Botswana mobile Tented safariS
A mobile tented safari is one of the most immersive ways to experience Botswana.
You’ll travel through the wilderness as part of a small group, with a fully serviced camp that moves with you, combining comfort with a more off-grid safari experience. All safaris run on set departure dates, so you’ll be joining a small group on a fixed itinerary.
Travelling through Botswana’s wilderness and sleeping under canvas, with nothing but nature around you, is one of the most unforgettable safari experiences you can have.
Most people hear “mobile tented camp” and imagine roughing it, but the reality is very different. These spacious canvas ‘Meru’ style tents are designed for comfort, with proper beds, private en-suite ‘bush’ bathrooms and a dedicated camp team that take care of everything, so all you have to do is relax and enjoy it.
You don’t need to have everything decided before enquiring, you can check availability and talk through the best option with the operator once you’ve taken that first step.
Is a mobile tented safari right for you?
Mobile tented safaris are one of the most cost-effective ways to experience Botswana, without compromising on the safari experience, allowing you to explore multiple wildlife regions in one trip, without the high costs often associated with luxury lodge-based safaris.
They’re ideal if you:
– Are happy travelling as part of a small group
– Are flexible with set departure dates
– Want to explore multiple regions in one trip
– Love being close to nature, without sacrificing comfort
– Are looking for a more cost-effective way to experience Botswana
We partner with a trusted safari operator in Botswana who specialises in this style of safari, with everything organised on the ground from start to finish.
If this sounds like the right fit, you can check availability and explore the options below.
Browse the mobile safari itineraries
Each safari follows a set route and runs on selected departure dates.
Choose the one that feels closest to what you’re looking for, you’ll confirm the best option with the operator after enquiring.
You don’t need to have everything decided, you can check availability and talk through the details once you’ve taken that first step.
Looking for a different safari option?
If you’d prefer a private mobile safari or a lodge-to-lodge safari experience, you can still enquire and the operator will talk you through the best options for your trip.
Safari 1 – Moremi & Mababe Wilderness
Maun – Moremi – Mababe – Maun
6 nights
from US$ 2,965 pp
up to 7 guests
Guest favourite
Safari 2 – Classic (Northbound)
Maun – Moremi – Mababe – Central Chobe – Chobe River
9 nights
from US$ 3,895 pp
up to 7 guests
Guest favourite
Safari 3 – Classic (Southbound)
Kasane – Central Chobe – Mababe – Moremi – Maun
9 nights
from US$ 3,895 pp
up to 7 guests
Guest favourite
Safari 4 – Central Kalahari Wilderness
Maun – Leroo La Tau – Central Kalahari – Maun
8 nights
from US$ 6,495 pp
up to 7 guests
Safari 5 – Family Adventure
Maun – Moremi – Mababe – Maun
7 nights
from US$ 4,330 pp
up to 8 guests
Family favourite
Safari 6 – Northern Botswana Birding Safari
Maun – Moremi – Mababe – Central Chobe – Chobe River – Chobe National Park – Kasane
11 nights
from US$ 4,760 pp
up to 7 guests
Safari 7 – Wildlife Photography
Maun – Moremi – Mababe – Central Chobe – Chobe River
9 nights
from US$ 5,595 pp
up to 6 guests
Safari 8 – Lodge to Lodge Safai
Maun – Okavango Pan Handle – Kwando River – Katima Mulilo – Livingstone Lesoma Valley, Kasane – Gweta – Maun
11 nights
from US$ 6,795 pp
up to 7 guests
What to expect from a mobile tented safari
What is a mobile tented safari?
For travellers drawn to a more traditional and adventurous way of exploring Africa, mobile safaris offer one of the most authentic and memorable ways to experience Botswana’s wilderness.
A mobile tented safari is a style of safari that moves through different wilderness areas as you travel.
Instead of staying in one permanent lodge, the camp relocates between carefully chosen safari locations, allowing you to explore multiple regions on a single trip.
Travelling as a small group, your safari typically moves every few nights between national parks and wildlife areas. While you’re out on game drives, the camp team moves ahead to prepare the next campsite so everything is ready when you arrive.
The accommodation are spacious walk-in canvas tents that are set up exclusively for your group at each location. These tents are designed for comfort, usually featuring proper beds, bedding and private ‘bush’ en-suite bathrooms, while still keeping you closely connected to the surrounding wilderness.
What makes a mobile safari so special is the feeling of travelling through remote wilderness and sleeping beneath the African sky in the heart of it all. Falling asleep to the sounds of the bush and waking up still surrounded by nature creates an experience that feels far more immersive than staying in a fixed lodge.
For travellers drawn to a more traditional and adventurous way of exploring Africa, mobile safaris offer one of the most authentic and memorable ways to experience Botswana’s wilderness.
The camp experience
Mobile tented camps with our operator are thoughtfully designed to provide comfort while still keeping you immersed in the wilderness.
Accommodation is in large walk-in Meru-style canvas tents, a traditional safari tent design used across Africa. Inside you’ll find proper beds, comfortable bedding and enough space to stand and move around.
Each tent also has its own private en-suite bush bathroom, which includes a safari-style bush drop toilet and a bucket shower. A bucket shower is a simple gravity-fed shower where hot water is poured into a bucket suspended above the shower area, creating a surprisingly effective and refreshing shower experience.
Because these camps move between remote wilderness areas, there is no permanent electricity in the tents. Instead, an LED light inside the tent and lanterns around the camp provides lighting in the evenings, creating a relaxed and atmospheric camp environment.
Cameras, phones and other small devices can be charged in the safari vehicles during the day whilst on game drives and back at camp.
The camp team take care of everything, from setting up and dismantling the camp to preparing meals and managing the day-to-day running.
On some mobile safaris guests may be asked to help with certain camp tasks, but with our trusted operator this is not the case at all. Everything is fully managed by the camp team.
This means you’re free to simply relax and enjoy the experience, spending your time watching wildlife, soaking up the surroundings and ending the day around the campfire, G&T in hand.
Botswana’s safari regions each offer very different landscapes and wildlife experiences. Most itineraries start in either Maun or Kasane and travel through a combination of these areas, so you’ll experience a real mix of what Botswana has to offer.
Here’s a quick overview of some of the key regions you may visit:
The Okavango Delta
One of the world’s most extraordinary wildlife ecosystems
The Okavango Delta is a vast inland delta where seasonal floodwaters spread across northern Botswana, transforming the surrounding Kalahari landscape into a rich mosaic of waterways, islands and floodplains. The Delta is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognised globally for its ecological importance.
Several well-known safari areas sit within this wider ecosystem, including:
• Moremi Game Reserve
• Khwai Community Concession
• Mababe Private Concession
• Selinda Reserve Private Concession
• Linyanti Reserve Private Concession
Each offers slightly different landscapes, from permanent lagoons and winding channels to woodland and open grasslands, but all are known for exceptional wildlife viewing.
The unique mix of water and dry land supports an extraordinary concentration of animals, making this one of the best places in Botswana to see elephants, lions, leopards, buffalo, hippos and African wild dogs.
For many travellers, the Okavango Delta represents the heart of Botswana’s safari experience, combining spectacular scenery with some of the most diverse wildlife viewing anywhere in Africa.
Chobe National Park
Home to Africa’s largest elephant herds
Chobe National Park is one of Botswana’s most famous wildlife areas and is particularly known for its extraordinary elephant population. During the dry season, thousands of elephants gather along the Chobe River, creating some of the most spectacular wildlife scenes in Africa.
The park includes several distinct safari regions, most notably:
• Chobe Riverfront
• Savuti
The Chobe Riverfront is famous for its dense concentrations of wildlife along the riverbanks. Elephants, buffalo, hippos and crocodiles gather here in large numbers, particularly during the dry season when animals rely on the river as a permanent water source.
Further inland, Savuti offers a very different safari landscape. Wide open plains and marsh areas create excellent conditions for predator sightings, and the region is well known for its lion prides, hyenas and frequent predator activity.
Central Kalahari
One of the largest protected wilderness areas in Africa
The Central Kalahari Game Reserve offers a completely different safari experience to northern Botswana. Instead of rivers and wetlands, this vast reserve is made up of open plains, dry riverbeds and expansive desert landscapes.
Despite its arid appearance, the Kalahari supports an impressive variety of wildlife and is particularly known for black-maned Kalahari lions, cheetahs, oryx and springbok.
During the green season, seasonal rains transform the landscape and attract large numbers of antelope and predators, creating spectacular wildlife viewing opportunities.
Makgadikgadi & Nxai Pan
Famous for vast salt pans and seasonal zebra migrations
The Makgadikgadi region is known for its immense salt pans and sweeping open landscapes, offering a very different side of Botswana’s wilderness.
Key safari areas within this ecosystem include:
• Makgadikgadi Pans National Park
• Nxai Pan National Park
During the rainy season, seasonal rains transform the surrounding grasslands and trigger one of Africa’s lesser-known wildlife migrations, as thousands of zebras move through the region in search of fresh grazing.
Nxai Pan is also famous for its wide open plains and the iconic Baines’ Baobabs, a small group of ancient baobab trees that stand dramatically against the vast salt pan landscape.
Frequently Asked Questions
If this feels like the right fit, you can check availability and talk it through with the operator.