Botswana camping safaris: Why Moremi, Khwai and Savuti delivers magic for our wildlife photographers
Published on: March 1, 2025
How we created the perfect Botswana camping safaris based on looking at the best national parks in Botswana for wildlife over the last 12 years, We started organising our Botswana camping safaris in 2013 with the help of two UK photographers who had their own Landrover based out there. After they had looked at the best places in Botswana for wildlife, we used their years of experiences to create the perfect Botswana safaris for photographers and wildlife lovers alike. Maximum group size of six clients in a spacious Landcruiser with one of the best wildlife guides in the country.
The magic starts in Maun, or Kasane: Best flight options for your Botswana camping safari
Each year the founder of Wildlife Trails spends several months in Maun researching the best Botswana safaris for our valued clients. This allows him to check out the best flight options from Europe and be able to advise clients on the besr routes as well as if the airlines are up to standard. Previously nearly eveyone flying from Europe to Botswana used Johannsburg as a Hub to connect with onwards flights to Maun or Kasane but now there is a new player in town as Ethiopian Airlines launched a 3 times a week service from Addis Adaba to Maun. Rather than ‘overflying’ Botswana to Joburg and then flying back north you take a more direct route. Allan has flown this route from Barcelona and the standard was good, although the international terminal at Addis can be a little crowded and is not as efficient or easy to navigate as Joburg. At least it provides people travelling out there for their Botswana camping safaris with another flight option and the prices with Ethiopian are generally very competetive; especially for upgrades to business class.
Maun, Botswana: Dusty town to pass through quickly, or green gateway to wildlife heaven?
We are requoting some unkind travel articles about Maun where they summised it is just a ‘food stop’ in a dusty uninspiring town for self-drivers before they start there Botswana wildlife safaris. Since I live in Maun (not far from the Sedia Hotel) for several months a year, you would probably expect me to have a different opinion; and I do. That’s not to say there is not plenty of sand around to practice your off road driving skills, or that it is full of beautiful green spaces for the locals. There is definitely room for improvement and not just for the international tourists passing through.
This is a town and a people struggling to deal with the lack of winter rains, and the now often late arrival of the world famous Okavango Delta flood. What will this mean for the town of Maun in the future if this continues. Currently it is not having a huge effect on apex predators in the Moremi, Khwai and Savuti route to Chobe national park. Although elephants are travelling closer to towns and local farms, causing the potential for wildlife and human conflict. I was there last year in August to see the arrival of the annual flood in Maun and also in December, to witness the rains and how green the town becomes with the life giving waters.
Thamalakane River Lodge Maun: Why we choose to stay here for our first night
There are many lodges to choose from for your first night in Maun, but only a few have a genuine wilderness feel, and get you away from the live music, which booms out from bars and churches alike. That’s great if you are here to party, but less so if you want to let nature lull you to sleep and get over that jet lag, so you are fresh for the safari section of your Botswana safari holiday.
If you look on Google Maps and simply follow the Thamalakane River out of Maun you will see many lodges concentrated next to the river as you drive the road between Maun and Francistown. There are some great places to stop for a drink, or meal here, like Backpackers with it’s beautiful bridge and Crocodile Camp, with its lively bar right next to the river. However, they too can have events on like weddings and music festivals so it is best to drive a further 10-15 mintes and take the unsealed road to Thamalakane Lodge.
Here you will receive a warm welcome from the friendly staff and be impressed by the quality of the cute bungalows and the large gardens which lead down to the river; unobstructed by cattle fences, or other ugly man made structures. Great place to wander around practicing your photography on a few waterside birds, before enjoying a lovely dinner and fruit cocktail in the open air restaurant. Enjoy a restful night without music to disturb you and be ready for the start of your Botswana camping safari.
Moremi Game Reserve: Lions, Cheetahs and Leopard all in one day – really?
Yes, it really happened and it was one of my best wildlife viewing days ever. Our group was already on a high after seeing the beautiful lake side private camping site we would be staying in for the next 4 nights. Not only did this alllow us to see wildlife direct from the camp, we also got an extra 30 minutes safari time compared to all the other visitors to Moremi who had to be out of the reserve by 6pm sharp.
We left the camp the following morning while it was still dark so in effect we had a mini night safari as we headed to some of the prime wildlife areas which our excellent guide was keen to show us. we wondered if we would catch up with the pack of Hyenas that had walked through the camp looking for scraps near the fire. Instead just as the light was getting to a reasonable level for photography we found a young leopard in the forest, full of confidence and ‘happy’ to pose for several minutes as we enjoyed our first big cat sighting of the trip.
Later we entered a more open grassland area which Moremi is known for and came across a huge male Lion devouring the remains of a Zebra kill. We were the only vehicle there, so we had an intimate photography session with the King of Moremi, before driving on to see if we could find the rest of the pride. We soon encountered two lionesses with huge round stomachs and a grumpy demeanour, as a group of Hyenas loitered in the distance. They managed to eat and ‘stare out’ the Hyenas at the same time, who then decided not to hang around while the lions were in such an aggressive mood.
The lions then decided to move off with their full bellies and after a casual saunter across the grasslands, they followed our vehicle as we moved well ahead to get some low level walking shots as they crossed one of the famous Moremi wooden bridges. As they continued to move away from us we scanned the huge landscape and were amazing to see a cheetah and her two cubs feeding on an Impala. The mother had obviously spotted the lions as she appeared agitated and soon after moved away from the kills with her cubs to an area with longer grass where they could ‘melt’ into the shadows. We did however manage to have 10-15 minutes with them before they disappeared out of sight completely.
Depending on water levels in the Moremi game reserve and if the parks bridges have been prepared there are at least a couple of options which allow you to do a game drive connecting the Moremi landscape with Khwai. The Khwai game reserve is famous for Lion and Leopard sightings and also has been one of the location consistently good for African Wild Dog. We arrived in time to see a male leopard scent marking his territory before arriving at our small guesthouse for dinner and a few celebatory drinks. What an incredible day we had enjoyed in the Botswana bush with close up encounts with all three of Africas big cats.
Khwai Private Reserve: One Wild Dog, Vultures and Lions, and a jumping Serval
It’s fair to say that our small Botswana group of clients were hoping to hit the African wild dog ‘jackpot’ while on safari in Khwai. None of us had seen this elusive species before and it appears that without an active den to help us localise the pack it was going to be a challenging few days trying to find them. Interestingly we received information of a long Wild Dog being spotted in an open area inside the reserve, which almost looked like a runway.
Meanwile we were keen to explore the entire reserve and one of the highlights for me was the drive along the beautiful Khwai river, where we could search for lesser wild cats as well as enjoying some of the beautiful bird species. On one of the drives I could see a group of vultures flying low with purpose so we used their movement as a tracking method for the likely kill, so we could see what animal had been lucky during the night or early morning. Our detective work took us along the Khwai river until we could see 10-20 Vultures sitting in two larges trees on the opposite bank. As we trained our bincos on the shadows between the trees, we located two large male lions on a kill – mission accomplised.
Unlike Moremi and Savuti, Khwai allows night time drives offering a chance to see species which are much more nocturnal in habitat. I still dream of seeing wither Aaardvark or Aardwolf on such drives but of course they are very shy and elusive. We did find an African wild cat hunting in an open dry area not far from our wilderness lodge and he was a delight to follow as his focus was only on catching something to eat that night.
The grasslands around the Khwai river are lush and extensive and thus provide an ideal habitat for lesser wild cats such as Serval and Caracal. We were over the moon to glimpse – at some distance – a Serval jumping high in the grass, as it hunted small rodents within its riverside territory. Even when such encounters do not give you good opportunities for photography, you are excited to know that the species is doing well and that Khwai remains a good places to see them.
Savuti Game Reserve: Home to the famous Elephant hunting Lions, but we found another Apex Predator
I remember vividly watching the famous David Attenborough wildlife documentary about the huge pride of lions found in the Savuti ‘marshes’ which specialised in hunting elephants due to the sheer number of lions capable of hunting. The lions in Savuti are still a big attraction to come here and there is also an area on the fringes of the grasslands which is ideal cheetah habitat.
After missing out on seeing the individual Wild Dog in Khwai that had led us a merry dance we thought that maybe our chances had gone on this Botswana camping safari, so you can imagine our excitment to be told thay there was an active den about 40 minutes away from our Savuti lodge accommodation. On the drive between Khawi and Savuti we stopped briefly at an abandoned Wild Dog den, where sadly several pubs had been killed by lions forcing the adults to move them to another site. This is a time when I reflected on our own behaviour around such sensitive areas and how we may unwittingly lead the lions to a den, such is the intelligence of these top felines, who will often look to kill other predators found in their territory.
The following day we used the local intel to drive slowly within around 50M of the den. One other vehicle had positioned itself on the other side closer to the den, but to avoid distrubing them or getting in the shot of the other photographers we stayed on the opposite side and enjoyed our first views of the young African wild dog puppies emerging from the den to play. One by one they explored their surrounding above the den but rarely strayed more than 5 metres from the entrance. As always with a littler of puppies, some were bolder than others and more boisterous with their play.
The second vehicle moved on and so we swapped sides for the chance of better light and were rewarded with several adult Wild Dogs returning to the den and regurgitating food for several of the puppies. The adults were incredibly relaxed around us and the puppies as a result became quite bold; although definitely focused on getting as much share of the food each as possible.
Our dream to see African wild dogs had finally come true, but in all honesty all the wildlife had shone brightly during our two week Botswana camping safari and I vowed that this would not be the last time. Why not join us in June 2025 and see the magic for yourselves?
