Botswana for Families

Overview
Details, Details
Itinerary
Gallery
Accommodations
Wildlife
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Something for everyone

Taking your family on safari is magical. But imagine taking them to Botswana’s most exclusive wilderness areas, where iconic animals fill the landscapes and there’s something thrilling around every corner. On this 10-day, nine-night family safari, you’ll visit Makgadikgadi National Park, explore the shimmering expanse of the Makgadikgadi Pans and end with an extraordinary safari in Khwai Private Reserve. To add to the fun, you’ll stay in a range of quirky camps and lodges, including our totally unique traditionally-styled Baobab huts, to tented, clifftop sanctuaries.

This is a wild and rugged sort of trip, and one that’s full of adventure; the ultimate expedition for intrepid families, one might say! And, whatever happens, you’ll need to have your camera at the ready because things can happen in an instant when you’re in the heart of the bush…

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Price from:

Please enquire for details

Duration:

10 days/ 9 nights

Departure Dates:

On demand

Min / Max Group Size

Please enquire with reservations /

Trip Begins / Ends

Maun, Botswana / Maun, Botswana

Includes Mobile Camping:

No

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Details, Details

Highlights

Take your kids on a wild and exciting expedition through Botswana’s most pristine and animal-rich wilderness areas.
The Makgadikgadi offers encounters with habituated meerkats, quad biking expeditions and night game drives – surely every child’s dream come true?!
Seek out unique desert species, including the black maned Kalahari lion and the elusive brown hyena on 4×4 game drives.
At Meno a Kwena, join the San bushmen for a morning or afternoon and listen as they reveal the secrets of the bush (and how to make an arrow out of a leaf…)
Game drive across the safari utopia of Khwai Private Reserve, full to bursting with the icons of animal world; lion, leopard, elephant, giraffe and zebra to name but a few.
Float down the quiet waterways of Khwai by boat or mokoro, spotting waterbirds, crocs and hippos as you go.

The Essentials

Pricing Information: We’re busy putting the finishing touches to this itinerary, so please get in touch with us for details on price.

Included: Travelling costs as per itinerary; activities (most!); entrance and park fees; accommodation as specified on a sharing basis; all meals and local drinks; road transfers; applicable tourism levies, taxes, and all relevant VAT.

Excluded: Expenses of a personal nature, such as telephone expenses & shopping; premium brand drinks; tips and gratuities; additional activities; scheduled flights and related taxes; Visa fees where relevant; cancellation, baggage, medical, and evacuation insurance.

Child Policy: Please enquire with reservations.

Disabled Access: Please enquire with reservations.

Wifi: Wifi is available at Meno a Kwena, but not at Planet Baobab, Camp Kalahari or Sable Alley.

Can this itinerary be customised? Yes, this itinerary can be fully customised.

Extension ideas: For an added thrill, book your brood into the Skybeds in Khwai private reserve. The five-metre high platforms take camping to the next level! (12 years and above)

When to Go & What to Pack

We run this trip throughout the year, and each season has its own unique characteristics. The green season is from January until March; the high season runs from July until October, and the shoulder seasons are from April to June, and November through to January.

When it comes to packing, we recommend that you include neutral, cotton, long sleeved tops and trousers; a warm sweater; a broad-brimmed hat; sunglasses; sunblock; insect repellent; lip salve; sturdy walking shoes and socks; a head torch; binoculars; a camera; a kikoi; a good book; and swimming kit, all year round. Those coming during the summer should also pack a light, compact jacket, and those visiting in the winter should bring layers, warm leggings to go beneath trousers, and a hat, gloves and a scarf.

Our Guides

As guides ourselves, we are only too aware of the importance of great guiding on safari. At Natural Selection, our guides live and breathe the bush. They know its rhythms, its beats and its quirks. They can spot a leopard’s whisker from around a corner, and they have an innate ability to expect the unexpected. Most importantly, they love to share their knowledge and delight for all aspects of Africa’s ecosystems, from the smallest plant to the hairiest mammal, and everything in between. Many of our guides are from the local communities, and they are always happy to discuss their cultures, backgrounds and upbringings. After all, understanding the way of life of the local people can bring a whole new perspective to the land you’re exploring. And did we mention that they are all fantastic company, with some of the biggest personalities in the business? But we can’t vouch for their jokes…

Our guides will also work hard to find the animals that you and your family would like to see. They won’t bump you around in a 4×4 for hours and hours, or talk about things you aren’t interested in. They’ll keep things fresh and stimulating, and most importantly, they’ve got plenty of tricks up their sleeves to keep young minds entertained.

Highlights

Take your kids on a wild and exciting expedition through Botswana’s most pristine and animal-rich wilderness areas.
The Makgadikgadi offers encounters with habituated meerkats, quad biking expeditions and night game drives – surely every child’s dream come true?!
Seek out unique desert species, including the black maned Kalahari lion and the elusive brown hyena on 4×4 game drives.
At Meno a Kwena, join the San bushmen for a morning or afternoon and listen as they reveal the secrets of the bush (and how to make an arrow out of a leaf…)
Game drive across the safari utopia of Khwai Private Reserve, full to bursting with the icons of animal world; lion, leopard, elephant, giraffe and zebra to name but a few.
Float down the quiet waterways of Khwai by boat or mokoro, spotting waterbirds, crocs and hippos as you go.

The Essentials

Pricing Information: We’re busy putting the finishing touches to this itinerary, so please get in touch with us for details on price.

Child Policy: Please enquire with reservations.

Disabled Access: Please enquire with reservations.

Wifi: Wifi is available at Meno a Kwena, but not at Planet Baobab, Camp Kalahari or Sable Alley.

Can this itinerary be customised? Yes, this itinerary can be fully customised.

Extension ideas: For an added thrill, book your brood into the Skybeds in Khwai private reserve. The five-metre high platforms take camping to the next level! (12 years and above)

When to Go & What to Pack

Our Guides

Itinerary & Map

Day 1: Arrive at Maun Airport and transfer to Planet Baobab, Makgadikgadi Pans

After a quick stop at Maun Airport, you’ll be whisked off to Planet Baobab by your guide. Settle into bush life with an afternoon game drive, and fall asleep under the watch of the stars.

Day 2: Transfer to Camp Kalahari, Makgadikgadi Pans

Today, you’ll zoom across the seemingly endless, shimmering salt pans to your next stop, Camp Kalahari. Watch out for the unique desert inhabitants as you go.

Days 3 & 4: Camp Kalahari, Makgadikgadi Pans

Why not try a quad bike safari, or spend some time getting to know the cheeky meerkats of the desert?

Day 4: Transfer to Meno a Kwena, Makgadikgadi Pans National Park

It’s off to the Boteti River today for more wildlife watching and migration spotting.

Days 5 & 6: Meno a Kwena, Makgadikgadi Pans National Park

Today you’ll have the opportunity to meet some of the San bushmen, the oldest culture on earth and a people who have lived this way for many thousands of years.

Day 7: Transfer to Sable Alley, Khwai Private Reserve

Wave goodbye to the dry, wind-rippled desert of Magkadikgadi, for today you’re off to the grassy green floodplains of Khwai Private Reserve.

Days 8 & 9: Sable Alley, Khwai Private Reserve

Let the family loose on game drives, walking safaris and traditional mokoro safaris amid the phenomenal animals of Kwhai.

Day 10: Depart from Maun Airport

After a last game drive and camera flash, it’s time to head to the airstrip for your flight back to Maun.

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Botswana for Families Gallery

Accommodations

All the camps on our family safari itineraries are totally family-friendly, safe and secure. What’s more, the staff are dab hands at hosting kids and looking after little ones (and they’ve been doing it for many years!). As for meals and munchies, there’s plenty for children on the menu and if not, our chefs are always happy to whip up special requests.

Planet Boabab is quite possibly the coolest camp on the continent and kids will love the quirky rooms and the colossally impressive baobab trees. Camp Kalahari is laidback, fun, and a firm favourite with families, especially the swimming pool – an ideal spot for some serious siesta splashing. At Meno a Kwena there are two, brand new family units both with inter-leading tents, and plenty of old world artefacts in the main area that will fascinate young minds. And lastly, Sable Alley, a stylish haven in the heart of Khwai, where you’ll wake to splashing elephant just outside your tent, and fall asleep to the snorting of the hippo. Magic.

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Wildlife

There’s plenty to wave your binoculars at on this itinerary, and children won’t have a moment to be bored with the sheer variety of animals in the different areas. The sparse desert habitat of Makgadikgadi Pans and the National Park is pretty unique. You’ll find antelope with comical twisted horns and remarkable desert elephant brushing shoulders with cheeky meerkat and brown hyena. Then, the rumble of hooves signals the arrival of Africa’s second largest migration. A stonking spectacle of 30,000 zebra and wildebeest migrate across the Makgadikgadi Pans alongside a scattering of other hooved beasties. As the pans dry from April onwards, the zebra complete their journey at the Boteti River right by Meno a Kwena in an explosion of black and white stripes – and the predators are never far behind.

In Khwai, be prepared for zebra, wildebeest, impala, and predators such as African wild dog, lion, leopard and cheetah. There will also be a chance to sit back, relax, and watch families of elephant ambling past, and you’ll be able to add some ticks to your bird list with the dazzling number of feathered species around. On the waterways and rivers, keep your eyes peeled for lazing crocodile and harrumphing hippo.

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