I arrived home from Africa today. The Namibia/Botswana/Vic Falls portion turned out to be the easiest trip that I ever did, far easier than planning a weekend in Los Angeles. James Weis at http://www.eyesonafrica.net/ organized everything to the point that I never had to think or plan. I was taking malaria pills and covered from head to toe in insect-repelling clothing. The locals all said “we don’t have malaria here” and, in fact, I can’t remember seeing a mosquito. My conclusion is that, at least during the dry season, the most serious health hazard of visiting game lodges is obesity.
In the old days, the tourist would walk from sunrise to sunset carrying a heavy large-caliber rifle. The lodge would prepare a hearty breakfast, a snack with mid-morning coffee, a big lunch, sandwiches with tea, a sundowner drink with snacks, and then a big dinner. The lodges still provide five meals a day, but the tourists now mostly sit in Land Rovers or relax in their bungalows.
So what itinerary did you take and what camps? I’ll take a wild guess that we’ll see many photos. When I did my South African trip in 1995, I was not yet that into photography; now I’m a lot better and want to go again. But while I was in Kruger Park, which I still highly recommend, all the South Africans who were there told me that Botswana and the delta were the place the Africans went to.
I hated the malaira drugs I took, and I agree, at the time of year I went (winter) it seemed a mistake. I had Lariam. Their winter turns out to be a good time for certain areas, there is less brush — easier to track and see game — and it’s less popular because it’s colder.
Most of Southern Africa has been in a drought phase during the early
months of 2007 (mosquitoes and malaria vary by season/rainfall and
location/altitude/temperature).
See this image from Nasa showing the regional extent of the dry vegetation:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14211
Brad: I’m planning a full write-up once I’ve sorted through my 1500 photos (why one needs 100 photos of a sleeping leopard is a good question; “he moved his forearm”, click click). The itinerary was basically the following: two nights in the Namibian dunes, three nights in the Namibian desert, six nights in the Okavango Delta, two nights in the Botswana Kalahari, one night at Vic Falls (Zimbabwe side). I enjoyed it all, but the Okavango Delta would probably be the best place for an American to start. That is where you can be more or less alone with a lot of animals.