BOTSWANA SAFARI An African safari, for many travelers, is a destination on the ‘wish list’. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see rare animals, exotic birds, and pristine ecosystems. It was on my honeymoon in 2006 that I visited Africa for the first time, and right from that first visit to South Africa, my husband and I were hooked. We have returned multiple times since. We’ve seen the Great Animal Migration in Kenya and Tanzania with my mother, have tracked gorillas in Uganda with our sons, and have accumulated countless, amazing memories of our travels on the ‘Dark Continent’. A place that’s been on my list for some time has been Botswana, and I had the pleasure of visiting in May. Bordered by South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia, Botswana is revered as the most iconic of safari destinations. This can be attributed to its vast private reserves, incredible wildlife and exclusive luxury camps.
It is argued there is no better game viewing in all of Africa. A bit about the destination: Roughly the size of Texas, over 40% of Botswana is designated for wildlife conservation. It is home to the famed Okavango Delta, one of the world’s largest inland river deltas and home to Africa’s highest concentration of game. What makes the Okavango so unusual is its seasonal flooding. This primarily arid region is filled between May and October with flood waters from the highlands of Angola, resulting in a remarkable transformation to a full wetland paradise in the desert. These months are Botswana’s dry season, and the flooding causes abundant amounts of games to migrate inward from the parched Kalahari desert. During this time, it is argued that there is no better game viewing in all of Africa. It was with great anticipation that I set out to Botswana with my friend, Kristine Karl. Going on this adventure without our husbands prompted many of our friends and family to caution us about our safety, one friend even going so far as to call us ‘brave’. As much as I don’t want to tarnish the image of the ‘adventurous spirits’ we seem to have acquired with this excursion, I must confess that we were never in harm’s way once. In fact, the camps were so comfortable that one might say we were rather spoiled.
“You know you are truly alive when you are living among the lions.” - Karen Blixen, Out of Africa
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