Why safari in Botswana?
When we planned our safari to Tanzania, we chose between many exciting and unique places for our trip, choosing was completely impossible so instead of making the choice endlessly, I instead made a bucket list over the places I wanted to go to, why opt out when I have my whole life to experience the world;)
Here's my bucket list:
Rwanda - Mountain gorillas, Need I to say more anyway?
Botswana - wow, what nature and they do a great job of ecotourism. I would like to encourage and support that
Tanzania - Serengeti's stretched expanse and home to the unique migration of gnomes and zebras
Zambia - walking safari, interesting and exciting to track and get the animals close on the ground
Zimbawe - the national park Mana Pool has always attracted me, I do not really know why but when you look at photos from Mana you get enchanted buy the beauty
Ethiopia - mountain massif and so much history
Kalahari - tough climate that requires specialist animals
It was not easy to choose, we rolled back and forth if we were going to Rwanda or Botswana. Two countries with completely different nature and wildlife. Rwanda with its unique mountain gorillas in Virunga National Park, or Botswana with the world's largest inland delta and majestic elephant population. Because the countries are so different, you can not compare them straight away, you have to look at what is special for that country. What made us decide on with Botswana this time was that we felt like we would need more time researching about Rwanda to find a good set up. Instead, we chose to focus entirely on Botswana and to find the ultimate trip there.
Ok so why botswana? Nearly 20% of the entire country area consists of protected national parks, the country does a great job of conserving both animals and wilderness. Incredibly impressive for a country that consist of mainly desert, to preserve areas for wildlife and nature instead of farming. Botswana has a variety of ecosystems, ranging from the endless desert Kalahari to the lush oasis surrounding Okavango. It is perfectly possible to combine all these areas during a safari here if you want. Since there are so many different types of nature, safari can be more varied than in ex. Tanzania, South Africa or Kenya, often traveling by car, Botswana allows you to get on a canoe or boat during the right periods, and of course by car around the savannah.
Botswana is an exclusive safari destination and tourism is strictly regulated, the principle can be called low volume-high price, rather than high volume - low price. This can discourage many when comparing a standard package trip to, for example, Kenya with Botswana. But what the say you get in return is an experience that can not be compared to many other safari destinations, the pace is lower, the wilderness is untouched and one really gets the chance to lose oneself in the wilderness. Some areas of Botswana can only be reached with small aircraft which, of course, also affect the price but experience will weigh the price multiply.
It´s hard to tell in advance if it's worth those extra hundred euros or not, I loved Tanzania and at the moment it's hard to peak :)
The loneliness, the unspoiled wilderness, the unique nature and authenticity were what made us to be fully sold on Botswana. The country is very successful in ecotourism, which brings back to society, nature, animals in a way that works long-term and really, which feels quite right with our believes and how we want to contribute.
We are going to Botswana on May 8, 2017, this is called the interim period, after the rainy season and before the drought - in winter you can say. This is a smart way to get prices down, but we will still have nice weather and good animal viewing. The days are hot but nights can get colder. so I'll probably pack a pajamas :) You can go to Botswana all year round, but with some different themes, for example, water activities like the canoe can be difficult in the early spring when the waters from Angola not yet has reached the delta.
Dec-march (rains low season) April- May, November (Intermin period) June-october (high season)
Ever since we booked our trip, I have had a constant countdown and now it's only a month left !!! In the next post I will tell you about our itinerary and which tour operator we will travel with :)