Botswana for Families

Take game drives and night drives in custom built 4x4s to spot the unique desert wildlife that inhabit the pans, like the elusive brown hyena or Kalahari lion. Your experienced safari guide will help you discover a desert landscape, pulsating with life. Complete with bush picnics, morning coffees and chilled drinks.

Get up close and personal with our families of habituated meerkats. Head out from camp at sunrise, so that you are ready to tail these delightful omnivores as they set off in search of their breakfast. Walk amongst them (advised by your guide) and if you take a seat you might be lucky enough to be mistaken for a termite mound, where you'll be used as a look out point for predators.

Discover the secrets of the pans with the Zu/’hoasi Bushmen on a fascinating bush walk. See this ancient desert landscape through their eyes. These skilled hunter gatherers will show you how to survive, using their extraordinary tracking skills to uncover a smorgasbord of culinary delights... from bulbs, to scorpions, to berries. Spending time with them is a very rare privilege.

Saddle up to explore this wild, unspoilt area in the same way many of the earliest explorers, hunters

and missionaries did – on horseback! You’ll embark on an adventurous outride (for all level riders). This is an exhilarating way to spot wildlife, cantering along the crusty salt flats and following the animal

highways that bring life to the Makgadikgadi Pans.

This is pure desert adventure! Take an exhilarating quad bike across the salt-crusted pans (all pan activity is weather permitting and dependent on the dryness of the pans). You’ll feel total freedom as you trek across this vast and ancient landscape, discovering so much about the remnants of this once super lake.

Seasonal: April - October

Visit the site of the Fallen Baobab, one of the three largest and oldest trees in Africa and the camp site for Livingstone and Selous..

Witness the second largest migration in Africa. A stonking spectacle of black and white stripes

as approximately 30,000 zebra and wildebeest migrate across the Makgadikgadi Pans, followed closely by stalking predators, waiting for the rich pickings of tired hooves. This is a wildlife explosion and an experience not to be missed!

This really is an unforgettable experience. Enjoy a helicopter flight over the Makgadikgadi Pans, doors off (or on), to take in the vastness of this desert landscape. You’ll go in search of the zebra and flamingo migrations (if timed correctly), get dropped on an island of baobabs for lunch, do a bit of sunset sky surfing as you follow the palm tree linings and tell all your friends about it all when you get home.

If you are in need of some serious time out, then one of our spa treatments is your perfect escape. Our professional therapist will put you in seventh heaven. Book a back massage overlooking the Makgadikgadi Pans or enjoy a relaxing spa treatment from the privacy of your tent. Whichever you decide, you’ll walk away feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.

Grab a fat bike and peddle around the Makgadikgadi Pans. This is a really fun activity for the whole family, and an ideal way to get some exercise. These bikes can easily cruise over the desert terrain, taking you along 4x4 tracks and around the crusty salt flats. Keep a look out for sightings of wildlife, while breathing in the beautiful scenery, alongside the desert silence.

The Makgadikgadi Salt Pans are one of the most important breeding sites in southern Africa for

the lesser and greater flamingos. These flying flame birds, arrive in their millions during seasons of good rain, when millions of small shrimp and other crustaceans crack through the salty pan crust to spawn. The result, a pink extravaganza in the heat of the desert. You can also heli to Sua Pan to view the flamingos in Mar - Apr (scenic helicopter flight must be booked).

Small families of Bushman from the Ju! Hoansi clan village of Xai Xai on the Botswana/Namibia border of the Kalahari Desert come to Meno a Kwena to share their knowledge of one of the last great nomadic tribes. This immensely interesting walking and cultural experience gives you an insight into their hunter/gatherer way of life as they have coexisted with wildlife for thousands of years. This gentle walk is very popular and appeals to all ages.

Our viewing hide, on the Boteti River, offers guests an all-year round floating hide experience. Here we offer guests a close-up of wildlife activity from the vantage point of the river. With an abundance of wildlife and birdlife this is every photographer’s dream. We provide picnic lunches and bar facilities for guests spending time here (by prior arrangement) – this hide will truly delight.

Cruise along the Boteti River by boat (water levels permitting). The only source of water for miles around, you’ll get to see bountiful animals and birds along the riverbanks. With wildlife coming to drink and bathe enjoy your afternoon watching the beautiful orange sunset while sipping on a sundowner as the world around you floats on by.

Our salt pans sleep out requires a minimum 3 night stay and a minimum 2 guests. You will depart Meno a Kwena after breakfast following your first night's stay and drive to the edge of the salt pans for a picnic lunch (approximately 3-4 hours drive). Following an open-air siesta you continue to your campsite in time for sundowners. After a campfire dinner you will sleep under the vast skies with a myriad of spectacular stars to accompany you.

The following day you return to camp after a delicious breakfast at sunrise in time to join the Bushmen for a cultural walking experience and your final night with us. Please note that the sleep out must be booked in advance.

This activity must be pre-booked.

Departing camp shortly after breakfast you can enjoy a full day of game viewing within the Makgadikgadi National Park. After a 90 min transfer to the Park gates, you will spend the day searching for the Park's plethora of species. Lunch and tea is taken in picturesque locations along the bank of the Boteti River often with elephants and antelope for company, as they pass through.

We maximise community involvement and benefits from our sustainable tourism operations that ultimately secures a future for wildlife and their environment. The proximity of camp to rural communities allows us to offer our guests exposure to fascinating traditional Batswana cultural experiences in and around camp.

The migration is dependent on water sources along the migratory paths of the zebra and wildebeest. After spending several months in the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans the zebra and wildebeest slowly start to make their way towards the Boteti River.

This is one activity that screams safari. Hop on our comfortable game viewing vehicles for a morning and afternoon/evening game drive. Your safari guide has all the expertise and knowledge to find you some of the best kept secrets and most loved wildlife in the Okavango Delta.

This is one of the most iconic Okavango Delta experiences. Wind your way around the crystalclear

waterways on mokoro. Your experienced guide, will pole you amongst the lily pads and weaving sandbanks, to show you the ebbs and flows of this incredible eco-system.

Grab your comfiest walking shoes, and experience a guided walk through the bush with your trusted safari guide. You’ll come across so many magical sightings, from the smallest critters, to beautiful trees and birds. Learn how to track spoor and identify the different grasses and other interesting fauna and flora that make up this beautiful eco-system.

Jump on board our delta boats to cruise the Okavango waterways. Your experienced driver and guide will show you some of the best river sightings and sunsets. Keep a look out for birds, crocodiles, hippo and exciting game coming to quench their thirst, while you moor up along the river bank sipping a sundowner. This is what safari boat cruising is all about.

Enjoy a scenic helicopter flight over the Okavango Delta. This is an incredible opportunity to appreciate the vastness of the Delta when seeing it from above. From your seat, door off (or on), you’ll be able to spot game, take exceptional photos and follow the waterways and animal pathways that shape this ancient wilderness.

A fabulous activity for families with kids. We’re all about catch and release so ask your safari guide to hook you up with a couple of rods. Your experienced guide will pole you amongst the lily pads and weaving sandbanks, showing you the ebb and flow of this incredible eco-system.

Head out with the Khwai Private Reserve Rangers at dawn to see the last nocturnal animals going to bed, before the diurnal’s wake-up for the day. Being the first vehicle out you’ll be the first to find fresh tracks, helping the rangers with the predator identification (all sightings are logged and recorded). You’ll spend your morning tracking, patrolling and visiting conservation projects. Enjoy a packed breakfast out in the bush with the rangers, they will get you back to camp just before lunchtime.

Go on a cultural visit to Khwai Village, located next to Khwai Private Reserve. You’ll learn about the Kgotla (meeting place in the village) its history and traditions. Visit Khwai Pre-Primary School to enjoy interactions with the teachers & children. Meet the ladies doing traditional basket weaving, as well as visit the Kachokachoka, a traditional healer who’ll teach you about traditional medicine & local beliefs. Tour can only be booked once guests are in camp (no pre-bookings). There are strict dress guidelines when entering the Kgotla to show respect. Book a consultation with the traditional healer (additional cost).

Calling all bird lovers! Bring your binos, your bird book and your Natural Selection birding checklist to enjoy a birding safari in the Okavango Delta. Your safari guide will show you spectacular birds, and is at the ready to answer all your birding questions.

If you are needing a little me time, then this is the perfect activity. Book a back massage or enjoy a relaxing spa treatment while in between game drives and wildlife adventures. This is safari self-indulgence without any guilt allowed.