Botswana Family Holidays

Introducing Botswana (Continued...)

€™s landscape is the world’s largest inland delta located in the north, the Okavango Delta. It floods annually, helping to feed an immense variety of flora and fauna, and draws in some of the world’s most spectacular wildlife. The country’s semi-arid climate lends to unpredictable weather patterns. Rainfall is usually concentrated in the summer months, between November and March, and helps reduce the summer temperatures that peak at 44C. Still, winters are dry and last from May through August. During this period the days are cool, so much so the temperature sometimes drops to below freezing at nightfall.

The flatlands of Botswana are the perfect grazing ground for a multitude of wildlife. This makes the country a prized destination for safari enthusiasts. Here nature reserves are as commonplace as fast food outlets in western cities. There so much game around that it’s impossible to go on a drive and not catch up with at least four of Africa’s famous Big Five.

Safari

Safaris in Botswana come in all shapes and sizes. If you’ve been on one too many and consider yourself a bit of a pro, you could take up a tracking course and pick up some ranger skills; a rewarding way to help improve your knowledge and support animals’ well-being. Eco-awareness courses are ten-day expeditions where you spend large portions of your time staring at the ground tracking animals. You’ll be following some large predators, such as lions, leopards, cheetahs and hyenas and their respective prey: the kudu, impala, duiker, nyala, wildebeest, giraffe, zebra and warthog. Your training ground is Kwa Tuli (translates appropriately to ‘place of dust’) an immense landscape that’s also called ‘the Land of the Giants’. As well as the 48 species of large mammals to watch for, there’s also action in the skies to observe – the 350 bird species are sure to keep bird followers happy.

Multi-Activity

If the idea of observing nature in her wildest form on four wheels is boring, and the idea of tracking a cheetah on foot seems crazy, there is another option: you can enjoy a dug-out canoe safari. For a slightly more decadent option, you can also experience a three-night stay in a houseboat. From here you can relax, and visit villages, before drifting along the Okavango Panhandle, a geological fault that restricts the meandering river until its release into the main delta. Related activities include fishing and walks, the latter incorporating visits to the rock paintings at Tsodilo Hills. These are said to have been occupied by humans for 100,000 years, and are one of Botswana’s 500 significant rock art sites, which tell the story of human evolution.

Horse Riding

As with the surrounding natural environment, there is great variety on offer for equine enthusiasts. You will also be spoilt for choice when it comes to selecting your horse.
There are thoroughbreds, Namibian hanoverians, arabs and kalahari-arab crosses, all ready to be saddles up and taken out on an adventure. You’ll need a little experience and should be able to spend between four and six hours in the saddle (English or Western style), and gallop when needed. The reason is that with so much game around, you have to be confident in controlling your horse. A week-long safari takes you where four-wheel drives can’t go. Riding here you can splash through pools of lilies and gallop through high palm lands. At night you will camp out in the open and with this enjoy a new intimacy with nature; you’ll be swimming in pools that are also favourite watering holes for elephants! And at night, you can even pitch in to take on a watch shift.

Whitewater Rafting

If it’s a family holiday you’re looking for, you can’t go wrong with a trip to Chobe National Park. This is the stuff that you see in National Geographic photo stories and read of in the adventures of David Attenborough. The game park is known for its large herds of elephants. These gracious beasts remain wild but have become accustomed to the telephoto lenses and tourists. Across the park, hippos an elephants share the same waters. These still waters are contrasted to the gushing torrid flows of the Zambezi. Plunges 5,604 feet into a chasm, it creates one of the seven natural wonders of the world, the Victoria Falls, also appropriately named ‘Smoke that Thunders’. The foamy rapids of Bakota Gorge offer excellent whitewater rafting. If the grade 4 and 5 rapids named Oblivion or Devil’s Toilet Bowl don’t ‘charm’ you into giving them a go, then try a quiet drift down the Zambezi in a canoe.

Classic Itineraries

With such exceptional parks to discover, such as the Moremi, Savuti and Chobe, safari aficionados will always be satisfied in Botswana. After all, there are various kinds of safaris that they can choose from depending on what you want to do, see, or how you fancy travelling. Chobe National Park is popular because of its herds of elephants and proximity to the Victoria Falls. Safaris at the Northern Tuli game reserve promise activities tailored to your interests, where walks and drives are focused on its wildlife, birds, tracking, geology and history.

Other Activities

The idea of spending a week in the bush might be daunting for some. Well, if a day trip is more your style, you can take one to the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo rivers. A picnic lunch at this breathtaking spot, where Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe meet, is a fantastic experience. There are also visits to Motlabaneng, where you can get a taste of life in a Botswanan village. This includes a visit to the school, wine tasting at the lala-palm distillery, and a chance to see a selection of community projects in progress, such as basket weaving. A visit to the Victoria Falls offers typical tourist fare: helicopter rides, bungee jumping and souvenir markets.

The breadth and magnitude of Africa easily overwhelms visitors - there’s always too much to see, too much to do, and no camera is ever going to truly capture that enormous, looming African moon! Botswana is not a destination for the faint-hearted. Prepare to be easily awestruck once you first step out in 30C of blazing sun, in an oasis with giraffes grazing around you. Once you return to the urban jungle, no one will blame you for feeling a little out of place.