A Memorable First 24 Hours on Safari in Botswana
Product Manager Ian Loyd visited Botswana earlier this year for the first time and was immediately captivated by its abundance of African wildlife as seen on game drives and mokoro safaris. Here he shares his trip highlights and introduces our new photography tour to the Okavango Delta.
This is a place where everything is connected by water. From the tiniest of creatures to our planet’s most majestic mammals, every interaction that plays out here affects the ever-changing web of life. I will never forget my first 24 hours in Africa’s greatest wetland, the Okavango Delta.
My first view of this vast wetland oasis was looking out the window of the light aircraft taking me to the first lodge on my trip. What struck me most was just how flat the landscape was. Incredibly, across the whole 15,000 square kilometres of the Delta, the aspect only varies by two metres. The land was a patchwork of grasslands, lagoons, channels and woodland, with the tracks of large animals visibly creating the veins between these habitats.
My excitement reached its peak on my first game drive, where I could experience just how abundant the famed wildlife of this paradise was. Huge herds of elephant and buffalo dominated, and hippo, zebra, giraffe, red lechwe, wildebeest and kudu all added to the spectacle. It felt like it only got better with every corner we turned. The finale for the day came close to dusk though, as we were fortunate enough to watch the entire process of an attempted lion hunt. Three totally focused lionesses set out their ambush, continued to stalk and made the heart-stopping near-miss chase and athletic pounce on a kudu that had just made it to the safety of a marsh.
The next morning was among my best ever, with further lion sightings, a coalition of four cheetah brothers being mobbed by black-backed jackals and a pack of magnificent African wild dogs. Having dreamed of seeing these enigmatic canids in the wild for so long, watching them travel with such purpose through this remarkable wilderness was a feeling of sheer joy.
Tourism in the Okavango is anything but mass; it is made as sustainable as it can be through a high-value, low-volume approach. You leave only your footprints and take only your pictures.
The Delta is without a doubt one of the greatest wonders of Africa, but it can be hard to know where to start when considering visiting.
We offer a fantastic selection of wildlife holidays to Botswana, from immersive mobile camping to different photography styles, to birding and bespoke lodge combinations. With such abundant megafauna and fascinating smaller life all in captivating landscapes, the Delta is a photographer’s dream.
Inspired by the beautiful photogenic emerald conditions of travelling in the lush and diverse green season, we're pleased to offer a new photography tour to this paradise. For our Heart of the Delta Photography Tour, we have slowed the pace so that we can relax into a leisurely and comfortable yet wildlife-packed week, all from one charming base: Pom Pom Lodge. Travelling in March, we may encounter the occasional rain shower, but avoid the hottest temperatures, dust and washed out backgrounds of the dry season. We benefit from vivid grasslands, green backgrounds, misty mornings, dramatic skyscapes and excellent wildlife activity from, lechwe leaping through water to big cats nuzzling their cubs.
At Pom Pom, we have a wealth of wildlife on our doorstep, with some of the highest densities of lion and leopard anywhere in the world. Enjoy a week immersed in a place still truly untouched, where you will not see a sign of the modern world, but every day you will be enchanted by the wild world.
Find out more about our new Heart of the Delta Photo Safari, browse all our safaris in Botswana or to speak to our team get in touch today.
