Botswana

Botswana has a population of just over 2m people making it one of the most sparsely populated nations yet it is one of the richest in terms of biodiversity and pristine wildlife. The currency is Pula which literally means rain - rain is scarce and therefore a valuable blessing. A person from Botswana is a Motswana, the plural is Batswana and their language is Setswana.

🙂 Sliding through the water in a makoro listening to birds and watching elephant using their trunks as snorkels as they swam past us – AMAZING.

🙁 The poverty that the guides live in when we went to visit their homes and the dire AIDS situation – it is ranked in the top 4 countries most affected by HIV and AIDS (behind South Africa, eSwatini (Swaziland) and Lesotho.

Currency: Bostwana Pula

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THREE things we did not know about Botswana:

The Okavango Delta

  1. Although Botswana boasts incredible wildlife, there is more to it than that! There is also the Okavango Delta: one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa. The Delta spreads across 15,000 square kilometres and is the largest inland delta in the world. It provides a vital habitat to the black rhino, spotted hyena, Nile crocodile etc etc as well as the world’s largest population of elephants across Botswana. It was the 1000th inscribed site on the World Heritage list of UNESCO.
  2. The Makgadikgadi Pan is one of the largest salt flats in the world and is all that remains of the Makgadikgadi Lake, which at one time covered an area as large as Switzerland! Covering an area of 12,000 square kilometres, the pan can be traversed by tourists on horseback and quad bikes during the day, while night brings migrating zebra and wildebeest. Very hot and dry, when there is enough rain, the pan can turn into a blue lake that attracts numerous animals, including flamingos.
  3. One of the Freest Countries in Africa. According to Freedom House– an organisation that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights– Botswana is one of only eight countries in Africa that can be described at truly free. The others are Senegal, Ghana, Tunisia, Cape Verde, Namibia, and South Africa.

Okavango Delta: 1995 (Gunn Camp), 1998 (Gunn Camp), 2010 (Oddballs Camp)

Botswana in Perspective:

DECEMBER 2022/JANUARY 2023 Trip We used Botswana Footprints to book all aspects of our accommodation, permits and park fees.

ITINERARY:

Day 1 & 2: 24-26 December 2022 – Kasane to Elephant Sands

Day 3 & 4: 26-28 December 2022 – Elephant Sands to Planet Baobab

Day 5: 29 December 2022 – Nxai Pan & Baines Baobab

Day 6: 29-30 December 2022 – Maun

Day 7: 30-31 December 2022 – Third Bridge, Moremi

Day 8 & 9: 31 December 22 – 2 January 23 – Magotho, Khwai

Day 10: 2-3 January 2023 – Savuti

Day 11 & 12: 3-5 January 2023 – Linyanti

Day 13 & 14: 5-7 January 2023 – Ihaha

Day 16-17: 7-8 January 23 – Kasane. Pangolin Hotel, Chobe

Botswana Flag

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