Botswana Archives - Page 2 of 2

CROSSING THE BORDER (PART I) – PLANNING

African border posts have a notorious reputation, but it is not as bad as everyone thinks as long as you go prepared and have no illusions. Most border trouble comes down to inexperience or impatience – not only in Africa, but throughout the world. The key is to prepare well beforehand and remember, every successful border crossing pans out differently in each country. Regulations change all the time and is rapidly outdated. There are general tips that you can follow to ease your encounter at the border post, so consider some of the following tips: SO, THIS SAID, WHERE DO I START? Right at the beginning. Planning, planning, planning and some more planning! Start doing your homework well in advance, because it might take some time to get your ducks in a row and quacking. The number one place to start will be at your documents. Without a passport, the… Read more >

THE GOOD OLD PAPER MAP

Why still a hard copy map? Yes, yes, yes I know all the modern technology is available – and I do own a GPS and a smart phone with navigational abilities, but I still love a good old map with all those red lines connecting places. You see this is where the practical me jumps in again. I like it because: There is nothing more rewarding when you are planning a trip than to spread out the map on the table and say that is where I want to go. Yes, yes, I know the GPS shows me where I want to go, but sometimes we get so blinded by tunnel vision focussing on what the GPS tells us what to do that we do not actually know where we are in the bigger picture. Driving in town that is fine, you can just replace/recharge the batteries or plug into… Read more >

ELEPHANT 101

This post is not about travel as such, but seeing that we had several close encounters with elephants in Mana Pools, Matusadona as well as in many of the Botswana wild parks this may come in handy. Even in lately in Kruger National Park there were some incidents/accidents. Let’s start off with some interesting and lesser known facts about the trunk of an elephant: Feeling the vibe: Aside from smell, the trunk is sensitive to vibrations; from the ground it can sense the rumble of faraway herds and even far-off thunder. Mighty muscles: An elephant’s trunk has eight major muscles on either side and 150,000 muscle bundles in all. It is so strong that it can easily push down trees or roll over a vehicle. Move it: Like the human tongue, the trunk is a muscular hydrostat – a boneless muscular structure that allows for its excellent maneuverability. Phenomenal sense… Read more >

SUNSET ON CHOBE

There is no other word that I can think of to describe the sundown cruise on the Chobe River better as magical. This is not going to be a very long entry into my blog. This will be short and sweet. Either you like the scenery or not – I am just going to do an overload of pictures, because it is difficult not to. By now you will probably be thinking well an elephant, is an elephant, is an elephant. – been there, done that, seen that! There are just so many animals and birds in large numbers that it is unavoidable not to take hundreds of pictures as your eye constantly takes in the view every time that the boat maneuvers to get close to the animals without scaring them. For me the most impressive part of the three hour boat cruise is the golden hour at sunset… Read more >

CENTRAL KALAHARI GAME RESERVE (CKGR)

We were camping in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) in Botswana. It was our first visit to CKGR and I did not know what to expect at all. I expected barren, flat, open areas with sparse vegetation. How pleasantly surprised I was! The Kalahari was not green, but the yellow grass was waving in the wind and trees dappled the hills. After filling up at the Shell Petrol Station in Rakops (only three pumps for different types of fuel. We could luckily fill up before they ran dry a couple of days later. Thereafter, we set off on the sandy road leading to Matswere gate. After driving about 500 meters we decided to deflate the tyres to enhance a more comfortable and easy ride on the corrugation with the fully laden bakkie. As you have to be self sufficient in all aspects, we took 40 litres of diesel and… Read more >

GIANTS OF KUBU

It is the month of August and the end of the winter or rather dry season in Botswana. After dropping off my 76 year old mother (who was on safari with us) at Francistown Airport to take her first international flight home we took the A30 towards Orapa and Kubu Island. Shortly after we picked up our camping permits – after the lady in the office gave us a wrap over the knuckles for not making reservations in advance – our first glimpse of Sua Pan, part of the 16 000 km² pan complex, appeared on the horizon. I am excited! This will be another first for me – a visit to the vast pans and ancient Baobabs. As Kubu Island is a national monument and a pristine wilderness area the rule of take everything in and take everything out applies (and that includes taking your own firewood and water). If… Read more >

BETOWERENDE BOTSWANA

Ons kom Botswana binne by Ramatlabama Hek (06:00-22:00) en kies koers in die rigting van Gaborone en dan oor Serowe na Khama Rhino Sanctuary waar die Botswana regering ‘n teëlprogram het vir swart renosters. Hier by Khama Rhino Sanctuary kwetter die voëls in die bome en die bokke kom loop sommer mak hier om jou staanplek rond in die aand terwyl kos aan mekaar geslaan word en die son rooi sak in die Weste. Gepantser teen die koue en met groot opgewondenheid neem ons my 76-jarige ma, wat nog nooit op ‘n aand game drive was nie, uit in die veld! Wat ‘n belewenis was dit nie vir haar. Absoluut die moeite werd om die rit aan te pak en ouma bo-op die wildkyk voertuig te kry. En soos wat dinge nou maar is, is die geluk nie aan ons kant nie, want as gevolg van ‘n wildtelling aksie wat… Read more >

Tag Archive: Botswana