Botswana Birding Tours

Botswana is widely known for its excellent mammal viewing, with all of southern Africa’s big game being present, for its fantastic predator viewing, and in particular for the reliability with which African Wild Dog can be seen. Not to be overlooked however, the wetlands of the Okavango Delta and the subtropical woodlands occurring around it are a bird watcher’s paradise. Indeed, this country boasts a staggering amount of birds thanks to its varied habitats and is a stronghold for such sought species as the endearing Wattled Crane, the rare Slaty Egret, and the prized Pel’s Fishing Owl. South-east of the vibrant Okavango plains are the unique Makgadikgadi Pans, which are essentially the remains of a once vast saline lake, yet even still today they are some of the largest salt pans in the world and serve as an important breeding site for Greater Flamingo. In the vast Kalahari Desert that covers much of the country are a few key reserves, namely the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. Although somewhat isolated, these parks, and in particular the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, which is shared with neighboring South Africa, gives one a chance to experience some of the largest wilderness areas left in southern Africa. For birding and wildlife tours Botswana can be visited throughout the year, however please read our blog on the best time to visit Botswana for more detailed information.

Our birdwatching tours to Botswana cover a wide range of the country, although they predominantly focus on the easier-to-access and lusher northern sections of the country, where the Okavango Delta and the wilderness areas of Moremi, Savuti, Linyanti, and Chobe all feature. While such charismatic species as the elegant African Skimmer and the dainty African Pygmy Goose can be almost guaranteed, mammals and game viewing often form an integral part of our bird-watching tours to Botswana. This is also a country that is easily combined with bird watching tours to Namibia and Zambia. where the bird watching is excellent and the variety of bird species to be seen is complementary, making tours to Botswana worthwhile and rewarding and surely some of the best ones in southern Africa!