Where To Visit, Eat And Drink In Botswana

Nestled between Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa lie Botswana. Although it is a landlocked country, Botswana has a lot to offer visitors from its culture to breathtaking sceneries spread all over the country.

Botswana’s geographical features are described by the Kalahari Desert which winds down to other Southern African countries. But the major highlight of this fast-growing Southern African country is the Okavango Delta.

Although it is not big in size, it is a wonderful country to include in your bucket list. Here is a guide on where you can visit, what to eat, where to eat and have a drink too.

Where to Visit

Okavango Delta

Bordering the Kalahari Desert, the famous Okavango Delta referred to as the ‘Jewel of Kalahari’ gives you a real treat of how refreshing it is to take a trip with a mokoro canoe. The Delta stretches to about 15 000 square kilometres of the Kalahari Desert in northern Botswana.

The beauty of the Okavango Delta cannot be told in one sentence because it is endowed by all that mother nature has to offer. It has 530 species of birds and is home to the rare African Elephants.

Also read: Botswana’s Chobe National Park Beauty Is Charmingly Inviting

The Delta also boasts of over 2,600 Nile Crocodiles tucked in the Delta’s Panhandle where they feed on insects and larger prey including fish.

Amazingly, Okavango Delta has provided a refuge for the endangered African Wild. Other animals within the Delta include the African Buffalo, Hippopotamus, Lechwe, Topi, Blue Wildebeest, Giraffe, Nile crocodile, Lion, Cheetah, Leopard, Brown Hyena, Spotted Hyena, Greater Kudu, Sable Antelope, Black Rhinoceros, White Rhinoceros, Plains Zebra, Warthog and Chacma Baboon.

Chobe National Park

The diversity of Chobe National Park in Botswana paints a picture of a country greatly endowed in tourism.

With its abundance of wildlife and lush vegetation across the park, it remains on top of the charts and a preferred destination for wanderlusts in South Africa.

Also read: Top Destinations In Africa Of All Time

Kasane town in the northeastern part of Botswana is home to this prestigious park. In this town, Chobe safaris are popular for visitors due to fascinating game views and its lush vegetation supported by the presence of waterways flowing through the park. A safari at the park begins at crocodile and hippo infested Chobe River. Large herds of African elephants come here every day to drink water.

Nxai Pan National Park

Nxai Pan National Park in Botswana crowns your safari into the wild with the sense of real experience in a Southern African jungle.

Together with Makgadikgadi Pan, they are the largest salt pans in the world with some of the best wildlife and bird sights coupled with spectacular scenic views of this vast national park.

Although it is an all-year-round park, the best time to visit it is between late November to April when rainfall hits the ground and the once arid wasteland transforms into a green haven as grass covers the salty pans. This is the time wild animals in abundance gather around the waterholes.

Also read: The Beauty Of Travelling To Botswana In February

Where to eat

Botswana cuisine is unique with Seswaa being a national dish. You should have a taste of it. Seswaa is easy to get across all eateries in Botswana. Besides Seswaa, in the tourist town of Maun is Gaborone’s The Mall with a wide variety of restaurants where you get a real treat of food in Botswana.

Traditional Botswana meals are prepared including a few restaurants that offer international cuisine such as the Beijing Red Lantern Chinese Restaurant where Asian cuisine is readily available. For meat lovers, head to Rodizio along Riverwalk shopping Centre while The Beef Baron Grill and Rib Room at the Grand Pal, Hotel and Casino in Gaborone serves delicious traditional Botswana cuisine.

Some fine steak and grilled ribs are also available. The classy Sports Bar and Restaurant is known for appetizing Western meals while Homey Hilary is the to-go-to spot for vegans. The Curry house serves Indian dishes.

Also read: Botswana’s Okavango Delta The Jewel Of Kalahari

In case you love candlelit dinner, game lodges are the best with Chobe Game Lodge at the Chobe National Park offers the best of this. Tuli Safari Lodge at the Northern Tuli National Park also serves great food.

Drinking joints

Riverwalk Mall Village in Gaborone is your watering hole, literally. Keg and Zebra is a popular bar with a night jam session on Sunday while the Bull and Bush-British style-modelled bar are great for playing pool. O’Hagen’s Irish Pub is also a popular hangout joint for expats and locals with deep pockets.

Grand Palm Hotel Casino Resort has the best cocktails and a terrace bar. For a calm evening whilst having fun, Gaborone Yacht Club is worth a try.