The Ultimate Botswana Safari Is The Goal For This Travel Pioneer

28.02.2024 - 14:01 / forbes.com

Safari presents a challenge for travel writers. It’s a trip of a lifetime, something we dream of. It’s captivating to do, immersive in the extreme—the unfamiliar scents, the strange bird trillips, the unrelenting vastness of it all.

But frankly, it’s boring to read about. We woke up before dawn with the sound of a friendly voice beside our tent. We drank fresh coffee and nibbled croissants in the cool darkness. We piled into Land Cruisers, tucked plaid woolen blankets around our legs, and set out in search of lions as the sky pinkened up. We breakfasted and napped. And now you might too. Yawn.

Safari in Botswana gets a bit more interesting. The southern African country is more wild and untouched; the experience, more exclusive and elevated. (Hopefully unnecessary clarification: I’m talking about photographic safari here.)

Mindy Harris, the managing director of the US communications agency for the locally owned operator Desert & Delta Safaris, emphasizes that “Botswana is the land of the water safari.” Its main tourism regions—the Chobe River that forms its northern border, the flood plain of the Okavango Delta and the salt pans within the Kalahari Desert—allow for travel by boat as well as overland.

The country’s safari circuit is very diverse, with different wildlife experiences space of just 100 miles. Since its founding in 1982, Desert & Delta has amassed one of the largest lodging collections in the region with nine camps and lodges in all the major safari destinations in Botswana and eastern Namibia, some of which are recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Not only does this make for one-stop travel planning—and it helps that its parent company also has an airline, but best practices tend to jump from one camp to another.

The wildlife regions have a few things in common: They’re buoyed by Botswana’s relative stability and prosperity, its emphasis on low-impact tourism and its strict environmental protections.

The country is about the size of Texas but with a population of only about 2.5 million people. According to World Bank data, nearly 30% of its land is national parks and reserves, and even more is protected in private hands. And while the country’s shoot-to-kill policy toward poachers has been controversial, it has also been effective. “Poaching is not a big problem for us,” says a safari guide at one of Desert & Delta’s lodges, while noting that they maintain a strong anti-poaching unit.

As anyone who has found herself in a Land Cruiser parking lot to watch wildebeest migrate, Botswana’s high-value, low-impact approach is key. Just a handful of guests are allowed in national parks and game reserves at one time, and the camps can generally have a tightly managed number of tents, which