Blogs from Maun, North-West, Botswana, Africa

Botswana! What a country, not just in terms of it's beautiful landscapes and incredible flora and fauna, but for the memories this gorgeous little country gave us! Botswana isn't a country I had ever really considered and I have no idea why. Home to Chobe National Park, the Okavangko Delta, the Kalahari desert and a haven for wildlife- having the highest population of elephants on the planet, it is no wonder that Botswana was named one of New York Times places to visit in 2017! We arrived pretty quickly into our lodgings just outside Chobe national park, checked in and headed straight for the bar! A few tipples later and off we went for a sunset cruise on the Chobe river, which was possibly even more stunning than the Zambezi river cruise- we were blessed with ... read more

After a couple of nights relaxing at the hostel in Windhoek I was on the move again bright and early Sunday morning. I had a bus to catch at 6am which meant I needed to be at the bus station about 5:15-5:30 which meant that I needed to catch a cab at 5 which meant I needed to get up at 4:30 to pack all my things….Also, I asked the reception to find me a ride and their “guy” charged 5 times as much as any ride in town should cost. So it was up to me to find my own ride. I kind of forgot it was a Sunday which meant that the regular work traffic was not in effect. Crap. Buuuuut I managed to find a lift quite quickly and found out that the ... read more

Maun is the focal point for all tourists in Botswana as it is closely located to the Okavango Delta, Moremi and Chobe game reserves. Unfortunately, our stay was marred by some appalling customer service at Audi Camp so we left after only 2 nights. To cut a long story short, I was refused a blanket which I required due to the freezing temperatures as they assumed I would steal it. Despite trying to suggest that I leave a deposit or my passport with them, they still refused to provide anything. In hindsight, I wish I had taken my business elsewhere and perhaps that is something I have learnt from that experience. All in all, very poor from Audi Camp and I have since reviewed them on tripadvisor and also sent an email to their management. Moving ... read more

The usual group of “helpful” men surrounded us as we pulled up at the Zambian border post. I brushed off the offers of help, and scoffed at the threat that I would not be able to exchange Zambian Kwatcha once in Botswana. There was no reception on my phone to check the exchange rate, and I wasn't about to trust the money-changers' "best rate". The only thing was that they were right, once we got into Botswana I couldn't exchange my Kwatcha anywhere. In the end I rode back to the border from where we were staying, and aware of the irony of the situation started pestering a line of people leaving Botswana by offering a competitive rate for the exchange of Pula to Kwatcha... Before the realisation that I might be stuck with my Kwatcha, ... read more

After the night at Khama Rhino Sanctuary, we drove to Maun. In the town of Maun, we stocked up on food, snacks, and alcohol (though I did not pick up any alcohol due to the weather/heat). Right outside of town we camped at a hotel. The hotel was nice but I did not upgrade to a room, I remained faithful and tented it. Here we had internet connection, a pool (though not one I would swim in), and for the evening, we ate at the buffet.In the morning, we packed up our tents and supplies and headed about 40 minutes via 4WD vehicle to water. We basically drove to the Delta edge. Here we met Okavango Polers (Key, Judge, Morgan, Bryan, Candy, Nikole, there were a couple of others), we hopped into our dugout canoe (called ... read more