S A F A R I D R I V E Driving conditions TARMAC & DEEPSAND Campsite facilities BASIC Lodges & hotels EXCELLENT Route finding CAN BE CHALLENGING We recommend a Safari Drive journey in Botswana if you have some experience in 4x4 off road driving (not necessarily in Africa) and are happy in remote areas where game roams freely. The driving conditions can be tough as the roads are often deep sand or mud. The campsites are generally public so there may be other campers around and most have basic facilities of showers (often cold) and flush loos. When you drive through National Parks the game is everywhere and has “right of way”. You should never rely on finding shops or fuel outside the main towns. SELF DRIVE CONDITIONS – BOTSWANA B O T S W A N A B O T S W A N A 21

Botswana overview & wildlife notes Geography: Botswana is about the same size as France and is essentially a sand filled basin, created when the huge inland sea, which once covered this part of Africa, receded. Key attractions: The Kalahari Desert (meaning ‘the great thirst’) covers the entire central and south western regions. However, its name is misleading because the average rainfall is too high for it to be a true desert. Its rolling sand dunes are covered by scrub, grassy plains and savannah woodland, which teems with plains game from January to June including a wealth of cheetah. The Makgadikgadi Salt Pans are the lowest lying areas of Botswana and consist of two large pans, Sow and Ntwetw, and a number of smaller ones that together are about the size of Wales. After substantial rains the pans partially fill with water and attract a wealth of migrant species, such as flamingo, zebra and wildebeest. The Okavango Delta lies in the north-west of Botswana, one of the largest inland deltas in the world. It is characterised by an incredible diversity of flora and fauna and an arid climate. It forms 9,000 miles2 of floodplains, islands and lagoons providing food and water for scores of animals including buffalo, elephant and the rare sitatunga. Chobe National Park is in the far north-eastern corner of Botswana and being well watered by the Chobe River, contains Botswana’s densest and most varied game populations. There are over 100,000 elephants in this area. Savuti lies in the southern part and is renowned for its hyena and lion populations, herds of buffalo, wildebeest and zebra. Population: 1.6 million people, of whom 80% live in the fertile eastern regions. When to go: All year round – but the dry season is April to November. The wet season (predominantly February and March) is a haven for all types of migrant birds and wonderful butterflies and flowers. 22