Travel experiences and advice, September 1999
Written: Sep 28 '99 (Updated Oct 18 '99)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: great wildlife opportunities; fairly safe; good lodges and guides available
Cons: expensive; hot and dry can be a drag after a while; camping requires careful packing and planning, as nothing can be bought in the parks
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| philprice's Full Review: Botswana |
In September, 1999, I took a two-week trip in Botswana and Zimbabwe with a bunch of friends. Two of the friends had been living in Gaborone (a.k.a. "Gabs") for the previous three years, and during that period they had taken many trips to the national parks. They planned a trip for us, to their favorite spots. It rates as one of my best vacations ever, and I highly recommend Botswana as a travel destination...but with some caveats.
Things you should know that might sound daunting:
1) I can only evaluate Botswana for wildlife viewing. Although there may be some cultural interest, I don't know about that: we spent almost our whole time in national parks.
2) Botswana is not cheap. The government has a policy of encouraging low-volume, high-profit tourism. For instance, admission to the national parks (for non-Botswanans) costs $20 per person per day, plus a vehicle fee ($10 per day, I think), plus an overnight camping fee. Add this to the 4WD vehicle you'll be renting if you do a trip like ours, and you're over $100 per day for a couple of travelers. That's assuming you're camping. If you shell out more money for one of the (often excellent) lodges at many of the parks, you'll be easily over $200 per couple per day.
3) If you plan on camping, plan on spending at least a day or two in Gaborone buying gear and supplies, unless you're flying in truly prodigious amounts. Once you're out in the middle of one of the parks, there is no place to buy supplies. You will see other travelers, and you won't starve if you forget a can opener, but there are no stores of any sort. Plan carefully if you'll be camping.
4) IF YOU ARE CAMPING, YOU MUST BOOK CAMPSITE SPOTS IN ADVANCE. You can't just show up and get a spot, no matter how many sites are available. Your best bet is to plan and book your whole trip before arriving in Botswana. Some people to reserve (and pay the advance fee for) spots at two campgrounds for the same night, to give themselves more flexibility...could be worth it, depending on your schedule.
5) If you have car trouble, you could _really_ have trouble. It may take you a day to get to a phone where you can call for help, and even well-intentioned rental agents may have trouble getting you a replacement before another day has gone by. If you can, go with a few friends and take two vehicles.
6) During August, September, and early October Botswana is utterly arid. The trees, which will be green and full of life during the rainy season in a couple of months, are mostly devoid of leaves. The grass is brown, where it hasn't been grazed down to the roots. However, it's a great time to see wildlife: the animals don't have a lot of trees for cover, and they tend to concentrate around areas with water.
Things you should know that might make you eager to go:
1) The wildlife experience in September and October (the period our Botswanan friends recommended) is simply incredible. In a vehicle or on horseback (highly recommended if you can find a place to do it), you can get very close to most animals. Surprisingly, most animals are much more shy about people on foot. We got up-close looks (meaning less than 50 yards, and often less than 20 yards) at elephants, zebra, rhino (at Matopos National Park in Zimbabwe), adult lions and lion cubs, impala, sable antelope, cape buffalo, water buffalo, hippos, giraffes, hyena, cheetah, and many others. We caught a fleeting glimpse of a leopard.
2) Both wildlife densities and tourist densities are lower than in, say, Kenya. Animals in Botswana are generally a bit more shy than those in some other countries. This is both bad and good. You're less likely to be able to drive right up to a leopard with its kill...but if you do see one, there won't be a ring of 10 tourist vans circled around it. If you just want to check animals off your list, consider someplace else; if you want some feeling of wildness, try Botswana.
3) Due to the high cost/low volume of tourism, if you wish you can get well away from other people. Camping is allowed only in designated campsites, but even those were not crowded in our experience, and a few minutes driving on a randomly-selected 4WD road away from camp will usually ensure that you see no other people, if that's what you want.
A quick summary of our trip so you'll know what to expect:
We started in Gaborone, and drove several hours north (good road, but only one lane each way, and dangerous at night due to animals on the road), camping by the side of the road the first day. No need for expensive 4WD's for the first part of our trip, so we rented compact cars and stuffed them full of stuff. The next day we drove into Zimbabwe to Matopos National Park. The border crossing took a couple of hours due to long lines. Tell your rental company if you'll be taking the cars across the border---you need special papers.
There are several very nice lodges outside Matopos if you desire. We camped in the park, at a nice campsite by a man-made pond. A horseback ride at the Matopos Game Preserve gave us our first wildlife experience, including getting very close to a rhino. Most animals aren't bothered by people on horses, but dislike people on foot. Matopos also has some excellent cave paintings, well worth a visit.
After a couple of days in Matopos, we drove north to Victoria Falls. The falls themselves are very impressive. The town is nothing special, though it is a good place to stock up on souvenirs. We did a raft trip on the Zambesi River below the falls...just huge whitewater, but the flow is so high that it is not very dangerous: the rocks are well below the surface so you will not hit your head, and there are no strainers. Very fun, highly recommended, but not for the wimpy. You will probably swim, more than once. Horseback rides are also available in this area. Shell out for a lodge rather than staying at the crowded campground.
Crossing back into Botswana, we dropped off the cars in Kasane and picked up big 4WD Toyota pickups---full cabs (front and rear seats) with covered pickup beds. I don't remember the exact cost, but around $100/day. Over the next few days, we drove these trucks through Chobe National Park to Maun, staying at campgrounds in between. You absolutely do need four-wheel drive vehicles for some of this trip. Not all of it, but some of it. Of our three vehicles, one of them had minor problems (occasionally stalling), and another had a clutch that started to go almost immediately, and burned out completely before we could get it back to the nearest phone, thus necessitating some epic shuttle driving that burned up a lot of extra gas, depleting our supplies to barely workable levels. The car company (Avis) worked very hard to get us a replacement vehicle, and gave us a day free on all of the vehicles since we lost so much time dealing with this problem. Something like this could easily happen to you---some of the roads are very, very rough, and communications infrastructure is poor, so you might easily spend a day dealing with problems. If you're the kind of person who gets worked up about this sort of thing, book with a tour group instead of driving yourself.
The Savuti waterhole was a particular high point of this part of the trip, but we also saw great stuff at other times. The animals are out and about just after dawn and just before sunset, so make sure you're out (in your vehicle) at those times. We were lucky enough to see cheetah lounging under a tree at mid-day, but most of the other good stuff we saw was very early in the morning or just before sundown, including a trio of lion cubs resting and playing on a hummock near the side of the road.
By the way, it did take some getting used to the experience of camping there. The first night in Chobe, a herd of elephants came right past the tent, and one of them started munching on a tree at the edge of the campsite. Many nights, we heard lions roaring, sometimes quite close (as confirmed by tracks the next day). This is not a place to wander around at night, nor to go with young children.
After Chobe, we dropped off the 4WDs in Maun, and flew into "Oddballs Camp" in the Okavongo delta. The Okavongo is an inland river/lake system that is fed by rivers that flow in...nothing flows out to the sea. There's an assortment of lodges. Take a dugout canoe (with guide) up one of the rivers and camp for a day or two. We did a few guided hikes from our camp, and though we saw some wildlife, we were not able to get close to most animals because we were on foot. However, it is a different experience from driving around looking, and I recommend doing it once. The dugout canoe experience is interesting.
Overall:
* Botswana is doing a great job managing their wildlife and making the ecotourism experience well worth the high price...if you can afford it.
* Zimbabwe is not doing quite as well, but is cheaper. Doing the same things we did---Matopos and Vic Falls, both on the border---is a good way to see some great stuff in Zimbabwe but still spend most of your trip in Botswana.
* If you're very self-sufficient, a self-drive camping trip in the national parks is a great way to go, especially if you have a group of 4 or more and can rent two vehicles. Otherwise, consider booking through a tour or lodge.
* Either way, it will be expensive. But either way, you will see lots and lots of wildlife, much of it up close.
* Everything takes more time than you think. If you can't allow 10 days at least, go another time.
Notes for photographers:
* Take a lot of 50 and 100-speed film, and a small amount of 200. Most of the day the sunlight is intense, but the best shots are around dawn and dusk, when you might want the extra speed.
* For shots when the sun is low, use Fuji, not Kodak: Kodak gives exaggerated golds and yellows, and the light at that time of day is already plenty yellow.
* Have a polarizer for all of your lenses.
* You don't need really big glass: 250mm is OK, 300mm ideal. My 500mm was too close-up for a lot of things...you can get really close to the animals!
* Take a beanbag and drape it over the car mirror or window as a camera-rest.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
philprice
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Member: Phillip Price
Location: Berkeley, CA
Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 6 members
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