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So I've been looking into traveling to Botswana for quite some time and have asked periodically on this site. I have found two tours there (I can share the itineraries if anyone wants to see those) however, I have had some people say I should go on my own. Have any of you done a tour of Botswana solo? Did you book tours from your hotel? Did you do a self drive? (That idea I'm not too crazy about). Did you book several short term tours? Did you have your home base in Maun or Kasane? Which national parks and reserves are not to be missed? I know, lots of questions.
We booked a couple tours to Botswana from Livingstone Zambia. It's literally a barge across the river to get to Chobe Natl Park, and the accommodations in Zambia cost a fraction of the lodges in Botswana. Bonus = Livingstone has a great natl park where can do walking rhino tours, and it's just a $10 taxi to visit Victoria Falls.
Spend a day or two talking to other travelers about their tours. It'll free up some days to talk to real people not connected to tourism, too.
We did it self-drive in Tanzania/ Be free to have your own time to explore your interests.
My experience is that all package tours are regimented and spend too much time in a few most popular attractions.
Do you mean talking to people at a hotel in Botswana? I'm not sure I understand the first sentence. The last sentence seems to be a recurring theme I've heard from people.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lieqiang
We booked a couple tours to Botswana from Livingstone Zambia. It's literally a barge across the river to get to Chobe Natl Park, and the accommodations in Zambia cost a fraction of the lodges in Botswana. Bonus = Livingstone has a great natl park where can do walking rhino tours, and it's just a $10 taxi to visit Victoria Falls.
Which company in Zambia did you use? I'm looking at tours that go to the Zimbabwe side of Victoria Falls. Would I likely be able to book tours from there as well?
Do you mean talking to people at a hotel in Botswana? I'm not sure I understand the first sentence. The last sentence seems to be a recurring theme I've heard from people.
Which company in Zambia did you use? I'm looking at tours that go to the Zimbabwe side of Victoria Falls. Would I likely be able to book tours from there as well?
Sorry, I meant just go to one of the tour areas, talk to other tourists about their experiences and recommendations, then decide which tour to book. You don'y need to book days or weeks in advance, they will have touts in the streets. If you want to pay a little more you can even have a tailored tour just for a small party. Pay for fewer days, but see more of what interests you and less of the padding. Ignore "village life" features which are heavily staged. See more of Botswana life just walking the streets.
Sorry, I meant just go to one of the tour areas, talk to other tourists about their experiences and recommendations, then decide which tour to book. You don'y need to book days or weeks in advance, they will have touts in the streets. If you want to pay a little more you can even have a tailored tour just for a small party. Pay for fewer days, but see more of what interests you and less of the padding. Ignore "village life" features which are heavily staged. See more of Botswana life just walking the streets.
Did you do this in Maun? Are there any groups you can recommend? How do you tell the good ones from the sketchy ones?
So I've been looking into traveling to Botswana for quite some time and have asked periodically on this site. I have found two tours there (I can share the itineraries if anyone wants to see those) however, I have had some people say I should go on my own. Have any of you done a tour of Botswana solo? Did you book tours from your hotel? Did you do a self drive? (That idea I'm not too crazy about). Did you book several short term tours? Did you have your home base in Maun or Kasane? Which national parks and reserves are not to be missed? I know, lots of questions.
I just did a 3-week self-drive safari of Namibia and Botswana. It was a ton of fun and easier than I thought. I was bit intimidated when I started as I am 67, going solo, and the roads in the bush are primitive and you are a loooong way from any help. But it all worked out.
I rented a 4x4 camper-truck and mostly camped. The agency I booked with helped me set the itinerary so that it was a reasonable day's drive between camps. The camper had a pop-up tent, stove, and refrigerator. They gave me a satellite phone for emergencies (never used it). I was supposed to have GPS but some glitch happened and I didn't, but I used my iPhone's compass/GPS app. Going solo you don't have to worry about anyone else's schedule. And if I saw something I wanted to photograph, I would just stop and do it. A couple of nights I didn't camp but stayed at a jungle lodge, which is basically a tent on a platform. But either way, there are showers and bathroom facilities so it is not totally primitive.
I saw 34 different animal species, including all the big five, and 65 birds species. I had some scary close encounters with a few animals but obviously came out OK. Camping is a hoot because big animals literally walk through your campsite at night.
Moremi and Chobe (Savuti and the River front) are not to be missed. If you go to Namibia, go to Etosha and see Rhinos. Just stay in the bush, Maun and Kasane are noisy and busy places.
I highly recommend a self-drive safari with mixed camping and jungle lodges. It is a trip you will never forget. The agency I used is called Drive Botswana.
[edit] Drive Botswana is based in England and Botswana. They have an office in Maun but I never went to it. I did everything over email with them. You have to book early because camp sites get reserved fast in the high season (May - Sept) and they won't even let you into some parks (like Moremi) if you don't have reservations.
Last edited by TwoByFour; 06-30-2019 at 11:13 PM..
Which company in Zambia did you use? I'm looking at tours that go to the Zimbabwe side of Victoria Falls. Would I likely be able to book tours from there as well?
There is no need to waste money booking a tour to see the Zimbabwe side of the falls from Livingstone Zambia. We just took a taxi from our guest house in town to the border ($10), walked across the bridge into Zimbabwe, then walked to the falls which are right there past the border. Going home was same in reverse, was no problem finding a taxi at the Zambian border back into town.
Two suggestions:
1. Bring a poncho if it's high water season, as it'll be raining in various areas near the falls 24x7.
2. Be careful of the baboons at the Zambian side of the border, we saw an idiot get bitten trying to feed them.
3. See the Zambia side of the falls too. It's a different experience, and if you come all this way why not do 'em both.
Here is another option out of Maun. There are small airstrips in the bush. Khwai has one and so does Savuti. You can fly on a puddle jumper from Maun to Khwai and stay at one of tented camps there. They provide everything - meals, game drives, etc and pick you up at the air strip. I know the Khwai Guest House is really nice but you'll have to reserve it ahead of time. Khwai is very cool, lots of wildlife. I saw three leopards there.
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