Things to do in Botswana

From a glass-crushing plant to a biogas-fuelled kitchen – eco-tour at Chobe Game Lodge

We also work with local communities, training young people to develop their skills, and we fund several initiatives…

By Florence Kagiso

Senior Guide at Chobe Game Lodge

Sustainability is a big thing for us at Chobe Game Lodge and as we’re the only camp inside the national park, we try to minimise our impact on the natural environment as much as possible. We were the first camp in Botswana to launch electric-powered safari vehicles, and our boats are also electric as well as solar-powered. On top of that, around 95% of all waste at the lodge is recycled, and our boardwalk overlooking the Chobe is built from recycled timber-plastic.

Our recycling processes include glass crushing to manufacture bricks on-site, which we then donate to the local community to be used for housing. We also crush plastic bottles to be recycled by the supplier, and reuse greywater to keep the grounds green.

We run informal behind-the-scenes eco-tours for guests wanting to learn more about all this. Our head guide, Vivian, normally guides the tours, taking guests to the back-of-house kitchen, which runs on gas made from biodegradable waste at our biogas plant. We also show them our recycling plant, our greywater facility and our workshop.

We get a really positive reaction from guests on the tours. Sometimes they get to meet Albert Ndereki, who helped build the lodge back in 1971 and is behind many of the eco processes we have in place today.

Of course it’s not just the environment we need to protect. We also work with local communities, training young people to develop their skills, and we fund several initiatives, including the Turning Heads Beauty Salon, which employs vulnerable women. I’m also proud to be part of Botswana’s first all-female guiding team – in fact, two thirds of all staff at the lodge are women.

For guests wanting to learn more about the local community, we run private trips to the nearby village of Mabele, located around an hour and a half’s drive away. We visit the Lwaavo Cultural Group, a community group and cultural centre that showcases local crafts and customs.

The visit begins with a traditional song and dance performance, before guests are invited to take part in a basket-weaving demonstration and play a few games. They then have the chance to buy souvenirs hand-crafted by the group and to try local dishes such as seswaa (a traditional shredded beef dish), boiled morogo (similar to spinach) and pap. The excursion is really popular – it gives guests a chance to support the community while learning more about rural Botswanan culture, and to get an insight into the people as well as the animals that inhabit our surroundings.

Available in these itineraries…

Itinerary

Best of Botswana and Victoria Falls
by Adele Jones

Length11 Days

Price range£6,895 - £9,675pp
Itinerary

Rovos Rail to the Falls and Chobe
by Becky Souissi

Length11 Days

Price range£5,750 - £7,275pp

Alfred & Florence Kagiso

Florence grew up in a farming family in the Okavango Delta and has been a guide at Chobe Game Lodge for 17 years. When she joined in 2004, she was the first female guide at the camp - she now mentors a team of 17 women. Her work was recognised in National Geographic Traveller’s recent Reader Awards 2021, where she won The Innovator award.

Plan your holiday withAlfred&

Your journey will start with one of our UK team – someone like Louise, who's travelled extensively in Botswana. They’ll shape your ideas into the trip of a lifetime. But they won't do it alone. They'll draw on the expertise of our contacts on the ground, connecting you to the people who'll make your holiday one you'll always remember - the rangers who'll ensure you'll spot the best wildlife in Chobe, the village chiefs who'll give you an insight into local life and the helicopter pilots who can land you on an island in the Delta never visited by humans before.

Louise Dean

Africa Expert for Alfred&

When it comes to Africa, Louise is well versed. She’s flown into an empty Namibian beach to eat lunch on the aircraft wing, experienced Tanzania’s Great Wildebeest migration and listened to stories of the Anglo-Zulu War on the battlefields where it happened over a centennial ago. While she’s witnessed vast, incredible game including the last two northern white rhinos, it’s the people who she finds most inspiring; the native Maasai women whose lives are deeply rooted within the Olare Motorogi Conservancy and the local guides - resilient, highly knowledgeable, and ever smiling.
Harrison Mangwegape

Guide at Camp Xakanaxa

Harry was born in the Botswanan village of Thamaga, near capital Gaborone. He loved wildlife growing up and trained at the Okavango Guiding School in Maun to pursue his passion. He started working as a guide at Desert & Delta’s Savute Safari Lodge in 2010 and later joined Leroo La Tau in Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, before moving to Camp Xakanaxa.
Keitumetse 'KT' Mogale

Guide at Camp Okavango

Keitumetse has been guiding for 12 years. He grew up in the village of Mogotho in the Okavango Delta and began his career as a tracker. He now leads walking safaris and game drives at Camp Okavango and enjoys sharing his stories with guests from all over the world.
Florence Kagiso

Senior Guide at Chobe Game Lodge

Florence grew up in a farming family in the Okavango Delta and has been a guide at Chobe Game Lodge for 17 years. When she joined in 2004, she was the first female guide at the camp - she now mentors a team of 17 women. Her work was recognised in National Geographic Traveller’s recent Reader Awards 2021, where she won The Innovator award.
Andrew Baker

Founder and Managing Director of Helicopter Horizons

Andrew grew up in Zimbabwe before moving to the US to train as a pilot. Botswana had always held a place in his heart, so he began his aviation career as a fixed wing pilot in the Okavango Delta. He founded Helicopter Horizons in 2004, offering photographic flights - without doors - for organisations such as the BBC and National Geographic. The company now offer scenic flights for tourists in the Okavango Delta, Linyanti region and the Makgadikgadi Pans, as well as transfers between safari camps.
Ollie Maitapiso

Guide at Leroo La Tau

Ollie grew up in the village of Xaxaba in the Okavango Delta and began his career as a trainee poler in 1999, taking guests out on mokoro trips. He started guiding in 2004 and joined Camp Xakanaxa in the Moremi Game Reserve in 2007, before moving to Leroo La Tau in 2014.