BOTSWANA – INTRODUCTION

Botswana, a sparsely populated country of desert and arid-savanna woodland located in the heart of Southern Africa, is home to the world acclaimed Okavango Delta, and the scenically engaging arid-savanna of the Tuli Block enclave at the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashi rivers in the south east corner of the country.

Maun and Kasane are the safari “hubs”: Maun for the Okavango Delta and Kasane on the bank of the Chobe River for access to Victoria Falls and beyond as well as northern Botswana.

Historically Botswana is one of Africa’s outstanding success stories. Prior to independence in 1966, it was one of the world’s poorest countries, an unexplored land only visited by hardy adventurers. The Botswanan government successfully implemented a high quality, low volume tourism strategy in the interests of creating a sustainable industry that would create employment opportunities while at the same time preserving the environment.

The Okavango biome is an Eden in its own right, as the largest inland delta of its kind in the world, where the Kavango river, rising in the highlands of Angola, dissipates within a vast wetland after the seasonal winter inundation into the arid expanse of the Kalahari Desert.

Long recognised by the Botswana government as a heritage site of international environmental importance, the delta has been successfully protected to preserve the seasonal rise and fall of the flood waters within a pristine labyrinth of isolated islands surrounded by papyrus and lily covered backwaters.

As such, for those who can afford the eco-experience, as a consequence of Botswana’s low environmental impact to conservation return, the safari combination of ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ bush camps within the heart of the delta will prove an indelible experience for naturalists with a passion for wildlife and the romantic ambience of this truly unspoiled wilderness…

Game drives, in the interpretative company of a highly experienced Tswana field guide, operating within the collective of Botswana’s eco-sensitively constructed and superbly located luxury game lodges, are unforgettable experiences as wild Africa in the truly primordial sense of the word  unfolds in close predator proximity to the open 4×4 safari vehicle on a game drive…

Elephants are prolific throughout the tall fan palm dotted landscape while exquisite black-maned lions roam the plains in pursuit of vast herds of buffalo, zebra, wildebeest and the swamp loving lechwe on the fringe of the floodplain frequented by leopard and wild dog, while crocodiles laze on sandbanks and hippo cavort in the shallows…

Birdlife is spectacular with eagles, storks, pelicans, vultures circling high overhead and a wide variety of colourful and vocal birds adding to the ambience of camp life during siesta time in the afternoon.

As day gives way to dusk and with it the eery  quavering contact calls of hyena and jackal beyond the protective fringe of firelight, under a crystal clear night sky of trillions of bright shining stars for the closing moments after a long and exciting day exploring the medley of delights the pristine delta has on offer.

Click here to listen to the night sounds of the bushveld …

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Combining a stay in the Tuli Block on the Limpopo by way of an internal  flight to Maun, represents the ultimate safari experience for the intrepid traveller in search of an authentic wild Africa experience unequalled anywhere else on the ‘dark’ continent…   

Soundscape by DerekSolomon.com