African Overland Tours

Botswana has many large, untouched, wild places absolutely brimming with wildlife. Here are five of the most beautiful wildlife reserves in Botswana that are worth visiting. Who decides what’s beautiful? It’s my belief that the longer and better you know a person, place, or thing, the more your eyes are opened to their innate beauty. And certainly I’ve found that the more I explore Southern Africa’s drier regions, the more I notice and appreciate their unique beauty. From hardy trees with fresh green leaves and small but colourful blooms to incredible sunsets, there’s so much beauty to be found here. But it does still remain a personal conviction as to whether or not something is beautiful. With this in mind, here’s my highly personal opinion of the most beautiful wildlife reserves in Botswana. I’ve visited some of them, but not all, but what I can say is that this list comprises the places that are top of my own Botswana travel wish list. And given that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I’m going to share a photographic smorgasbord of each destination to help you decide for yourself if their allure

1. Okavango Desert

The Okavango is absolutely enormous and a critical oasis within the dry Kalahari Basin, sustaining countless animals and birds. Its breathtaking at ground level, as well as from the air. In some places, the winding channels create sharp lines between the grasses, as seen here. On the ground, the scene is made even more beautiful by dint of there being so much wildlife present. Animals that are regularly spotted include elephants, lions, buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, impalas, red lechwes, hippos, crocodiles, baboons, and African fish eagles. You might also be lucky and spot leopards, cheetahs, endangered African wild dogs, waterbucks. And if you head to Chief's Island you could see black and white rhinos.   Moremi Game Reserve protects nearly 40% of the Okavango Delta. Moremi protects the central and eastern portions of the delta. This includes permanently flooded lagoons, channels, and other waterways, but also floodplains, savannah, and woodlands. Most notable among these for gamespotting are Chief’s Island and the wedge of land called the Mopane Tongue.   Of course, a big part of what makes all of these places so beautiful to us is the presence of lots of wildlife.    

2. Makgadikgadi Pans

3. Tuli Block

Mashatu and Northern Tuli Game Reserves are two of the reserves making up the so-called Tuli Block, a collection of reserves occupying the part of southeastern Botswana wedged between Zimbabwe to the north and South Africa to the south.

4. Chobe National Park

Chobe National Park in the far north of Botswana is one of its top safari parks. It's also very pretty. A key reason for the park's popularity is its enormous elephant population. Visitors are often treated to scenes like the one below. Chobe is, in fact, one of the best places in Africa for almost guaranteed elephant herd sightings. These magnificent creatures are very often seen in large numbers in and alongside the Chobe River, with a backdrop of varied riverine vegetation that includes jackalberry, knobby thorns, sausage trees, and African star chestnuts. The western side also has many baobab trees. Of course, elephants are far from being the only wildlife drawn to the water. The park has many Cape buffaloes too. Other wildlife that's commonly spotted on a safari drive or boat cruise here are hippos, Nile crocs, giraffes, zebras, and graceful antelopes like red lechwes and pukus. Various birds love the river too and are frequently spotted here. These include African fish eagles, African skimmers, various herons and storks, and carmine-bee-eaters. Here, we have a muster of marabou storks. While the Chobe River and its floodplains are the star of the show in Chobe, there's far more to appreciate when you venture into its other regions and ecosystems. These include dense riverine forest, mopane woodlands, acacia savannah, grasslands, and marshlands. Some of the wildlife you can hope to spot throughout the park are lions, cheetahs, leopards, bushbuck, sables, and roan antelopes. The fortunate also spot an endangered painted wolf or two, otherwise known as the African wild dog. Be sure to visit the park's Savuti Marsh region in the southwest, for instance, as it's very lovely and thick with wildlife. These cheetahs were spotted in Savuti. Chobe is also one of Africa's tippy-top birding sites. It has over 450 bird species in its riverine system, and more than 560 throughout the entire park when migratory birds are in town. Below is an African jacana. The green season is the park's prettiest. But of course there's beauty to be found no matter the time of the year. And if you venture out by the water at dawn or dusk, you're always in for a treat as the light reflects on the water.

5. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

Gemsbok National Park in southern Botswana and the adjacent Kalahari Gemsbok National Park in northern South Africa together form Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. Kalagadi is enormous, and protects various ecosystems. These include grasslands, semi-arid desert scrubland, and red sand dunes. You also find dry riverbeds, like the one being crossed by this leopard. The animals commonly spotted on Kgalagadi safaris include oryxes (gemsboks), leopards, lions, cheetahs, giraffes, springboks, red hartebeests, blue wildebeests, meerkats, and ostriches. Visitors also sometimes spot elands, bat-eared and Cape foxes, and brown and spotted hyenas. There are also many gazelles in the park, as seen below. For me, the most beautiful feature of Kgalagadi is its grasslands, specifically when they grow thick and tall. Green or dry, I love them. Here we have a close-up of a lanner falcon flying over some grassland. After the rains, the park is soft and pretty. Here we see a Kalahari lion, which has the dark mane typical of this regional variety of lion. The sand dunes of Kgalagadi are very special too, sometimes rippled by the wind, sometimes dotted with plants. Even when the park is wearing its brown winter cloak, it's made beautiful thanks to its richly coloured denizens, like this red hartebeest. Of course, the brightest flashes of colour in Kgalagadi come from its birds, like these swallow-tailed bee-eaters. And often the whole scene is topped by the bluest of skies. Another integral part of the beauty of Kgalagadi is the awesome sense of space you experience. You can explore for hours on your own. And enjoy moments of profound stillness and solitude, unless the breeze stirs the grasses or an animal makes a sound, like when male kori bustards make their booming mating call. As with all savannah, there's a special magic when low-angled sunlight illuminates the tall, wild grasses. Golden hour softens everything beautifully, and thanks to the dry desert air, everything is wonderfully sharp. Finally, when the sun sets, an even bigger spectacle falls across the land. Finally, Kgalagadi has one of the darkest skies in Africa, so the stars and constellations that you can witness from here are extraordinary.   Note: This blog post was created in May 2024 by Jodi Lucas. It was rewritten in August 2026 by Megan Abigail White.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g312659-d13131637-Reviews-African_Overland_Tours-Cape_Town_Central_Western_Cape.html

https://www.reviews.io/company-reviews/store/africanoverlandtours-com

https://www.facebook.com/AfricanOverlandTourscom/

https://www.instagram.com/african_overland_tours/

https://www.tiktok.com/@africanoverlandtours

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/africanoverlandtours.com

https://www.youtube.com/@africanoverlandtoursandsafaris