Botswana

Botswana’s remote and sparsely populated game reserves in the Okavango Delta and the Kalahari Desert entice travelers with isolated tented camps.

See the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, a 20,772-square-mile game sanctuary that ranks second in the world in size; the Moremi Game Reserve in the Okavango Delta, widely known as the “predator capital” of Africa with its leopards, cheetahs, African wild dogs and lions; or Chobe National Park, where the elephant population is estimated to be 60,000. You might view wildlife from dugout canoes called mokoros, motorboats or four-wheel-drive vehicles, or on foot.

Botswana safaris are available year-round, although the best game-viewing periods are during the dry season in winter (May through August) and the springtime months of September and October. The best months for bird-watching are November to March.