Blogs from Okavango Delta, North-West, Botswana, Africa - page 4

M – Most people who visit the Okavango Delta go to Maun at the Southern tip of the delta. But we took the road a little less travelled and ventured into the Okavango Panhandle at the North West corner of the delta. Look at the pictures, it’s not very good, and is mobbed with people so don’t go there … Botswana apparently has a tourism policy of higher prices, lower numbers and with the idea of some degree of ‘exclusivity’ and a smaller impact on its environment. We did our research, whilst Maun has the highly priced tours and accommodation we weren’t totally sold on the exclusivity piece. By now we have gotten used to being on our own. Any other tourist represents a bit of a crowd and we start getting twitchy so Kate came ... read more

Shakawe -now there's town. It does not get much further from civilization. So we went to the village and approached the chief. He appeared in all his fine livery, a nice shiny navy blue jacket, a white cardigan, drainpipe pants and worn black shoes. His round bottle end glasses, missing tooth and cane gave him a regal standing. He would have been 70-80 yrs old. Most of the village assembled with about 30 women in beautiful dresses of all ages and states of repair on one side and men loitering on the other side. Teenagers with mobile phones and worn blue jeans made up the foreground. I got one of our helpers to ask the chief if we could take a photo as the chief only spoke his dialect. I was told the chief wanted money ... read more

Africa is vast with many national parks and game reserves located in remote wilderness areas. Often as with Botswana, the only way to reach them is with a small aircraft. Typically, aircraft are not airliners. They are relatively small and therefore always have strict luggage and weight restrictions. A variety of safety issues also dictate teh luggage restrictions; from the small baggage stowage bays, lenght of runways to fuel limitiations, etc. Your safety in the air always comes first so beware, pilots will simply not fly when teh plane is overweight!! Here are some valuable guidelines when flying to a safari destination in Africa: * Maximum luggage weight is 20kg's per person including carry-on luggage if more than one bag and camera equipment. * Check the baggage dimentions permitted by each airline. Airlines vary, however the ... read more

Brief greetings from Maun, Botswana - another Africa, the Africa of birds and beasts and bush fires. We met our truck, crew and companions at a lodge in the middle of nowhere. The bright orange truck is nearly a double decker, with all our gear – and that includes tents and a camp kitchen – underneath and us in seated splendour on top. The truck seats 26 and we are just 8 plus 3 crew and the space this gives us is really great. We are a mix of older Brits (3) and younger Aussies (5) and Zimbabweans (the crew). Our first stop was Khara Rhino Sancturay, on the edge of the Kalahari desert. A long, slow game drive showed us our first real African game. Rhino, of course, and lots of them close to the ... read more

I recently visited one of the most magical places in Botswana's Okavango Delta - Duba Plains. Here is my story about the resident lions and buffalo. I hope you enjoy it. http://travel.iafrica.com/destin/africadest/691127.html ... read more