All photos in this post are from Dave who joined our tour in Windhoek- check out his work at @BRTNphotography on Instagram. Thanks Dave and fellow Canadians for the photos and supplies!

From Windhoek and Namibia, we crossed another easy border into Botswana (visa-free wahoo!). We spent a night in Ghanzi, where all I remember is a nice campsite and probably a pool, and moved on the next day to Maun, which is a town on the edge of the Okavango Delta. We spent a total of three nights here, including one night in the Delta itself, another definite highlight of the tour.

After a 2 hour drive over bumpy dried up Delta (the whole region is in a drought), we reached the edge of the world’s largest delta and transferred our overnight bags into traditional dugout (mokoru) canoes. Our guides paddled us for another blissful two hours to pre set up campsite on an island in the middle of the delta, passing elephants, birds, hippos and more. As motorized boats are not allowed, the only other sounds were cameras clicking and the faint splashing of the guides using their paddles (poles) to push us through the delta, as it is so shallow. It’s a surprisingly efficient technique. And we only almost capsized once (for some reason, my boat was very very low to the water and the guide got a bit stuck).

Upon arrival we were shown to our ensuite rooms (the itinerary had emphasized this as a luxury, but as it turns out they were pit toilets connected to the backs of our tents because it was too dangerous to leave our tents in the middle of the night due to roaming hippos). 

The rest of the day was spent swimming (more like floating, as the delta is so shallow), watching the local fisherman get too close to the hippos (number one killer of humans in Africa), and going on a sunset safari walk, where we got to get super close to giraffes and spot buffalo in the distance. Plus it was great to get some exercise as the day had consisted of sitting on a truck then in a canoe. We ended the night with a roaring campfire and wine we had saved from South Africa. Perhaps the best day of the tour.

The next day we headed back by canoe and truck to our camp, where we spent the afternoon by the pool and bar, and some opted for a flight over the delta. I decided to make use of the internet and work on my tan instead.

The following day we had another long day of driving and ended up in the middle of seemingly nowhere, but in fact was a campsite called Elephant Sands. The camp had created an artificial waterhole right in front of the bar, so there went our night. It was magical.

Our last days in Botswana were spent in Chobe National Park, which was stunning in both flora and fauna. Immediately after entering the park on our game drive, we came across a male lion sleeping right beside the road. When we hit the water we were stunned by the crocs, hippos, and countless other animals. Everyone loved the warthogs as the Lion King had just been re-released. We spent the night in the park and woke up early for another game drive out of the park, spending time with the baboons and trying to spot the elusive leopard. Apparently he was out of sight in a tree. We did get to see buffalo up close though, so the leopard is the only one of the Big Five (apparently the hardest/worth the most to hunt back in the day) remaining for me.