Maun

• Nhabe Museum

  A small museum that works more as an art gallery, with changing exhibitions by local artists alongside musical instruments and hunting tools. It is the place in town to learn something of local history and culture, and a dry hour in the rainy season.

  Expert Africa, Maun
• Riley's Hotel

  Founded by Harry Riley in 1910 as a single spare rondavel beside his own. The writer Laurens van der Post, describing it in the 1950s, called it a remarkable little hotel for the few travellers determined enough to cross the desert. It is now a 51-room Cresta chain hotel just off Tsheko-Tsheko Road, with a bar named after its founder.

  Expert Africa, Riley's Hotel
• Maun Game Sanctuary (Maun Educational Park)

  A small fenced reserve on the Thamalakane off Sekgoma Road, about 2 km from the centre. The Bradt guide of about 2003 described the last of Maun's original riverine woodland and fan palms, with giraffe, zebra, wildebeest and lechwe that could be approached on foot. We could not confirm its present state or hours, so ask in town before going.

  Bradt Botswana Travel Guide, first edition online (about 2003), Maun, what to see and do
• Sexaxa Cultural Village

  A village on the outskirts of Maun that shows visitors Bayei culture and how traditional life carries on at the edge of a growing town.

  Expert Africa, Maun
• Thamo Telele

  A lodge on a fenced private reserve about 20 minutes from the airport, formerly Royal Tree Lodge and before that Motsentsela Tree Lodge. It has links to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, and giraffe come to drink at a waterhole beside it.

  Expert Africa, Thamo Telele
• Elephant Havens

  An elephant orphanage outside Maun, the only one in Botswana by its own account. Keepers live alongside the calves and bottle-feed them every three hours, with the aim of weaning them and returning them to the wild.

  Elephant Havens Wildlife Foundation

• With 85,350 people at the 2022 census, Maun is larger than anywhere in Botswana except the cities of Gaborone and Francistown and the village of Mogoditshane. It is still classed as a village, the country's second largest. source
• The Civil Aviation Authority ranks Maun second in Africa for aircraft movements, behind only OR Tambo in Johannesburg, because of the stream of short light aircraft flights to airstrips in the delta. source
• Botswana's highest recorded temperature, 44.0°C, was measured in Maun on 7 January 2016. source
• The Thamalakane River follows a geological fault at the southern end of the Okavango Delta. The fault blocks the delta's channels, so the Boro River runs into the Thamalakane at a right angle. About 40 km further on the water turns again through a gap in the fault and becomes the Boteti. source
• The BBC's Top Gear Botswana Special, first shown on 4 November 2007, had its three presenters drive cheap two-wheel-drive cars across the Makgadikgadi Pans and the Kalahari to Maun and then into the delta. source

Checked 12 October 2026.

• very likelyGiraffeThamo Telele, a fenced private reserve about 20 minutes from the airport, where they come to a waterhole by the lodge. Not wild around town. All yearsource
• very likelyElephant (orphaned calves)Elephant Havens outside Maun, which describes itself as the country's only elephant orphanage. These are hand-reared calves, not wild herds. All yearsource
• likelyHippoThe Thamalakane River, seen on boat cruises from the riverside lodges. Expert Africa picks out April, July and August for river sightingssource
• likelyPlains zebraThamo Telele private reserve. All yearsource
• likelyAfrican fish eagleMaun Game Sanctuary (Maun Educational Park) on the Thamalakane, where the Bradt guide of about 2003 called it a fairly easily seen resident. All yearsource
• possibleNile crocodileThe Thamalakane River, on the same boat cruisessource
• possibleRed lechweThe wide banks of the Thamalakane, where they still share the grass with the town's livestocksource
• rareBat hawkMaun Game Sanctuary beside the river, hunting in the early morning or evening (Bradt guide of about 2003)source

Likelihood is for a normal visit of two or three days, from the sources linked. Nothing is guaranteed in the wild.

• Thamo Telele reserve trailsEASY

  Marked, self-guided walking trails with waterholes and a hide, on a reserve with giraffe, zebra and other plains game but no large predators. Guided walks and horse rides are offered too.

  Permit: The trails are on the lodge's private fenced reserve. Ask the lodge about access if you are not staying there

  Expert Africa, Thamo Telele (giraffe, zebra, walking trails)

Malaria

Maun is in a malaria area. The UK Health Security Agency's 2026 guidelines rate the northern half of Botswana, with the Okavango Delta area named, as high risk from October to May and advise antimalarial tablets for those months. For the rest of the year they rate the risk low and advise bite avoidance. source

Malaria tablets, the US advice

The US CDC lists Ngamiland and Okavango among the districts with malaria transmission and recommends prescription tablets there (atovaquone-proguanil, doxycycline, mefloquine or tafenoquine) without naming a season. The two bodies differ for the winter months, so ask a travel clinic which applies to your dates. source

Crime

The UK Foreign Office says attacks on tourists are rare but violent crime is increasing in Gaborone, Francistown and Maun, and that thieves may target cars waiting at traffic lights. Keep doors locked, windows closed and bags and phones out of sight, and do not stop for hitchhikers. source

The river

The UK Foreign Office says not to bathe in rivers and lakes in Botswana, because of wild animals and water-borne disease. That includes the Thamalakane, however calm it looks from a lodge deck. source

Driving after dark

Botswana's main roads are good tar, but the UK Foreign Office warns that stray livestock and wildlife make driving outside the towns dangerous, most of all at night. Plan to reach Maun in daylight. source

Heat

October to December are the hottest months. Expert Africa's advice against heat stroke is to cover up, use high-factor sunscreen and drink plenty of non-alcoholic fluids. source

• Fill the tank and the jerry cans before you leave town. One regular on the 4x4 Community forum reports that going north through Moremi and Savuti the next pump is at Muchenje, on the Kasane side, with nothing in between. one source
• Give Maun a full day before a self-drive trip. The writers of one Tracks4Africa trip report spent most of a day here buying supplies and sorting out niggles on the vehicle before heading for Moremi's North Gate, because past Maun you have to be self-sufficient. one source
• Check that your hire vehicle has a working tyre pressure gauge and an inflator before you leave town. The first rule of sand driving, and the tracks north of Maun are sand, is to let the tyres down. How far depends on the vehicle's weight and its tyres, so ask the hire firm for their figure. one source
• You do not have to pay park entry fees in Maun. A Maun self-drive agency says they are paid to the wildlife department at the park gate, by cash or card. Campsites are a separate matter: most are run by private operators and must be booked ahead. one source
• Flying on to a delta camp with more luggage than the light aircraft allows? The airport has very little luggage storage, but most safari companies will collect spare bags and keep them until you come back through. one source
• Taxis and combis (minibuses) have blue number plates. There is no central dispatch, so if you are staying out of the centre get a driver's mobile number for the trip back. several sources

Checked 12 October 2026. Conditions change, so confirm with the park or venue before you go.