
WORDS : TSHEGOFATSO PHAKETSANE
PICTURE: NICK TSHEKO
Before picturing yourself in a remote island, swinging in a hammock bed between the Oases waiting for that picturesque sunset serenity and buried within your thoughts, have you travelled at least once within Botswana’s borders to explore what our beautiful country has to offer before jumping ship to other nations?. Travelling to unversed region, not to the farms, Masimo or visiting relatives residing in a faraway town/place? If all your travelling experience only amounts to already stated scenarios, then despondently we can conclude you need more exposure beyond your comfort zone. The experience can be felt without crippling one’s bank account.
The best travel experience is most likely to be when prior planning and saving is done ahead of the proposed travel date was done. Once one has calculated the estimated budget which includes accommodation, food, transport, shopping/ gifts), one can start saving a portion of their income towards achieving the set target. One can ask, what if I do not earn an income, but I want to travel? It can also be done, sometimes you do not necessarily have to travel far, let alone leave your hometown to go far places. For decades millions of thrill-seekers have travelled from distant lands of Europe and America, spending thousands, just to bear witness to the bespoke beauty of our magnificent Botswana, a beauty which most Batswana seldom get to experience and appreciate, something which we are determined to change.

There are some local attractions that offer free entrance, free educational tours of their facilities, such places being a local graft shop/museum, game viewing at no costs, a cultural village for heritage preservation and camping. Then, if one’s wallets are deep enough nothing will stop a willing adventurer to travel for 1000+ kilometres to the upper Northwest of Botswana to appreciate the feel and breath of the Chobe River, occasionally bumping into a wild boar or an elephant on your way to the mall or camp/lodging area. The Western glee of the Kgalagadi is also available with its immaculate sunsets, sand dunes accentuating the horizon to give you a spectacular sensation of the pristine nature of the Kgalagadi desert. The list is inexhaustible and if you are one of the many people who only think of travelling but never commit to a single trip, you will soon realise money isn’t the only barrier, but your thinking is, as the old saying goes, where there’s a will there’s away. Next time, think Botswana and take off.