Botswana's parks, compared

2 parks on wildlife, activities, cost, access and health. Every rating opens to show why.

Three parks side by side reads best. Tap a park to swap it in or out.

What matters to you?
Compare MoremiBest for big game ChobeBest for birding
5Jul to Oct4Jun to Oct
5bestJul to OctMammal species (Delta): 130; Wild dog (Okavango): ±500, a world stronghold; Red lechwe (Delta): 30,000–90,000
4Jun to OctElephants in the park: 15,404 (2018 survey); Northern Botswana: 126,114 (2018 survey); Botswana's part of KAZA: 131,909 (2022 survey)
3400 speciesAbout 400 bird species listed on the wildlife page.
4best450 speciesAbout 450 bird species listed on the wildlife page.
4Water5Water
$30cheapest bed$50cheapest bed
$2,610mid-range$1,635mid-range
Maun (MUB)nearest airportKasane (BBK)nearest airport
Jul to Octpeak game viewingJun to Octpeak game viewing
High Oct to MaymalariaHigh Oct–Maymalaria
5First safari5First safari

Each park in one line

Moremi The protected core of the Okavango: flood-fed lagoons, red lechwe and some of Africa's best predator country.

Chobe Botswana's elephant park: the Chobe Riverfront ten minutes from Kasane, and the sand country of Savuti and Linyanti beyond it.

How the ratings work
  • Big game is calculated from each park's sightings table on its wildlife page: guaranteed counts 3, likely 2, a fair chance 1, rare 0.5 and absent 0, across elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo, wild dog, cheetah, hippo and giraffe, scaled so that 16 points is 5 out of 5.
  • Birding follows the species count on the wildlife page. Low-budget safari follows the cheapest listed bed, the share of budget places and the daily park fee.
  • Walking, night drives, water, self-drive, families, first safari and wilderness are our ratings, whole numbers from 1 to 5. Press "Why?" on any row to read the facts each one rests on, with the page they come from. Where a rule is not published we say so rather than guess.
  • Prices are per person per night in US dollars as listed on the lodges pages, before park fees; the three-night totals come from each park's costs page and use the dated rates there. Fees are the international adult rate per day.

Facts checked July to October 2026 on each park's own pages; ratings updated 2026-10-13. Also as data.json.