BOTSWANA

Here’s what we’ve done and experienced in Botswana lately

You may be able to incorporate some of this in your own Botswana trip:

• On a trip this last July, we re-discovered the pure safari experience associated with a mobile tented camp in the heart of the wilderness. Having a huge elephant bull enjoying the vegetation in a small swamp right in front of our camp (albeit at a safe distance) was exhilarating and made us feel just a little bit vulnerable, even though the elephant hardly took notice of our presence. Trying to figure out all the night sounds, wondering about that crunching sound outside the tent (a hippo?) and trying to guess how far the roaring lions were from us (very far) was fun and made it easy to switch off the Kindle. The next morning we checked outside the tent and sure enough, the tell-tale footprints of a hippo confirmed our suspicions.

• It took us too long but we finally made it onto a Chobe River cruise, for a peaceful, yet activity-filled three days on the Chobe Princess. While it’s a perfectly fine experience for a couple, the ideal arrangements would be to do the cruise on an exclusive use basis for your own small group of friends or family. We were pleasantly surprised at just how many different animals and birds we saw from the small boats on outings, notably of course elephants and hippos (safely). Enjoying several of the tasty on board meals as we were slowly cruising up the Chobe River, and enjoying some of the most peaceful nights ever in our cozy cabin, were high points too. We’d do it again!

• Our two most recent Botswana trips reminded us just how remote and private the Botswana safari experience can be, particularly inside the private concessions. Sometimes days went by without seeing so much as one or two other vehicles on safari, even when we were on a predator sighting. Community areas like in Khwai do get a little busy – as does Chobe – but hardly ever to the point of distraction. There’s lots of room to drive to a different location.

• While many of the deluxe or premier camps in the Okavango Delta and surrounding areas are eye-wateringly expensive in particularly the high season (from about June through October), our destination management companies who help us put together itineraries, have become quite adept at finding long-stay offers, shoulder and green season rates, camp opening specials, package deal discounts, free flight inclusions and other cost-saving measures. So don’t give up on Botswana because of perceived high prices. There are ways and means from traveling in off-peak times to including more moderately priced properties and areas (such as Mashatu in south-eastern Botswana) to keep a Botswana trip affordable.