SAFARIS
Botswana safari itineraries: 21 trips compared by length and price
Go2Africa's 21 Botswana itineraries, cheapest first, with what a 4-day trip buys at $3,800 and at $13,000, why the Delta wants winter and the Kalahari wants rain, and how to pack for the bush planes.
Four of Botswana's 21 safaris in Go2Africa's feed last exactly 4 days. Adventurer Family Botswana's Delta starts at $3,800 per person, Kalahari Botswana's Jack's Camp at $11,000, Romantic Botswana's Delta, Chief's Island at $13,000 and Kalahari Botswana's San Camp at $13,500. The dearest costs about 3.5 times the cheapest for the same number of days.
What $3,800 and $13,000 buy in four days
The $3,800 trip, Adventurer Family Botswana's Delta, spends three nights at Shinde Footsteps, which Go2Africa calls an intimate seasonal tented camp in the northern Delta. Days are guided walks, a mokoro (dugout canoe) outing and a game drive. Each family gets a chef and two guides, and children join a bush "academy." Go2Africa lists the light-aircraft flight from Maun at about 25 minutes.
The $13,000 trip, Romantic Botswana's Delta, Chief's Island, also stays three nights, at Chief's Camp, an A&K Sanctuary on the largest island in the Delta. It has a spa and a pool deck, and the page lists black and white rhino sightings. Both pages count all meals, selected drinks, permits and park fees as included. Both leave out international flights, visas and tips.
Per day, the Shinde Footsteps trip works out at $950 and the Chief's Camp trip at $3,250. The lowest daily rate in the table is lower still: Botswana's Khwai River & Linyanti Channel, 7 days for $4,800, or about $686 a day. It splits six nights between Khwai Leadwood, a camp with six tented suites on a community concession, and Linyanti Ebony, with a shared light-aircraft hop in between.
The most common length is 7 days. Nine of the 21 trips run a week, from $4,800 up to $19,500 for the Luxury Eco Safari in Botswana. Twelve of the 21 start under $10,000. Six trip names say "Family," and they run from $3,800 to $16,400 across 4 to 10 days.
| Itinerary | Length | From, per person |
|---|---|---|
| Adventurer Family Botswana's DeltaBotswana · Okavango Delta | 4 days | $3,800 |
| Romantic Falls, Zambezi & ChobeBotswana · Chobe National Park · Botswana · Chobe River · Zambia | 5 days | $4,000 |
| Botswana's Khwai River & Linyanti ChannelBotswana · Okavango Delta | 7 days | $4,800 |
| Family Falls, Zambezi & ChobeBotswana · Chobe National Park · Zambia · Victoria Falls | 7 days | $5,100 |
| Botswana’s Delta & Culture SafariBotswana · Okavango Delta | 7 days | $5,200 |
| Chobe & Delta Community SafariBotswana · Chobe National Park · Botswana · Okavango Delta | 7 days | $6,300 |
| Family Botswana's Khwai River & Linyanti ChannelBotswana · Chobe National Park · Botswana · Linyanti · Botswana | 7 days | $7,800 |
| Botswana's Delta, Savute & ChobeBotswana · Chobe National Park · Botswana · Okavango Delta · Botswana | 7 days | $8,000 |
| 10 Day Family Livingstone, Linyanti & DeltaBotswana · Okavango Delta · Zambia · Victoria Falls | 10 days | $8,200 |
| Botswana's Delta, Moremi & SavuteBotswana · Chobe National Park · Botswana · Okavango Delta · Botswana | 9 days | $8,400 |
| Romantic Botswana's Delta, Khwai & SavuteBotswana · Chobe National Park · Botswana · Okavango Delta · Botswana | 6 days | $9,400 |
| Family Botswana's Okavango Delta & KalahariBotswana · Kalahari · Botswana · Moremi Game Reserve · Botswana | 8 days | $9,700 |
| Kalahari Botswana's Jack's CampBotswana · Kalahari | 4 days | $11,000 |
| Romantic Botswana's Chobe & DeltaBotswana · Chobe National Park · Botswana · Chobe River · Botswana | 7 days | $12,900 |
| Romantic Botswana's Delta, Chief's IslandBotswana · Okavango Delta | 4 days | $13,000 |
| Romantic Vic Falls, Chobe & Delta SafariBotswana · Chobe National Park · Botswana · Chobe River · Botswana | 7 days | $13,000 |
| Kalahari Botswana's San CampBotswana · Kalahari | 4 days | $13,500 |
| Romantic Botswana's Delta & SavuteBotswana · Chobe National Park · Botswana · Okavango Delta · Botswana | 6 days | $14,000 |
| Okavango Delta, Chobe River & Victoria FallsBotswana · Chobe National Park · Botswana · Chobe River · Botswana | 8 days | $15,000 |
| Family Botswana's Delta, Private ConcessionsBotswana · Okavango Delta | 5 days | $16,400 |
| Luxury Eco Safari in BotswanaBotswana · Linyanti · Botswana · Okavango Delta | 7 days | $19,500 |
Delta and Chobe: go in the dry winter
UNESCO's listing of the Okavango Delta says the river's yearly flood arrives in Botswana's dry winter, which it dates to a peak in June and July. Botswana's tourism board adds that the Delta swells from about 15,000 square kilometers in drier periods to 22,000 in wetter ones (Botswana Tourism Organisation).
Water decides which activities run. Go2Africa's Khwai trip page says mokoro safaris at Khwai Leadwood run when water levels are up, and that Linyanti offers canoe safaris when levels permit. Chief's Camp lists mokoro trips only "in season."
Chobe works on the same calendar. The tourism board says elephants and buffalo gather on the Chobe riverfront to drink during the dry winter months. In the north, the permanent waters of the Kwando and Linyanti rivers become key gathering points for wildlife in the dry season. The same page describes camps there with perhaps only twenty or so guests at a time.
The Kalahari trips run on the other calendar
Two of the four 4-day trips, Jack's Camp at $11,000 and San Camp at $13,500, are at the Makgadikgadi Pans, not in the Delta. The tourism board says that for most of the year the pans are waterless and extremely arid, with large mammals all but absent. Rain changes that: in years of good rain the two biggest pans flood and draw zebra, wildebeest and flamingos. Go2Africa's San Camp page points to the rainy summer months for zebra and wildebeest, and to December through April for migrant birds.
Packing for the small planes
Delta camps are reached by light aircraft from Maun. Mack Air, an air charter company that flies to lodges and camps in the Okavango, sets its limits on its luggage policy page (marked 2025): soft-shell bags no bigger than 30 by 42 by 70 cm, and 20 kg in total including hand luggage, because lighter aircraft have small baggage holds. That is one operator's rule, so ask which airline flies yours. A hard-shell suitcase won't fit under it; a duffel will.
Adding Victoria Falls
Five trip names mention the Falls or Livingstone, and prices start at $4,000 for the 5-day Romantic Falls, Zambezi & Chobe and reach $15,000 for the 8-day Okavango Delta, Chobe River & Victoria Falls. Families get the 7-day Family Falls, Zambezi & Chobe at $5,100 and a 10-day Livingstone, Linyanti and Delta trip at $8,200.
UNESCO's listing for the falls gives a width of 1,708 meters and up to 500 million liters a minute at full flow. The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority names February to May, right after the summer rains, as the best time to visit. UNESCO ties the Delta's flood to the peak of the dry season in June and July, so a trip that combines the two can't catch both at their best.
Malaria in the north
The CDC's Botswana page (malaria entry updated April 23, 2025) lists transmission in Chobe, including Chobe National Park, and in Ngamiland, Okavango, Boteti and several other districts. It recommends tablets for those areas: atovaquone-proguanil, doxycycline, mefloquine or tafenoquine. You start taking them several days before you leave, with the lead time set by the drug, and keep going during the trip and after you return. Gaborone, the capital, has no transmission.
The Delta trips whose pages we read start in Maun, and Botswana's tourism board says its airport gets direct flights from Johannesburg and Gaborone. In our travel partner's fare data on November 2, 2026, the typical lowest round trip from US cities to Johannesburg was $1,080; see cheap flights to Africa. To weigh Botswana against Kenya, Tanzania or South Africa, use all 149 African safari itineraries.
The Go2Africa trip pages that show prices list them by travel date, and their figures don't match the table. On November 7, 2026, the page for the $3,800 Shinde trip showed $3,340 to $5,630 per person sharing, and the page for the $13,000 Chief's Camp trip showed $8,140 to $14,280. San Camp's page showed $7,940 to $10,080, below the table's $13,500.
Frequently asked questions
Why does one 4-day Botswana safari cost $3,800 and another $13,000?
The camp and its setting. At $3,800 you get three nights at Shinde Footsteps, a seasonal tented camp in the northern Delta built around walking. At $13,000 it is three nights at Chief's Camp on Chief's Island, which has a spa and a pool deck. Go2Africa's pages don't itemize the price difference.
When does the Okavango Delta flood?
In the dry winter. UNESCO says the annual flood reaches the Okavango Delta during the dry season, and it calls June and July the peak of that dry season.
How much luggage can I bring on a Botswana bush flight?
Mack Air, an air charter company that flies to Okavango camps, requires soft-shell bags of no more than 30 by 42 by 70 cm and a total of 20 kg including hand luggage. Ask which airline flies your transfers, because this is one operator's rule.
Can I add Victoria Falls to a Botswana safari?
Yes. Five of the 21 trip names mention the Falls or Livingstone, from Romantic Falls, Zambezi & Chobe at 5 days for $4,000 to Okavango Delta, Chobe River & Victoria Falls at 8 days for $15,000. The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority names February to May as the best time to see the falls.
Do I need malaria tablets for Botswana?
For the north, yes. The CDC lists malaria in Chobe, Ngamiland, Okavango and several other districts and recommends tablets there. It lists no transmission in Gaborone.
FinalAirfare may earn a commission if you book through the Go2Africa links on this page, at no extra cost to you. Prices are Go2Africa's per-person starting prices from its affiliate feed, which we downloaded on November 5, 2026 and which Go2Africa last updated in May 2026. They change, so open a trip for today's price and dates.
