Botswana is not a cheap place to visit. However, if you rent a fully equipped 4X4 and camp, then you can experience this amazing country without selling your firstborn to the devil!
Expensive, but worth it!
The expense is well worth what Botswana has to offer. It is natural, wild, and in many respects it is void of human beings (which is precisely what the earth needs more of). The result is that when you are there, you feel you are near the wild, untouched earth, glorious in its absence of human beings.
In fact, any national park in Botswana makes the famous Kruger park (in South Africa) feel like a zoo. Botswana would like to keep it this way. The taxes and expenses are directly related to the county’s approach to tourism, development, and immigration, which is to keep most human invaders at bay. The result is quite positive in many respects. The national parks have minimal human footprints and abundant wildlife and landscapes. However, don’t expect touristy roads, highway stop off’s with washrooms and McDonalds, and all those other traveling luxuries because tourists are not catered to. You are expected to be rough and tumbly, pee in the grass, wash you hands with coke, and wear the same clothes for a week at a time. If you want a bath, please see the river and hopefully you don’t mind hippos and crocodiles.
Safari Clones
People who are not from Botswana all look the same. You will know your fellow traveler by their similar appearance. The highways are primarily filled with them. They all drive the same 4×4’s with similar equipment, tents, and gas cans. They are all wearing the same khaki safari gear. The fashionable males sport Safari/cowboy hats. They all have enormous cameras. When passing in a park/reserve, they all like to slow down to ask each other what animals they have seen. Botswana is like one big safari play date.
Necessity of a 4X4
A 4×4 is necessary as there are only a handful of paved, major highways, which are in excellent condition. Once you veer off on your way to a national park or reserve (which can take hours), then a 4×4 is not simply a luxury, it is mandatory. These parks do not have manicured, paved roads, oh no, these are hardy, tough roads that even 4×4’s can get stuck in. Gravel would be an improvement to the 6-10 inches (or more) of sand that you must drive on.
I tried to test my 4×4 sand driving skills in the Makgadikgadi. It was not pretty. My 13 year old now knows a few more cures words. Kudos to my husband though. I had to teach him how to drive a manual the week before we left. Not only did he learn, but he was also able to learn how to navigate the deep sand and two foot waterways we had to cross. Impressive achievement given that he was new to a manual and to the nuances of 4×4’s which include dealing with things like differentials and low/extra gears. Thank god he was able, cause if we were relying on me, I would have lost patience with the sand and called in a rescue helicopter.
BYOF (Bring your own fuel)
The reserve/park roads can be treacherous, especially after a rain as they are deep sandy roads. These parks are incredibly large, but restrict the number of visitors at any given time. Thus, if you if get stuck, you could be waiting for days and days before anyone comes along. You are literally in the wilderness with no cell service and no traffic. There are no warm and fuzzy park rangers making the rounds to check on your safety; no, you are on your own.
Botswana is also a BYOF region. You have to bring in your own fuel to the parks/reserves as gas stations are few and far between and the parks/reserves are so large that a single tank of gas will not suffice.
Um…what do you mean you don’t have diesel?
We learned the hard way that not all gas stations carry diesel and that some towns are inaccessible due to thier closeness to some of the world’s largest diamond mines. Believe it or not, there are cities that exist solely to support mine workers and unless you have a security pass or you know someone on the inside, you can’t go into the city, even if you are about to run out of gas and are stuck in the middle of nowhere. It is important to note that refusing us entry into the city to purchase gas was illegal, but diamond mine officials can do what they please. Thankfully we made it (although the remaining few kms were on fumes) to the next microscopic town which had diesel.
Do not rely on specialized 4×4 maps.
Not being able to enter a city seems like something important enough to mention on our special Botswana 4×4 map for self-drivers, but alas that would make things too easy. Africa likes to keep its visitors guessing or at the very least in a constant state of confusion (which usually coincides with ad nasum repetition of the following phrase “can you f*ing believe this s**t.)?
We also learned that diesel cannot be found in cities with only one gas station. You have to have two gas stations for it to be economically feasible for a semi to drive into the middle of nowhere to deliver diesel. This valuable piece of information would have been very good to know before we had put too much faith in the little red gas station icons on our trusted and specialized map. See applicable phrase above.
Lots to love about Botswana
There are many things that I love about Botswana. The people are incredibly lovely and nice. The landscape is gorgeous and untouched (e.g. not overdeveloped) in most places. Botswana women can make a mean basket. Basket-weaving is an amazing craft that blew me away. Unfortunately, it is also a dying art form. Of course, the wild animals and parks are incredible. It is truly a wild place. There are even movements of elephants and lions between parks (e.g. they sometimes cross the highway)!
Botswana is how we (North Americans) envision Africa being when we daydream about it. It is wonderful.
Try not to get eaten
In Botswana game reserves, there are no fences between your tent and the wild beasts that could eat you (especially if you forget and take bacon to bed with you for a midnight snack). Thankfully, our tents were fastened to the roof of our 4×4, which makes one feel a bit safer. However, having to climb down the ladder in the middle of the night to go wee (while hearing two young males lions call to one another a km away) was not the most fun I have ever had. Unfortutealy, I could not wee in a water bottle in the tent like the men folk could. However, it was very cool watching a hippo, in the middle of the night, traipse through our campsite. I felt quite safe peering at him from my rooftop tent.
BEWARE the HIPPOS!
Hippos, by the way, are incredibly dangerous. I know this seems silly to North Americans, but hippos are diabolical, territorial monsters. You must never get between them and the water or scare them (which is easy because they have really bad eyesight). When walking to the washroom at night, I was more afraid of these guys than lions. At Moremi, our campsite was right by the river. Hippos come out after dark to feed on grasses nearby. If crocodiles will not mess with them, be assured, I do not want to. They are also very noisy – they snort…a lot. Even at nighttime….all through the night….every night…. See applicable “phrase” in previous section.
NEVER MIND THE HIPPOS…AVOID THE ELEPHANTS!
We had a number of alarming encounters with elephants in the Okavango Delta/Moremi. The rainy season had lasted longer and harder than usual. The grasses and trees were still tall and full during our trip. You could not see the elephants until you were right on them. Interesting tidbit – elephants do not like to be startled. When you startle them, they trumpet. Have you ever heard an elephant trumpet just a few feet away from you. Let me tell you, you ears may bleed because it is so loud. You might also pee your pants.
Moremi elephants are in a constant state of pissed-offed-edness, which is not to be taken lightly. Elephant tusks can cut through car doors like butter. Elephants can flip over large 4×4’s like toys and then stomp the living hell of you until you are fully and verifiably dead. They are very scary when they are angry.
For example, we were driving down a dirt road, the trees along the side were tall and full and so thick that you could not see through them, when bam…a little elephant runs across the road. You may think that this would be cute, but what follows a baby elephant is his big protective mommy elephant. Hit brakes. Momy elephant appears. Looks at us. Raises her trunk…the last sign before elephant attacks. We backup quickly but two more male elephants step out onto the road behind us. One shakes his head and flares his ears. We are now surrounded. We sat and stewed with heightened senses. Needless to say that since I am writing this, our lives were spared. They took mercy on us and eventually passed by without further incident.
I always thought it would be a hungry leopard or lion that I happened upon that would make my adrenal glands work over-time, but no, that honour goes to the tempremental Moremi/Okavango Delta elephants. I always loved elephants before this trip. Kruger elephants are so cute and accustomed to people and cars, they are more like pets. Moremi elephants will end you.
Is that a mud hut with a satellite TV?
It seems as though 90% of Bostwana’s people live in mud huts. While I am too lazy to goolebomb the fact, I’m pretty sure the percentage is quite high. Mud huts are cool. Mud huts are not correlated to the dark ages. Next to many huts were parked cars and trucks. Many even sported satellite/Tvs. Some even had solar panels! We could learn something from Botswana, namely how to build eco-friendly, economically priced homes.
The other wildlife
Lastly, I have to mention the cows, donkeys, and goats – Botswana’s other animal attractions. These domesticated animals roam and graze freely. They love crossing highways. They especially love being coy about it. They wait until you almost pass them before they step onto the highway to cross and ignore that you are barrelling toward them in a death race.
The cows are the most amazing breed I have ever seen (they put mid-western cows to shame). Perhaps they are so healthy because they get a lot of exercise by roaming freely and are well fed through a natural diet of roadside grasses. Free-range beef has verifiable merits. Surprisingly, we did not see any dead from vehicular impact, despite passing thousands of them as we crossed the country.
On this upbeat note, I shall bring an end to my Botswana blog by simply saying that Botswana is great. Go sometime, you will not be disappointed.
Places we visited:
Check out the photos on Flickr!
A special thank you to:
- Tara Lee Flory at Botswana Footprints for helping us plan and book a great trip to Botswana!
- Ivory 4×4 Hire – the 4×4 was fully equipped with everything we needed. The truck was excellent, no issues, and perfect for our trip!
Where in the world 