{"id":10033,"date":"2025-06-27T17:52:43","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T17:52:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/traveltales.ahot.online\/?p=10033"},"modified":"2025-07-25T18:50:59","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T18:50:59","slug":"naf-botswana-en","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/traveltales.ahot.online\/index.php\/2025\/06\/27\/naf-botswana-en\/","title":{"rendered":"Botswana"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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20.6. \u2013 24.6.2025<\/p>

After breakfast, we climbed back into our truck and set off towards the Botswana border. The road wound its way through a nature reserve, so we were able to spot some animals as we drove towards the border. As soon as we left the park gates, we saw eight giraffes, antelopes, and wild boars.<\/p>

We arrived at the Namibian border station after only a short drive. This time, the border formalities on both the Namibian and Botswana sides were completed very quickly. In addition to our passports, we were asked to show the children’s birth certificates, but otherwise nothing special happened. There was no queue at all.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Farewell to Namibia<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Welcome to Botswana<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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As soon as we crossed the border, we noticed that we had entered a new country. We hadn’t seen any donkeys on the Namibian side, but now there were loads of them running around everywhere. In addition, there were far fewer settlements than on the Namibian side. The people in Botswana must be concentrated in a few larger cities, because Namibia and Botswana have almost the same population. In addition to donkeys, there were also significantly more cows and goats grazing freely than in Namibia. The biggest difference, however, was the quality of the roads. The asphalt roads had an astonishing number of large potholes, which Taku had to dodge constantly while driving. As a result, our truck swayed from side to side along the road. Someone might have thought that our driver was drunk, but Taku drove onward with sheer determination.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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In some places, the roads would have needed a little resurfacing.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u201cThe infrastructure is not 100%\u201d was Stanley's assessment of Botswana.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Local barber<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Taku got into trouble with the police in Botswana. He paid them something. The story doesn't say whether it was a fine.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Once we had made it through the worst of the bumpy road, we stopped at the side of the road for a quick lunch while cows watched our activities from ten meters away. However, they had enough hay to eat, so they let us eat our lunch in peace. After that, we continued our journey for another couple of hours until we finally arrived in the town of Maun, where we stayed for the night after an eight hour drive. As it was a town with a population of over 50,000, we all stayed in a hotel on the outskirts of the town center. We enjoyed dinner at the hotel restaurant’s buffet, after which we had to quickly pack our smaller overnight bags for a two-night trip to the Okavango Delta.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Lunch under the watchful eyes of cows.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Buffet dinner in Maun<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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When Taku informed us at dinner about the upcoming excursion to the river delta, Ronja went ballistic. She realized that the travelers staying in tents did not have their own toilets in the tents provided by the bush camp. Our travel companions who normally stay in rooms had toilets and showers in their own tents. \u201cWhat if I need to go to the toilet and I’m not allowed to move around alone at night?\u201d asked the young lady, very distressed. When Taku promised to sort something out and Jaana agreed to be Ronja’s tentmate for the next couple of nights, the young lady calmed down and dried her tears. This is certainly an educational trip in many ways.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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There was no rush at Maun International Airport in the morning.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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In the morning, we woke up early again for a scenic flight over the delta. The plan was to fly for 45 minutes over the Okavango Delta, admiring the scenery and possibly even seeing some animals. We arrived at the airport well ahead of time at 7:00 a.m., but it turned out that Taku had accidentally booked us on the wrong day. The flight he had booked was actually the day before. In Europe, we would certainly have been sent back to the hotel, as this was our mistake and not the airline’s. In Africa, however, things work a little differently. Taku negotiated with the clerk for a moment, and the new dates were written on the tickets in pencil. After that, we had to wait for the pilots to be called in to take us over the river delta. After waiting for about an hour, all 13 of us who had booked the flight were finally able to board the planes.<\/p>

From the plane, the vastness of the river delta really opened up. We flew over the delta for 45 minutes, and it seemed like it would never end. We were perhaps a little surprised at how few animals we could see from the plane, but the largest ones, such as elephants and giraffes, were easy to spot. However, it wasn’t worth trying to photograph the animals from the air.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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The captain getting ready for takeoff.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The plane could seat 12 people, but there were only seven of us on board.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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The river delta is a vast area.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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When we returned to the airport, we jumped into the truck and hurried to pay for our flights at the Mack Air office. For some strange reason, this company operates on a \u201ccash only\u201d basis, so we first had to stop at an ATM to withdraw local currency. We could have paid with dollars, but not everyone had enough dollars with them. We tried two different ATMs to withdraw money, but both were out of cash. \u201cThis is Africa, TIA,\u201d we said, and decided to return to the hotel for a late breakfast and then go back to hunt for an ATM where we could get some local cash. Since we were already almost two hours behind schedule, breakfast was rather quick, but we still managed to get everyone on the truck in time.<\/p>

At a local shopping center, we finally found an ATM where everyone was able to withdraw money. Now no one was short of cash anymore! Next, we made a quick stop at the Mack Air office, after which we transferred to four-wheel drive vehicles that took us to the Okavango Delta for two nights. We could only pack clothes for two days, as there was no luggage space in the cars and we had to keep our backpacks in the footwell in front of the seats.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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We spent the next couple of days driving around in this four-wheel drive.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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