A herd of elephants with a calf moving across the savannah

Water and elephants

Self-drive safaris in Botswana

Botswana is the step up. Deep sand, water crossings and camps far from the next town. This is the country where the vehicle and the preparation genuinely matter.

Parks I have driven myself

Chobe National Park

Elephants in numbers that are hard to describe before you have seen them. The river shapes everything here, including where you can and cannot drive.

Worth knowing

This is 4×4 country, no exceptions. High clearance, proper tyres, and a route that respects the season.

Entry

German passport holders: no visa, up to 90 days per calendar year

Driving

On the left. 4×4 country — this is not the place for a saloon car

Money

Pula. Carry cash: card acceptance thins out fast outside the towns

Malaria

North (Chobe, Okavango): risk all year, higher in the wet season

Best months

The dry season, when the game concentrates on the rivers

As of August 2026. Entry rules change — check with your own foreign ministry before you travel.

Where that is

Borders: Natural Earth

Ask for a route in this country

What you need for the planning

Chobe National Park

How long

4 to 5 nights

Two on the riverfront, two inland, and one for the sand in between. Doing only the riverfront is a shorter and perfectly good trip — it is just a different one.

When

May to October, dry season

The season for the elephants at the river. The interior dries out, the animals move to permanent water, and the sand tracks are at their most driveable. Peak season, and the campsites go early.

Driving

A high-clearance 4×4 is not a recommendation here, it is the entry requirement. Between the sections there is deep sand for hours at a stretch.

What you see here

Where routes go wrong

Planning the Kasane–Savuti leg as a half day. It is not, and there is nothing along it.
Booking the route before the campsites. In Botswana the beds decide where you can go, not the map.
Assuming a high-clearance 2WD will do. On the riverfront maybe. Between the sections, no.

Questions about this country

Do I really need a 4×4? Chobe National Park

For the park itself, yes, and a proper one. Deep sand for hours at a stretch is the normal condition between the sections, not the bad day.

Can I visit without driving it myself? Chobe National Park

Yes, and many people who self-drive everything else still take the river by boat. It is not a fallback, it is the best view in the park.

How many elephants are there really? Chobe National Park

Botswana holds the largest population on the continent, and in the dry season a great many of them are on this river. The honest answer is that the number stops mattering once you have seen it.

When should I go? Chobe National Park

May to October for the elephants at the water and for the sand at its most driveable. The green season is beautiful, empty, cheap and the hardest to plan around.

Is it a malaria area? Chobe National Park

Yes, and more so in the wet season. Same rule as Kruger: a conversation with your doctor before you book.