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Background: Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name upon independence in 1966. Four decades of uninterrupted civilian leadership, progressive social policies, and significant capital investment have created one of the most dynamic economies in Africa. Mineral extraction, principally diamond mining, dominates economic activity, though tourism is a growing sector due to the country's conservation practices and extensive nature preserves. Botswana has one of the world's highest known rates of HIV/AIDS infection, but also one of Africa's most progressive and comprehensive programs for dealing with the disease.

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By Viajerong Pinoy
May 6th 2008

OKAVANGO AND CHOBE

Africa » Botswana » North-West » Maun

OKAVANGO DELTA
BOYS LEARNING TO USE THE MOKORO

Crossed the border today to Botswana. Our destination is Maun. We got to a veterinary checkpoint hours later within the country for decontamination to protect their livestock from foot and mouth disease, all our shoes have to be soaked in this solution thing. we arrived late at Sitatunga Croc Farm and Campsite where we got the talk about the possible excursions we can do here, most of us signed up for the 2 nights stay in the Okavango Delta. Anna's birthday as well tonight and she got wasted very quickly after downing shots at the bar, we had a few more [View Full Entry]

By Helen and Mark
May 3rd 2008

Botswana

Africa » Botswana » North-West

I cannot believe how long it has been since I last entered a blog - so much has happen and I’ve seen so much its hard to know where to start! The lack of blog entries and photos has mostly been due to being on the move a lot or just not having internet, and usually when we do it is sooooooo slow (i.e. 15mins to get into Hotmail - that sort of thing!). Anyway, the only reason I’ve been able to put the following blogs on is because one of the guys on the trip kindly lent me his laptop [View Full Entry]

By AfricaBound
April 27th 2008

Okavango Delta

Africa » Botswana » North-West » Okavango Delta

Water lillies

After a brief 2 night stay in Namibia along the Caprivi Strip we crossed back into Botswana and set out on our 2 night Mokoro trip on the Okavango Delta. We stayed at a tented camp on an island in the delta and went out on Mokoros (traditional dug-out canoes) for day trips. We also went on a walking safari on an island in search of big game. We didn't see much more than a couple elephants and some Zebras, but we ran into some others that had seen lions. So our guide decided to start tracking the lions to try [View Full Entry]

By AfricaBound
April 23rd 2008

Chobe National Park

Africa » Botswana » North-West » Chobe National Park

Close up

Since our stay in Zimbabwe was cut short, we drove straight to Botswana and Chobe National Park. We had a full day there of non-stop game viewing. We went for an early morning game drive followed by a boat cruise on the Chobe river and finished with an evening game drive. We saw a large assortment of animals and even saw a leopard crossing the road on the way out (no time for pictures unfortunately). We also discovered that wine is very cheap in Botswana (and the rest of Southern Africa) and now have a favorite evening ritual that consists of [View Full Entry]

By chrisonabike
April 8th 2008

elephants in the bush

Africa » Botswana

road stop
normally sign posted as a tree 1km further on, but the swing bins are emptied all over the place by the animals

Kasane town 6km from the border crosssing into Zambia. I should be in Livingstone tomorrow. Northern Botswana has been hard work, yet satisfying when I look at the map. It also gave me my first 200km ride between towns: nata to panda and because of the closed in bush, the wind was for a change in my favour, or reduced. It did take 11hours. I've now seen elephants and giraffes in the wild. The poor road conditions also meant the trailer nuts came loose and a wheel bounced off. Still, otherwise, the rattle frightens most animals away. I was warned about [View Full Entry]

By Ever Onward
April 5th 2008

Day 9: A Tale of Three Countries

Africa » Botswana » North-West » Chobe National Park

King of the ... Scrub
It was still dark when we spotted this magnificent animal - the only lion to be seen on the entire trip.

Early to bed, early to rise. It was 05h15 when the phone rang; it was the front desk reminding me to get up. Why so early? It wasn’t going to take me 45 minutes to have a wash, get dressed and meet in Reception for the 06h00 safari. Oh well, as I had to answer the phone anyway, I got up. It was still dark as I made my way through the cold building to Reception. Both Jill and Brian were there, but there was no sign of Alfred, our guide. As 06h00 approached, so did Alfred. He guided us to [View Full Entry]

By Ever Onward
April 4th 2008

Day 8: From Baobab to Chobe

Africa » Botswana » North-West » Chobe National Park

Baobab
This particular baobab is rumoured to be approximately 4000 years old. To put that into context, at the time this tree was a seedling, workmen had just submitted the final invoice for the completion o... [more]

I slept like a log and, like a log, I was covered in insects. I awoke at 06h15 and could see lots of the tiny critters all over my sheets and pillow. Worse still, my shoulders were covered in mosquito bites and I had bites in places I didn’t realise I had. Of course, like any gentleman, I’d used precautions, but no-one had bothered to tell the mosquitoes that they were supposed to stay outside the net! I was not a happy bunny and quickly got up and stood under a hot shower in a vain effort to rid my rather [View Full Entry]

The Fish Eagle II (and our Sunset Cruise)

By Ever Onward
April 3rd 2008

Day 7: Flight from the Okavango

Africa » Botswana » North-West » Okavango Delta

Sand Grouse
These little birds are very common but, as you see from the photo, are very difficult to spot. They will stay stock still until you are about to tread on them, at which point, they will fly into the a... [more]

After the theatrical entertainment of the previous evening, I was relieved that there was no second performance. The marula fruit remained fastened to the trees and the Clog Family von Genet kept their slippers on and rested. As such, I had a remarkably full night’s sleep, having hit the pillow at an extremely modest 21h30. However, it was now 06h15 and the alarm hadn’t gone off. It was still dark but there were sounds. From the direction in which my feet were facing, the snuffling was alarming enough, but it was the low rumbles, sounds of breaking branches and general scary [View Full Entry]

By Ever Onward
April 2nd 2008

Day 6: A Day in the Delta

Africa » Botswana » North-West » Okavango Delta

Sunrise over the Okavango
When I'm on holiday, I prefer not to be up at 06h00. However, in this instance, the rewards far outweighed the results of staying in bed. The sunrise was spectacular!

I didn’t sleep last night. I know that because I heard every marula fruit within a hundred yards of me leaving the trees and landing on the corrugated iron roofs. I also know that the genets were having a talent show and the local troupe had donned their clogs and were dancing up and down the roof of my lodge to Offenbach’s famous Can-Can. I just wasn’t sure why they’d chosen last night for their revue; Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof would have been more appropriate and at least my sleepless night would have been worth the irony. [View Full Entry]

By Ever Onward
April 1st 2008

Day 5: Journey to the Okavango Delta

Africa » Botswana » North-West » Okavango Delta

Preparing for Take-Off
Our safari notes indicated that we'd be driving into the Delta. It was therefore, with some surprise that we found out that the three of us would be given air-travel. This was new to all of us, the s... [more]

I’m sure I slept last night, but no sooner had I turned off the light and got under the mosquito net than it was morning. The little alarm clock was screaming at me to get up, its volume disproportionately large for its size. After a (very) hot shower, I made my way down the sandy paths to breakfast. Both Brian and Jill were there before me and were waiting patiently for their cooked meal. I took a couple of mugs of fresh black coffee and ordered a pair of fried eggs (with bacon, mushroom and beans on the side). Being Tuesday, [View Full Entry]

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