A Green Season Safari through Botswana
From November to April, discover Botswana in its green season. Glide through Delta channels by mokoro, head out on game drives across open grasslands and spend time with San and Zu/’hoasi communities. It is also the calving season for wildebeest and several antelope species.
Trip highlights
- Glide through the Okavango Delta by mokoro (dugout canoe)
- Head out on game drives in private Delta concessions
- Walk with San trackers in the Central Kalahari
- Watch wildlife from Dinaka Camp’s viewing platform
- Time your trip with the Makgadikgadi zebra migration
- Spend time with habituated meerkats at Jack’s Camp
Bespoke trips with Jacada
We design one-of-a-kind journeys incorporating luxury in all its forms. Our bespoke trips include:
- Luxury accommodation throughout
- Privately guided tours
- Private transfers
- Meticulously selected experiences
- Expertise and support from your Jacada Concierge
Itinerary in detail
Every Jacada trip is tailored to your personal preferences and interests. Below you’ll find a sample itinerary to inspire your own custom-designed journey.
Days 1-4
Set out in the Okavango Delta
Botswana’s green season typically runs from November to April, and the Okavango Delta is an exciting place to experience it. Dry landscapes are refreshed, turning bright green as grasses grow tall and thick. Trees and bushes fill with leaves after the afternoon rain which also brings dramatic skies.
Wildlife is abundant at this time of year. Look out for newborn antelope and exceptional birdlife including migratory species that arrive during the green season. With fewer visitors, wildlife experiences feel especially peaceful and intimate. We suggest staying at Shinde and Vumbura Plains, which offer a mix of land and water activities year-round. Set beside permanent water, they are less reliant on seasonal flood levels than other parts of the Delta during the green season.
Where you could stay
Wilderness Little Vumbura
Connect with the wild
On water
Slow the pace
Venture afield
A traditional mokoro safari
Explore the Okavango Delta by mokoro, gliding quietly through its channels in a traditional dugout canoe with a local guide. It is one of the most peaceful ways to experience the Delta and feel the stillness of the waterways as reeds, lilies and birdlife surround you. Water levels permitting, you may spot hippos, crocodiles and red lechwe along the way.
Explore the Delta on foot
Slow the pace with a guided nature walk through the Okavango Delta. Exploring on foot gives you a more intimate sense of the surroundings, with time to track animals, observe insects and discover the plants that are often overlooked from a vehicle. Your private guide will help you read spoor and other subtle signs, revealing how much is happening at ground level.
Out on game drives at dawn and dusk
Head out in an open safari vehicle at first light or in the late afternoon to explore the Delta on game drives. It is one of the best ways to cover more ground with the chance to look for elephants, lions and a variety of birdlife. There is often time to pause for coffee, snacks or sundowners along the way. And in private concession areas, drives can continue after dark, when the bush feels completely different and nocturnal wildlife begins to emerge.
Days 4-6
Two days in Central Kalahari
The Central Kalahari comes into its own especially from January to March, making it one of the best places for a green season safari in Africa. Rain softens this dry, harsh landscape into fresh grasslands with wildflowers. Wildlife gathers around the pans and across Deception Valley to graze on the nutrient-rich grasses. You can look out for springbok, gemsbok and wildebeest.
One of our favourite ways to experience this part of the Kalahari is by slowing the pace on guided walks with San trackers. They are members of one of southern Africa’s oldest communities, whose knowledge has been passed down through generations over thousands of years. Along the way, you’ll gain fascinating insights into spoor, plants and survival skills, helping you understand the smaller details of the landscape and how the wider ecosystem fits together.
Into the moment
Cultural experience
Exclusive view
Under the stars
A walk with San trackers
Set out on a guided walk with San trackers, members of the San community who bring deep knowledge of spoor, plants and survival skills in the Kalahari. As you walk together, they will share tracking techniques and practical bush knowledge. It is a chance to look beyond the bigger game and understand the environment through the people who know it most closely.
Spot wildlife from Dinaka Camp’s hides
Spend time in Dinaka Camp’s hides, including underground bunkers and above-ground, eye-level viewpoints. You will be remarkably close to the camp’s wildlife-rich waterholes. Sit quitely and observe, without disturbing the animals who will come and go at their own pace. Spot antelope, birds and other desert wildlife gathering to drink. We especially love the chance to watch their behaviour unfold naturally.
A sleep-out under the Kalahari sky
Spend the night on a sleep-out deck beneath a star-filled Kalahari sky. Falling asleep out here is a special experience, with only the sounds of the bush and no walls between you and the landscape. As darkness settles, the sense of space feels even greater, and the sky above is extraordinary on a clear night. Then wake with first light as the Kalahari eases into a new day.
Days 6-9
Explore the green Makgadikgadi Pans
From December to March, seasonal rain softens the Makgadikgadi Pans, bringing shallow water to parts of the pans and fresh grass to the surrounding plains. This is the best time to be here for a green season safari, as thousands of zebras and wildebeest arrive to graze on the nutrient-rich grasses that follow the rains. And when the pans are partially filled, bird watching is excellent. Spot flamingos, pelicans and other migratory waterbirds gathering to feed in large numbers.
Big game viewing is part of the green season experience in the Makagadikgadi Pans. Look for lions, cheetahs and hyenas never far behind the grazing herds. You can also spend time with San communities, learning how they read spoor, use local plants, find water-bearing roots and share the survival skills needed to live in this landscape.
Where you could stay
Make it mine
Lions, yhenas and zebras
Meerkat family
The Zu/’hoasi community
Track wildlife across the pans
Head out on game drives at first light, in the late afternoon and after dark across the Makgadikgadi Pans. This is a great way to explore the area as temperatures shift and wildlife becomes more active. Look out for zebra crossing the open plains with lion and brown hyena never far away. And because the salt crust holds their tracks so clearly, each drive also becomes a lesson in reading the land.
A morning with habituated meerkats
Spend the morning near one of Jack’s Camp’s habituated meerkat families as they emerge from their burrows and begin to forage. Observe how the family works together in search of food under the watchful eye of a lookout meerkat, often perched upright on a termite mound. It is a rare chance to spend time close to them at ground level, with very little to interrupt the scene. Their familiarity with a calm human presence makes the experience feel quietly intimate.
Learn from the Zu/’hoasi community
Walk with members of the Zu/’hoasi community at Jack’s Camp and discover a different way of reading the Makgadikgadi. As you go, they show you how they interpret tracks, identify edible and medicinal plants, and navigate this vast environment with remarkable ease. You will leave with a better understanding of the pans, and of the traditions and knowledge connected to them.
All aspects of the trip was expertly handled. The lodges where we stayed were beautiful, the food was wonderful, all staff were helpful and friendly and finally, our guides were the best and showed us the animals and the wild beauty of Botswana, Zambia and Kruger National Park. It was a trip we will never forget and we look forward…
Why book with Jacada
Personalised design
We’ll plan your trip around your personal interests, tastes and preferences, providing honest advice based on first-hand knowledge.
Authentic experiences
Our expert guides and brilliant Concierges are hand-picked for their ability to bring your destination to life with care and passion.
Positive Impact
We seek out unforgettable experiences that benefit both local communities and the environment.
