Top 10 Campsites in Botswana
Botswana has built its conservation model around high-value, low-volume tourism — fewer visitors paying more for access to better-preserved wilderness. Camping here reflects that philosophy: sites are simple, often without fencing, and located inside national parks and game reserves where wildlife moves freely. The Okavango Delta, Chobe National Park, the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, and the Moremi Game Reserve together form one of the world's largest continuous wildlife conservation areas. Camping within it requires self-sufficiency, experience with wildlife protocols, and a 4WD vehicle.
1. Savuti Campsite, Chobe National Park
Savuti sits on the Savuti Marsh — an inland drainage system of extraordinary productivity — and is one of the most wildlife-dense camping locations in Africa. Elephant herds come to the marsh waterhole adjacent to the site in dry season, and lion prides that specialise in elephant predation are resident. The campsite is unfenced; all food must be stored in the vehicle. Self-catering only; no services except a basic toilet facility. The site books out months in advance during the peak dry season (June through October).
2. Tau Pan Camp Site, Central Kalahari Game Reserve
In the heart of the Central Kalahari — Africa's second-largest game reserve — Tau Pan CS 1 sits on a fossil pan that attracts brown hyena, cheetah, lion, and the distinctive Kalahari black-maned lion. The CKGR is accessible only by 4WD on sandy tracks; the drive to Tau Pan from Maun takes a full day. The isolation is genuine. Bring sufficient fuel, water (no water on site), and food for your entire stay plus a margin for delays.
3. Xakanaxa Camp Site, Moremi Game Reserve
In the eastern Okavango Delta, Xakanaxa is one of the most productive wildlife-observation campsites in Africa. The combination of permanent water, dense mopane and marula woodland, and adjacent papyrus channels supports concentrations of elephant, buffalo, hippo, leopard, and lion. The site is fenced — one of the few in Moremi. Ablution blocks, self-catering. Boat hire available locally.
4. Third Bridge Campsite, Moremi Game Reserve
At a wooden bridge crossing a Delta channel in the heart of Moremi, Third Bridge is among the most scenic camping locations in the Okavango. The site is partially fenced and set in riverine forest. Hippos and crocodiles are in the adjacent channel; night protocol requires care. The birdlife here is exceptional, with African fish eagle, pel's fishing owl, and kingfisher species all regularly recorded.
5. Chobe Safari Lodge Camping Site, Kasane
Adjacent to the Chobe River at the park's northern entrance — a fully serviced site with ablutions and electric connections — this is the practical entry-level Botswana campsite for first-time visitors who want to experience Chobe's elephant and buffalo concentrations without the full self-reliance requirements of remote sites. Chobe is home to Africa's largest elephant population. Boat safaris on the river are bookable from Kasane town.
6. Piper Pan Campsite (CKPIP 02), Central Kalahari
A remote CKGR site at one of the fossil pans in the reserve's western section. Less visited than Tau Pan, the Piper Pan sites give access to open Kalahari grassland and semi-arid scrub. Springbok, gemsbuck, and hartebeest are the primary ungulates; black-backed jackals are active at dawn and dusk. No facilities of any kind; full self-sufficiency required.
7. The Old Bridge Backpackers, Maun
On the Thamalakane River at the gateway town for Okavango Delta access, The Old Bridge is the starting point for most independent camping travellers entering the Delta system. It functions as both a campsite and a booking hub for Delta mokoro (dugout canoe) excursions and game drive operators. Facilities include ablutions, a bar, and a restaurant. The campsite is inside the floodplain and can be affected by seasonal inundation.
8. Drifters Maun Camp, Maun
Another Maun base camp, Drifters provides self-catering camping with a pool and reliable logistics support for departures deeper into the Delta and Moremi. Maun is the primary staging point for light-aircraft charter flights to remote Okavango camps and the CKGR.
9. Khutse Campsite, Khutse Game Reserve
On the southern boundary of the CKGR, Khutse is accessible from Gaborone in a full day's 4WD drive, making it the most accessible wildlife camping destination in Botswana for visitors based in the capital. Lion, cheetah, and large herds of springbok use the pans here. The Khutse landscape — shallow pans on Kalahari sand — is distinctive and photogenic in dawn and dusk light.
10. Nxai Pan Campsite, Makgadikgadi Pans National Park
On the edge of the fossil lake basin that is the Makgadikgadi Pans, Nxai Pan becomes one of the most extraordinary camping locations in Africa between December and April, when the rains fill the pan and attract zebra migration herds — up to 30,000 animals moving through at peak. The campsite has ablution facilities and is partially fenced. Baobab Baobab trees — including the famous Baines' Baobabs nearby — define the landscape.
Practical notes
4WD is mandatory for all sites beyond Maun and Kasane. Self-sufficiency in fuel and water is required for all CKGR sites — the nearest fuel to Tau Pan is 200+ km. Wildlife safety: never leave food outside vehicles, use camp kitchen areas, do not approach wildlife on foot outside the vehicle at unfenced sites.