We’re typically requested, “When is the very best time of yr for a Botswana safari?”
The reply to the query is not so simple as you would possibly suppose. The very best time in your Botswana safari is completely different for panorama photographers, birders, visiting the Kalahari for the zebra migration, and in the event you’re embarking on a safari with children.
Every season has professionals and cons, whether or not you’re planning a household safari or a luxurious northern Botswana expedition.
Most individuals will inform you that recreation viewing in Botswana is greatest within the North American summer time months, that are the best, driest time of yr, however off-peak safaris provide superb sights and experiences, too.
Photographed by Nat Hab Employees © Nick Grossman
As I write this, we’re on the finish of one other shoulder season for Botswana safaris, and I’ve missed it once more.
A shoulder season Botswana safari has been on my bucket record for years—ever since I returned house from my first journey throughout the Okavango Delta, watched elephants frolic within the Chobe River and camped within the Moremi Sport Reserve, I’ve yearned to return for a shoulder season safari. (After writing this text, a Inexperienced Season Kalahari zebra migration journey is on my record, too.)
There are numerous causes you would possibly desire an off-peak shoulder-season safari or a inexperienced season African journey to a excessive or peak season Botswana safari. Nat Hab gives safaris in Botswana yr spherical.
Listed here are some issues to contemplate as you select the very best time of yr in your Botswana safari:
Botswana Safari Peak, Low and Shoulder Seasons
There’s a little variation relying on who you ask, however Botswana’s safari seasons break down typically like this:
Excessive or Peak Season for Botswana Safaris
The North American summer time—late June by way of a minimum of August—is usually thought of the height season for Botswana safaris. Some sources will lengthen this from June into October.
Inexperienced or Low Season for Botswana Safaris
These correspond with the rains. Late November by way of Botswana’s summer time months of December by way of March and into April represent the low or Inexperienced Season for Botswana safaris.
Shoulder Season Botswana Safari
That leaves late April, the month of Might, early June and most of November (till the rains begin) for shoulder season Botswana safaris.
Nat Hab Expedition Chief © Ona Basimane
Peak Season Safari in Botswana
The excessive season for Botswana safaris is when the climate is drier, and wildlife viewing is at its greatest, particularly within the Okavango Delta, Moremi Sport Reserve and Chobe Nationwide Park. Many consultants regard the cooler months as the very best time of yr for a luxurious safari in Botswana; they’ll say it’s the right climate for recreation drives, and the chance of malaria is at its lowest.
© David Luck
The dry season is characterised by clear skies. This can lead to very good sunsets and glorious circumstances for stargazing.
This is the excessive season for Botswana safaris due to peak wildlife viewing alternatives. At the moment of yr, the foliage is thinner, making animals simpler to identify and wildlife is concentrated close to water sources.
Early morning and night drives could be cool. It’s a good suggestion to deliver a heat layer of clothes for these occasions.
It’s essential to know that temperatures attain their highest in Botswana in October. Different elements to contemplate throughout peak season for Botswana safaris are that individuals congregate to see animals at shrinking waterholes and that costs are at their highest.
© David Luck
Inexperienced Season Safari in Botswana
The off-season for safaris in Botswana corresponds with the rains, normally from the tip of November till simply into April. That’s when the majority of the yr’s rain falls in Botswana.
Normally, Botswana’s wildlife tends to disperse through the wet Southern Hemisphere summer time months, however not in Chobe’s Savuti area and the Kalahari! Each provide glorious summer time recreation viewing, as they lie on the trail of outstanding migrations, particularly zebra.
This era is named the Inexperienced Season, and whereas wildlife is simpler to identify within the dry season, you possibly can nonetheless see loads of animals. In reality, within the Kalahari ecosystem, recreation viewing could even be extra productive through the wet season from December by way of March, when the sport each migrates by way of the realm and concentrates on the open plains and round pans.
The inexperienced summer time months are additionally thought of the very best season for birding in Botswana as migrating avian species arrive. Botswana doesn’t have any endemic avian species, however it’s thought of one in every of Africa’s high birding areas due to its safety of a variety of threatened and endangered species.
In February, heavy rains remodel the panorama right into a lush, inexperienced paradise, particularly within the Central Kalahari Sport Reserve. Summer season marks breeding season for the native antelope inhabitants; you would possibly spot newborns taking their first steps. This additionally means extra predators within the space!
African Jacana, Chobe Nationwide Park
In March, the temperature drops and rainfall could be regular. March is famend in Botswana for its panorama images due to the colourful inexperienced terrain that is fed by heavy rains.
Throughout these summer time months in Botswana, some lodges and camps shut, however throughout the inexperienced season, the Botswana safari can provide an expertise of prolific, energetic wildlife with new life rising and much fewer guests.
With World Wildlife Fund, Nat Hab has designed Botswana: Kalahari, the Delta & Past picture and traditional itineraries that embrace a various array of habitats and settings for the very best vary of wildlife viewing—together with Africa’s second-largest migration of zebra and wildebeest!
Nat Hab company expertise the magic of the Okavango Delta on poled mokoro rides in conventional dugout canoes © Kerry de Bruyn
Witness Northern Botswana’s Unimaginable Zebra Migration
The inexperienced season is the very greatest time to see the Kalahari and arguably the Pans, too. Grazing land is roofed with shoots, and greenery is plentiful. If witnessing the world’s second-largest migration is in your record, that is the time for you.
The annual zebra migration throughout northern Botswana begins with the rains on the finish of November and is the longest and probably the most gorgeous migrations on the continent, stretching 311 miles from the Chobe River floodplains to the grassy plains of the Nxai Pan and again once more.
This zebra migration was first famous by scientists as just lately as 2014. “The gap lined by these zebras was a complete shock to all of us concerned within the research, in addition to to folks accustomed to wildlife conservation within the area,” mentioned Robin Naidoo, senior conservation scientist at World Wildlife Fund. “No person knew that one thing of this scale, with this a lot floor lined, was occurring.”
Zebra migration, Makgadikgadi Pans Nationwide Park
Magical Shoulder Season Safaris in Botswana
November, in addition to late April, Might and early June, are the shoulder seasons for Botswana safaris. November continues to be sizzling if that’s your desire and marks the beginning of the wet season, however it shouldn’t have an effect on recreation viewing an excessive amount of.
The beginning of the migration relies on rains; zebras comply with grasses from the moist floodplains of the Chobe River, passing villages on the outskirts of the Chobe Enclave as they make their solution to desert by way of marsh and plains to dry, mopane woodlands and eventually throughout a big stretch of the deep Kalahari Sandveld dotted with waterholes. If following this route simply because the driest season ends and the rains come sounds nice to you, then November is the time for you.
For me, the late April to mid-June shoulder season is perhaps a perfect time to embark on a Botswana safari (however I additionally need to see the zebra migration and Inexperienced Season birds).
By April the heavy rainfall has virtually utterly stopped, however the panorama continues to be lush and verdant. The nights begin to get cooler, which makes for good climate for evenings across the campfire and comfy sleeping temperatures.
By mid-month, the water ranges within the Okavango Delta will start to rise; it is going to be a couple of months earlier than that occurs in Moremi. April marks the start of impala breeding season when the males begin to compete for the eye of the females. Grasses are tall, and picture backdrops could be crammed with vibrant colours.
The Kgalagadi and Central Kalahari are at their greatest in April, with cooler climate, plentiful recreation and thick, inexperienced landscapes. The sport continues to be plentiful at Nxai Pan.
Might is the beginning of the dry winter season. This month gives glorious recreation viewing, gentle, dry climate, and campsites and safari parks that aren’t too busy—as that is earlier than peak season later within the yr. Wildlife sightings are at their greatest within the Savuti area, the place buffalo and zebra could be present in giant numbers, whereas the elephant herds return to the Linyati Chobe River System in Might.
You would possibly spot attention-grabbing wildlife behaviors this time of yr. Because the dry season begins, predator-prey interactions turn out to be extra frequent. Final April, a bachelor herd of elephants took up residency in Nat Hab’s Gomoti Camp because the natal herd continued its journey. Friends might watch them from the camp all day. Because the floodwaters arrive and ease the strain within the smaller waterholes, the hippos at Gomoti Plains are noticeably shifting round extra.
Nat Hab’s Gomoti Camp—Okavango South © Andrew Morgan
On Nat Hab’s Secluded Botswana April–November itineraries, Nat Hab’s Linyanti Camp gives incredible alternatives for watching elephants proper from camp in Botswana’s pristine Linyanti Wildlife Reserve. You can even take pleasure in a silent, emission-free safari expertise in Nat Hab’s Electrical Safari Automobile. This modern, eco-friendly choice operates out of Nat Hab’s Gomoti Camp and gives a more in-depth have a look at wildlife with out disturbing their pure conduct.
In Might, guests to Nat Hab’s Linyati and Gomoti camps in Botswana can anticipate to see quite a lot of wildlife. Resident elephants have been shifting by way of the camp to snack on the nutritious camel thorns. Leopards are recognized to make kills and hoist their prey up into bushes for safekeeping. One such incident concerned a leopard hoisting an impala, a lot to the frustration of the hyenas under.
We are able to’t make guarantees, however wild canines are frequently seen across the camps and are recognized for his or her thrilling chases.
June closes out Botswana’s Safari Shoulder Season
The local weather is beautiful in June for out of doors actions in Botswana; evenings are likely to get chilly, and sure areas within the Kalahari can drop under freezing after darkish. Morning recreation drives could be chilly, so arrive ready with some heat safari gear.
In June, Botswana is getting into its dry season, which is usually thought of the very best time for viewing wildlife. Animals start to congregate in giant numbers alongside the fringes of the Okavango Delta and on the northern waterways of the Savuti Channel and Chobe Linyanti River System.
June can be a good time to see African wild canines as they start to seek for dens for his or her pups.
© Kerry de Bruyn
When is the very best time for a Botswana safari?
In the long run, the query isn’t, “When is the very best time for a safari in Botswana?” however, “When is the suitable time for you or for your greatest safari in Botswana?”
The proper reply will depend on your wants and wishes. Do you need to see the zebra migration, {photograph} lush inexperienced landscapes or catalog migrating birds as they make their approach throughout the northern Botswana panorama? Then, a Inexperienced Season Botswana safari could also be simply the factor for you.
Do you relish the concept of cool June evenings and mornings on safari, watching wildlife as they adapt to more and more dry circumstances? Do you’re keen on taking your vacation time simply earlier than children all over the world are out of faculty on trip? Then, a late Might or early June Botswana safari could also be simply the suitable time for you.
For those who purpose for peak wildlife viewing—together with a little bit of wild time along with your children or grandkids—then maybe a peak season or household Botswana safari is precisely what you might be searching for.
© Laurie Collins
