Wow I’m all refreshed and ready to see out my final month here is Gabs. I just returned from 3 weeks holiday around South Africa and Botswana. I was chaperone and local guide to my parents who were first time visitors to Africa. We met in Johannesburg before flying on to Cape Town. We had a few days in the city before making our way down the Garden Route to Port Elizabeth. We spent a night in Stellenbosch, one in Oudtshoorn and two in Knysna. The highlight would definitely be watching my parents attempt to ride an ostrich. What a cack!
From Port Elizabeth we then flew back to J’burg and then on to Kasane in the north of Botswana. Here we did a couple of game drives in the Chobe National Park and a boat cruise down the Chobe River. We were lucky enough to see a stack of animals including most of the big five. We also went on a day trip to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and a village tour in Namibia.
After Chobe we flew in a chartered plane (and arrived very very very green) to our lodge in the Okavango Delta. Flying is really the only way to get into the Delta especially at this time of year when there is so much water (the delta is made up of several thousand islands of varying size and can only be accessed by boat or plane). Think of it like Venice but without the city and with dangerous wild animals walking around!
The Delta really is incredible. I really didn’t understand what all the fuss was about before I went but I’m really glad we got there. It’s just so isolated and peaceful. Just the sounds of the water and the animals (oh and the occasional boat and plane).
We did two walking safaris while we were there. Our guide would pole us out in a mokoro (well a fibreglass version of the traditional canoe anyway) to an island. We would then walk around the island learning about the different animal footprints and droppings. My heart was certainly pounding when we found ourselves face to face with a herd of elephants. And then when we happened upon two mating leopards and their baby. We were completely vulnerable and out in the open – our guide didn’t even have a weapon as it was a protected area. Crikey I feel like I’m turning into Steve Irwin!
From the Delta we made our way to Gaborone and went on a tour of my favourite spots. I think the whole trip was a real eye opener for my parents. I think Africa gets viewed so negatively in the press worldwide that they expected the worst. But Africa really isn’t all dictatorships and violence. Sure that does happen and you do see a lot of poverty but for the most part it is a warm, relaxed and beautiful continent (if not perhaps a little frustrating sometimes). I would definitely suggest putting it on the itinerary.
Lorrin's Botswana Blog 