35-50 years of age
A beautiful country being slowly crushed by one man's intransigence
While I wasn't in Zim for wildlife, what we saw was fantastic. The weather was perfect, the scenery stunning. As you would expect the only issues were those which could be traced from the economic situation.
65+ years of age
Review about Spioenkop Game Reserve by John A Forbes
Not the best for game viewing by rhino may be seen. It surrounds the Spionkop Dam and accommodation is/was old construction contractor housing. It is overlooked by the Spioenkop mountain (Spy hill/mountian) where the British suffered major casualties during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902. This is well worth a visit and where the old trenches may still be seen were the bodies lay deep.
35-50 years of age
Review about Khutse Game Reserve by JacoBrits
Limited variety of game and bird species. Habitat is not very diverse. Very rustic camping sites.
35-50 years of age
Review about Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park by JacoBrits
Excellent variety of game and bird species. Habitat is not very diverse. Very rustic camping sites.
35-50 years of age
Review about Chobe National Park by JacoBrits
Excellent variety of game and bird species. Habitat is not very diverse. Very rustic camping sites.
35-50 years of age
Review about Central Kalahari Game Reserve by JacoBrits
Limited variety of game and bird species. Habitat is not very diverse. Very rustic camping sites.
35-50 years of age
Into the Water
Our Safari was a self-drive expedition covering a total distance of 3200km. It commenced in Johannesburg, South Africa taking us past Modimolle, Vaalwater, Lephalale, Mahalapye, Palapye, Serowe, Orapa, Maun, Moremi, Savuti, Kasane, Victoria Falls, Nata, Francistown, Selebi-Phikwe, Zanzibar, Tolwe, Baltimore, Marken, Vaalwater, Modimole and back to Johannesburg.
Our approach to Moremi started in Maun which is a reasonably sized town with most of the amenities you could need. There are a number of supermarkets, restaurants, airport, etc. Moremi do not have any such facilities so one must stock up in Maun.
Making a late start from our accommodation in Maun we headed north to Moremi, Xakanaxa where we would be camping for two nights. The drive to the park, approximately 100km, was easy going on tar at first and then good gravel road for the last 45km to South gate.
Botswana citizens are generally very friendly and help full and we experienced this throughout our visit in the park and country. As a result check in procedures was uneventful, all arrangements had been completed in advance and park entrance fees paid in Maun (no payments are accepted at the gate).
From South gate, we headed north to Xakanaxa. The road heading directly to Xakanaxa was in a reasonable condition and we covered the 42km in about 1.5 hours which left us sufficient time for an afternoon nap before taking a late afternoon game drive.
While the game was more sparse than expected we were very fortunate with a sighting of a large leopard. We made most of the excellent bird watching opportunities and notched up a number of species.
The campsites were excellently placed for privacy and ablution facilities of good standard comparable to national parks in South Africa.
On the second day we took an early morning drive out to 3rd Bridge. Due to the high water levels the route along the water’s edge was closed but an alternative dry route was available. We were able to cross both 4th and 3rd bridge with some good sightings of antelope and bird species.
The afternoon we took a boat trip on the Okavango Delta. Departing at 15:00 we had excellent bird sightings. Game viewing was less successful due to the game being more widely dispersed as a result of the high water levels. The boat trip was however definitely worth the money, one of those must do things when visiting Moremi.
Victoria Falls
We spent two days in Victoria Falls during a two week safari (going throuhg national parks in Botswana). Of course there we visited beautiful and waterfalls. There was ample possibilities for "entertainment" as well: aerial view of the waterfalls by helicopter or micro-light, bungee jumping, elephant rides and walking with lion cubs. Other attractions are boat cruises on the Zambezi river or barbecue dinners in the evening. Be aware: for all of this you pay high dollars (USD of course).
In a high contrast to this is the situation of the citizens: extreme poverty, extreme inflation, unemployment and hunger crisis.
My travel experience is from 2006, since then the situation got even worse regarding economics and politics. Considering this i would not recommend to travel to Simbabwe.
IT
35-50 years of age
Review about Waterberg Plateau Park by AlmostPerfect
The other parks offer more wildlife experiences than the Waterburg Plateau
IT
35-50 years of age
Review about Damaraland by AlmostPerfect
Damaraland is rather barren and dusty, the wildlife are the illusive Desert Elephant (which we did not see) however, we were the only people staying at our campsite so had all the facilities to ourselves.