Botswana Travel Guide

We rode from Vic Falls to Cape Town on motorcycles and the amount and variety of wild life we encountered - often in the middle of the road - was truly incredible. One of our riders had an accident in Botswana and the people at the scene couldn't have been more helpful. Truly good people - many living in awfully modest conditions to say the least.

Fantastic place for a safari

I'd been to South Africa 3 times before. The reason why I kept going back is because I absolutely loved my experiences there, especially, in Kruger National Park. Thus, I was a bit reluctant to step out of my comfort zone. I am so glad I went to Botswana. Before choosing to visit the Okavango Delta, I did fair bit of research and everyone seemed to say that Botswana is beautiful and it gives a true experience of African wilderness and wildlife; they were not wrong.

The Okavango Delta, it seems, is run in a way which limits visitors, thereby limiting the impact on the environment. There are strict limits that are imposed on how many people can be in any given concession, and it's not possible for casual guests to just show up and stay in the Delta. I stayed in three different camps: Footsteps across the Delta, Duba Explorers Camp, and Chitabe Lediba. Footsteps specializes in bush walks, which is an activity which I enjoyed immensely while in Kruger Park. The walking experience in Shinde concession in which Footsteps is located, was absolutely amazing. We got to see some lions while on foot -- this this generally quite difficult to do since lions take off the moment the sense human presence on foot. We also got to follow a large pack of wild dogs for a while as they tried to hunt. Duba Explorers Camp was quite a bit more luxurious than Footsteps. It had running hot water and electricity. The game viewing was quite incredible, too. We got to stalk a mid-sized elephant herd for about 3 hours whom we followed for about 2 miles to the river. We stayed about 60-70 meters from them, and when the elephants stopped, we approached to about 30 meters. We took a bunch of photos of them. Due to the skillful guide, the elephants were never aware of us stalking them. Later, we also followed a small pack of wild dogs on a hunt, who cornered a reed buck. It was quite a gruesome sight watching the dogs rip the poor buck to pieces while it was still alive, but I guess that's how dogs scrounge a living. We saw quite a few other predators, too, including lions, cheetahs, leopards, and hyena. At Chitabe, I spent 3 nights. The area was quite dry and was rich in predators. There was a lion pride that'd specialized in hunting the abundant giraffes in the area; they'd killed one just a day before I'd arrived. There's an area called "the river" which is about an hour's drive from the camp, bordering the Moremi Game Reserve. The area is so rich in game that no matter where I looked, I could see 7-8 species of large game in large numbers!

I found Botswanans to be such friendly and peaceful people. I've travelled a lot but have never come across a people who have such a strong sense of national pride. I am sad that my trip only lasted 10 days. I can't wait to go back there!

Luxury tenting with delicious food, attentive service and knowledgable and caring guides .

They found all kinds of wildlife, luxury tenting, amazing food and great social interaction. Guides were top notch in Kadizora and Little Machaba. Not a hitch. Ker and Downey planned well for us.

You feel very well, nice people, very safe and amazed of such wild animal richness and beauty of Okavango Delta, Moremi, Savuti and Chobe. Tourism is quite well under control, so no crowded places which could make this experience more dangerous and less natural. I returned with 3000 photos of great memories of this nice and peaceful country. I hope disputes with bushmen could be resolved nicely for both sides. There are an old tribe and they have the right to live peacefully in its country. Such things also have a very positive side for respectful tourism which could be nicely used to benefit such community. I appreciate hunting has been finally banned in order to keep safe such great natural richness, which should not be for thirsty killers and 'macho men' feeling superior to others because of a huge prey. Nice country I hope to visit again soon.

Botswana was beautiful, wild, warm and true

Camping our way through several Botswanan and Zimbabwean parks was one of the most transformative journeys I have ever made. (And I have traveled). The land has a sense of immensity that is humbling and awe-inspiring. The camping was very basic, with no modern amenities or fences, so the feeling of being in the wild, versus watching a performance of the wild, was complete. The guide was truly learned and local: A dedicated naturalist not a tour guide. And the camp hands were amazing. Warm, knowledgeable, friendly, and excellent cooks given one pot and a fire. The wildlife. What can you say? I was perpetually transfixed, even when rooted to the spot with terror (a face-off with a Bull elephant and hyenas raiding the cool box in our truck come to mind). The cats (the big drawcard for me) were astounding. Many lions, a close-up with a leopard in a tree above us, and a dusk sighting of two cooperating cheetahs hunting. At night we saw a serval, so incredibly hard to spot and very high on my list. Crossing into Victoria Falls was wonderful: despite the woes of its country, a town and a people so warm, funny, smart and welcoming. And I was surprised by the quality of the wildlife there, too (as well as the white water rafting and nightlife). Botswana and Zimbabwe are countries that will sear images onto your retina and memories into your mind, and and these things conspire over the years to produce a kind of soul-magic not easily found in other places. They call you back to Africa.