Botswana

The land of Hippos, Giraffes, Ostriches, and Elephants

Botswana certainly lived up to its reputation of having good game parks.  The country is sparsely populated like that of neighboring Namibia, but what it lacks in people, it makes up in amazing scenery and wildlife.

I have always wanted to go to the Okavango Delta since I was a kid and saw pictures of it.  As you know most Deltas empty out into a sea or ocean, but the Okavango Delta empties out into into the Kalahari Desert and pretty much disappears.

I decided the best option to see this was do a three day bush camp right in the middle of one of the islands on the delta.  Of course to get here, you have to spend an hour on Mokoro’s (floating canoes), through endless fresh waterways and vegetation.

My experience at the Okavango Delta was nothing more than fascinating.  It was an easy three days of laying around camp and reading or talking and taking safari walks across the delta.  We were able to get close enough to animals without being in a vehicle and see how they help each other watch for predators around.  We were warned at night to be careful if we left our tent in case lions or hyenas decided to come to our camp with gave an added thrill to the experience in knowing that we were among all the animals.  Six of our group members actually got chased by an angry elephant and had to run for their lives from it.  The best experience about the delta was of course getting close to the hippos (about 100 meters), which was too close for comfort for some of the people in our group as they are known for having very short tempers when provoked.  The rest of the pictures below will speak wonders about what we saw

Chobe National Park was a great surprise for wildlife also.  Chobe River which straddles Zimbabwe, Namibia, Zambia, and Botswana is the only place in the world where four countries meet.  The cruise we took down the river proved to be a great way to see wildlife and how they use the river for their daily lives.  We were able to see crocodiles, hippos, and elephants just to name a few.  The pictures below will give an up close and personal view of the journey we took.

Overall Botswana was a beautiful country with massive amounts of wildlife running everywhere (not just in national parks).  This is a country that I would surely recommend to anyone who wants a great shot of seeing wildlife…..