Botswana

Africa – The Numbers

Here are some interesting figures from our 2nd continent:

  • 3 – Months we spent in Africa
  • 46 – Number of beds we slept in
  • 8 – Countries Visited (South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Mozambique, Lesotho, Swaziland, Tanzania, Kenya)
  • 39 – Days we spent in South Africa
  • 3 – Hours we spent in Lesotho
  • 7 – Cars we rented in South Africa
  • 5900 – Kilometers we drove in South Africa (3600 miles)
  • 30 – Number of deeply discounted or comp’d hotel nights through Ted’s tourism connections
  • 26 – Days spent with family in Africa
  • 35 – Percentage of nights we paid for accommodation (thanks Moms and Dads, and tourism connections!)
  • 38 – Hours on a bus (nothing compared to the 182.5 in South America)
  • 14 – Beaches visited
  • 45 – Number of game drives
  • 50 – Number of lions seen on game drives
  • 2200 – Photos taken (and kept)
  • 12 – Number of guides and porters assigned only to us for our Kili hike
  • 13,393 – Vertical feet climbed on our summit hike of Kilimanjaro
  • 19,341 – Highest altitude in feet we’ve ever climbed to
  • 6 – Flights on big airplanes
  • 6 – Flights on small airplanes
  • 10 – Visits to the Johannesburg airport
  • 1 – Number of police reports filed

Check out our Best of pics from Southern Africa, East Africa, and African Mega-Fauna for some visual highlights.  Now, on to the Indian Subcontinent…


Safaris North and South

By the end of our time in Southern Africa, we thought we were safari gurus. I mean, what first-time Africa travelers go on over 40 game drives in one visit? From Chobe National Park and the Okavango Delta, to Kruger Park proper and the surrounding game reserves, we thought we knew the drill. Then, we went to Tanzania, and our whole concept of how a safari works went straight out the window. There are some big differences, and advantages and disadvantages to both. Here is a little comparison:

  • Lodge-centered vs. Operator-centered – This is the biggest single difference. Down South, your entire safari experience is organized by, and executed through the lodge or camp where you are staying. Your game drives happen early in the morning and late in the afternoon, with the hot hours of mid-day spent lounging around the lodge. Most of the time, you do loops around the vicinity of the lodge, so location is paramount. Generally, it is the lodge’s vehicles that are used for the game drives, and the lodge employs the guides and trackers. Up North, however, you’re constantly on the move, and the lodges and camps are simply a place to spend a night or two. The safari experience is organized and executed through a tour operator, who arranges your guide and decides what camps and lodges to stay in. Game drives may last all day, with a significant commute between parks being your down time.
  • Vehicle Style – Down South, most game drives cruise loops within a 20 mile radius of the lodge. Because you’re always on roads within the reserve or park, and because you want to have the most intimate animal encounters possible, safaris here use open-sided Land Cruisers. The only thing between you and Simba is a few feet of open air. Up North, you spend a lot more time in your safari vehicle. To hit all the parks along the Northern Safari Circuit (Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara, Tarangire), you’ve got to be on the move every couple days, and travel between parks can take a number of hours through urban and rural environments. For this reason, you can’t cruise around in the open-sided jeeps of the South, you need a Land Cruiser that is fully enclosed. But to get good photos of the animals, you also need a window-less environment. The solution – pop-top Land Cruisers.

Pop-tops up north

Open sided down south

  • Fences – There is a lot of controversy about enclosing protected areas throughout Africa. Some argue it’s beneficial, and allows for better protection of the animals. Others think that animals should be free to roam as they always have, even if that means sometimes roaming into a village. Down South, just about ever protected area is fenced. Now, these fences might enclose parks the size of small US states, but if you walk far enough in any direction, you’ll hit an electrified fence. Up North, they don’t seem to believe in fences, and animals up there are constantly on the move. It’s actually the migratory patterns of the animals up North that prevent many lodge-centered operations from being sustainable – only certain times of year are animals abundant in their vicinity. To deal with this migratory challenge, they’ve developed my favorite safari accommodation – mobile camps: Temporary tented camps that pick up and move every couple months with the flow of the animals.

Mobile tented camps up north

  • Vehicle Concentration – Down South, all of the game reserves and parks have strict rules on the number of safari jeeps that can be viewing a particular animal or group of animals at once – generally no more than 3. This is easy to enforce, as all jeeps belong to lodges within the reserve, and all lodges must follow reserve rules (for their own benefit). Unfortunately, up North there is no limit to the number of jeeps at any particular sighting, so it’s not uncommon to see well over a dozen jeeps looking on a pride of lions.

Line of vehicles to see a leopard in Serengeti

  • Animals – Diversity and Quantity – How could I leave this for last? You can find the Big 5 both North and South, but each region also has its own set of unique fauna. The big difference, however, is that there seem to be a much higher density of animals up North. We went 10 days in Botswana before we saw a lion, and after 40 game drives down South, we were up to 12 or so. In Tanzania, we saw 44 lions over 5 days. Then there are the thousands upon thousands of wildebeest and zebras that make up the Great Migration. You can see all the cool animals in both places, you’ll just see more of them up North.

How many do you count in this photo?

So, after all that, which is better? Hard to say. The lodge-centered safaris, open vehicles, and low vehicle concentration all favor the South. But, the lack of fences and shear volume of animals make the North pretty special. Either way, you can’t go wrong.


WTF?!

There seems to be a rule in Africa that says, “If you go on safari, you must purchase and flaunt the largest camera and lens that you can possibly find.”  Apparently, we missed that memo.  Instead, we’re trying to rig our little point-and-shoot camera through a set of binoculars which, I’m happy to report, works quite well with a steady hand.  Amateurs…

Pros? I think not...

This guy needs a pillow to hold his up


Industry Bloggin’

In addition to having an incredible time on our Botswana safari, I was also blown away by the responsible tourism practices of our local hosts – Wilderness Safaris.   For my latest contribution to World Nomads’ Blog, I gave them some love.  Check out the original here, or copied below.

The Second Government of Botswana – Wilderness Safaris

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about how difficult it is to run a responsible safari camp in the remote Southern African bush, and the individual efforts of a few independent lodges.  Now, I want to show you how one large safari company is positively changing the landscape across the entire region through their model of “sustainable conservation through responsible tourism.”

Botswana is home to some of the best safari camps (and wildlife viewing) on the planet.  Famed for the Okavango Delta and the elephant-filled Chobe National Park, Botswana is a top destination on any safari-buff’s bucket list.  And no company knows more about running successful  camps in Botswana than Wilderness Safaris.  Started 25 years ago by a couple of rangers and a single Land Cruiser, Wilderness has grown to operate 60+ camps across southern Africa, with over 25 in Botswana alone.  The company’s active role in politics, conservation, tourism, and community development has earned them the nickname, the Second Government of Botswana.  The company’s commitment to sustainability has earned them the reputation of a world leader in responsible tourism.

“Wildness Safaris is first and foremost a conservation organization.  The reason we exist is to protect pristine wilderness areas and the biodiversity they support.”  Not too many for-profit companies have conservation as their core mandate.  Wilderness’ sustainability focus goes well beyond the environment – their commitment to the people and communities in their areas of operation has brought about unparalleled opportunity, education, skills, and jobs, with the vision of making “a difference in all people’s lives, by enabling them to find new paths, and leaving a legacy of conservation for our children.”

Children in the Wilderness

Ok, so we’ve established that the company is committed in their mission and vision.  But what are they actually doing on the ground in Botswana?  Too much to tell in this single post.  I’m going to completely ignore the operational sustainability aspect of their lodge and camp operation (responsible management of waste, energy, water, etc), as I covered some of those initiatives in my previous post.  Here, we’ll focus on the conservation and community initiatives of the company’s non-profit arm, the Wildlife Trust.

Wilderness Safaris Wildlife Trust currently supports 43 projects across 6 Southern African countries.  The projects fall into one of three project areas: Research and conservation, community empowerment and education, and anti-poaching and management.  A few project examples:

· Botswana Rhino Relocation and Reintroduction Project – Due to poaching, rhinos were all but extinct in Botswana until the Trust, in conjunction with Botswana’s Wildlife and National Parks Department, began an anti-poaching and relocation project to bring rhino numbers back up in the region.  In addition to relocating animals, researchers closely monitor the rhinos, their adaptation to the new environments, and their breeding patterns.  Similar reintroduction projects are also being carried out by the Trust in Zimbabwe and Malawi.

· Children in the Wilderness – Wilderness Safaris’ flagship community education program brings groups of rural kids from surrounding villages to Wilderness camps (which have been closed to the public) for a 5-night stay, where they participate in a life skills and environmental education program.  Topics include wildlife, conservation, health, HIV/AIDS awareness, nutrition, life skills, geology, and arts and crafts.  Through leadership development, Children in the Wilderness aims to facilitate sustainable conservation throughout the local communities.  Over 3000 children have participated to date.

· Victoria Falls Anti-Poaching Unit – This team of individuals has been fighting poachers in the Vic Falls region for over 10 years.  Still a rampant problem in the area, the crew fights back though removal of animal snares (devices used to catch animals), treatment of animals injured by snares, and through direct arrest of poachers (436 were apprehended in 2009 alone) within the region.

And there are some 40 other projects funded, monitored, or executed by the Wildlife Trust.  The scope of positive impact is astounding, and these efforts are funded almost entirely by Wilderness Safaris and their guests.

With over 2500 employees, over 2.8 million hectares of wilderness under their watch, over 40 Trust projects operating simultaneously, all while running over 60 safari camps and a bush airline, Wilderness Safaris’ infrastructure may just rival that of a small country.  It’s a good thing that this “country’s” people are putting conservation at the heart of their economy.


Southern Africa Wrap-up

We visited a total of 6 countries in Southern Africa – Zambia, Botswana, South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, and Mozambique – but some for only a matter of days, and some for only a matter of hours! That being said, we’ve decided to combine them all together for a regional wrap-up. Below, in no particular order, are our Top 10 Highlights, Bottom 5 Bummers, as well as Favorite Food/Drink and Animal Sightings (new category for Africa!) of our two months in Southern Africa. You can also check out our Best of Southern Africa photo album for some more visual highlights (and don’t forget the African Mega-Fauna album for our top animal sightings).

Top 10

  1. Mokoro Ride

    Victoria Falls – What can we say? They are one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World and they are some incredibly impressive falls.

  2. Remoteness of the Botswana bush – A safari in Botswana is a unique experience. You are hundreds of miles into the wilderness away from cities, towns, and other people. There are no power lines or fences or signs of civilization. The only way in and out is via bush plane. It’s just you and the animals in the bush.
  3. Small plane flights between safari lodges – Due to the remoteness of the safari camps in Botswana and seasonal weather conditions, several times our transport between camps was by small plane. One flight was a total of 8 minutes and Ted got to sit shotgun with the pilot.
  4. Mokoro ride – Our safari group in Botswana got treated to traditional Mokoro rides, which are similar to dug-out canoes. Powered only by a long pole, you are gliding just inches above the water and kinda feel like you’re flying.
  5. Family-filled January – How incredible is it that both sets of our parents came all the way across the ocean from the Northern United States to Southern Africa to visit us?!
  6. View from Table Mountain – Nothing quite like it and I think we appreciated it even more due to the energy we expended to get up there!
  7. Morning at Clifton Beaches – Just around the corner from Cape Town’s city center are the most beautiful, tucked-away beaches. We went with the Graces on a weekday and nearly had the place to ourselves.
  8. Cheetah!

    Animal Sighting Good Luck Charms – The Martens saw it all in the animal department – including the much talked about Big 5 (elephants, leopards, rhinos, buffalo and lions) plus cheetahs and lots of other good stuff in a matter of days. Ted and I had not seen a rhino or a cheetah before their visit and we’d been on nearly 30 game drives before they came.

  9. Bush to Beach to Bush – I wrote about this day in a previous post, and it was really quite awesome. Seeing big animals and swimming in the ocean makes for an incredible day.
  10. SCUBA Diving in Moz – We both love being underwater and I wish we got to do it more often. We were very impressed with the coral and the variety of fish in Mozambique.

Bottom 5

  1. Lame NYE – We’d love to have a memorable, exciting story to share about our New Year’s Eve on the trip, but low and behold, we were asleep before midnight.
  2. Theft – At the lodge we stayed at in Cape Town with my parents, we had an issue with some sticky-fingered housekeepers. Wily Ted was able to prove their misdeed. The manager was appalled and immediately and appropriately addressed the situation, including reimbursing us for the small amount taken.
  3. Bad Bus Ride

    Bus to Tofo BeachWe’re wimps. We didn’t take a whole lots of public transportation in Africa, and I’m using this fairly uncomfortable bus ride as justification of why we didn’t do so.

  4. Visa debaclesLet’s just say that in Johannesburg we went to the India Embassy three times (to get a visa), the Mozambique Embassy four times (to get a visa), and the U.S. Embassy once (to get more pages in my passport).
  5. Failing to visit NamibiaWhen we left the US for our trip, we were 100% positive we were going to Namibia. Ted has a travel industry friend and contact living there with his family and we were planning to pay them a visit. Sadly, it didn’t happen.

Favorite Meals and Treats

  1. Sundowners – The idea of having a cocktail while watching the sun go down is a good one. We enjoyed our sundowners on the Zambezi River in Zambia, in the Botswana bush, with city views in Cape Town, throughout the greater Kruger Park area, and the list goes on.
  2. Ostrich Fillet - Mmmmmmm

    Stuffed Crabs – Mmmm. We discovered these stuffed treats in Mozambique and ate them all week.

  3. Unique Game – Never before had we eaten ostrich or impala – and we quite liked it. Other game options included crocodile, kudu (a type of antelope), and warthog!
  4. Ocean Basket – OB is a South African chain restaurant that serves fresh seafood, fish and chips, and sushi. They are everywhere and we ate there many a time including with both sets of parents.
  5. NatHab Safari Meals – When we were on safari in Botswana, we ate entirely too much amazing food. How they got such fabulous fresh food out into the middle of the bush in order to feed us so well is beyond me.

Animal Sighting Highlights

  1. Wild Dog

    Wild Dog – Our one and only sighting of wild dogs was in Botswana. They are endangered and extremely rare to see. Even the guides were excited, that is how we knew we were lucky.

  2. Pursuit of first leopard – Francis, our guide in Botswana, is the man. With his animal tracking know-how, his persistence and determination, his off-road driving and a little bit of luck we spotted our first leopards – a momma and two older cubs. You wouldn’t believe the amount of vegetation we got to drive over just to find them.
  3. Baby animals – Due to the time of year we were visiting, we got the opportunity to see lots of mommas and their babies. There isn’t anything much cuter than baby lions, elephants, and impala.
  4. Elephants – Ted’s favorite animal to see. We saw lots.
  5. Giraffes – Sarah’s favorite. Oh, and to see a giraffe running is incredible – it appears to be happening in slow motion.
  6. Rhinos

    Game drive with Ocean – Ocean was one of our guides with Ted’s parents and he kept things interesting. Within a couple hours we saw 4 of the Big 5 (elephants, lions, leopards, buffalo and rhinos) and evaded an aggressively charging male elephant!

  7. First rhinoceros – Finally! After our Botswana safari and several days in the Kruger Park area we were beginning to think they didn’t exist. But they do!
  8. Cheetah with it’s kill – What an amazing site to come upon. We didn’t realize it had just hunted until the little impala almost got away and the cheetah had to finish it off.
  9. Surprise night-time leopard sighting – Last night in the Kruger Park area and our way back to the lodge we magically came upon a leopard.
  10. Lotsa fish – Between snorkeling with the Martens and SCUBA diving in Moz, we got to see some great underwater animals as well!

Don’t forget to check out the Best Of photo albums here and here.


Industry Bloggin’

Another African submission to World Nomads’ Responsible Travel Blog.  The topic this week surrounds eco-initiatives at safari bush camps.  If you’re interested, read on here, or below:

Eco-Successes in the African Bush

Running a safari camp can’t be easy.  In fact, it may be just about the most difficult hospitality gig on the planet.  In addition to all of the nuances of running any old high-quality hotel, you have to do it off-the-grid, in a very remote and hard-to-access location, within a wildlife reserve or park, with highly specialized on-site staff, while running a successful game-drive business that ensures guests see all of the Big 5 animals and more.

Big 5 sighting - Cape Buffalo

Balancing a sustainable tourism plan in this already difficult operating environment can be a tall order for any camp owner.  Some argue that there simply is not enough time (or money) to implement sustainability projects under such demanding circumstances.  Fortunately, many others have taken the opposite approach, believing that operating responsibly is a necessity for survival in the safari business.  After all, visits to the bush are all about viewing animals in their natural environment – shouldn’t a safari camp’s goal be to protect that very environment?

Thanks to the many challenges of running a safari operation, camp owners have been forced to develop some of the leading eco-innovation and efficiency techniques found in the tourism industry today.  Here are some projects that impressed me in the bush:

· Energy – Remote bush camps have two options when it comes to electricity – diesel generators or renewables.  Both systems are used to power battery units to provide power during off-peak times.  While most camps have historically used diesel fuel, those that have switched to renewables are reaping the benefits – reduced energy costs over time, no expensive diesel delivery costs, no noise pollution in the bush, no fuel-burning pollution in the bush, etc.  Solar is the new diesel, both through solar electricity and solar thermal devices.  Cutting edge camps have cut their operational diesel burn to nearly zero, using the old generators only for back-up during maintenance.

· Solid Waste – With no routine trash pick-up (some camps only have vehicle access for less than 3 months a year!), storing waste and recycling can prove to be a challenge.  Add to that the hungry and aggressive animals in these regions, and you have a waste management problem on your hands.  Composting has become a big trend, eliminating over 50% of solid waste volume. Compost pits, however, must be heavily secured and closely monitored – hyenas in particular love to dig their way in.  Recycling is separated at some of the more eco-focused camps, but most parts of Africa lack a location for processing these materials.  Material re-use is woven into every aspect of operations, from food-prep, to housekeeping, to camp decoration.  Leading camps have developed systems for eliminating packaging and excess materials prior to camp delivery, reducing the load on the back end.  Remaining waste is stored in secure cages until it can be transported back to town.

· Water Waste – Water is a precious commodity in the often arid desert environments. Watersheds are very susceptible to disease and pollution, so it is imperative that camp water is properly treated before being released back into the ground.  Old-school septic tanks are rapidly being replaced with cutting-edge bio-digester units that use natural bacteria instead of harsh chemicals to treat waste water.

Waste water treatment facility in the bush

Any single initiative listed here wouldn’t constitute a news-worthy sustainability effort.  However, when these projects are combined in a single property, and these properties are dotted across much of the African bush, we’ve got some pretty impressive and wide-spread eco-innovation.  To me, there’s something darn cool about a lodge that sources, uses, and disposes of all of its own energy, water, and most of its waste in a responsible manner.  Regardless of whether the motivation is out of operational necessity or environmental consciousness, I call these off-the-grid camps an eco-success.


Industry Bloggin’

My latest post for World Nomad’s Responsible Travel Blog, this time about luxury “bubble” tourism to Africa.  Check it out here, or have a read below:

African Access – Too Limited to the Rich and Famous?

Botswana is an Africa success story in many respects.  In a continent littered with political turmoil, corruption, famine, and disease, Botswana has emerged as a diamond in the ruff.  In fact, it is diamonds that have brought stability, infrastructure, government services, and capital to the country’s growing economy.  Rich diamond deposits were discovered only a few years after the country earned independence in 1966, and revenue earned from their extraction has funded near-first-world healthcare, roads, schools, and social services.  But the diamonds can only last so long, and with less than 3 decades of reserves left in the mines, Botswana is working hard to diversify it’s economy.

After diamonds, tourism is Botswana’s ticket to prolonged success, and the country has taken a very proactive approach in developing a specific type of tourism – Conservation-focused, high-revenue, low-volume travel.  Ok, that’s industry speak, but essentially what the country is trying to promote is luxury travel to the bush to the select few that can afford it.  If promoted well and monitored closely, this type of tourism could soon overcome diamonds as the #1 industry in Botswana, and hopefully ensure ongoing success for the country’s economy and citizens.

Mokoro Ride

While the conservation-focused luxury travel model certainly has its advantages, it also brings up an important debate – should access to the world’s most amazing places be limited only to those with deep pockets?  On one hand, this type of travel has its benefits for the environment and the economy.  On the other hand, restricting access only to those with extensive financial resources prohibits most of the local population from experiencing their own back yard.  Let’s look at a few of the pros and cons of Botswana’s tourism strategy.

Luxury Tented Camp

Pros

· Controlling environmental impacts – focusing on low-volume visitation means fewer negative environmental impacts on the sensitive African bush and wildlife (fewer people, fewer jeeps, less water, less fuel, less waste, etc)

· Revenue for conservation – High taxes, fees, and levies are charged from luxury travelers, which are put towards further conservation efforts

· Super Eco - luxury travel providers have the financial means to invest in cutting-edge eco and sustainable tourism projects.  Some of the world’s leading eco-lodges can be found in the bush

· Efficient conservation – With only a handful of operators, less money is spent on monitoring and oversight, directing more money towards other important conservation initiatives

Cons

· No access for the masses – Nature is meant to be shared by all, and everyone should have the opportunity to experience the African bush.  First and foremost, the people of Botswana should have reasonably-priced access to their own natural wonders

· Conservation opportunities lost – It is only after you have experienced a place, that you can become a steward of that environment.  If locals don’t have the opportunity to enjoy the bush, how can they be expected to fight for its protection?

· Fewer jobs – low-volume tourism means fewer employment opportunities for the people living near the parks and reserves

What do you think? Should governments restrict access to help curb environmental impacts?  Or should conservation sacrifices be made in the name of making nature accessible to all?  In Botswana’s case, it’s a complicated issue with many additional factors to consider.  Whether you agree with the country’s approach or not, one thing is for sure – Botswana’s bush parks and wildlife are worth a visit…if you can afford it.


Safari Fun Facts

Everyone knows that a group of lions is called a pride and a group of wolves is called a pack.  But did you know that…

  • A group of zebra is called a dazzle
  • A group of warthogs is called a sounder
  • A group of giraffes standing still is called a tower but a group of giraffes in motion is called a jenny
  • And my personal favorite – a group of mongoose is called is a business

Hilarious


Picture of the Week

After all this talk about safaris, it’s about time we share some animal photos.  For a detailed look at all of our favorites, check out our African Mega-Fauna photo album.  A few highlights are below.

African Wild Dog

Leopard

Elephant

Cape Buffalo

Male Lion

Cheetah

Rhino


Christmas in the Bush

We had the opportunity to spend the holidays in the Botswana bush this year.  Not surprisingly, we were reminded that what makes the holidays the holidays are the traditions and build-up associated with the big day, as well as the people you spend it with.  To us it didn’t feel much like Christmas as we were in Christmas carole withdrawal, we didn’t step foot in a mall, the weather was hot and dry and our families and friends were thousands of miles away.

However, our hosts at Savuti Camp in Botswana did a helluva job of celebrating Christmas and we were thankful to spending both Christmas Eve and Christmas with such entertaining people.

Christmas Party!

Our Christmas Party Hosts

For Christmas Eve, all the guests and all the staff dined together in the outdoor gathering area – the boma.  It was fun to sit outside under the stars and meet folks from all other the world.  The camps are so remote that staff work for 3 months straight and then have one month off so even though some were in their home country, they too were hundreds of miles away from family.  However unlike at home, we learned that moments before we arrived for dinner the staff had had to shew away a hyena that had helped himself to the small candies on the table!

On Christmas we kicked off the day with an early morning game drive.  Normally Christmas morning is spent nursing a mild hangover and opening our stockings, but this year we were hanging with elephants and giraffes and ostriches.  The group devised an animal-focused version of 12 Days of Christmas, based on our sightings that day.

Christmas Elephants

Christmas dinner was delicious with many of the fixins’ we get at home – turkey, mashed potatoes, veggies, rolls.  Oh, and champagne – lots of it.  The Savuti staff had a little Christmas tree (more like a dead branch) that they had decorated with lights.  One of our tour group members had given us all flashing necklaces (thanks Carolyn!) and we were spoiled with little wrapped presents both in our room as well as on the table at dinner.

Christmas on safari!

Though absolutely nothing like Christmas as we know it, we had an absolutely wonderful couple of days and we are sure to remember Christmas 2010 for the rest of our lives.


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