DE
20-35 years of age
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by mrdiggler
go and have a half-day excursion (hunting, "smoking") to the Hadzabe people!!
NZ
50-65 years of age
Review about Okavango Delta by Bruceontour
A place where one has to go as we were on a very small part of this huge expanse of inland water. With the previous heavy rain, the whole water level was high resulting in animals being displaced.
NZ
50-65 years of age
Review about Chobe National Park by Bruceontour
Just our luck that the setting sun was in the wrong angle ie animals between us and the sun and therefore were backlit. Despite this with more time we would have been rewarded like the other travellers we had met on route including some of our own group who had separated from us the previous day to start another tour and what they saw.
NZ
50-65 years of age
Being "poled along" like a gondola, the thousands of stars & evening constant animal noises (frogs).
After a month travelling overland with Acacia Africa from Nairobi on route to Capetown, we hit Botswana. I was expecting more animals as the travellers we met heading north who had just left here had reported plenty to see. But alas not for us. But this is Africa (TIA). It is not a zoo as we humans are privileged to be in the animals natural habit. While a disappointment, I will remember Botswana for:
- lying in and being poled along in a mokoro, a dug out canoe. Listening to the bird and insect life with the reeds being brushed aside. Thank goodness we had a modern fiberglass mokoro as the wooden ones made out of single sausage tree that takes 80 years to grow, but only last 5 - 6 years leak! We had to take everything in and then take out again everything including all of our rubbish. The sky was blue, few clouds and the sun was rising. It was a simply a magic feeling moving along at a gentle pace. So different to the truck travel.
- On the bush walks saw more homo sapiens from other overland groups moving across the open plain than the few animals - zebras, buffaloes plus bird life.
- The evening will be remembered for the brilliant display of stars with a little light spillage plus hearing the hundreds of frogs croaking away ...
- To cap off our visit, the flight over just a small part of the 16,000 sq km Okavango Delta where the 360 degree vista from above rewarded me with my pictures of "textures and colours". We saw elephants and wildebeests from above. It was well worth the US$60 cost. To cap it off, as we left on the last flight, it was sunset as we headed back to Maun airport.
So ... yes, I was a bit disappointed with both Chobe National Park and Okavango Delta re seeing animals living in their natural environment, but I still have many wonderful memories to take away with me: being "poled along" like a gondola - the thousands of stars and evening animal noises.
Read and see my Botswana photoblog at:
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bruceontour/2/1268479817/tpod.html
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bruceontour/2/1268480129/tpod.html
NL
35-50 years of age
Review about Ngorongoro Crater by Schaapmans
You see a lot of wildlife. And a lot of tourists. Coming down into the crater is of great beauty. Awesome scenery. The animals are almost half tame. In Selous you can't approach a wildebeest closer than 50 or 100 m. Here it sits still on the road as you drive by. Huge agglomerations of wildlife and some pieces of dusty empty plains with just some animals. It's good to get your close up photos. Not to see rare animals. Some birds to see, not too spectacular - except for lunch steeling black kites. Expect to see at least 20+ 4x4 at any time. Everything worth looking at has a group of vehicles around it.
50-65 years of age
Review about Ithala Game Reserve by Ron Moon
Not an abundance of wildlife and its too small for anything long term
50-65 years of age
Review about Pilanesberg Game Reserve by Ron Moon
We weren't impressed by the variety of the wildlife or the number of animals and any sort of bush vibe from the place was lacking.
50-65 years of age
Review about Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park by Ron Moon
Didn't see much wildlife on the other side of the border.
US
65+ years of age
Review about Zimbabwe by oceansteward
We would have rated Zimbabwe higher if we hadn't just come from a 5 star experience at three separate camps in Botswana. Also we thought Victoria Falls was overrated. We scheduled two days there - one would have been enough. Flying over the falls on our way back to Victoria Falls airport from Mana Pools was breathtaking - much better than seeing the Falls on the ground.
35-50 years of age
Review about Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park by tidingstendai
Zambia has long being plagued by poaching in the past. With investment into these facilities it will do great.