25 Photos of Botswana to Inspire You to Visit in 2025
Botswana is the perfect destination for anyone who loves Africa. It’s safe, friendly, and full of once-in-a-lifetime sights and adventures.
I’m betting that these photos of Botswana here will have you wanting to book the next flight.
There are so many amazing places in Africa to explore the wilds and the wildlife. As you’ll see from these photos of Botswana, it’s one of the most beautiful of them.
It’s a stunning combination of wetland, grassland, and desert. It’s also home to some of our most endangered animals. Fortunately, Botswana contains more than a dozen wildlife-protected areas.
It’s got national parks, game reserves, and peace parks. There’s no shortage of places to view the stunning landscapes and the extraordinary wildlife.
Really, it’s hard to find superlatives that haven’t already been overused. It’s just a stunning area.
Video by Tobias Rothlin
Another difficult task is in trying to decide where to go first.
I‘m not able to pick a favourite. However, the Okavango Delta is the first place that pops into my mind when I think of Botswana. It’s where I took my first bushwalk – no guns allowed.
As well, it’s where I had a very close encounter with a hyena. Believe me, they look much bigger when you’re on foot than from the seat of a land cruiser.
And it’s actually where I first fell in love with Botswana. That love just grew with every new spot I visited in this spectacular country. I’d like to invite you to take a photo journey with me.
Below are some of my favourite images throughout Botswana. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as did taking them.
I’m an elephant lover. Any size, but especially the babies.
After 20-22 months of being pregnant, elephant moms will have these babies with them for about 16 years.
When the calves are about 2 years old they start using their trunks to eat plants and grasses. This is when they finally have pretty good control of the 40,000 muscles that make up their little trunks.
But even then, mom’s milk is a part of their diet for up to 8 more years. That’s a total of 10 years of nursing; poor mom.
A full one-sixth of the world’s elephants live here in Botswana. They travel the same ancient migration routes of the Okavango Delta of Botswana that their mothers did, and their mothers before them.
They follow the water and the food, which tend to go together for browsers/grazers like these guys. Check out these Botswana pictures.
A single lion will tend to leave a hippo to its own devices, especially in the water. A hippo weighs about 10x what a lion does. Therefore if a lion crossed a hippo without backup, he wouldn’t stand a chance.
With a mouth that can open 180° and tusks up to 2 feet long, a hippo can take care of a lion without much effort. Being herbivores though, they won’t kill for food, only in self-defence and to protect their young.
Have you ever seen a hippo looking a little pink and slippery? That’s because they have glands in their skins that produce a reddish substance that acts as a sunscreen and antibiotic.
Even so, they spend most of their time in the water to escape the sun and heat. Their babies are even born underwater, and have to swim up to take a breath.
In Botswana, the majority live in the Okavango Delta and along the Chobe River.
There’s nothing like lying in a tent and feeling the ground tremble as a lion roars nearby. That’s something you’ll remember forever.
Lions are considered a vulnerable species, but they’re not too hard to find in Botswana.
Lions in the Okavango Delta are said to be bigger than the average lion. This is because of the sizable populations of buffalo and other large prey to snack on.
They’re also pretty muscular from swimming and walking through water in the Delta, to get around and to hunt.
The best sightings, though, are probably in Savute, within Chobe National Park. These young desert lions above were spotted in the Central Kalahari, one of the largest deserts in the world.
The brothers had had a run-in with a porcupine. You can see a quill in the mane of the guy in front. As they grow older, their manes will grow thick and black, something Kalahari lions are famous for.
African Wild Dogs are known by a few different names – Painted Wolves, Hunting Dogs, Cape Hunting Dogs. Whatever you decide to call them, they’re gorgeous.
With ears like satellite dishes and colourful, mottled coats that are different on every one, who could resist? One of Africa’s most successful hunters, Wild Dogs have an 80% success rate, compared to lions’ 30%.
They’re also one of the planet’s most endangered mammals. Habitat loss and conflict with humans are two of their biggest issues. They’re vulnerable to domestic canine diseases, too, like distemper. Distemper has been known to wipe out entire packs.
As their habitat shrinks, they come into contact more and more often with humans and with their pet dogs.
These guys are rare, so seeing them is always exciting. I watched this pack for as long as I could. I’m sure this pack made it into a lot of Botswana photos!
Ostriches are really interesting birds to see in the wild. Even more so when they’ve got the family with them. This dad is taking the kids out for a stroll. You can tell the male from the female by the colours of the feathers.
Males are black, and females are brown like these youngsters. An ostrich can actually kill a lion with those long legs. He’s also got a large hoof-like claw on one of his 2 toes to help out with that.
Or if he doesn’t feel like fighting, he can run away at 70km/hr. It helps that he can cover 5 meters in one stride, using one of his meter-long wings as a rudder.
I’m amazed by these birds. You can find them all across Botswana. I also find a lot of ostriches when I look through my photos of Botswana.
Sometimes all you need to do is look at the Okavango Delta. No words required.
Botswana is one of the best places to see meerkats in the wild. The area of the Makgadikgadi Pans in The Kalahari Desert is a great spot
This group above, called a clan or a mob, didn’t seem at all spooked to have me around.
But there was a bird of prey flying overhead. The meerkats could see a bird in the sky when it was still invisible to me. They’d all scurry to the opening of their nest and stand like this.
And all but the little one’s eyes were glued to the potential threat. Once the threat passed, it was back to fun and games.
They don’t seem to like to share, but stealing was ok. One of these adults had caught a brahminy blind snake. He wanted the whole thing for himself. I think they all did.
I love these funny little creatures.
Leopard sightings are always exciting! They blend in surprisingly well, especially when they’re in the trees.
People say that if a leopard doesn’t want to be seen – it won’t be. Period. I feel lucky every time I see one. Botswana is a great place for leopard spotting.
Towards the end of the dry season, September and October especially, are when they’re the easiest to see. The grasses have died back a bit and provide less camouflage.
This picture was taken in the Khwai River Region of the Moremi Game Reserve. Moremi is a part of the Okavango Delta, but it’s more than wetlands. It has grasslands, forest, and is a great place for self-drive and organized safaris.
Leopard pictures are some of a traveller’s favourite Botswana photos, not only because they’re such stunning animals, but because they never know when they’ll see another one.
Once again on the Delta – this spot was near my camping spot in the trees, reached by mokoro.
A mokoro is a canoe is a canoe traditionally made from the trunk of an ebony or a sausage tree. They’re more often made out of fibreglass now, to preserve the big trees.
They’re propelled by standing in the front and pushing a pole into the river bottom. They’re actually still used by the locals as a convenient and easy way to move around the area.
They’re NOT as easy to use as they look, though. Trust me.
The herbivores of Africa are often seen together. Not only because they have nothing to fear from each other. They also eavesdrop on each other’s cues when detecting predators.
Not to mention, it’s handy having someone around who can see over the bushes when you can’t.
Botswana also is home to some lesser-known wildlife. Above left is the aardwolf, or thukwe in Setswana.
They’re one of the 4 hyena species. While they will eat a small animal once in a while, they’re actually insectivorous.
They use their long sticky tongues to slurp up termites and larva, or other tasty insects at night. Aardwolves aren’t common, so count yourself lucky if you see one!
The bat-eared fox is also mainly an insectivore, helping to control the termite populations. Dung beetles, scorpions, and lizards aren’t safe around them, either.
Those great ears are used to keep the fox cool, and give them keen hearing. They’re nocturnal in the summer, but diurnal in winter.
Vervet monkeys are pretty ubiquitous in the southern part of Africa. They’re cute and fun to watch, but you do have to be sure to keep your windows closed.
They’ll climb in and cause trouble if they have a chance.
There are a lot of ways to visit Botswana, Africa.
If it’s your first time in Africa, you might want to start with an organized safari. I say this whether you’re travelling solo or not. There are a lot of options. You can go on a camping safari where you put up your own tents and share in the cooking.
A luxury excursion where everything is done for you – by your butler – might be more your style. Or anything in between. Even just for a few days or a week, if you’re a bit nervous diving in on your own.
Or not, if you’re excited to get out there solo! Start your own collection of Botswana images!
Once you feel comfortable you can try a self-drive safari. Then you can travel at your own pace and do your own thing.
But – you’ll need to learn the tricks to driving in the sand. For example, how much air to let out of your tires, and when. And how to get out when you get stuck. This site has some great advice on this subject.
Try to leave time to spend a few days in Maun, Kasane or Gabarone. You’ll enjoy meeting the lovely people and getting a feel for the local culture.
But most importantly – GO! Life is too short to wait!
Happy travels!
You might also like:
• 33 Fun & Interesting Facts About Botswana
• 17 Fun Facts About The Okavango Delta
• The Best Things to Do in Maun 2023
• Find Your Dream Destination in Africa
