Botswana lodges are the crème de la crème of the world of luxury safari. As the country is made up of private concessions unless you go to the extremely busy Chobe National Park or Moremi Game Reserve, the prices naturally inflate. Botswana has followed a model of high quality, low quantity in their approach to tourism and it is exceptional at just this. Botswana is home to some of the most spoiling experiences on the continent. The private reserves mean that a lodge which would cost you $700 per person per night in say, southern Tanzania, would cost you $1,300 per person per night in the watery and beautiful Okavango Delta… To get fantastic wildlife viewing and a huge diversity in activities, all in the privacy of your own slice of wilderness, you have to pay a premium!
Best value quality safari lodges in Botswana
Prices have inflated a lot in Botswana in recent years, and they just seem to be going up and up. A lodge like Pom Pom, which admittedly is in an exceptional game viewing area, is now $1,150 per person per night. Aside from the exceptional guiding and wildlife, the actual accommodation is fairly rustic. A fantastic option for some people, though we wonder whether Botswana isn’t going a bit over the top in prices across the board...
A fantastic new property has opened in the Kwara concession; Splash Camp which is a part of the Kwando range. It is very nicely presented and offers a bit more luxury for your money in an exceptional wildlife area but still comes in at $1,416 per person per night.
In order to slash the price of being in these private wildernesses though, we would recommend travelling off season in either May or November, to get still exceptional wildlife, but for a lot less. For example, Pom Pom over these months decreases to $826 per person per night, and Splash reduces to $1,040.
The best barefoot luxury safari lodges in Botswana
Barefoot-luxury safari lodges are a pretty special experience. Little Vumbura in particular is an office favourite. Set on a little island surrounded by water and in one of the most enviable parts of the Delta, Little Vumbura is a seriously special experience. The style is understated, yet authentically luxurious and we absolutely love it. It is not cheap though! Even without all the added luxuries like private pools and a more glitzy design, Little Vumbura is priced at $2,830 per person per night.
Going a little more intrepid, but no less luxurious is Duba Explorers. This is a tented camp, and really does capture the spirit of exploration in the wilderness, certainly without compromising on luxury. Duba Explorers is for those who crave authentic experiences, but expect a certain standard of opulence on their adventure. It is not a cheap camping experience at $1,900 per person per night.
The most luxurious safari lodges in Botswana
The most luxurious safari camp in Africa, and probably one of the best hospitality experiences in the world comes in Mombo Camp located on Chief’s Island in the heart of the Okavango Delta. Private pool galore, the world’s most impressive wildlife viewing opportunities, golden bathtubs, huge rooms and excellent food; it doesn’t get much better than this. As it is one of Africa’s flagship safari lodges… There is again, a price tag to match! In recent years, prices have soared and now in peak season, for one night the per person price is $3,800 USD… If you want the life of luxury, have a good Botswana budget, but can’t justify that per night amount, you could look at the still exceptionally spoiling Vumbura Plains, Duba Plains or Zarafa which are all priced at $3,000 per person per night.
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Jacks - Makgadikgadi Pans
Our View
Jacks Camp... if only there were more places in Africa that had this kind of atmosphere, dedication and professionalism! To say Jacks is amazing is underselling it, this place is absolutely outstanding but the product is unique and it has to be sold correctly. Many would say this is a connoisseurs product but at the same time it is a product for a first timer…a first timer looking for something different. The guiding here is very well informed and, in our view, is some of the very best in Africa. Overall, the Makgadikgadi is not an explosive destination, it is subtle and sophisticated.
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Cost: $1,640
Jao - Okavango Delta
The third Camp, Jao, was probably-maybe for being the last one- the most special to us. The location by the delta was incredible, but the best there was truly the staff, they made us feel as we were HOME, always so pleasant, nice, helpful and funny. There was something really magical around Jao, we also made the safari day+picnic which was really amazing. - S. Garcia-Sineriz
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Cost: $2,500
Kalahari - Central Kalahari
Kalahari Plains was certainly worth visiting, not least to see the rather unusual mix of wildlife and terrain. Whilst much of the terrain was surprisingly green, it is misleading - the lack of reliable surface water appears to restrict what can survive there to mostly the specialists. We saw the black maned lions, and had several unexpected sightings such as Eland. Vast numbers of Oryx! The camp itself was fairly average by Wilderness standards. - A. Marshall
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Cost: $673
Kanana - Okavango Delta
Our View
Operated by Kerr and Downey Safaris, Kanana Camp is well positioned over on the western side of the Okavango Delta. The lodge itself is set on a small island that sits in between two “fingers” of the delta channels and is known as being a predominantly wet camp as opposed to the drier camps of the eastern delta. With great food and stunning views, the camp is very good for those wanting mainly water based activities. We like the camp as it has an intimate feel…it can be a little tricky to find game, however!
Our Rating:
Cost: $912
Karangoma - Karangoma
Our View
Karangoma is a new camp, having opened in May 2024, but it’s established itself as a desirable Okavango Delta option already. It has a unique selling point in that it was established with the local Bukakhwe San community, so guests gain cultural insights other companies can’t claim.
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Cost: $
Kings Pool - Linyanti
Every now and again you, unexpectedly, experience a holiday destinatoon that will stay with you forever. My experience at Kings Pool falls into this category. The wildlife was truly spectacular with great wild dog sightings and even a kill!!! The leopard were also fantastic seeing 2 in one drive! We also went on a sunset river cruise which was truly spectacular!!- E. Bell
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Cost: $2,625
Kwara - Okavango Delta
Kwara was a good place to start off. We were fortunate in having George as our driver/guide - mature, very well informed about all the wildlife and with a good sense of humour. As there were four of us we mostly went on drives on our own with George and a spotter, although the camp was full. The rest of the staff were very helpful and friendly. The accommodation was very adequate and certainly a far cry from our first safari experience in 1985, with electric light, running water and flushing loos now! The food was fine - although the Christmas turkey was the size of an average chicken and meant to feed about 20 of us! Plentiful wine and all sorts of spirits though.We enjoyed the dance/singing routine before dinner (twice), which was just as much for the staff's benefit as the punters'.
There were plenty of animals to see - lots of lion, elephants, giraffe etc. at close range to the camp and, of course, loads of birds. The river safari was good once they had got the boat working and fortunately the punters at little Kwara (friends of Matthew's) came to our rescue several times when the boat stalled!
- D Jeans
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Cost: $929
Kwetsani - Okavango Delta
Our View
Kwetsani is a magnificent camp, set high up in the trees on an island that looks over the Northern plains of the Jao flats. We really like this camp as it is extremely spacious, has stunning views and great balance between activities. With only 5 rooms, all spread out along the fringes of the island you can be sure to find your escape and privacy here. We love Kwetsani and actually think it is the best camp in this whole concession!
Our Rating:
Cost: $1,753
Lagoon - Kwando
This was our favourite camp! The location was great, the guide and tracker were very nice and we had some great sightings (Matt and .. ). It was great to spend our last days in Botswana with these wonderful people. In Lagoon camp we had the family room and 1 double room. Having the additional double room was not really necessary because the family room could easily have fitted all 5 of us . The campmanager told us that this family room can be booked for 5 people. This is probably good to know for you because families can save some money this way. - R Blom
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Cost: $1,350
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