Botswana has all the ingredients of your safari of a lifetime, without the bus traffic and major crowds. This flat country, home to Africa's Big Five, ranges from savannah to the great Okavango Delta swamplands, and shares the Kalahari Desert with neighbor Namibia. Grab a four-wheel drive, or even better, a dugout canoe, for your preferred mode of transportation to explore this rich expanse. Chobe National Park requires that four-wheel drive to explore its more than 4,000 square miles. Hippos and crocodiles bob the length of the Chobe River, and the requisite leopards, giraffes, and antelope come here for water. But it's the elephants that rule Chobe, with the largest herds in the world. Pole through the Okavango Delta to see swarms of birds--bustards, storks, flamingoes--taking flight in dramatic bursts of color (though some prefer to look down for some of the region's best fishing). With the Zambezi river and its dramatic highlight, Victoria Falls, right over the border in Zimbabwe.