Journey South
Young girl lying in the grass face to face with a family of meerkats in Botswana
YOUR TRAVEL ITINERARY, BOTSWANA

10 days in Botswana for young explorers

10 days
9 nights
From $25K / £19K
Family of four
Ages 6+
Best for 6 to 14
Desert, delta, river
Three landscapes
A note about this itinerary

Designed with care, experienced together

This Botswana itinerary has such a lovely rhythm for families because each stop feels completely different. Rather than moving between similar safari camps, it takes children from vast open salt pans to the waterways of the Delta and finishes on the riverfront of Chobe, keeping the sense of adventure high with lots of exciting activities.

Nothing here is fixed. Nine nights is the sweet spot, but the same route works at seven, and it stretches beautifully to twelve with Victoria Falls added at the end.

Polly x
Your route

Desert, delta and river

  1. Arrive
    Maun
    Met on arrival and flown by light aircraft to the pans
  2. 3 nights
    Camp Kalahari
    Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, where the white pans stretch to the horizon
  3. 3 nights
    Shinde Footsteps
    Okavango Delta, reached by a low flight over winding channels and elephant herds to the camp's own airstrip
  4. 3 nights
    Chobe Elephant Camp
    Chobe, near Kasane, a final hop north to the riverfront, with no long road transfers at any point
  5. Depart
    Kasane
    Or continue to Victoria Falls
Watercolour map of northern Botswana showing the route from Maun to Camp Kalahari, Shinde Footsteps, Chobe Elephant Camp and Kasane
The journey

Nine nights, three camps, one very happy family

Tap any photograph to see it full screen.

01

Camp Kalahari

Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, 3 nights

Meerkats, quad bikes and the widest horizon in Africa.

From Maun, your journey begins with three nights at Camp Kalahari, on the edge of the extraordinary Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, one of just three camps in a million-acre private reserve. The landscape changes dramatically: endless white horizons, dusty palms and huge skies that feel more like another planet than a traditional safari destination.

Camp Kalahari has a relaxed, old-school safari feel that families love, with colourful tents and an atmosphere that encourages children to be outside from sunrise to stargazing. It's a place for imagination and adventure, wide open spaces where children can run, explore and feel completely free. With twelve tents and never more than 28 guests, it welcomes children of all ages.

Where you sleep. Two family tents, each with a double and a twin room joined by a shared bathroom. Traditional Meru tents with rich textiles, Moroccan kilims and four-poster beds, lit at night by paraffin lanterns.
Comforts and connectivity. Wi-Fi in the main areas, with charging in the mess tent. Rooms have electric lights, but after dark most of camp is lit by paraffin lanterns. No hairdryers.
From Polly's notebook

The meerkats wake with the sun, so pack an extra fleece for the dawn outing. Mornings on the pans are brisk, but watching one scramble up onto your child's head makes the early start completely worth it.

What you'll be doing
  • Meeting the camp's habituated meerkats, and sitting quietly as they climb onto shoulders to scout the horizon
  • Exploring the pans by quad bike, depending on the season, and learning about this ancient super-lake
  • Walking with Zu/'hoasi Bushmen, learning traditional tracking and survival skills
  • Lying out on the pans at sunset as the stars unfold
  • Cooling off in the pool, where elephants sometimes stop by for a drink
  • A two-hour horseback safari across the pans, with multi-day rides for experienced riders (at extra cost)
02

Shinde Footsteps

Okavango Delta, private concession, 3 nights

A tiny four-tent camp built for families who want the Delta to themselves.

From the desert, you'll fly into a totally different world for three nights at Shinde Footsteps in the Okavango Delta. Rebuilt in 2023 on a private concession, small, intimate and designed to immerse you in the bush, it offers one of Botswana's most authentic safari experiences. With just four tents and never more than six guests, the focus is on guiding, flexibility and being fully present in nature. Children aged six and over are welcome, and it is ideal for exclusive use.

Days are shaped around exploration. There is something incredibly exciting for older children about experiencing safari on foot and learning to read the landscape through the eyes of expert guides. Evenings are simple and magical: campfires, stories under star-filled skies and the sounds of the Delta all around.

The Young Explorers programme

Hosted by a specialist family guide, with engaging, age-appropriate activities on a flexible schedule, so the whole family discovers the Delta together. Children go home with a gift pack at the end. With only six guests in camp, a family of four to six often has Shinde Footsteps almost to themselves, with their own guide and vehicle.

Where you sleep. A simple, comfortable two-bedroom canvas family tent on a raised deck, with an en-suite bathroom and indoor and outdoor showers, looking out over a permanent hippo pool.
Comforts and connectivity. Wi-Fi in the tents, 100% solar power and hot-water bush showers. A photo editing suite with desks, charging points and secure storage for cameras is perfect for keen photographers, teens included.
From Polly's notebook

Ask your guide for a bush-cooking lesson around the fire. Children get completely absorbed making campfire bread, while you enjoy a sundowner and the sound of hippos in the pool below.

What you'll be doing
  • Game drives in search of elephant, lion and giraffe
  • Gliding silently through reed-lined channels by mokoro
  • Guided walks that bring children close to tracks, insects, birds and animal behaviour
  • Night drives, and tracking the previous night's events in fresh spoor each morning
  • Looking out for wild dog, leopard, red lechwe and the shy, water-loving sitatunga
03

Chobe Elephant Camp

Western Chobe, above the river floodplains, 3 nights

Elephants in their hundreds, and boats instead of vehicles.

Your final stop is three nights at Chobe Elephant Camp, an eco-friendly camp of 18 rooms built from red Kalahari sandbags, where the journey ends with a change of pace and one of Africa's great wildlife spectacles. Set on a rocky ridge overlooking the floodplains of western Chobe, the camp offers beautiful views and a comfortable place to reflect on everything you've experienced so far.

Time on the Chobe River is often the highlight for children. Boat safaris offer a completely different perspective, drifting past pods of hippo, crocodiles basking on the banks and huge herds of elephants coming down to drink. Sunset cruises are particularly memorable, with golden light, incredible birdlife and animals gathering at the water's edge.

Where you sleep. Family chalets with two bedrooms joined by a shared lounge, air conditioning, indoor and outdoor showers and a private veranda over the floodplains.
Comforts and connectivity. Air conditioning, ceiling fans, Wi-Fi, a safe and indoor and outdoor showers in every chalet. An extra bed can be added to the family chalet on request.
From Polly's notebook

The afternoon boat safari is where even the most screen-attached teenagers put their phones down. Watching breeding herds swim the river at eye level is pure theatre.

What you'll be doing
  • Boat cruises alongside elephant herds coming down to drink
  • Sunset on the river with hippo, crocodiles and extraordinary birdlife
  • Game drives through Africa's largest elephant population
  • Seasonal canoe trips on quieter stretches of the river
  • Boma dinners around the fire under the stars
  • A visit to Mabele village to learn about local life and basket weaving
  • Afternoons at the pool watching the camp's own waterhole
Desert, delta and river; adventure, discovery and connection. Together, these three camps show children that Botswana is so much more than simply ticking off animals on a game drive.
Polly Townsend-Rose
A day in camp

An unhurried rhythm, built around children

  1. 01Early morning
    Tea and a dawn outing

    Hot chocolate by the fire, then out while the air is cool and the animals are busy. Back in camp before the heat.

  2. 02Midday
    A long, lazy middle

    Brunch, the pool, a book in the shade or a nap. The animals rest, and so do you.

  3. 03Afternoon
    A gentle adventure

    A mokoro paddle, a boat on the river or a walk with a tracker, chosen to suit little legs and short attention spans.

  4. 04Evening
    Supper under the stars

    Early dinners round the fire, stories from the guides and bedtime to the sounds of the bush.

I highly recommend using Journey South. Polly's knowledge about what makes a truly memorable family adventure is second to none.
Thompson family, US
Namibia & Botswana, three children aged 12, 15 & 17
Read more family feedback →
Add three nights

Finish at Victoria Falls

Kasane is a short drive from the Falls, so this itinerary extends naturally. Two or three nights gives you the rainforest walk, a sunset cruise and, for older children, rafting or a helicopter flight over the gorge. I have written up which side to choose and when to go here:

Victoria Falls with kids: Zambia or Zimbabwe →
Family in rain ponchos smiling in the spray beside Victoria Falls
What's included

Everything except your international flights

  • All accommodation on a fully inclusive basis, meals, local drinks and laundry
  • All light-aircraft flights and road transfers within Botswana
  • Private guiding and a private vehicle at Shinde Footsteps
  • All listed activities, park fees and conservation levies
  • Meerkat and Bushmen experiences, quad biking, mokoro and boat safaris
  • The Young Explorers children's programme
  • 24-hour support from me for the length of your trip
Practical notes

The things families ask me first

Best months

May to October for dry-season game viewing and comfortable temperatures. This is the best time for meerkats, quad biking and dry salt pans. December to March brings green-season skies and Southern Africa's last great migration, with up to 50,000 zebra and wildebeest moving past Camp Kalahari.

Getting there

Overnight into Johannesburg or Cape Town, then a short flight to Maun. Light aircraft between camps, with luggage kept soft and light.

Children

Camp Kalahari welcomes all ages and Shinde Footsteps takes children from six, so this route works best when your youngest is six or over.

HEALTH & PACKING LIST

Malaria precautions are needed. I will send a plain-English briefing with what to pack and what to expect at each camp.

Next step

Shall I shape this around your family?

Tell me who's travelling and roughly when, and I'll come back with a version of this trip built around your children's ages, your dates and your budget. Every trip I plan starts with a relaxed conversation, no obligation at all.

Start planning your Botswana journey →Or message me on WhatsApp →
PLAN YOUR TRIP