WHICH PLACES DID YOU VISIT (PLACE AND DISTRICT) IN THE PAST 2 MONTHS?
I visited the Ngamiland district, in particular, I went to Maun, Chanoga, as well as into the mighty and ever-elusive Okavango Delta.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THAT PARTICULAR PLACE?
My choice was influenced by the #RediscoverBotswana Expedition, by avid travellers; Sonny Serite and Thalefang Charles. They went on a 27 day 8000km road trip around the country in July/ August, in an effort to ignite local travel amongst Batswana. Their stories about the Okavango Delta depicted it as this amazing and most surreal place with the most beautiful sunsets. So I instantly wanted to experience that for myself, hence when an opportunity for travel availed itself, I instantly picked visiting the Delta without even thinking twice. For me, it was about seeing for myself two things: the most beautiful sunset and seeing a leopard for the first time in my life. I must say, the place lived up to all my expectations and more; the beauty, the serenity, just everything.
WAS IT A SOLO OR GROUP TRAVEL?
It was just a trip for two; taking a breather from the city life.
SEASON OF YOUR VISIT (WHEN)?
We visited at the start of spring, the beginning of October to be precise. But I had also travelled to Maun in winter (July), to experience first-hand, “go tshela ga noka”. There was too much hype during that time about Thamalakane River having water again after a long while, and excitement about “leleme la metsi” (which Charles wrote about, extensively in one of the Mmegi articles), so I had particularly gone there in July just for that as well as on Jiko Airport Café business matters, which is a restaurant that I’m currently working for as its Marketing Executive.
WHO WAS YOUR TRAVEL GUIDE & ACCOMMODATION PROVIDER?
Our safari operator was Desert and Delta Safaris. We stayed at one of their Okavango delta camps called Camp Xakanaxa, which is located in the heart of Moremi Game Reserve. I must say, it’s the most beautiful camp I have ever seen.
WHAT TYPE OF ACTIVITIES DID YOU DO DURING YOUR EXCURSION?
Camp Xakanaxa lies on the banks of the Khwai River, on the Xakanaxa lagoon and therefore offers an amazing boat cruise activity. The other activities that we did were game drives and bird watching.
THE UNEXPECTED THAT HAPPENED (GOOD/BAD)?
For me, the unexpected (in a very good way) was seeing a Leopard on a hunt and actually getting goosebumps from that. In fact, I would say seeing leopards was the highlight of my Okavango Delta trip. The unexpected, that I hoped to happen. Another unexpected event was sighting an elephant right in the middle of the river during our boat cruise. Being that close to it in the water, was the scariest and yet exciting and fulfilling experience.
WHAT WAS THE MOST INTERESTING ACTIVITY DURING TRAVEL?
It’s very difficult to pick any activity in particular because everything in its own way was interesting and amazing. But watching the sunset in the pristine waters of the delta was the most exhilarating and interesting activity for me. I recommend it to everyone, that in their lifetime, they should make it a point to experience a sunset in the Delta.
WHAT WAS THE WEIRDEST THING THAT YOU EXPERIENCED?
The weirdest experience was a herd of buffalo outside our room the entire night. We didn’t even know how we were going to leave our room in the morning, but luckily our Guide came to chase them away at first light. And on the following night, it was no longer the buffalos, but the resident hippo called ‘Oscar’. Lol. That was quite something.
WHICH LOCAL PLACE ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO VISIT?
I am looking forward to visiting Makgadikgadi salt pans and Tuli Block. Those are some of the areas that have been out of reach and elusive to most of us for a long time. So I’m looking forward to that. I am also looking forward to visiting CKGR and just getting to interact with the first people, the San tribe and getting to learn about their way of life. I’m excited even, at the thought of that interaction.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO AN ORDINARY MOTSWANA REGARDING TRAVELLING?
The little advice I would give to my fellow Motswana is that Compatriot, the time to see your amazing and beautiful country is now, use it. Also, I would say to them, whether you need a moment to disconnect and just enjoy a beautiful sunset, or you need a vibrant and exciting environment, we have it all in our country, all it takes is a little travel to rediscover your roots. Lastly, Batswana need to know that local travel is not as expensive as they have always thought it is, there are a lot of available options to cheap travel that they can explore.