South Africa -> Botswana -> Zimbabwe

17 days in August/September 2007

Africa photos
 Africa birds

Tour operator:
We bought this tour as a package tour at the Danish travel company 'Brandstup Travels', while the South African company  'Livingstone Trails' arranged and carried out the tour localy.

About South Africa:

(click on the map for a bigger picture): South Africa takes all the southern part of the African continent. North-west of it Namibia, to the north Botswana and Zimbabwe. To the north-east is Mozambique and Swaziland and completely enclosed in South Africa you find Lesotho. It has a long coast line against the Atlantic Ocean in the west and the Indian Ocean to the east.

Getting there:We went with Aeronautique Europe to Frankfurt and continued with South African Airways to Johannesburg. All together it made 1½ + 11 hours.

Time differense: South Africa is 2 hours ahead of CET all year.

The capitol Pretoria is located right north of Johannesburg in north-east of the country.

Distances: Greatest distance north to south is 1500 km and east-west is 1600 km.

Area: 1.220.000 km2.

Currency: Rand (Zar).

Climate: Rainy season from December to Marts with avarage temperatures day/night at 27 and 15 °C. The dry period goes from April to November with avarage temperatures day/night at 20 og 5 °C.

About Botswana:

Botswana is located just north of South Africa and neighbouring Namibia to the east and north. In the north-east there is a technical border against Zambia and to the east it meets Zimbabwe (click the map for enlargement).

 

Time difference: Botswana is 2 hours ahead of CET all year.

The capitol is called Gabarone and located in the south east near the border to South Africa.

Distances: Greatest distance north-south and east-west is 1000 km.

Area: 600.000 km2.

Currency: Pula (means 'rain')

Click the map to the right for enlargement. The area in th red square on the top one is enlarged on the one below. It covers the Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park in Botswana and the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

Climate: Rainy season from November to Marts with average temperatures day/night at 34 and 19 °C. Dry seasonfrom April to August with average temperatures day/night at 25 and 6 °C.

 

 

Fakta om Zimbabwe:

Zimbabwe has Botswana to the west and Zambia to the north. To the east it borders Mozambique and to the south Soth Africa.

 

Time difference: Zimbabwe is 2 hours ahead of CET all year.

Capitol: Harare.

Distances: Greatest distance north-south is and south-west is 800 km.

Area: 391.000 km2.

Currency: The economy in Zimbabwe is in a free fall and the inflation rate is sky high. Click to see a 100.000 dollars. note.

Climate: In the western part of the country the climate is like Botswana.

Transportation:As we were on a guided tour the most of the time we only once had to arrange our own transportion, in Johannesburg. We asked our hotel to hire a taxi and when we got off in town we got the drivers phone number and agreed with to come and pick us up at a specific time.
This is a simple way of avoiding problems with robbery and other serious problems that you can experience in Johannesburg.

The warnings are very clear about this city. The crime rate is high so you have to watch out for yourself.

 

In the evenings  we went to the Nelson Mandela center near our hotel and had dinner. The center is worth visiting.

 

 

All together we drove more than 2500 km.
 Here is a map of our tour.

The pictur is from Botswana when a heard of elephants crossed the road. We followed a route going from Jo´berg through Botswana to the Okawango Delta where we stayed for a couple of days to go on socalled bush walks. It means you are walking instead of driving and meet the animals on their own terms. It is a very intense experience because there is nothing between you and the wild life. We saw elephants, hipos amongst others. Especially the hipos made a great impression.
After that we went to Chobe National Park where we saw lions. This time from an open car.

 

From Chobe it is only a short trip to Zimbabwe and the Victoria Falls. It is the first time we see on of the really big waterfalls and it really impressing. We bought a twenty minutes helicopter flight around the falls and it is worth the money.

At the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia it is possible to go bongy jumping. From the bridge crossing the Zambezi there is a 110 meters drop to the river below. I decided just to watch.

 

People and language: More than 30 languages are spoken here. Visiters will do fine with English but the most common languages are Zulu and Africaans (that sounds a little like dutch).

Click for a peice of music in africaans and a peice in zulu.
The singer is called Dozi and he has made a number of records.

 

 

 

 

 

Victoria Waterfalls, or just 'Vic Falls' is formed by the Zambezi river that has cut itself into the landscape. The falls are 1700 meters wide and the river delivers 1100 kubic meters of water every second. August is at the end of the dry season so there is less water at this time which makes it easier to actually see the falls. But even now you need a rain coat when you get near it. Don´t forget protection for your camera.
Because of the high humidity the climate is tropic and the plants and birds in the canyon are different from the surrounding area.

 

 

 

 

Slideshow from Okavango delta in Botswana. 

We stayed there for two days and went for bush walks in the mornings and the afternons, where the birds and animals are most active. We slept in tents and everything we needed we brought in by boat. And out again.
As they say; Leave only your foot print behind.
On these walks you get very close to the animals but the local park guides see to that you do not get too close.
The music to the show is taken from CD´s we bought in Sout Africa and there are also bits of my own recordings.

Enjoy the tour !