I was so close to Botswana in Livingstone that I thought I would blow $157 and take a trip there. It was a river safari in the morning and a game drive in the afternoon.
Kalahari Tours is quite good. The river safari took in an island in the Chobe river where there were some interesting birds. After a while I got sick of looking at birds (sorry Dad!) and was quite pleased when we headed downstream to were the big game were.
We saw our first elephants and we all got excited and then we saw more and then more and then a lot more until I for one, was fed up of elephants. The whole flat plain in front of us was filled with herds of elephant.
And everywhere I turned the huge beast were. At once stage on the game drive an elephant came out of he bushes and headed for me in the open-sided jeep. I had to scuttle sideways into the middle seat before it could get me. The driver revved his engine and that seemed to scare it off. I have never been very comfortable being that close to a dangerous wild animal.
We did see a few other species including buffalo, impala, warthog, giraffe, monkeys, crocodiles and lots of hippos mostly in the water.
As a day trip it was good. My expectations were low and so I was not disappointed at not seeing any big-ticket animals like cats. You get what you pay for and cats cost much more than $157.
Botswana is a great place to view game especially in the Okavango Delta but sadly on this trip I didn’t have the energy or money to get down to Maun where you enter the park. However for a quick look at the country and a glimpse of the wildlife, a day trip is a good option.