Botswana
Botswana in September
🌷 SpringWarm and mostly dry.
🎒 Pack: light, breathable clothes & sunscreen · sunglasses & hat
Why September scores 9.4What goes into the score
How it works- Weather comfort9.5
- ✓Warm (30°C highs / 12°C lows)
- ✓Comfortable humidity (dew point 1.1°C)
- ✓Mostly dry (~7 mm rain)
- Air quality9.3
- ✓Good (within WHO guideline) (PM2.5 ~9 µg/m³)
- Seasonal hazards10.0
- ·No notable seasonal hazards
- Safety baseline7.5
- ·Increased caution
| Sep | Apr | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 9.4 Excellent | 9.4 Excellent |
| Season | 🌷 Spring | 🍂 Autumn |
| High / low | 30° / 12° | 28° / 14° |
| Rain | 7 mm | 60 mm |
| Humidity | dew pt 1° | dew pt 10° |
| PM2.5 | 9 µg/m³ | 11 µg/m³ |
Typical-month data: NASA POWER (MERRA-2 reanalysis) 2015–2024 (modelled, not a forecast). Temperatures: Gaborone weather-station normals.
Holidays & crowdsSeptember 2027
Long weekendThere's at least one long weekend. Domestic travel picks up and popular spots get busier over those days.
- Botswana Day 30 Sep – 3 Oct · 4 days off in a row
National holidays only; regional holidays and school breaks aren't included. Source: holidays (open-source public-holiday calendar).
Explore BotswanaEvents, sights, food & souvenirs
Check event dates locallyA southern African country known for low-volume, high-quality safaris in the Okavango Delta, Chobe and the Kalahari, with some of Africa's largest elephant populations.
Botswana Day (Independence Day)Every year30 September every year
A national holiday marking independence in 1966, with celebrations and events across the country.
Why go: Government offices and many businesses close around the holiday.
Where: Nationwide
Coming up later
Zebra migrationDate variesUsually December to March, depending on rains
Thousands of zebra move onto the pans to graze on fresh grass after the rains.
Why go: Timing depends on rainfall, so plan with some flexibility.
Where: Makgadikgadi and Nxai Pans
Okavango flood peakDate variesUsually June to August
Rain that fell in the Angolan highlands months earlier reaches the delta, filling its channels.
Why go: This is peak safari season, so lodges book up far in advance.
Where: Okavango Delta
Okavango Deltagreat in Sep
A vast inland delta of channels, lagoons and islands explored by mokoro (dugout canoe), boat, on foot and on game drives.
💡 The floodwaters peak in the dry winter months, which is also when wildlife concentrates and viewing is easiest.
Chobe National Parkgreat in Sep
A park in the north famous for huge elephant herds, best seen from boat cruises on the Chobe River near Kasane.
💡 Late dry season brings the largest herds to the riverfront.
Makgadikgadi and Nxai Pans
Enormous salt pans and grasslands where zebra and wildebeest gather after the rains.
💡 The zebra migration happens in the wet season; in the dry season the pans are a stark salt landscape.
Central Kalahari Game Reserve
A huge, remote desert reserve known for black-maned lions, gemsbok and open skies.
💡 Self-driving here requires a fully equipped 4x4 and pre-booked campsites.
Tsodilo Hills
A UNESCO World Heritage Site with thousands of San rock paintings in the remote northwest.
Seswaa
Botswana's national dish of beef or goat slow-boiled and pounded, usually served with pap.
Pap (bogobe)
A stiff maize or sorghum porridge eaten with stews and meat.
Magwinya
Fried dough balls, often called fat cakes, sold as a snack.
💡 Roadside stalls and markets
Mopane worms
Dried caterpillars of the mopane moth, fried or stewed, a traditional protein source.
Woven baskets
Intricately patterned baskets woven from mokola palm by women in the Okavango area.
💡 Craft cooperatives in Ngamiland and craft shops in Maun and Gaborone
San crafts
Ostrich eggshell beadwork and other crafts made by San communities.
💡 Community craft shops, for example in the Ghanzi area