Botswana, independent and landlocked, is one of Africa's best-kept secrets, having been spared the exploitation and turmoil of other parts of the continent. It offers one of the last unspoilt wildernesses in Africa, with unfenced game reserves where the largest herds in southern Africa roam free and wild alongside some of the continent's most spectacular and varied birdlife. The great Kalahari Desert covers two-thirds of the country, yet the world's largest inland delta - the Okavango - transforms 5,800 square miles of potential desert into a paradise of palms, papyrus and crystal-clear waterways. AlI the elements of an ageless African experience are to be found throughout the Okavango and Kalahari, combined with the Chobe and Moremi National Parks and the Makgadikgadi Salt Palms. The principal areas of population are to be found in the capital city of Gaborone, noted for its national museum, craft shops and open-air markets; and the townships of Maun and Francistown. 

May to October is the best game-viewing period. These are the dry winter months when game is concentrated around available water. The bush is brown and dried out, making the animals easier to spot Most visitors to Botswana are attracted by two very different, yet equally intriguing areas - the Okavango Delta and the Kalahari Desert. Botswana offers a great deal to travelers - a fascinating culture and eco-system exists in a very largely unspoilt country. The soft green delta, the red sands of the Kalahari, vast herds of elephant, wonderful bird life, a rich variety of game, hunter-gatherers in the desert and modern businessmen in Gaborone, the capital - they are all to be found here. What you will also find is a warm welcome!

KALAHARI DESERT - The great Kalahari Desert covers over 80% of Botswana, and is home to a very specialized flora and fauna. One thinks of desert as harsh and apparently inhospitable, yet the Kalahari supports a great number of species, and is extremely rich in wildlife. In fact, the Kalahari is a semi-arid zone of sands, savannah and grasslands, and stretches from the southern reaches of the Congo to the Orange River in the Cape. The primitive landscapes and wide horizons are intensely powerful and touch a chord with many travelers. Vast salt pans pepper the surface in the most arid areas, and it is here, often during the wet season but also at other times, that the Kalahari wildlife gather. They come not necessarily to drink - the salinity is too high - but because of the greater diversity of vegetation occurring in these areas of high mineral deposits. In these arid regions the antelope species include eland, springbok, gemsbok, steenbok, hartebeest and duiker. Giraffe, kudu, warthog, jackal, hyena and bat-eared fox are also able to exist without copious water.  The Kalahari is also famous for its Bushmen, or San people, traditional hunter-gatherers who are said to live the lifestyle closest to that of the people of the Stone Age. Only found in Botswana, Namibia and Angola in any numbers, these people are now finding it necessary to move into the twentieth century and theirs is a way of life which it will not be possible to observe for many more years.

OKAVANGO DELTA - One of the last utterly unspoilt regions of the world, this is a maze of waterways, lagoons, islands and flood plains on the northern edge of the Kalahari Desert. Home to about 36 species of mammals, 200 species of birds, 80 species of fish and a wealth of flora, the Okavango was created by shifts of the earth's surface forcing a river system away from its natural path (to the Indian Ocean), to form the greatest inland delta in the world. Game to be seen here includes elephant, buffalo, lion, leopard, cheetah, hippo, rhino, kudu, crocodile, and the rare and elusive sitatunga. The Okavango Delta is home to one of the greatest concentrations of wildlife in Africa. Fed by the Okavango River which, rather eccentrically, does not flow into the sea, this is the greatest inland river delta in the world. The Delta is not the place for abundant big game. However, the crystal clear waters and little islets shelter and support an astoundingly rich and varied bird and plant life, and there is a multitude of smaller animals. The ideal way to get around is in the traditional mokoro, a dug-out canoe, in which you may paddle your way around the tangle of waterways that form this fascinating ecological system. Chobe National Park, an area of rolling grassland, is near to the Delta and is renowned for its vast elephant population. The enormous Makgadikgadi salt pans, once a great lake, offer flocks of rosy flamingos, herds of blue wildebeest and various antelope.

MOREMI WILDLIFE RESERVE - Covering 700 square miles in the north-east corner of the Okavango, this is one of the most beautiful - and perhaps the most spectacular -game reserves in southern Africa.

CHOBE NATIONAL PARK - The 4,500-square-mile home of a splendid variety of wildlife, including white rhinoceros and elephants who move in their thousands along well-worn paths of the Chobe River every afternoon in search of water. Also to be seen at the river's edge are herds of buffalo, hippo, lechwe, kudu, impala, roan and puku.