advance was quite new to us, and at certain moments, with more flexibility, we would have made different choices.

We also discovered that some things could be organised perfectly at the last minute, so we had perhaps underestimated that slightly beforehand. Every trip is naturally personal and everyone has different preferences and travel pace, but below we have listed some things that we experienced and that you might find useful when planning a trip for your next client 🙂

– We wouldn't have chosen to start in Johannesburg in retrospect. We understand that flights and car hire are a lot cheaper then, but on the other hand, you encounter a fair few extra kilometres and border crossings through areas that aren't necessarily that interesting, and it also takes up a considerable amount of time. We would have preferred to accept the extra costs and start in Maun or Kasane (or even possibly Gaborone), thus having more time in Botswana for the interesting parts. Bushlore also operates in all those cities, so that should be possible. We did, however, find Marakele NP really fantastic!

– The Chobe riverfront is a massive highlight, with so many animals! We're glad we chose to stay in Muchenje instead of the Linyanti camp you initially suggested as an alternative to Ihaha. Linyanti is probably also beautiful (we met other travellers who had been there) but it's a completely different area to the riverfront and in our opinion, it's not really an option to skip that part or just drive through it. So if Ihaha isn't available, Muchenje is a good alternative, and it's also easily doable from Kasane to reach that part of the park.

We would have preferred 1 extra night in Savuti. We had 3 nights in Khwai North gate, which was a very beautiful area, and at this time of year there is a lot of wildlife there, including in the Khwai Concession outside Moremi. We did the mokoro trip through Khwai Guesthouse and that was a really nice place.

After the boat trip, we also did two organised game drives with them. We did still want to go a bit further into Moremi, and from Khwai, that was actually too far.

We therefore sacrificed 1 night and drove to Xakanaxa. I remember you also enquired about it and that it was full; well, that was certainly not the case, there were many empty spots! For the last night in Moremi, we were actually going to stay at South Gate, but we had read and heard that it is less interesting there and that it is more of a stopover location.

That's why we cancelled that too and went back to Khwai for an extra night.

We found that one night in Maun was too short. This was mainly because we had been without facilities for over a week beforehand, and therefore had to resupply everything in Maun.

Moreover, we discovered that the stretch to Nxai Pan was a long drive, with a large part on an unpaved road. So, that was hardly worth it for 1 night anyway (or at least would have made for a very tight schedule).

Unfortunately, we skipped Nxai Pan and opted for an extra night in Maun instead, so we could relax and calmly do our shopping for the week ahead with CKGR.

The loop in CKGR that we drove was very doable within the allotted time. It was a really nice addition to our trip because the animals living here are truly different from the other parts of Botswana that we've seen.

There was one campsite that had been booked for us which was truly awful: the Phokoje Pan campsite (3). In hindsight, we also saw that there had been many complaints about it over the past few years.

It was really a sort of bomb crater fenced by bushes, the flint was broken, there was no shower. It was really a bit strange, all campsites in CKGR naturally have very limited facilities but they were usually in a nice spot. In other words, I wouldn't book that one again 😉

We didn't fly back with KLM, but with Lufthansa. That flight was around 7 PM, and then the stretch from the Botswana border back to Johannesburg is a bit far, especially with the border crossing itself and having to return the car. Therefore, we chose to drive to African River Camp the day before (it was fine for us to arrive a day earlier).

Well, it's turned into a comprehensive story! Hopefully, you'll find it useful. Aside from the above, as already mentioned, it was a truly fantastic trip, and for me (Steffie), it was the best trip we've ever taken!

Alain has taken some lovely photos. I've attached a small photo report to this email.

Thank you very much for all the coordination beforehand and your fine preparations!