The best time to visit Botswana is from May to October. This is the dry season for the country with warm temperatures throughout. It’s also when the water levels in the Okavango Delta are at their highest, perfect for exploring its waterways, channels and lagoons. If you don’t mind a little rain, the green season can be a wonderful time when animals give birth to their young and there are fewer visitors.
Depending on your specific trip, packing requirements will vary; make sure to speak to your travel expert about what you will need for any sections that are particularly adventurous or where equipment may be provided. We recommend considering the following.
January is a hot time of year with short thunderstorms periodically clearing the air. This is one of the highest rainfall months with unpredictable and heavy rains throughout the month. It’s the peak of the wet season, bringing lush grass and the chance to spot newborn animals. With newborns comes an increase in predators – a chance to spot big cats.
Witness courtship rituals as many birds start their breeding season. Keep your eyes to the skies for migratory birds too.
The Kalahari is teeming with life after the rains. You might even see new-born herbivores and the predators stalking them.
The hot and wet weather of February breathes a rush of life into the Central Kalahari, with large numbers of zebra, springbox and oryx. Predators, especially lions, will stay in close proximity. Ripening fruit trees attract birds and butterflies. Temperatures can reach the high upwards of 30°C and it is very humid.
Flamingos descend on the Nxai Pans.
Wattled cranes swarm the Okavango Delta.
The rain starts to slow and the hot dry days and nights begin. Chobe and Moremi National Parks are alive with wildlife as herbivores and carnivores start to turn up. Mokoro trips may not be available with the Okavango Delta approaching its lowest level, but you may be able to take a boat out into the deeper channels.
The second-largest migration in Africa sees vast herds of zebras constantly moving around Botswana in search of better pastures. March is when the herds are at their most active, leaving the Makgadkgadi Salt Pans as the rains draw to a close, heading north towards the Chobe and Okavango Rivers. The pans fill with a sea of migrating zebras as they begin their journey.
Elephants start to make their way to the Okavango Delta in search of ripe fruits.
The days are sunny and temperatures start to cool; there may be a few scattered light rainfalls. This is a happy medium between the wet and the dry season. Watering holes slowly start drying up, encouraging wildlife to find more permanent water sources, like the Okavango Delta, Moremi Reserve and Chobe National Park. This makes for fantastic wildlife viewing. Delta levels start to rise again in the Okavango as the flood waters from Angola make their way down.
April is the start of the Antelope and impala rutting season. Watch as males putt heads to impress the females around them.
Fish for bream in the deeper waters of the Okavango Delta.
This is the beginning of the dry, winter season and the start of peak season. Animals are much easier to find as they congregate around more permanent water sources, making for fabulous game viewing opportunities. Camps and parks are relatively quiet in comparison to later in the season. Temperatures in the evening are cooler, so make sure to pack a light jacket for any night safaris.
Herds of zebra and buffalo congregate in large number in the Savuti region.
Victoria Falls is close to the border of Botswana. Visit in May when it’s at its fullest after the heavy rains of the wet season.
It won’t rain in Botswana for the next six months, forcing animals to find a more permanent water source, like the Okavango Delta. This makes wildlife much easier to spot; you can expect sightings of elephants, buffalo and antelope. Find herds of zebras waiting out the dry season on the Chobe River floodplains. From now until September, mokoro and water-based excursions should be available, water-level dependent. Quad biking on the Makgadikgadi Pans is possible from this month too. Temperatures hover around 25°C but nights can be cold. This is a very popular month for travel; we recommend booking well in advance to secure the camps you want.
New litters of African wild dogs are born in June. You may even be lucky enough to spot them.
This is a great time of year for walking safaris in the Linyati region.
This is one of the coolest, yet driest, months with temperatures reaching 0°C in the north at night and 25°C during the day. Wildlife viewing opportunities are superb, making it one of the most popular months to visit Botswana. The Okavango’s waterways are now full, offering rewarding mokoro excursions with sites of elephants, crocodiles and hippos (water-level dependent).
July is a fabulous time for travelling as a family. Low levels of rain means mosquitoes are almost non-existent at this time.
This is a great time to meet the meerkats of the Makgadikgadi Pans.
August will be very busy with families, so make sure to book well in advance to secure the best camps. Sparse vegetation makes it easier to spot wildlife and game viewing along the waterways are still at their best. Now until November is the best time to catch tigerfish in deep waters. With such a variety in activities, both on land and water, Botswana offers an unrivalled safari experience between May and October.
August sees an influx of birdlife to the Okavango Delta, but nowhere is quite as busy as the area’s heronries. These seemingly arbitrary locations attract massive congregations of nesting and breeding waterbirds, drawing many different species. Only a handful of these heronries are accessible, all of them by boat.
Between August and October, you can see the southern carmine bee eater. An incredible sighting for both birders and non birders alike. They burrow into dry river banks to build their nests, congregating in colourful colonies as they flit back and forth from their nests.
Continued rising temperatures and clear blue skies make for hot days and pleasantly warm evenings. Much of the country becomes dry and dusty as it has now been many months since any significant rains. It’s very likely to see lions stalking large herds of oryx and springbok. The end of Botswana’s dry winter is often the best time to spot the Big Five when water has become dangerously scarce. This is one of the last months that mokoro excursions and guided walking safaris may be available due to optimal conditions.
Quad bike across the Makgadikgadi Pans and sleep out under the stars.
This is the hottest month of the year; we recommend avoiding activities in the middle of the day. The Chobe River is a wonderful place for viewing elephants towards the end of the day after a day of foraging. You’re very likely to catch sight of the Big Five and other classic favourites, like giraffes, zebras, hippos and crocodiles. This is an excellent time to be on pans, especially Baines’ Baobabs and Lekhubu Island.
October is their breeding season. If you’re lucky, you may see one, but you most definitely will hear them chattering away as they move across the Okavango.
Watch the catfish migrate upstream, avoiding falling water levels and eating smaller fish in their path.
November is the shoulder season for Botswana as it moves from the dry conditions to the green summer season. The heat continues to rise as the rain begins; temperatures can reach up to 40°C in the first half of the month. Greenery starts to return to the plains and it might be possible to spot some newborns.
This is a great time for bird watching. Species from Asia and Europe arrive.
If there have been early rains, this is a great time to visit Botswana’s Central Kalahari. Enormous herds of oryx and springbok attempt to protect their newborns from cheetahs and lions.
Temperatures now hover around 30°C during the day and marks the start of the green season. The green season can make for fabulous photographic safaris with spectacular thunderstorms every few days.
Flowers start to come into full bloom and the lush landscapes are teeming with migratory birds like kingfishers, cuckoos and kites.
As more rain falls, wildlife is drawn to the pans where they start congregating around the Central Kalahari, Nxai Pains and the Savuti region.
Drag the slider to see monthly temperature and rainfall.
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Central Kalahari
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Chobe National Park
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Gaborone
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Makgadikgadi Pans, Kalahari
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Maun
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The Okavango Delta
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