The Concise, Unbiased, Expert Guide to Botswana

The Concise, Unbiased, Expert Guide to

Botswana Fair Trade Safaris Saurabh Khetrapal

© Copyright 2021 Fair Trade Safaris Support and financial consideration provided by Fair Trade Safaris. Underwriting by Fair Trade Safaris.

About Saurabh Khetrapal After spending his formative years in East Africa (Tanzania and Kenya), Saurabh moved to the United States in 1990.

During the intervening years, Saurabh has become a highly successful serial entrepreneur who has founded three organizations and is an angel investor in Silicon Valley, CA, and Austin, TX, as well as a prolific philanthropist and traveler across his home continent.

From a very young age, Saurabh has been passionate about projects that help those in need. In high school, he went on weekly visits to orphanages in Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania) and was a frequent volunteer at nearby leprosy villages where he helped in the construction of hospitals and clinics. As an adult, Saurabh (alongside his family) has lent his support to the South African Baphumelele Educare Centre and Children’s Home for children abandoned/orphaned by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Saurabh and his family are also currently assisting community-based organizations in townships and slums across East Africa and Southern Africa. Their financial contributions and mentorship assist local leaders and residents in their aspirations to develop and advance development projects within their communities.

A self-professed wildlife junkie and addict of the African bush, Saurabh Khetrapal has been on numerous safaris across all the major wildlife parks and reserves in Africa since the age of 8. He is deeply passionate about his homeland and its peoples.

All Proceeds From The Sale Of This Book Will Benefit Wildlife Superheroes

Founded in 2019 by siblings Ayaan Khetrapal and Zoya Khetrapal - who were 8 years old and 6 years old at the time - Wildlife Superheroes is a global nonprofit organization that mobilizes our next generation - kids between the ages of 0 and 18 years old - to make a tangible, meaningful, and lasting impact on our most valuable shared asset: Mother Earth and all her beings.

Our credo is guided by the age-old principle that Wildlife Superheroes is Of the Kids, By the Kids, and For the Kids.

Empowering Future Generations Wildlife Superheroes is a nonprofit organization that mobilizes our next generation - kids between the ages of 0 and 18 years old - to make a tangible, meaningful, and lasting impact on our most valuable shared asset: Mother Earth and all her beings. Our credo is guided by the age-old principle that Wildlife Superheroes is Of the Kids, By the Kids, and For the Kids.

Our Team Force Has 3 Core Tenets

Of The New Generation All the constituents of Wildlife Superheroes are between 0 to 18 years old.

For The New Generation

By The New Generation

Most importantly, our charter is to enhance and maximize the health, happiness, security, and overall well being of the new generation.

All decisions and appointments are made by our Superheroes. Adults can be advisors; but all decisions and actions are driven by our Superheroes.

Join The Team Force Go to www.WildlifeSuperheroes.org to get more information on your Mission!

Measurable Impact Through Sustainable Tourism Fair Trade Safaris

Fair Trade Safaris is is a luxury travel company with a keen focus on providing guests with extraordinary experiences at remarkably affordable prices – breathtaking wildlife safaris, stunning beach vacations, exhilarating mountain climbing expeditions, sublime culinary experiences, and relaxing retreats. Founder Saurabh Khetrapal – who is originally from East Africa (Tanzania & Kenya) – is a philanthropist at his core. His passion for Africa, conservation, and culture motivated him to create the only luxury travel company that donates 100% of its profits to a variety of fully vetted wildlife conservations, community development, and social impact projects.

It is no secret that the wildlife in Africa is under tremendous pressure; many species are alarmingly at the brink of extinction.

So, Fair Trade Safaris collaborates with several conservation / anti-poaching organizations including WildAid, Global Wildlife Conservation, PAMS Foundation, KopeLion, and other similar groups in order to combat wildlife poaching and trafficking and to promote conservation and protection efforts.

Our Mission

The betterment of communities.

Conservation of wildlife and protection of natural resources in Africa.

Your Journey Of A Lifetime Starts Here Go to www.FairTradeSafaris.com to start planning your trip!

The most luxurious, affordable and safe trips for our guests.

Botswana Botswana - An Overview .....................................................

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Central Kalahari Game Reserve ....................................

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Chobe National Park ...............................................................

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Makgadikgadi Pans ..................................................................

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Moremi Game Reserve ..........................................................

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Nxai Pan National Park .........................................................

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Okavango Delta ..........................................................................

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Botswana Ranked among the world’s ten most sparsely populated countries, Botswana is a largely pristine wilderness destination that incorporates some of the best parks and reserves anywhere in Africa. Paradoxically, while the country is dominated by the sandy soils and open horizons of the semi-arid Kalahari Desert, its two most popular attractions - the wondrous Okavango Delta and Chobe River - are very much aquatic. Botswana adheres to a policy of high-cost, low-impact ecotourism, which means it tends to be less family oriented and budget friendly than most of its neighbors, but for those seeking a truly exclusive safari experience, it is hard to beat.

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At A Glance/Highlights

▶ Botswana’s most alluring safari destination, the Okavango Delta is a 5,800-squaremile wetland wilderness dense with elephants, buffaloes, hippos and birds. Dugout trips through the central delta are truly thrilling, while game drives in Moremi Game Reserve offer the opportunity to tick the Big Five. ▶ Attracting more than 100,000 elephants in the dry season, Chobe National Park is a great all-round safari destination whose main focal point is the Chobe River, a magnificent tropical waterway that can be explored by boat or along an extensive game drive circuit. ▶ Ecologically, Botswana is dominated by the Kalahari, a vast tract of semi-arid savanna that still supports a substantial amount of wildlife. Much of this desert wilderness is protected within the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (the world’s largest such entity at 20,000+ square miles) and a pair of national parks protecting the white-crusted expenses of Nxai Pan and Makgadikgadi Pans.

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Practical Stuff Visas and paperwork US citizens do not require a visa to enter Botswana, provided they have a valid passport and do not spend more than 90 days in the country within a 12-month period.

Getting there Most people traveling from North America route through Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport (JNB), which is the busiest regional flight hub. Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (GBE) near the capital Gaborone is Botswana’s largest. However, tourists are more likely to arrive at Maun Airport (MUB) or Kasane Airport (BBK), which respectively service the Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park. Those whose itinerary combines Botswana with Victoria Falls might transfer by road one-way between Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls Airport (VFA) or Zambia’s Livingstone Airport (LVI).

When to visit July to October is best for wildlife viewing in the popular Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park. Central Kalahari, Nxai Pan and Makgadikgadi Pans come to their own between December and March.

Health and safety Malaria is present, particularly in the rainy season, so take prophylactic drugs and cover up at night. In terms of crime, Botswana must rank as one of the world’s safest countries in terms of crime, the riskiest area being the capital Gaborone, which is seldom visited by tourists.

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Central Kalahari Game Reserve The world’s largest game reserve, Central Kalahari extends across 20,000+ square miles of arid badlands in the very heart of Botswana. Although it is not a conventional Big Five safari destination, this inconceivably vast and starkly scenic reserve supports a fair amount of desert-adapted wildlife, and it could scarcely be further off the beaten track.

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At A Glance/Highlights

▶ The main focal point is the scenic Deception Valley, which attracts large herds of wildebeest, springbok and other grazers after the rain, when the grass is green and seasonal pans fill with water. ▶ Carnivores are well represented. The reserve supports a high cheetah density, and Kalahari lions are renowned for the male’s striking black manes. Leopards and African hunting dogs are scarce and seldom seen, but visitors are quite likely to encounter spotted hyena, bat-eared fox and black-backed jackal. ▶ Some lodges in and around Central Kalahari offer guided walks with San hunter-gatherers, the region’s oldest inhabitants. ▶ Most tourists fly in from Maun on a scheduled group trip. Self-drive is the best way to explore more remote parts of the reserve but his recommended only to experienced and self-sufficient 4x4 drivers. ▶ Central Kalahari is unusual insofar as game viewing is best over the wet summer months of December to April. This is also the best time of year for birdwatching.

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Wildlife: Common: Springbok, oryx, red hartebeest, wildebeest, steenbok.

Uncommon: Lion, cheetah, spotted hyena, bat-eared fox, black-backed jackal, giraffe, zebra, greater kudu.

Rare: Leopard, African wild dog, brown hyena, aardwolf.

Birds: The checklist of 250-odd species is dominated by raptors, large ground birds and dry-country specialists. Birds to look out for include ostrich, pale chanting goshawk, Kori bustard, northern black korhaan and shaft-tailed whydah. Large flocks of Namaqua sandgrouse can be seen coming to drink at the few available water sources in the morning.

Top Tips It should be emphasized that Central Kalahari is unsuited to first-time safarigoers hoping to tick off most or all of the Big Five. The likes of elephant, buffalo, rhino and hippo are entirely absent, and most other safari favorites are thinly distributed. That said, for those with sufficient time at their disposal, it makes for a satisfyingly remote add-on to a northern Botswana safari taking in Chobe, Moremi and/or the Okavango.

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Chobe National Park One of Africa’s largest and most biodiverse national parks, Chobe extends over 4,500 square miles of northeast Botswana bordering Namibia’s Caprivi Strip. The main focal point for tourists is the Chobe Riverfront, which lies in the far north of the park, close to the town of Kasane. Here, boat trips and game drives along the magnificent Chobe River offer the opportunity to see a wealth of wildlife including plentiful hippos and four of the Big Five (the exception being rhino, which are absent).

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At A Glance/Highlights ▶ Chobe supports an unusually dense elephant population, with numbers peaking over April to October. At this time, more than 100,000 individuals might congregate within the park, representing more than 20% of the entire African elephant population. ▶ The highlight for most visitors is boat trips on the Chobe River. This archetypal tropical waterway is a magnet for thirsty wildlife, and it also supports large numbers of hippo and crocodile, as well as an incredible variety of aquatic birds. ▶ The network of tracks that runs along the south bank of the Chobe, between Sedudu and Ngoma Gates, offers excellent all-round game viewing. Elephants aside, this popular tourist circuit supports healthy populations of lion, leopard, buffalo, giraffe and zebra, as well as localized antelope such as red lechwe, puku, sable and roan. ▶ The Chobe River offers some of Africa’s best game fishing thanks mainly to a dense population of tigerfish. ▶ Chobe is worth visiting at any time of year, but game viewing is generally best over the dry winter months of April to October. ▶ Most visitors fly into Kasane Airport, which services the small town of the same name only three miles east of the national park’s Sedudu Gate. ▶ Chobe is only 50 miles west of Victoria Falls, and the two are often twinned on safari itineraries. ▶ A minimum stay of three nights is recommended.

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Wildlife: Common: Elephant, buffalo, lion, spotted hyena, hippo, giraffe, zebra, warthog, impala, puku, waterbuck, bushbuck, red lechwe, baboon.

Uncommon: Greater kudu, Cape clawless otter, genet, bushbaby.

Rare: Leopard, African wild dog, cheetah, roan antelope, sable antelope.

Birds: A checklist of more than 450 species makes Chobe one of the top birdwatching sites in Botswana. Local specials likely to be seen on river trips include African skimmer, long-toed lapwing, rufous-bellied heron, Pel’s fishing owl and broad-billed roller.

Top Tips Named after the erratic natural channel that flows through it, the westerly Savuti sector of Chobe feels very remote and untrammeled by comparison to the popular riverfront area. The fertile savanna and swampland of Savuti offer great general game viewing, including some lion prides that specialize in hunting elephants, while a scattering of rocky hills is adorned with prehistoric rock art. Savuti is particularly attractive to self-drivers heading between Chobe Riverfront and the Okavango Delta, as it is situated along a 4x4 track that links the two.

Did You Know?

Chobe National Park is a key component in the Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, a vast unfenced tract of wilderness that spans five different countries and is almost three times larger than Texas, extending across a total area of 200,000 square miles.

Other major reserves and landmarks within the transfrontier area include Botswana’s Okavango Delta, Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, Zambia’s Kafue National Park, Namibia’s Caprivi Strip, Angola’s Mavinga National Park and the world-famous Victoria Falls.

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Makgadikgadi Pans One of southern Africa’s most singular geological phenomena, the 6,200-square-mile network of saltpans known as Makgadikgadi once formed part of a lake as extensive as Switzerland. Although the lake is long gone, the shallow pans still fill with water during summer to form a verdant seasonal wetland whose extent depends on the quantity of rain. The west of this vast and scenic wilderness area forms an important seasonal breeding ground for a variety of grazers, and is protected in the contiguous Nxai Pan and Makgadikgadi Pans National Parks.

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At A Glance/Highlights ▶ In the dry season of May to November, the main attraction of Makgadikgadi’s white-crusted pans is their unique scenic feel and windswept isolation. Wildlife is scarce, but you might see the occasional ostrich, springbok or oryx. ▶ Large mammals are far more prolific in the rainy season, when migratory herds of springbok wildebeest and zebra sweep into the two national parks to breed. ▶ Lion, cheetah, leopard and other large carnivores are most numerous when the migratory herds arrive. ▶ In years of good rain, the Delta formed by the Nata River as it flows into the northeast of Makgadikgadi attracts pink-tinged flocks of up to 100,000 greater and lesser flamingoes. ▶ The Makgadikgadi Pans were once the exclusive preserve of experienced 4x4 self-drivers. However, the recent opening of several upmarket lodges means that fly-in safaris are also available. ▶ Game viewing and birdwatching are best over the wet summer months of December to March, but this is also when tracks are most likely to become waterlogged.

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Wildlife: Common: Giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, springbok, oryx, red hartebeest, steenbok.

Uncommon: Lion, cheetah, spotted hyena, bat-eared fox, black-backed jackal.

Rare: Leopard, elephant, African wild dog, brown hyena, aardwolf.

Birds: Makgadikgadi offers exceptional dry-country birding. Specials include bronzewinged courser, pied babbler, black-eared waxbill, violet-eared waxbill and a variety of near-endemic larks. Most years it attracts a proliferation of aquatic birds during the wet summer months of December to March.

Top Tips The best place to see flamingos is the Nata Sanctuary, which protects the delta of an ephemeral river that occasionally fills the pans with water. Other birds attracted to the sanctuary in years of good rain include pelicans, storks, herons, and migrant waders such as pied avocet and black-winged stilt.

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Moremi Game Reserve Incorporating the eastern fringes of the unique Okavango Delta, this 1,900-square-mile Big Five reserve protects a mesmerizing mosaic of lagoons, perennial marshes, seasonal floodplains and moist savanna. Explorable both by boat and on game drives, it incorporates public sectors suited to intrepid self-drivers as well as several high-cost, low-impact private concessions aimed at fly-in visitors.

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At A Glance/Highlights ▶ Moremi’s diversity of carnivores includes lion, leopard, cheetah, African hunting dog and two species of otter. It is also home to the localized swamp-loving sitatunga and red lechwe antelope. ▶ Visitors spending a few days in Moremi stand a fair chance of ticking the Big Five. Elephant and buffalo are abundant, lion and leopard regular, and white and black rhino - both reintroduced since the turn of the millennium - are reasonably common in suitable habitat, despite a recent increase in poaching. ▶ Although game drives in Moremi are invariably rewarding, the most atmospheric way to explore the labyrinthine wetlands is in a mokoro dugout canoe. The birdlife is fantastic, and while hippos and crocodiles are plentiful, the local polers have become adept at dodging them. ▶ Moremi can be visited at any time of year; wildlife viewing is best over June to October and least productive from January to March. ▶ The usual springboard for visits is the small town of Maun, which is the self-styled safari capital of Botswana and serviced by flights from elsewhere in southern Africa.

From Maun, you can either fly or self-drive to Moremi. ▶ A minimum stay of three nights is recommended.

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Wildlife Common: Elephant, buffalo, lion, spotted hyena, hippo, giraffe, warthog, zebra, wildebeest, impala, waterbuck, bushbuck, red lechwe.

Uncommon: Leopard, greater kudu, Cape clawless otter, black-backed jackal.

Rare: Black rhino, white rhino, cheetah, African wild dog, eland, tsessebe, roan antelope, sable antelope.

Birds: More than 400 species have been recorded. A spectacular variety of aquatic birds includes African jacana, African pygmy goose, wattled crane, Pel’s fishing owl and coppery-tailed coucal. Moremi is a good place to look for the near-endemic slaty egret.

Top Tips Although much of Moremi is carved up into private concessions, it remains the only part of Okavango accessible to self-drivers. Be warned, however, that most internal roads are in poor repair and can only be navigated in a sturdy high-clearance 4x4.

This is particularly so between December and April, when the rains render many roads impassable to all but the most experienced of 4x4 drivers.

Did You Know?

Named after Chief Moremi III of the Batawana people, Moremi is the oldest protected area in the Okavango Delta, and one of the first in Africa whose creation was initiated by a local community leader.

It was established in 1963 by the recently deceased chief’s wife, who feared that uncontrolled hunting and cattle encroachment would otherwise lead to the slow extinction of wildlife in the Batawana ancestral lands. Moremi was designated a game reserve as opposed to a national park so that local people could still make limited use of the land, and was further expanded in the 1970s with the incorporation of the chief’s former royal hunting grounds.

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Nxai Pan National Park Extending north from the main road between Maun and Nata, the 1,025-square-mile Nxai Pan National Park forms part of the vast complex of desert saltpans known as Makgadikgadi. In addition to Nxai Pan itself, the park protects the smaller Kudiakam and Kgama-Kgama Pans, as well as large tracts of Kalahari grassland and savanna. Among the most seasonal of African landscapes, Nxai Pan is compellingly bleak and windswept for most of the year, but it transforms into a verdant mosaic of shallow wetlands and grassland after rain.

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At A Glance/Highlights

▶ Nxai Pan is an important seasonal breeding ground for large migratory herds of wildebeest and zebra between December and March. It also attracts giraffe, eland, impala, red hartebeest and incredible concentrations of aquatic birds. ▶ The unalleviated white salt crusts of Makgadikgadi are at their most scenically uncompromising during the dry season, when large wildlife is limited to the odd ostrich, springbok or oryx. ▶ Lion, cheetah and other large carnivores are present throughout the year but most numerous when the migratory herds arrive. ▶ Nxai Pan is traditionally regarded to be a hardcore self-drive 4x4-only destination, but the recent opening of an upmarket lodge means that fly-in safaris are available. ▶ Game viewing and birdwatching are best over the wet summer months of December to March, but this is also when tracks are most likely to become waterlogged.

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Wildlife Common: giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, springbok, oryx, red hartebeest, steenbok.

Uncommon: Lion, cheetah, spotted hyena, bat-eared fox, black-backed jackal.

Rare: Leopard, elephant, African wild dog, brown hyena, aardwolf.

Birds: Nxai Pan offers excellent year-round dry-country birding. Specials include bronze-winged courser, pied babbler, black-eared waxbill, violet-eared waxbill and a confusion of similar-looking larks. Aquatic birdlife can be prolific after good rain and might include flamingos, pelicans and storks as well as a host of migrant waders.

Top Tips The most famous landmark associated with Nxai Pan, Baines’s Baobabs is situated on the eastern edge of Kudiakam, close to the old road between Maun and Nata. This beautiful grove of ancient baobab trees is little changed in appearance since it was first painted by Thomas Baines, a British artist and explorer who accompanied David Livingstone on the 1858 expedition that led to their becoming the first Europeans to visit Victoria Falls.

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Okavango Delta Botswana’s Okavango Delta is a safari destination with a difference. All the Big Five can be found here, with elephant and buffalo being particularly numerous, and it is also home to hippo, giraffe, zebra, various antelope and a giddying profusion of birds. But the main draw of this 5,800-square-mile inland delta is the unique wetland landscape: a mesmerizing wilderness of palm-lined channels, lily-covered pools, jungle-swathed islets and impenetrable papyrus swamps.

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At A Glance ▶ Glide silently in a dugout canoe through the lush channels of the world’s largest inland delta. ▶ Game drives provide an opportunity to see a host of large mammals including the Big Five (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino). ▶ An exceptional variety of aquatic birds, from the majestic African fish eagle to the delicate lily-trotting African jacana. ▶ High cost, low impact private concessions offer a high level of exclusivity. ▶ Moremi Game Reserve, on the eastern edge of the Okavango, is accessible to 4x4 self-drivers, but the only option for concessions deeper in the delta is to fly from Maun. ▶ Okavango can be visited at any time of year. Wildlife viewing is best over July to October. Birdlife is most varied and prolific over the rainy season of December to March. ▶ The minimum realistic stay is three nights, but it’s worth spending longer, split between two lodges

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Highlights The epitome of Botswana’s high cost, low impact tourism model, Okavango has been carved up into a mosaic of private concessions serviced by exclusive upmarket camps that offer luxurious safari packages inclusive of guided activities.

Game drives and guided walks are offered in most concessions, but the most exciting way to explore the delta’s labyrinthine channels is in a wobbly mokoro dugout. Hippos and crocodiles are plentiful, but fortunately the experienced local polers are adept at skirting around these and other aquatic perils.

Game viewing varies from one concession to the next. Deeper in the delta, expect to see plenty of hippos, elephants and buffaloes, as well as aquatic rarities such as otters and the enigmatic sitatunga antelope. More outlying concessions tend to be better for lion, leopard, African hunting dog and other carnivores, as well as terrestrial antelope such as the majestic eland and sable.

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Wildlife Common: Elephant, buffalo, hippo, giraffe, warthog, zebra, wildebeest, impala, waterbuck, bushbuck, red lechwe.

Uncommon: Leopard, lion, spotted hyena, black-backed jackal, greater kudu, sitatunga.

Rare: Black rhino, white rhino, cheetah, African wild dog, eland, tsessebe, roan antelope, sable antelope.

Birds: More than 400 species have been recorded, a list that includes almost every nonmarine aquatic bird known from southern Africa. Specials include African fish eagle, Pel’s fishing owl, African jacana, African pygmy goose and coppery-tailed coucal, as well as the near-endemic slaty egret and very localized lesser jacana, swamp boubou and rosy-throated longclaw.

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Top Tips

Did You Know?

Unlike most national parks in Africa, the Okavango is carved up into several dozen individual concessions, each of which has its own character and operates as a selfcontained private game reserve. Concessions in the central delta are well placed for dugout trips and guided walks, and tend to be strong on aquatic mammals and birds, but they are usually less rewarding for general game viewing. By contrast, the more outlying concessions offer a more conventional Big Five safari experience, with the main activity being game drives. It is therefore important to select where you stay on the basis of your main interest. Better still, for the full Okavango experience, divide your time between two lodges: one in the central delta and another with a more terrestrial location.

Okavango is the world’s largest and most pristine inland delta.

Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014, it is formed by the Kavango River as it fans out into the sandy soils of the semi-arid Kalahari. Counterintuitively, it goes into flood at the height of the dry season, from June to August, and it is lowest in the rainy months of December to February. This is because most of its water is sourced from the highlands of Angola, meaning that it must travel 750 miles downriver along the Kavango before it enters the delta between March and June. None of the delta’s water ever reaches the sea: more than 95% either evaporates or is transpired by plants, while the remainder drains into the soil or flows into Lake Ngami.

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