Not to miss

Chobe National Park

Chobe covers 11,000 sq km (4300 sq mi) and has a greater variety of wildlife than anywhere else in Botswana. Kasane, at the northern tip of the park, is the park's gateway and administrative centre. The town itself doesn't offer much, but it's a good place to base yourself for visits to the park.

Elephants - 70,000 of them in herds of up to 500 - are the main attraction at the park, closely followed by lions, cheetahs, hippos, buffaloes, giraffes, antelope, jackals, warthogs, hyena, crocodile, otter, zebra and any number of bird species.

The Mababe Depression - a remnant of a large lake that once covered northern Botswana - is home to the park's next big attraction, the Savuti Marshes. Savuti presents an intensely flat, harsh landscape, but you'll be overwhelmed by the amount of wildlife, particularly elephant. Lions, wild dogs and hyena prowl through immense herds of impala, wildebeest, buffalo and zebra, while antelopes are present in numbers you won't see anywhere else. Ngwezumba doesn't have the hordes of animals you'll see eleswhere, but the area's clay pans and mopane forests do support buffalo, elephant and some antelope species, including the rare oribi.

Serowe

With around 90,000 people, sprawling Serowe, is the country's largest village. It has been the capital of the Ngwato people since King Khama moved here in 1902. Serowe is also home to the Botswana Brigades, a movement that, since 1965, has brought vocational education to remote parts of the country.

The Khama III Memorial Museum tells the story of the chiefs of the Ngwato people. Displays include personal effects of King Khama III and artefacts illustrating the history of Serowe. There is also a natural history display featuring a collection of African insects and snakes of the region.

For more Khamabilia, visit the Royal Cemetery on a hill in the centre of the village. As well as the grave of Khama III and his family, you can see the ruins of an 11th-century village. About 20km (13mi) northwest of Serowe, the Khama Rhino Sanctuary is a safe house for 16 of Botswana's score or so of remaining rhino. Serowe has a few decent hotels and is situated roughly 250km (150mi) from the capital.

Makgadikgadi Pans

Comprised of three great salt pans (the largest on earth) the vast Makgadikgadi Pans are like no other landscape on earth; they represent all that's left of a vast lake. Especially during the sizzling heat of late winter days, the stark pans take on a disorienting and ethereal austerity.

Heat mirages destroy all sense of space and direction, imaginary lakes shimmer and disappear, ostriches take flight and stones turn to mountains and float in mid-air.

As the annual rains begin to fall in the late spring, depressions in the pans form temporary lakes and fringing grasses turn green with life. Herd animals arrive to partake of the bounty, while water birds flock to feed on algae and tiny crustaceans.

Mokolodi Nature Reserve

Mokolodi Nature Reserve is home to giraffes, elephants, zebras, baboons, warthogs, hippos, kudu, impala, waterbucks and klipspringers. The reserve also protects a few retired cheetahs, leopards, honey badgers, jackals and hyenas, as well as over 300 different species of birds.

Mokolodi also operates a research facility, a breeding centre for rare and endangered species, a community education centre and a sanctuary for orphaned, injured or confiscated birds and animals. They also accept volunteers, though an application must be submitted prior to arrival, and a maintenance fee is levied according to the length of the programme.

The reserve is also home to the well-reviewed Mokolodi Restaurant, which features cuts of all those tasty animals you've been tracking all day. Even if you're self-catering, the outdoor bar is perfect for a sundowner or two.

Tsodilo Hills

The four Tsodilo Hills rise abruptly from a rippled, ocean-like expanse of desert and are threaded with myth, legend and spiritual significance for the San people. More than 2750 ancient rock paintings have been discovered at well over 200 sites. The Tsodilo hills are now a national monument and all visitors must report to the headquarters at the Main Camp.