Okavango Delta, Chobe River & Victoria Falls

It just kept getting better. The safaris in Botswana left me speechless. The animals were far more numerous in both Chobe and Okavango. Pretty much the same animals, but far more of them. Both lodges were very nice, and the people working there were wonderful, but a quick word about Sanctuary Baines in the Okavango Delta. Not surprisingly, there was no air conditioning, and the huts were blazing hot, (much like the heat you feel when you open your oven to smell the baked cookies that are about ready to eat)! We noticed that there was only one other younger couple staying there during our visit. They told us that there had been another party, but they insisted on a different place to stay as they could not handle the heat. Members of the staff brought us iced towels to wrap up in, which helped, but it was a difficult situation. The day we were leaving there I felt rather sick…could have been partially from the heat, or perhaps from drinking some bad water, or a residual effect of the Malerone (Malaria medication) that I had to stop taking due to a bad reaction in Cape Town, but again the staff brought to our hut some supplies, and really made an effort to make me feel comfortable. We greatly appreciated this. This is a wonderful location and facility, but it might not be quite right for the over-65 crowd during the hot weather season. Or, some portable free-standing air conditioners might be considered.

The staff was amazing. This room was our favorite and the bed was so huge and comfortable. The food was great. The game drives and boat rides were much more crowded here than in the other places. The landscapes were much drier also. We did get to see a very large group of lions sleeping, like 11 or 12! The Botswana Independence Day happened while we were there so there was a special BBQ on the lawn (we tried caterpillars!) and we had an interesting history lesson by the fire at night. We also had a fun boat ride on our last night on a larger boat (which had an upper deck) with lots of appetizers and drinks!

We arrived in an open-air jeep from the border (we wish we had known so Kelli could have put her hair up and we would have had a small US$ bill ready to tip the driver.) The staff greeted us very warmly and gave us lots of info. The round “tree house” room was very unique and fun. We loved the food here, (very gourmet-like, much better portion size compared to Notten’s) and the outdoor Tiki bar! The very best part was the evening boat tours to look for animals. Thank goodness our guide Junior took us to Victoria Falls, shopping and touring a village early before the day got too hot! We had a lot of fun taking a boat up and down the Zambezi and through some rapids! Also, there were very FEW other boats around us. We’ll need to come back and see it when the Zambezi is high.