Botswana is one of the truly premier safari destinations. Great game and quiet reserves are the main reasons for this, tempered only by the generally high cost of a safari in Botswana. Having travelled all over Southern and Eastern Africa, we can confidently say from experience that Botswana ticks all the boxes for those looking for a genuine and quality safari experience. To help the undecided among you, we have put together in concise form the reasons we think Botswana itself stands out as such a good safari destination:
For most of us, whenever we visit a country, we want to be welcomed and treated as if we are wanted, and with Botswana this is exactly what you get. In other African countries, which have experienced safari-based tourism for many years, they have grown accustomed to the tourist industry and have started to take the benefits it brings for granted. This results in a lesser quality experience. From our experience in Botswana, we always had great interaction with the local residents who are always very appreciative of the fact that new people have come to their country.
Botswana boasts some of the best lodges in Africa. The government policy with the National Parks in Botswana has been to maintain a small number of high standard lodges and keep prices high to keep tourist numbers low and the reserves pristine. This is a commendable attitude from a conservation point of view but does mean that there are very few mid-range lodges in Botswana. Those with a mid-range budget would likely be better off considering Zambia or Tanzania instead. None of the safari lodges are too big and all offer game drives via open-topped vehicle. Botswana is renowned for the quality of its guiding - the factor that is the most important of all in distinguishing between a merely good, and a great, safari experience.
Botswana has some of the most wonderful national parks in Africa, and due to government restrictions on the number of safari operators allowed to operate in the Parks, it is not uncommon to not see another game vehicle while out and about. While Parks such as Moremi or the Okavango Private Reserves boast an unsurpassed density of wildlife numbers and variation, the number of visitors is SIGNIFICANTLY less than the more well-known Parks in Kenya and Tanzania for example. This leads to a more intimate experience and less of a zoo-like parade in a "wilderness" overloaded with tourist vehicles.
Botswana is probably one of the safest countries to visit in Africa, with a stable, democratic political structure. Unlike many other African countries, there have been no incidents due to international terrorism, and the internal crime rate is good, being virtually nonexistent out on safari, and relatively low elsewhere, barring city centres. As a tourist destination, Botswana is sufficiently advanced to provide adequate transport, communications, health facilities, and so on, whilst remaining totally unspoilt.
There is much to explore in Botswana, including the unforgettable Okavango Delta, the amazing Central Kalahari, Chobe National Park, and the Makgadikgadi Salt Pan. In addition, the range of activities available AT NO ADDITIONAL COST when staying in Botswana's excellent lodges is massive. In particular it is the ability to undertake both walking safaris and night drives in the private reserves that distinguishes Botswana from other African destinations, which have much more restrictive practices, and to these can also be added river cruises by boat or mokoro, fishing, horse riding and much more.
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