Blogs from Botswana, Africa - page 15

Our lives are touched by many highlights and one of them has to be exploring a new wilderness area.Having cleared all of the immigration formalities at the McCarthy’s Rest border post,which must rank as the World’s least busiest,we headed further west through a bit of parched rural Botswana to Tshabong.Not much there apart from a typically dusty little town in the middle of nowhere leaving one wondering what prompted it’s being there in the first place.Importantly this is where a sign pointing left got the pulse moving a little quicker.Kgalagadi Frontier Park has come about as a result of the amalgamation of large chunks of the Kalahari on both the South African and Botswanan borders and incredibly now spans almost 900,000 sq km’s.That’s big! The road leading to the entry gate became increasingly sandy and necessitated ... read more

Safari Safari is an adventure like no other. I surprised myself as to how much I loved it! I've never claimed to be an animal lover or a wildlife fanatic, but there was something about safari that changed me. Seeing animals in the wild, and learning about their behaviours was educational, and inspiring at the same time. We began our trip from Livingstone in Zambia, and were driven to the border of Zambia where the Zambezi and Chobe rivers converge, and where four countries meet each other (Zambia, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Botswana). We took a short boat ride across the river to Botswana, and after clearing immigration we went towards Kasane, from where we boarded a boat for the Zambezi River cruise. The river cruise took us along the Chobe, between Botswana and Namibia. We took ... read more

I've put off writing this entry as I've had a hard time finding the perfect way to describe my time spent in the African bush of Southern Botswana. Where do I even begin? Do I start with the ever-present sounds of monkeys and birds, the smell of dead elephants, or the sunsets that truly took my breath away? Some of the aspects are amazing, some are less than desirable, but they mixed together to form a priceless week. I left Botswana feeling accomplished, proud, at peace, and completely unready for my time to be over. But I suppose the best place to start is, in fact, the beginning. We arrived at the teeny airport of Polokwane in the afternoon of November 30th. In typical African style, our driver was MIA upon our arrival, but we targeted ... read more

Today we traveled from Maun to Chobe National Park. We were supposed to get in early but we encountered a flat on the way, which probably took way longer than it should have to fix but there are just somethings that you cannot control. Needless to say, this hiccup costs us a sunset cruise on the Chobe River (it was made up the following day). So we drove for assistance. While we waited for them to fix the flat a few of us played cards. I learned a new game. I am still deciding if it was made up by the Aussie's or if it was a real game.Amanda from Austrailia-complained, complained, complained. Complained about it being too hot. Complained about getting a flat. Complained about it taking long. Complained about being hungry. Complained about not ... read more

After a number of hours driving, we cross the border into Botswana. At the border we crossed Limpopo River, where we were greeted by a monkey on the other side of the fence. As an American I did not need a visa. I don't think any of the people on the group did. So it was pretty easy and quick. It was my second stamp in my passport. :-) At the end of the long drive, we arrived at the Khama Rhino Sanctuary located in Serowe. The Sanctuary helps protect the wildlife, especially Rhinos from poaching. There are many Poaching lookout platforms throughout the Sanctuary. It was established in 1992 and lays on the Kalarahi. We arrived when it was pouring rain but still managed to go on the game drive. I am still not confident ... read more