AAC Journey Specialist Angie Voigt recently visited Botswana on safari. She joins us on the blog today to share highlights from her trip. Welcome, Angie!
Botswana’s night sky is something out of a picture book. I have never seen anything like it and ‘breathtaking’ falls short of encapsulating the feeling of looking up and all around to be met by a canopy of countless stars. During our stay at San Camp in the Makgadikgadi Pans we were surprised with sundowners on the vast salt pans which are among the largest in the world. As the sun set, our guide Villae gathered us around and gave us an epic natural history lesson on the movement of the tectonic plates and the significance of the Makgadikadi Pans. As night fell, the vehicle lights and surrounding lanterns were turned off and the night sky turned on!
After our time at San Camp, the night sky again illuminated our stay during our overnight at Skybeds. This was a truly unique way to experience the bush. Located deep within the Khwai Private Reserve, we spent a night on a three-story, open-air raised platform overlooking a popular waterhole below and endless sky above. It was so special to watch the night sky change and move throughout the evening. No walls, no boundaries.
The Okavango Delta is a pristine natural wonderland. Made of up of an incredible maze of waterways, channels, lagoons and islands, the area is home to a huge number of mammals and birds. The Delta is fed by the Okavango River and seasonally ‘floods’ to create the huge, fan-shaped waterways. No trip to the Delta is complete without a safari where you silently glide on the water through the reeds in a dugout canoe, called a mokoro. The silence is deafening, and you feel engulfed by the great African wilderness. Our guide told us childhood stories from his village, pointed out fascinating frogs the size of a fingernail and we concluded the gentle adventure with a toast against a magnificent sunset.
The Khwai Community Area is the heart of the Okavango Delta, a protected area that is known as one of the richest and most diverse ecosystems on the African continent. As a Journey Specialist I know that time spent in nature seeking wildlife can often be about being at the right place at the right time. Part of our jobs as safari experts is ensuring we get our guests to the right place at the most promising time. However, another important factor is ensuring you have the best guide, who will use their incredible skills to get you to the precise right place and at precisely the right time through their understanding of the local conditions and the nuances of animal behavior. I was blown away during my stay in Khwai by my guide’s deep knowledge of leopard movements, territories and dynamics. Tony’s expertise found us not one, not two, not three but four separate leopard sightings in a single day!
Selecting a lodge or camp for a safari is vastly different than selecting a hotel for any other holiday destination. The selection extends beyond the property aesthetics and amenities. It is about the ambience, the feeling, the staff and the location. So much thought goes into our accommodation recommendations and ultimately this is an investment for our guests. So why not sit back and spend time enjoying it!
One of the highlights of my trip (which I highly recommend for all my guests) was to skip a game drive, take a deep breath and soak up the lodge surroundings at the stunning Tuludi Lodge. The simplicity of a slow start to the morning, a delicious un-rushed breakfast with nowhere to be and actually making use of the outdoor bathtub I have so often eyed on previous trips but never had an opportunity to enjoy was wonderful!
As a novice horse rider, I was taken aback by how much I loved the horse-riding experience in Makgadikgadi Pans. The sense of freedom and tranquility brings you so close to and in tune with nature. We set out as the sun rose and my trusty steed Charm guided me through herds of zebra and wildebeest, and across the picturesque pans. I took in Charm’s quiet and paced steps, the sights and sounds, devoid of the purring of a safari vehicle. The experience can be catered to all riding levels and you can enjoy a two-hour excursion, or for the more adventurous and keen riders, a three-day adventure! Based at Jack’s Camp, San Camp or Camp Kalahari you will set out daily and ride to and from various activity start points – including a visit with habituated meerkats, quad biking (ATV) across the salt pans and meeting with the Zu/’hoasi Bushmen.
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Photos courtesy AAC Journey Specialist Angie Voigt