Travel - Botswana

Safari in Botswana

July 1 - 9, 2025

Driving from the airstrip to our safari camp, our guide Esefa pointed out a vulture high in a tree. He stopped the jeep so we could zoom in. Cameras clicked as we all tried to get a good shot.

Suddenly Wendy shouted, “There's a lion!”

Loud and excited, Esefa looked around and shouted back, “Where's the lion?”

“Right there!” Wendy pointed in the opposite direction of the vulture, down toward the ground. Below our big jeep and just a few feet away was this guy, looking up at us like we were the most clueless big-game hunters on the savanna.

It was all a setup of course. Esefa drove to the spot where he knew the action would be, distracting us with vultures as he parked right next to a lion. Our guide had quite a laugh as we swung our cameras around to the lion, who was quietly lounging after a huge meal.

Eventually, Esefa explained that an elephant had died two days before, so the pride of lions were having quite the feast. Vultures, jackals, hyenas, and others were all gathering to have their turn once the lions were done.

Safari Camps

For a total of nine days, we stayed at three different camps:

• Jackalberry Chobe on the Chobe River
• Selinda Explorers at the Selinda private reserve
• Karangoma in the Okavango Delta

Botswana follows a low-impact, high-cost tourism model. Few visitors are allowed into sensitive ecosystems. Lodges are small and game reserves limit the number of vehicles.

Our trip reflects that. We stayed in camps, never in hotels. Our tents had carpeted floors, full beds, bathrooms, and showers. Sometimes the six in our family were the only guests in a camp.

Above is the termite mound and dining tent at Selinda Explorers Camp. At lunch and dinner, the chef always explained each dish. They knew our preferred foods, and cooked to our tastes. The whole camp has a 1930s theme!

On the right is the porch of my tent at Karangoma. Across the shallow water, an elephant is grazing. It pulls reeds, then swings them in an arc to dislodge the sand.

To say that these camps are picturesque and luxurious is quite the understatement. This is glamping in style!

Game Drives

Each morning we woke up in the dark. Wildlife is most active around dawn and sunset, so we got moving in the jeep with just a warm cup of coffee and a bush baby.

Usually we stopped for breakfast around 9 am. The chef packs oatmeal, muffins, hand quiches, or similar foods for us, and our guide sets everything up on the jeep's bumper. These little picnics were great!

There were usually animals around when we stopped the jeep, but they never stayed. Animals ignore the vehicle, but as soon as humans stand up and get out, the animals move away.

All of us in front of the jeep with Esefa, our guide at Selinda.

After breakfast, we'd continue looking for animals. Sometimes we'd pause to look for tracks in the sand, but most of the time animals were in plain view all around us. We'd often stop to talk about the animals and take photographs. Finally, we'd head back to camp sometime around noon.

After lunch, we had a few hours of siesta followed by high tea at 4 pm. Then we'd do another game drive concluding after sunset.

Shakes took us on a walking safari at Karangoma. Fortunately, he didn't have to use the rifle! Mosamali took the photo. He was our tracker, watching for animal tracks from the front bumper of the jeep. That's Max in Mosamali's seat, below.

Wild Animals

I bought a new camera for this trip and took thousands of photos. But don't worry, they're not all here.

Below are 44 animals along with the circumstances of our encounters. Skip around or start at the beginning and step through them all.

We saw two cheetahs on the hunt. Don't miss that one!

Farewell

We had a wonderful time at each of the safari camps. As we arrived and departed, the staff at each camp welcomed us and said farewell in a way we'd never seen before. They sang for us!

This is the crew at Karangoma, including Maggie and Vic, the camp leaders. The language is Setswana, the most common in Botswana. Turn on the sound!