One of the biggest reasons for coming to the Okavango – and you may only realise this once you've visited – is not the game or the birds. It's simply the whole general ambience of being able to float over lily-covered lagoons with the sun on your back and a gentle breeze in your hair. This is certainly best when the skies are fairly clear of clouds – from April to November.

Other visitors

Most tourists to Botswana visit during the dry season, from around May to November. Within that season, the period from mid-July to mid-October is definitely the busiest – although Botswana's small camps/lodges and private reserves ensure that it never feels busy, even when everywhere is full. (In fact, the country's capacity for tourism remains tiny compared with that of South Africa, Kenya or Tanzania.)

Most of those visiting outside of this season are cognoscenti, who visit early or late in the season – May to July or late-October to November – when the camps are quieter and often costs are lower.

A much smaller number of visitors come during the rains, from December to April, when camps will often be quiet for days. This often means that they will give visitors a much more personal experience, with private drives; their rates are often lower too, and they're usually far more flexible about bringing children on safari.

Much of the blame for this 'glut or famine' of visitors lies with overseas tour operators. Many who advertise trips here just don't know Botswana well enough to plan trips which work during the rainy season. It's much easier for them to make blanket generalisations, telling enquirers who don't know any better that it's 'not interesting' or that 'you won't see any game' if you visit in the wet season. None of this is true, as long as you choose your destinations carefully, but of course most people don't know this in advance.

While the rains are not the ideal time for everybody's trip, they are a fascinating time to visit and should not be dismissed without serious thought.

Costs of trips

Aside from the airfares to get here, which vary in their own way some safari operators also lower their rates when business in quieter. Generally July to October is the peak season when prices are highest; January and February is the green season when prices are lowest, and the rest of the year falls somewhere in between.

Walking safaris

For safe and interesting walking, you need the foliage to be low so that you can see through the surrounding bush as easily as possible. This means that the dry season is certainly the best time for walking – and even then I'd counsel you to choose where you visit very, very carefully as standards of walking guides can be highly variable.

I wouldn't advise anyone looking for a serious walking trip to visit Botswana in the wet season. Walking through shoulder-high grass is nerve-racking with the best of walking guides, and only two or three operations in Botswana are really likely to have anything like that calibre of guide. The best months for walking are May to October, though away from the moderating influence of the Okavango's waters, October can be very hot for longer walks.