Night Game Drives
Night game drives use a handheld spotlight to find nocturnal wildlife after dark, revealing aardvark, porcupine, civet, genet, serval, honey badger and bushbaby alongside predators that are far more active at night. In Botswana they are permitted only on private concessions and community areas, since national parks close their gates at set hours. A night drive is a genuinely different activity from a daytime one rather than the same thing in the dark.
Where Night Drives Are Allowed in Botswana
Check this before booking a camp, because it is the single thing that decides whether a night drive is available to you at all.
National parks and game reserves, meaning Chobe, Moremi, the Central Kalahari, Nxai Pan and Makgadikgadi, close their gates at set hours and require vehicles to be back at camp or out of the park by dark. No night activities are permitted.
Private concessions operate under separate agreements and permit night drives. That covers the Okavango concessions including Jao, Vumbura, Duba, Abu and Kwara, alongside Linyanti, Selinda and Kwando in the north.
Community areas also sit outside park boundaries and permit them. Khwai beside Moremi is the best known and the most affordable route to a night drive in Botswana, since it is open to self-drive travellers and mobile safaris and to lodge guests alike.
The forest reserves around Kasane are a further option, permitting night drives within half an hour of Chobe riverfront lodges.
The boundary between Moremi and the Khwai community area is a few hundred metres on the ground and the difference between no night drives and night drives. That line, rather than the camp or the price, is what determines your evenings.
How a Night Drive Works
Most night drives are an extension of the afternoon drive rather than a separate outing.
You go out in the late afternoon as usual, stop for a sundowner as the light goes, and then rather than heading back the vehicle continues into the dark with the spotlight working.
A spotter sits on the vehicle sweeping a handheld lamp slowly across the bush on both sides, looking for eyeshine. The guide drives, watches, and interprets what the light picks up.
Vehicles use their headlights and the spotlight. Beyond that circle there is nothing, which changes the feel of the whole thing considerably.
You return later than a normal drive, and dinner follows.
Some camps also run night drives as a full separate activity after dinner, which is less common and worth asking about if the idea appeals.
Reading Eyeshine
This is the skill that makes a night drive work, and watching a good guide do it is half the pleasure.
Most animal eyes reflect light back at the source, which is what produces eyeshine. An experienced guide identifies a species from a considerable distance based on the colour of the reflection, its height above the ground, how far apart the eyes sit and how they move.
There is a further trick worth knowing. Whether one eye or two are showing tells you something. Two eyes facing the vehicle usually means a predator, whose eyes sit forward on the skull for binocular vision. One eye visible from the side usually means a herbivore, whose eyes sit on the sides of the head for a wide field of view.
The technique works on remarkably small things. Guests regularly report astonishment at a guide picking out a chameleon in the middle of a bush, its single side-facing eye glowing silver as the beam passes over.
Ask your guide to talk you through what they are seeing. Most enjoy explaining it.
What You See on a Night Drive
The cast is completely different from the daytime one, and that is the point.
The species most people come for are the mid-sized nocturnal mammals that daylight almost never produces: aardvark, porcupine, civet, genet, serval, honey badger, aardwolf, bat-eared fox and brown hyena. Ground pangolin is the rarest prize and a genuine career sighting for experienced safari travellers.
Bushbabies move through the canopy with their distinctive cry, and spring hares bound across open ground in numbers.
Nocturnal birdlife appears that the day never reveals, with owls and nightjars regularly seen.
Predators are more active. Leopard in particular is often at its most mobile after dark, and lion and spotted hyena hunt at night. Seeing a cat working rather than sleeping under a bush is a different order of experience.
Even familiar daytime animals behave differently, with elephants feeding in the dark and antelope bunched and alert, which gives a fresh read on the same ecosystem.
Commonly seen. Genet, civet, porcupine, spring hare, bushbaby, scrub hare, owls and nightjars, along with hippo out of the water grazing and elephant feeding after dark.
Good sightings. Serval, honey badger, African wildcat, aardwolf, bat-eared fox, brown hyena, and leopard or lion active rather than resting.
Rare and memorable. Aardvark, which many guides go years between seeing well, and ground pangolin, which is the sighting experienced safari travellers talk about for the rest of their lives.
Spotlights, Red Filters and Ethics
This deserves proper treatment because it is a genuine issue rather than a technicality.
A bright white spotlight in an animal’s eyes is unpleasant and can be harmful. Nocturnal species have eyes adapted for very low light, and a sudden strong beam temporarily impairs their vision. An animal fleeing with impaired eyesight risks injury, separation from a herd or from young, and greater vulnerability.
The response across the industry has been red filters, which produce far less disturbance because most mammals see poorly at the red end of the spectrum. Infrared and filtered lamps are increasingly standard, and several established operators in Botswana use them.
Good practice extends beyond the filter. A guide should keep the beam off an animal’s eyes directly, move the light away rather than holding it, and limit how long any sighting is illuminated.
Whether to follow a hunting predator is a judgement call. A spotlight gives an advantage to one party and a disadvantage to the other, and a responsible guide will sometimes switch off and leave rather than interfere with a hunt.
Ask an operator what lights they use. It is a reasonable question and the answer tells you something about the camp.
What to Bring and What to Expect
Night drives are colder and darker than people plan for.
Temperatures drop fast once the sun goes. A June evening that was pleasant at four in the afternoon can be near freezing by eight, with wind chill on an open vehicle on top. Bring a fleece, a windproof layer, gloves and a hat, and take the blanket and hot water bottle the camp offers.
Photography at night is difficult and mostly disappointing without specialist equipment. High ISO capability helps, and a fast lens more so, though a spotlit animal at distance is a hard subject. Many people put the camera away and simply watch, which is often the better decision.
Do not use a flash. Beyond producing poor images, it is far more disturbing to the animal than the guide’s filtered lamp.
Bring a torch for walking back to your tent, and expect to be escorted, since the same animals you have been watching are around the camp.
If night drives matter to you, decide that before choosing camps rather than after. Two nights in a concession or at Khwai will give you them, and a week in Moremi or Chobe will not, whatever else those camps offer.
Frequently Asked Questions About Night Game Drives
Can you do night drives in Botswana’s national parks?
No. Chobe, Moremi, the Central Kalahari, Nxai Pan and Makgadikgadi all close their gates at set hours and require vehicles to be back at camp or out of the park by dark, with no night activities permitted. Night drives run on private concessions such as those in the Okavango, Linyanti, Selinda and Kwando, and in community areas including Khwai, which sit outside park boundaries. The forest reserves near Kasane also permit them.
What animals do you see on a night drive?
Genet, civet, porcupine, spring hare, bushbaby and scrub hare are commonly seen, alongside owls and nightjars. Better sightings include serval, honey badger, African wildcat, aardwolf, bat-eared fox and brown hyena. Aardvark and ground pangolin are the rare prizes that experienced safari travellers pursue for years. Predators are far more active after dark, with leopard in particular often at its most mobile, and lion and spotted hyena hunting.
How do guides find animals in the dark?
By eyeshine. Most animal eyes reflect light back at its source, and an experienced guide identifies species at distance from the colour of the reflection, its height, the spacing of the eyes and how they move. Two eyes facing the vehicle usually indicates a predator, whose eyes sit forward for binocular vision, while one eye visible from the side usually indicates a herbivore. The technique works on subjects as small as a chameleon in a bush.
Are spotlights harmful to animals?
Bright white light can be, since nocturnal species have eyes adapted for very low light and a strong beam temporarily impairs their vision, with a fleeing animal risking injury or separation from young. The industry response has been red filters, which cause far less disturbance because most mammals see poorly at that end of the spectrum, and filtered or infrared lamps are increasingly standard. Ask an operator what lights they use before booking.
How much does a night drive cost?
At concession and community camps it is normally included in the all-inclusive nightly rate along with the other twice-daily activities, so there is no separate charge. Rates at private concession camps typically start around 1,500 US dollars per person per night and run beyond 4,000, while Khwai community camps sit considerably lower. Self-drive visitors at Khwai can book a guided night drive locally, which is by far the cheapest route to the activity in Botswana.
What should I wear on a night drive?
Considerably more than the afternoon suggests. Temperatures drop quickly once the sun goes, and a June evening that was pleasant at four can be near freezing by eight, with wind chill on an open vehicle on top. Bring a fleece, a windproof layer, gloves and a warm hat, and use the blanket and hot water bottle the camp provides. Neutral colours as always, and a torch for walking back to your tent afterwards.
Booking Your Botswana Trip
The safari companies and tour operators listed on this website put trips like this together for a living and know which camps, guides and routes actually deliver. We are an independent guide to Botswana; we do not book or sell tours ourselves.
When you are ready, arrange your safari, tour or holiday with one of the recognised operators listed here. Tell them your dates and what matters most, and a real person, not a form, will handle the itinerary, park bookings and logistics for you.