Botswana: Safari in Botswana with unforgettable experiences is written by Winnie Sorensen
First, but not last time
The first time I was in Africa, I was in Botswana. Maybe it was a mistake to start there, because it's hard to live up to. Botswana is probably one of the - if not THE very best safari country in the world. Delta, savannah, huge herds of animals – and not very many other tourists.
I do not really know what I had imagined. Inside, I really dreamed a lot about seeing a lion, but the only thing I said out loud was that I just really wanted to see a giraffe. I know, after all, that the world is not like on film, and I was a little scared to seem naive if I said my lion's wish out loud.
I landed in Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe - and just getting through immigration was wild. The man behind the counter disappeared with my passport - I honestly was not quite bothered with that.
Those ahead of me in line had paid different amounts to enter the country. Some had to pay 50 US dollars, others were charged 80 dollars. When he came back with my passport, he scrutinized me thoroughly and said in a loud voice: “You! You pay 50 dollars”.
So said, so done, and then I was in Africa and ready to get to Botswana and start my safari experience.
Camping safari in Botswana
Ahead of me was a 10 day camping safari through the northern part of Botswana. I hadn't read much about the country and knew absolutely nothing about safaris in Botswana.
In general, I'm really bad at preparing for trips, which is pretty weird because I'm a structure freak and a security junkie. But trips, I just throw myself into them. I had no idea what awaited me.
The first night at the hotel at Victoria Falls went well. There were an incredible amount of mosquitoes, it was really hot, and there were animals walking around on the lawn by the hotel.
The next day I met my fellow travelers. The group consisted of a couple from USA, a family of four also from the USA and a family of three from South Africa. So we began the safari adventure in Botswana. The trip began.
We started in the city of Kasane and we would finish 12 days later in Maun on the Okavango Delta.
The first day was spent mostly refueling in Kasane, getting to know each other a little and getting to the first camp site. The accommodation took place in small dome tents. I got my own tent.
The food was eaten around the fire, and a toilet tent and a shower tent were set up every evening a few hundred meters away.
It was primitive, but it worked.
We had dinner, chatted a bit and little by little everyone calmed down. I had only just fallen asleep when I was awakened by something. Oh, the South African father snored. Crazy! By god I can't stand snoring.
Suddenly I heard something else. What was it? A kind of deep grunt. And there was a kind of scream. And who is running?
We had strict orders NOT to go out of our tent at night, so there was nothing to do; I had to be left alone in the African night, while there was evidently a cave mass going on not very far from our camp.
The father continued snoring in the tent next to me. And slowly I calmed down to the sound of his constant breathing and fell asleep. There are many things that I did not expect from safari in Botswana.
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Welcome to Africa
Almost in the morning the guides told us that we had heard lions, hippos, impalas in a fight and probably also some buffaloes.
From then on I was completely sold. As in completely madly in love with every single day. The days were spent in the car. It was hot and dusty. The roads in Botswana are mostly sand, so we got stuck several times.
But now hold on. There were the lions, mating so close to the side of the car that the roar of the male lion nearly blew us away. There was the snake, which gracefully slithered past me and my tent one quiet afternoon as I sat reading.
There was the hyena that peed on my tent one dark night. And there were elephants. Thousands of elephants. Giraffes, hippos, impalas, buffaloes, crocodiles and colorful birds. You never know what surprise you might see on safari in Botswana.
The feeling of life - safari in Botswana
There were the smells. The smell of dewy grass in the morning while the sun warmed the earth, the smell of wild animals suggesting that a leopard has been lucky at night, the smell of lion fart when a herd of lions has eaten its prey and is now lying on its back with the legs straight up in the air while they digest - and fart.
The scent of water in the delta - water that travels thousands of kilometers from the mountains of Angola to end in the middle of nowhere; in the middle of Botswana's Okavango Delta.
Even when at one point I was plagued by food poisoning, I had a sense of happiness.
For weeks after I got home, I went into a bubble. It was as if I was living a kind of parallel life. I had fallen 100% for Africa - and the feeling of Botswana has never left me.
If you haven't already seen Botswana, then it's time to go. Very nice trip.
Why you should go on safari in Botswana:
- Experience unique wildlife
- Sleep in a tent out on the savannah
- The Magic of the Okavango Delta
- The Kalahari Desert
- A land of adventure and cultural wealth
Did you know: Here are the 7 best food cities in the world according to Tripadvisor's millions of users
7: Barcelona in Spain
6: New Delhi in India
Get numbers 1-5 immediately by signing up for the newsletter, and look in the welcome email:
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