Botswana's Wildlife & the Okavango Delta — Self-Launched

Land at Maun (MUB) and take a shared/local taxi into town (~£5, 10 minutes). Check into a budget lodge or backpacker guesthouse on the river side of town. Spend the afternoon sorting logistics at the Maun booking offices — book your Makgadikgadi transfer and Delta mokoro trip in person (cheaper than online and you can see exactly what's offered). Sundowners at the Old Bridge Backpackers deck overlooking the Thamalakane River, where hippos often surface at dusk. Stock up on water, snacks and pula cash from a town ATM.

🚌Airport shared taxi ~£5

🛏Budget lodge or backpacker guesthouse in Maun (approx. £25-30 pp sharing)

• →Settle into Maun
• →Book Makgadikgadi and Delta trips with local operators
• →Sunset drinks on the Thamalakane River

Travel east from Maun to the Makgadikgadi via shared minibus or 4x4 transfer to Gweta (~£35-45, 3-4 hours on the Francistown road) — the cheapest option is a seat on an inter-village combi, though timings are loose, so allow the full morning. Alternatives include a shared light-aircraft hop from Maun to an airstrip near the pans (~£180, 40 min) if you want to save the drive. Stay at a budget camp or self-catering chalet near Gweta and take an afternoon game drive into Makgadikgadi Pans National Park with a local guide (~£60 per person shared). Look for zebra, wildebeest and the predators that follow the herds. Evening at the camp fire under an extraordinary star field.

🚌Shared minibus/4x4 transfer ~£40; afternoon game drive in shared vehicle

🛏Budget safari camp near Gweta (approx. £28 pp sharing) — dorm or simple tented option cheaper

• →Makgadikgadi Pans National Park afternoon game drive
• →Zebra and wildebeest spotting
• →Camp-fire stargazing on the pans

Early-morning shared game drive (best light, best wildlife — ~£60). Return for brunch and a slow middle of the day. In the afternoon, visit the Boteti River area near Khumaga, where the water draw brings elephants, giraffe and antelope down to drink — many lodges have a simple water-level viewing deck or hide that non-residents can use. If you're interested in human-wildlife coexistence, ask your Maun or Gweta operator about community trust visits; several run low-cost talks with local conservation staff (often £10-15 donation). Evening drive or a night back at camp.

🚌Shared game-drive vehicle, local village taxi ~£10

🛏Budget safari camp near Gweta (approx. £28 pp sharing)

• →Dawn game drive in Makgadikgadi Pan National Park
• →Boteti River wildlife hide
• →Optional community conservation talk

Another morning game drive, or (very cheap and memorable) a guided walk out onto the fringing salt pans with a local guide (~£15). Midday is hot — rest, read, eat. In the afternoon, a second drive or a visit to the nearby baobab cluster at Baines' Baobabs area if you're driving yourselves (4x4 day hire with a driver splits to around £40 pp). Back to camp for a simple dinner. Overnight before the early transfer towards the Delta tomorrow.

🚌Shared game-drive vehicle

🛏Budget safari camp near Gweta (approx. £28 pp sharing)

• →Guided salt-pan walk
• →Afternoon game drive
• →Optional baobab viewpoint

Travel back toward Maun by shared minibus (~£35-45, 3-4 hours). From Maun, either take a shared light-aircraft transfer into a Delta camp (~£200 return if booked as a return with a budget camp) or a road transfer to the southern/eastern Delta fringes followed by a boat (~£70-90). The local-operator route — a Maun-based 1-2 night mokoro camping trip arranged direct — is by far the cheapest and gets you furthest into the water. Afternoon motorboat safari out from camp once you've settled, drinking in the channels as the sun drops.

🚌Shared minibus ~£40; shared aircraft or boat transfer into Delta ~£90-200 depending on mode

🛏Delta basic lodge or safari-tent camp (approx. £40 pp sharing); mokoro camping trips can be £55-70 pp all-in including food and guide

• →Transfer into the Okavango Delta
• →Afternoon motorboat safari
• →Birding from the water

The classic Delta day, done independently. Head out at dawn in a traditional mokoro poled by a local guide (~£35-50 pp for a half day, or included if you're on a camping trip). Glide through reed channels, then step ashore on a remote island for a guided bush walk tracking elephant, tsessebe, zebra and birds on foot. Midday back at camp or on the island. Afternoon at a birding hide, or another short mokoro/boat session. Evening camp fire — if you're wild-camping with polers, expect a full dinner cooked over fire as part of the trip cost.

🚌Mokoro (dugout canoe) and short walks

🛏Delta safari-tent camp or island camping with polers (approx. £40 pp)

• →Sunrise mokoro trip with local poler
• →Guided island walk
• →Birding hide afternoon
• →Evening boat or mokoro ride

Morning boat safari searching for hippo pods and basking crocodiles along the main channels (~£30-40 pp shared). Island walk later in the morning for the small stuff — terrapins, frogs, kingfishers, malachite and pied. Hot midday rest, then afternoon tea and a last golden-hour boat run out into the delta. If your camp has a fire-deck with a view, this is the night to sit there. Self-catered dinner or camp dinner; buy your own drinks to keep costs down.

🚌Boat and mokoro with local polers

🛏Delta safari-tent camp (approx. £40 pp)

• →Morning boat safari
• →Island nature walk
• →Sunset boat safari
• →Farewell camp fire

Final breakfast at camp listening to the birds, then transfer back to Maun (shared aircraft ~£90-100, or boat plus road transfer ~£50, allow 3-4 hours by road/boat). Maun town for a last lunch and to pick up crafts, then local taxi to Maun Airport (~£5). Book onward flights no earlier than roughly 15:00 to allow for the weather-dependent light-aircraft and water-transfer timings in the Delta.

🚌Delta to Maun transfer ~£50-100; airport taxi ~£5

🛏None — depart

• →Final morning at camp
• →Last-minute craft shopping in Maun
• →Airport transfer