Travel in Botswana

So you want to see a lion in the wild? Terrific. Now comes the tricky part: choosing where to go on your first safari.

Is hunting elephants the best way to save the species? That’s a question once again being raised in the conservation community after a recent ruling by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service that will make it more difficult to import legally harvested elephant ivory. Many scientists, however, are questioning the move as antithetical to the stated goal of bolstering elephant conservation across Africa.

When interest in ChatGPT exploded a year ago, a cottage industry arose of people asking it to perform tasks that have long been the province of experts—write a recipe, curate a wardrobe, and, of course, plan a trip—and then evaluate how well it had done. Generally, the results, while not disastrous, were mediocre. Ah, but ChatGPT is quickly going to get much better, Silicon Valley insists. Perhaps. But AI tools can rely only on the reams of data they’ve scraped from the Internet. So while they might, in the near future, be able to put together an itinerary as effectively as you could based on your own online research, they’ll never be able to deliver the kind of next-level journey a travel specialist can.

The African elephant is perhaps the most enduring symbol of nature’s grace and fragility.

It’s inevitable: Every spring when we pull together the Hot List, our annual collection of the world’s best new hotels, restaurants, and cruise ships, a staffer remarks that this latest iteration has got to be the best one ever. After a year’s worth of traveling the globe—to stay the night at a converted farmhouse in the middle of an olive grove outside Marrakech, or sail aboard a beloved cruise line’s inaugural Antarctic voyage—it’s easy to see why we get attached. But this year’s Hot List, our 28th edition, might really be the best one ever. It’s certainly our most diverse, featuring not only a hotel suite that was once Winston Churchill’s office, but also the world’s largest cruise ship and restaurants from Cape Town to Bali. We were surprised and inspired by this year’s honorees, and we know you will be too. These are the Hot List hotel winners for 2024.

Red Carnation Hotels is making a splash in Scotland.

If you just saw your first total solar eclipse—or you are desperate to see another—here’s where and when to go to experience another totality:

It seems, on some level, like an im-possibility. In the semi-arid highlands of Angola, hundreds of trickling streams join forces with two mighty rivers, the Cuito and the Cubango, which flow through Namibia and into Botswana as the Okavango, then spill into a fan-shaped 4,600-square-mile wetland before vanishing into the sands of the Kalahari Desert. Poof.

The Wildlife Photographer Of The Year (WPY) exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London is a show of work of the world's 105 best nature photographers awarded for their artistic composition, technical innovation and truthful interpretation of wildlife on our planet.

On a wet January morning at Somalisa Camp, in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park, a tall, rangy paramedic named Elvis Tavengwa is instructing about three dozen bush guides on the finer points of first aid. “Come on,” he shouts at them, so animated he's almost hovering above the floor. “Your guest is in cardiac arrest. What are you going to do?” The guides, dressed in every imaginable shade of khaki and olive, look at one another, uncertain. “He's dying!” Elvis screams. “Chest compressions! I need chest compressions!” Several guides lurch forward to demonstrate on a dummy.

BLS International will prioritize security and quality control, overseeing secure application delivery to the Embassy, passport collection, and maintaining a robust security and vigilance system throughout the visa application process.

It seems, on some level, like an im-possibility. In the semi-arid highlands of Angola, hundreds of trickling streams join forces with two mighty rivers, the Cuito and the Cubango, which flow through Namibia and into Botswana as the Okavango, then spill into a fan-shaped 4,600-square-mile wetland before vanishing into the sands of the Kalahari Desert. Poof.

February was a relatively quiet month in terms of travel advisory updates from the U.S. State Department.

Niche lifestyle magazines seem to be gaining some traction in recent years as an antidote to the overwhelming noise and chaos of social media and its assault on the English language. For sportsmen looking for a literary refuge, perhaps on the plains of Africa, the lowlands of Sweden or in a Dakota pheasant field, you’ll find a cherished friend in The Sporting Life magazine, a new brainchild of Michigan-native Thaddius Bedford.

Air Botswana is the flag carrier of Botswana operating scheduled flights to domestic destinations such as Maun, Kasane, Francistown and Gaborone as well as regional destinations including; Cape town, Johannesburg, Lusaka and Harare.

Safari presents a challenge for travel writers. It’s a trip of a lifetime, something we dream of. It’s captivating to do, immersive in the extreme—the unfamiliar scents, the strange bird trillips, the unrelenting vastness of it all.

You can listen to our podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify each week. Follow this link if you're listening on Apple News.

So, you’ve met someone you are so completely and madly in love with that you want to spend the rest of your lives together. Congrats! There’s no better feeling. You’ve likely decided on a ring, perhaps even told those close to you that you plan on doing it, but here’s the big question: where will you propose?

Which countries are the best for wildlife photography?

If you’re looking for a safari experience that transcends the ordinary, head to Botswana’s inimitable Linyanti Bush Camp, a part of the acclaimed African Bush Camp collection. At this exceptional lodge, guests are not merely passive observers on safari but are invited to be active participants in an unfolding story of the wildlife, people and traditions that define Botswana and make it such a standout safari destination.

There’s a special place near where I live. To get there, you head down the road with all the fly-tipping, go through the motorway underpass, then turn left by the second-hand car garage and the greasy spoon cafe with a spelling mistake in its name. When you reach the factory with the rusting metal pipes and enormous concrete chimney, push through the scraggy bushes opposite and you have arrived.