Maun: the town almost every Okavango safari passes through.
A working safari town on the Thamalakane River, at the southern edge of the Delta. Most people only see the airport, and a night here is often a sensible piece of planning.
An airport, a river, and a great many small aircraft.
Maun has been the capital of the BaTawana since 1915 and the centre of Botswana’s safari industry for most of the time since. It is a spread-out town of low buildings, donkeys on the verges and supply trucks heading north, and it does not pretend to be a resort. Nearly everything that happens in the Delta is organised, fuelled or flown from here.
The airport is the reason most visitors arrive. Scheduled flights connect it with Johannesburg and Gaborone, and from the apron beside the terminal a fleet of light aircraft flies guests out to the camps. Most Delta airstrips are between fifteen and forty-five minutes away, and the flight itself, low over the channels and islands, is many people’s first proper look at the Okavango.
Bush airstrips do not take landings after dark, so the last transfers of the day leave mid-afternoon. If your international connection lands late, or your flight home leaves early, a night in Maun is usually the difference between a relaxed start and a missed first day in camp.
Maun: the essentials.
- WhereThe southern edge of the Okavango Delta, in north-western Botswana
- AirportMaun International Airport (MUB), with flights from Johannesburg and Gaborone
- To the campsUsually 15 to 45 minutes by light aircraft
- By roadAbout 100 km to Moremi’s South Gate, and the start of most mobile safaris
- When you need a nightLate arrivals, early departures, and the night before a mobile safari
- Who it suitsEveryone heading into the Delta, the Kalahari or the pans
Making the most of a day on the Thamalakane.
A scenic flight
An hour in a light aircraft or helicopter over the Delta, timed for the late afternoon. The best way to understand the scale of the place before you are down in it.
The Thamalakane River
Maun’s lodges sit along the river, and in the flood months the water runs past the decks. Sundowners here are a gentle first evening after a long flight.
The Nhabe Museum
A small museum in a historic building in town, with exhibits on the region’s history and its natural world. An hour well spent on a free afternoon.
Mobile safari departures
Our Kalahari Collection journeys begin here: you meet your guide and crew, check kit, and drive north into Moremi the same morning.
The Kalahari and the pans
Maun is also the base for the Central Kalahari, the Makgadikgadi and Nxai Pan, each a few hours to the south or east by road.
Luggage, sorted
Light-aircraft limits are strict, typically 20 kg in a soft bag. Excess luggage can usually be stored in Maun and collected on the way out.
What guests ask us about Maun.
Do we need to stay a night in Maun?
Only if your timings demand it. If your flight lands in Maun by about midday, we can usually have you in camp the same afternoon. Later than that, or on the way home with an early departure, a night in Maun avoids a scramble. We work it out from your actual flight times.
What happens to luggage that is over the light-aircraft limit?
It stays behind in Maun. Lodges and charter companies routinely store excess bags securely, and they are waiting for you when you fly back through. If you are continuing elsewhere afterwards, pack a soft 20 kg bag for the safari and leave the rest.
Is Maun or Kasane the better gateway?
It depends where you are going. Maun is the gateway for the Okavango Delta, Moremi, the Kalahari and the pans. Kasane is the gateway for Chobe and Victoria Falls. Many itineraries fly into one and out of the other, which saves doubling back.
Is there anything to do in Maun itself?
Enough for an afternoon. A scenic flight over the Delta is the one thing we recommend to everyone, and the riverside lodges are pleasant places to recover from a long journey. Maun is a stopover rather than a destination, and we plan it as one.
How to fit Maun into a journey.
It features in these four signature journeys, and we build it into tailor-made routes all the time.
Keep reading
- Flights, visas and practical planning — what to settle before you book
- The Okavango Delta — where the light aircraft from Maun are going
- The Kalahari and the salt pans — the desert, a few hours by road from Maun
- Getting to Botswana — flights, connections and the light-aircraft transfer
- The Tsodilo Hills — Botswana’s rock art, a charter flight from Maun
Thinking about Maun?
Tell us when you can travel and what you most want to see, and we will tell you honestly how many nights it deserves and what to pair it with.