Honeymoon in Botswana

Botswana made a deliberate policy choice decades ago: high value, low volume. Rather than build large lodges and sell cheap beds, it granted enormous private concessions to a small number of camps, each with exclusive traversing rights over hundreds of square kilometres. The result is the most expensive safari in Africa and, for many people, the best. You can spend three days in the Okavango Delta and not see another vehicle that isn’t yours.

Budget US$14,000 to US$32,000 per couple for twelve nights including international flights. There is no budget version of Botswana, and pretending otherwise would be misleading. If that number is beyond reach, Namibia or Zambia deliver genuine wilderness for far less.

Where to go

The Okavango Delta

The reason to come. A river that flows inland and evaporates into the Kalahari, creating a seasonal wetland the size of a small country. What makes it exceptional for a honeymoon is the mokoro — a dugout canoe poled through papyrus channels in complete silence. It is unlike any other wildlife experience in Africa, and it is very romantic in a way that a game drive simply is not.

Camps sit on islands and are reached by light aircraft. Water levels vary hugely by season, which determines whether a camp offers boating, driving, or both — ask specifically.

Chobe and the Linyanti

Chobe has the highest elephant density in Africa — herds of several hundred come down to the river at dusk, and watching that from a boat is a genuine spectacle. The eastern end near Kasane is the most accessible and busiest part of Botswana; the private Linyanti and Selinda concessions to the west are far quieter and much more expensive.

Moremi Game Reserve

The public reserve within the Delta. Excellent predator viewing, especially wild dog, and materially cheaper than the private concessions — though you lose off-road driving and night drives.

The Kalahari — Makgadikgadi and the Central Kalahari

Utterly different: salt pans stretching to a curved horizon, meerkats that will climb on you, quad biking across the crust, and some of the darkest night skies on earth. Best from December to April when the rains bring zebra herds. Two or three nights as contrast to the Delta.

Best time to go

Botswana’s seasons are counter-intuitive: the Delta floods during the dry season, because the water falls as rain in Angola months earlier and takes that long to arrive.

June to September is the classic window — the Delta is in flood and game viewing is superb. Pack warm layers for June and July mornings; couples routinely underestimate how cold an open vehicle at dawn is in the Kalahari winter.

What it costs

Per couple, twelve nights, including international flights, all internal light-aircraft transfers, accommodation, meals, drinks and activities.

Camps run roughly US$700–1,200 per person per night in the shoulder tiers and US$1,500–3,000 at the top, fully inclusive of everything including drinks and laundry. Internal flights are a real cost here — budget US$250–450 per person per hop, and a typical itinerary has three or four.

Sample itineraries

Ten nights — the classic (from about US$22,000 per couple)

• Nights 1–3: Okavango Delta water camp — mokoro, boating, island walks.
• Nights 4–6: Delta or Linyanti land camp — game drives, night drives, predators.
• Nights 7–8: Chobe riverfront — elephants at dusk from a boat.
• Nights 9–10: Victoria Falls, flying home from Livingstone or Victoria Falls town.

Twelve nights — adding the Kalahari (from about US$26,000)

• Nights 1–3: Makgadikgadi Pans — meerkats, quad bikes, sleeping out under the stars.
• Nights 4–6: Okavango water camp.
• Nights 7–9: Linyanti or Selinda.
• Nights 10–12: Chobe and Victoria Falls.

Nine nights — value route (from about US$14,000)

• Nights 1–3: Moremi Game Reserve.
• Nights 4–6: One private Delta concession camp.
• Nights 7–9: Chobe and Victoria Falls, travelling in November or April.

Practical details

Getting there

Most couples route via Johannesburg to Maun (the Delta gateway) or Kasane (Chobe). Victoria Falls and Livingstone are also common entry or exit points, which makes an open-jaw itinerary sensible. Internal transfers are by light aircraft with a strict 20kg limit per person in soft bags — slightly more generous than East Africa, but hard cases are still refused.

Visas and entry

UK, EU, US, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand passport holders do not need a visa for tourist stays of up to 90 days. Botswana charges a tourism development levy on arrival, payable by card. If you are crossing to Victoria Falls, the KAZA UniVisa covers both Zambia and Zimbabwe on a single visa and is worth asking about — availability has fluctuated, so confirm at the time of booking.

Health

Malaria is present in the north including the Delta and Chobe, with higher risk in the wet season from November to April. Prophylaxis is normally recommended. The Kalahari is lower risk. Consult a travel clinic six to eight weeks ahead.

What to expect from camps

Botswana camps are small — often six to twelve tents — and unfenced, so animals move through at night and you are escorted to your tent after dark. This is safe and well managed, but it is worth knowing in advance if it would make either of you anxious.

Worth asking for

• At least one water-based camp for the mokoro. It is the single most distinctive thing Botswana offers, and land-only itineraries miss it entirely.
• A sleep-out — several camps offer a night on a raised platform under the stars. As a honeymoon experience it is hard to beat.
• A helicopter flight over the Delta with the doors off. Expensive, and the only way to grasp the scale.
• Confirm what activities your camp can actually run at your dates — water levels determine whether mokoro and boating are possible, and this varies month to month.
• Pack genuinely warm clothing for June to August mornings, plus a windproof layer.