Botswana Safari in Green Season: the green season from December to March

Examples of tailor-made journeys, fully customisable

Country

Botswana

Suggested duration

9 days / 6 nights

Ideal periods

January to end of March

Written request

01 77 37 03 10

The spirit of the journey

The Green Season in Botswana (December to March) is the season that seasoned travellers keep to themselves. Less crowded, more intense, more alive: under the rains, the bush transforms into an ecosystem of rare richness, something the dry season, with its golden landscapes and besieged waterholes, cannot offer.

The rains are brief, often falling at night, giving way to skies of contrasted light, ideal for wildlife photography. Late-afternoon storms create dramatic atmospheres that nature photographers specifically seek out. More than 400 bird species inhabit the delta during the green season, including many migrants from Europe and Central Asia. An exceptional birdwatching spectacle.

This is also the birthing season. The plains come alive with young wildebeest, zebras and impalas, drawing lions, leopards and African wild dogs into hunting scenes of particular intensity. Sightings sometimes require more patience than in the dry season, but are all the more authentic and memorable for it.

In the Okavango Delta, camps on permanent lagoons allow mokoro safaris year-round. In the green season, these water-based outings take on an added dimension: lush vegetation, nesting birds, and channels teeming with life.

In the Kalahari and on the Makgadikgadi Pans, the green season coincides with the great zebra migration, one of Africa’s least known and most spectacular terrestrial migrations. Meerkats, particularly active at this time of year, add a welcome note of lightness to the itinerary.

Finally, the Green Season grants access to Botswana’s finest lodges under privileged conditions: wider availability, exclusive offers reserved for this period, and a level of intimacy that high season cannot guarantee. For discerning travellers, this is often the best time to stay at the most sought-after addresses.

Day by day

Examples of tailor-made journeys, fully customisable

MAKGADIKGADI PANS
Southeast of the Okavango Delta, surrounded by the Kalahari Desert, lies this mysterious region of quite extraordinary landscapes: the Makgadikgadi Pans.
An empty expanse of white sand and salt, the former bed of an 80,000 km² lake that vanished over 10,000 years ago. An endless horizon line where sky and earth become one.
It is in this immensity that we suggest you stay for three nights to begin with. On arrival in Maun, a light aircraft will take you there.

Home to meerkats, brown hyenas, lions and zebras during their annual migration between December and March, the pans at this time of year are also a paradise for birdwatchers, who come to observe migratory species in breeding plumage.

On the programme: 4×4 safaris, walks with the Bushmen to learn their traditional crafts, an encounter with a family of meerkats (not tame, but curious enough to allow a close approach), and horseback riding.

During this period, the plains are waterlogged, which makes quad biking and wild camping impossible.

To host you for these 3 nights, depending on your budget, choose among Natural Selection’s lodges: Camp Kalahari 3*, San Camp 4* and Jack’s Camp 5*

San Camp, Botswana

Suricates au pan de Makgadikgadi

4x4 safari across the Makgadikgadi pan, early morning. A stop at a sunlit spot riddled with burrows. As the sun begins its climb, small heads emerge from the cavities all around you. These heads belong to meerkats, scanning their surroundings before leaving their burrows. Stay still, and they will venture out of their tunnels to climb onto the earth mounds scattered across the pan, keeping watch and warming themselves in the sun.
Once the all-clear is given, the young ones come out in turn and, under the watchful eye of the adults, start playing amid a chorus of squeaks, or try to imitate their parents by rearing up on their hind legs.
Once the meerkats have grown used to your presence, they will gradually approach, some daring to sniff you quickly, while the boldest among them will climb onto whatever part of your body looks like a good lookout post.
This clan of meerkats has been studied by scientists for many years. These researchers accompany visitors to make their observations and are happy to answer questions about the troop moving and playing around and beneath you. A rare experience.

Little Vumbura Camp

Located in the northern Okavango Delta, Little Vumbura sits on a small island within the private Kwedi Concession. This intimate camp is the smaller, simpler counterpart to the highly luxurious Vumbura Plains, found within the same area.
The camp’s greatest strength lies in the safari area it opens onto, spanning dry plains and forest, offering a wide diversity of species and an excellent combination of water- and land-based safaris throughout the year.