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Tipe of sickness or illness or fevers you get in Botswana:Tetanus (Lockjaw)Typhoid FeverMalariaBilharziaSleeping sickness (Tryponosom-iasis)RabiesTick Bite feverTetanus / PyphoidHIV/AIDS and venereal infectionsThere are Clinics and Hospitals if you need any.If you feel like you have flu or symptoms of flu on your return - notify your doctor.
The greatest dangers in national parks are usually the facts, that visitors do not obey the rules set up! Never get out of your vehicle and never confront wild animals.The animals in the Chobe National Park ARE wild animals, so watch out!!!
One of the most dangerous animals in Afica is the Cape Buffalo. In a herd they will probably turn and move away from almost anything. But older males who leave the herd and wander around solo are often very bad tempered and vicious. We were on a walking safari , but when one of our guides spotted fresh tracks of a lone buffalo he immmediately took us back to our Land Rover to find somewhere safer for us to walk.
While on a tour through the Okavango Delta, our guide told us in advance that we can drink the water in the Delta. Although we were skeptic, we didn't want to pay for or carry 10L of water in, so most of just drank the water in the delta. Maybe it was safe (luckily some of us carried water purifying tablets and shared that with others), but it tasted awful. It also looked awful. Not like those clear springs you would find in New Zealand or something. You had things floating in it, and the water was brown - yuck! Bring bottled water if you can. If not, bring some water purifying tablets and some flavoring.
We were the only people we met, until our last day when we met a family from NYC (with a daughter in the Peace Corps in Namibia), who were first timers. All the rest seem to have formed an addiction to safari. It is unlike anything we'd ever done, and far and above exceeded our expectations. Without the intercontinental airfare, I estimate we spent $4000 US on our 6-night safari, which was a special offer on ccafrica's website. I'd do it all again in a flash. Looks like we'll need to start saving up for another trip in the next several years.
If you go in the northern part of Botswana (Okavango and Chobe), do not rely on ATM to get money. Bring USD or travellers cheques and exchange money at a bank. Once you find a bank, make sure you exchange enough money to get to the next big town you'll visit. There's lots of towns that are showing on a map but many are very small villages and have no banks. I'm not sure if this was a minimum charge or a fixed % that the bank was charging us, but to change 20USD (about 100 Pula) they charged 20 Pula for the transaction (20% !). So if you are in a group, try to combine the amount to exchange into one transaction.
I didn't feel in danger like when I was in the city in South Africa. But we did get plenty of warnings from rangers about animals at night. Just remember that this isn't a zoo - and the animals behave especially different at night towards man. Don't try to feed the monkeys in your camp - they're wild. Ranger said there'd been recent tramplings (of illegal immigrants from nearby Zimbabwe walking around in the bush) by elephants, even though they're mostly docile towards man. Just remember, the friendly looking elephant you come across won't have cute names like Dumbo. Tip from ranger - if you hear ubiquitous impalas snorting - get into your vehicle - they do that when they sense predators nearby. (don't confuse with the snorting of males rounding up females).
Hippos have a sweet image, so soft and fat. They don't seem as harmful and dangerous as lions or elephants, but in fact most of the animal attacks in Africa are caused by hippos. This animals have a very strict territorial sense, so if you come close to them by boat, they consider you are attacking them and they "defend" themselves by attacking the boats!!
Oddballs luxury lodge is a complete rip-off. At something like 100 US Dollars a night it is outrageously expensive. Tinned food, you sleep on a mattress on the floor. The mokoro trip is less than an hour. You have to buy your own drinking water. Need I go on ?
Hippo's are the most dangerous animals in Africa. If you invate their territory they will atack. With there big solid teeth lots of attacks are fatal. So if you are in a boat watch out. Preferably take a guide who knows the area.At night hippo's come on land to feed. Never place yourself between a hippo and the water. The hippo will feel threatened because it can't reach the safety of the water!
Cresta Lodge Gaborone Gaborone
4 Opinions
Khwai River Lodge Maun
32 Opinions
Chobe Safari Lodge Kasane
156 Opinions
Reviews and photos of Botswana attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Botswana sightseeing.
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Q: Hi, want to do this trip last week in March/1st week April, should we get good weather or is it a bit too early for the Okavanga...
A: Hi Chanes are that you'll see far fewer animals if it has flooded, as when the water is scarce, the animals congregate around the little water that's around. Once the...
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