Adventure Safari Archives

On a Game Drive in Botswana: On Safari in Khwai

Jul 22, 2019 | Adventure Safari, Brave Africa Safari, Game Drive

Imagine waking up just as the sun starts to peek over the horizon right before your first game drive in Botswana. Your tent is cold in the morning chill, but the blankets are soft and warm, keeping your bed a cocoon of comfort. Outside, you can hear life beginning to wake up. Birds are chirping, hippos are lowing, and you can sense the excitement in the air. In less than an hour, you’ll be on a…

Game Drive in Botswana.

As you leave the comfort of bed, the cold air shocks you awake, but that’s okay. It’s exactly what you need to get going. You dress quickly, throwing on layers of warmth because you know the day will heat up quickly, and your stomach bubbles with anticipation.

The stunning view outside your tent.

Just outside your tent, you stop to take in the view. It’s gorgeous. The sky is an array of pink, yellow, and sparkling blue. There’s a gentle breeze on your skin, and though you shiver a little in the crisp air, Botswana has gotten into your blood.

You smile.

You stop at the basins on your tent porch to find steaming water and washcloths waiting for you. The heat seeps into your skin as you sink your hands into the water to dunk the fabric. It’s a little piece of heaven to wash your face neck and arms in the warmth, and it’s the perfect final wake up call. You dunk the cloth again just for the joy of feeling steam on your face. Somehow, it warms up your entire body. Now, you’re ready.

The animals are calling…

Hot steamy water waiting for you when you wake up.

You head over to the main tent for a quick breakfast. A fire pit, hot coffee, muffins, cereal, oatmeal, and more await you. Everyone straggles in at their own pace as the sun continues to creep into the sky, but in only a few minutes, you’re all gathered and ready to go.

The excitement in the air is palpable.

Who knows what could be waiting for you out in the bush, but you can’t wait to find out. Even hot coffee and food can’t keep you occupied for long. Everyone is starting to get antsy, and then, you finally hear the words you’ve been waiting for, “Let’s go!”

LC1 is waiting for you with blankets and ponchos (the poncho blocks the win) to help you stay warm in the open air. You all get comfy, and then your guide takes off, and you’re on your way.

Immediately, there’s magic to uncover in the bush. A few hundred meters from camp, you turn a corner and your guide points out fresh elephant droppings. For a second, you wonder why he’s focused on poo, and then he points a little further in the distance. You look, but there’s nothing there.

The car slows…you look closer.

Suddenly, you see him! It’s a huge bull elephant hidden in the bushes, eating his morning breakfast. You can’t believe you missed him. How could an elephant hide in such small bushes? What a great sighting.

That’s what a game drive in Botswana is all about!

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1J_9MD2GTI[/embedyt]

After stopping for a few minutes for pictures and videos, you’re ready to keep exploring, so you move on. A few more minutes of driving, and you hear something in the distance. What could it be? It’s loud and sounds like hooting and screaming?

You get closer and then, right there in the middle of the road, you find a troop of baboons!

Wow!

They’re just hanging out, playing, running, and having a blast as a family. They run up a tree, and your guide pulls forward slightly to give you the perfect view. The baboons are having a great time and so are you. Their interactions are fascinating, how they hang together as a family—a slightly dysfunctional one. Two tweens fight on a nearby branch. The baby of the family hangs out by himself, but dad’s nearby just in case.

Baboon dad and baby.

They don’t slow down the entire twenty minutes you hang out watching them, and you realize that you could stay there for hours, but there’s always something new to see. So, after taking hundreds of pictures (can you really have too many?), you move on again.

And so the day goes over and over again. You run into dozens of different animals: impala, waterbuck, hippos, crocodiles, buffalo, more elephants, birds, zebra, giraffe, and even a sleeping leopard.

Buffalo with birds.

They’re all there—seemingly within touching distance.

Every sighting is unique and incredible. Even if you’ve seen the animal a hundred times before, every time you see them it’s something new. Your guide will point out some behavior or fact at every encounter.

You might learn that baboons and impala live hand-in-hand together, relying on each other for safety from other predators. However, if the baboons get hungry and the impalas aren’t careful, their own babies will be up on the menu. Impala for dinner.

Or you might run into a young zebra and have a question about their lighter coat. Your guide will teach you that it’s important for camouflage at that young age and will grow darker as they get older.

A brown-striped zebra foal.

Your guide spends years in school and in yearly training to learn all there is to know about the Botswana bush—the animals, the plants, the weather, and the landscape. No matter what question you might have, your guide will probably have the answer. That’s what makes a game drive in Botswana with Brave Africa so special.

It’s not just about what you see; it’s about the entire experience. By the time you leave Khwai—three days later—you’ll know everything you need to know.

This is just a sneak peek of a morning on safari in Botswana.

We didn’t delve into what it’s like to eat lunch in the bush or how you’ll end your day, but we hope this short look into going on a game drive in Botswana sparks your imagination. Your experience will be completely unique to you, but we can promise that it will be something you’ll never forget.

Giraffe family.

Sleeping leopard

Going on an Adventure Safari

Jun 16, 2019 | Adventure Safari, Brave Africa Safari, Most Popular Blogs

If an African safari is on your bucket list, there’s probably one thing you dream about—seeing the animals.

You want to experience elephants up close and personal.
You want to watch a lion walk right by your vehicle within touching distance.
You want to sleep under an African sky and experience a world mostly untouched by time.

That’s what an adventure safari is all about.

What is an Adventure Safari?

An adventure safari is different from your typical safari experience in one simple but profound way—you don’t waste time at camp.

On a traditional safari, you go out on bush drives in the morning and then again in the afternoon. During the middle of the day, you’re back at camp. At this time, you’ll eat lunch and have a few hours to lay by the pool, nap, and twiddle your thumbs.

For some people, that might sound perfect. They want a plunge pool, a TV on the wall, and Internet access at all times. They want a luxury hotel that also happens to offer wildlife viewing like a zoo. But that’s as inauthentic as it gets.

Why would you go to Africa for the same experience you could get at a theme park? You don’t want a horrible experience like this!

A lion hanging out during the middle of the day, right after lunch.

With an adventure safari, the focus is less on luxury and more on experience.

While you’ll still stay in comfort, you also won’t be spending much time at camp when you choose Brave Africa. After waking up right around sunrise, you’ll have a quick breakfast before heading out into the Botswana bush. Then, you’ll stay out all day long on your safari drive, which gives you the most time possible with the wildlife.

Instead of being back at camp, wondering about what’s happening out with the animals, you’ll be out driving around seeing and experiencing more of everything. We go on all-day game drives from morning until night. After all, you came all the way to Africa to see the animals, don’t you want to spend your time with them and not sleeping?

But aren’t the animals most active only in the morning and evenings?

Yes, the early morning hours right around sunrise and evening hours near sunset are some of the best times to see the animals when they’re active, but they don’t return to their homes during the middle of the day. The animals are always out and about no matter what time it is—even under the hot noon sun. So, if you don’t want to miss out on even a second of seeing the animals, then you need to be out exploring.

Three Stops, One Mobile Safari

Brave Africa takes you to three different locations—Xakanxa, Khwai, and Savuti—all without any additional bush flights or travel that takes you away from the African bush.

Another key to an adventure safari is that you don’t just get to experience one location; you get to experience up to three different camps. Instead of having to book a different lodge every time you want to see a unique landscape in Botswana, we take you to diverse landscapes while on safari, which saves you travel time that would otherwise mean spending time away from the animals and on a bush flight.

With Brave Africa, you start at one location (Xakanaxa or Savuti), spend three days there, and then during one of your all-day game drives, we move your camp to the next area, Khwai. After another three days, you move to your last location all without having to lift a finger or leave the bush to get there. Our staff takes care of moving your tent between each camp—tearing it down and getting it set up—while you’re out enjoying the animals.

A Safari Under Canvas

Finally, an adventure safari is all about getting close to the landscape, the animals, and the feel of Africa. That’s why Brave Africa is a safari under canvas. You’ll stay in luxury tents with plush mattresses, flush toilets, and all the typical amenities of a hotel, but at the same time, it won’t feel like any hotel you’ve ever stayed at.

Our bucket shower is a one-of-a-kind experience that you’ll want to brag about when you get home. After all, when else will you have the opportunity to take a shower under an open sky with freshly heated water on demand?

The unforgettable Botswana night sky.

The crystal clear Botswana sky at night is unforgettable!

As for your tent, it keeps you protected from the elements and the animals while still allowing you to be a part of it. A tent means you get to hear the wildlife at night, which is an experience you’ll never forget. It also means that even when you’re at camp, you’ll still feel like you’re on safari.

Is an Adventure Safari Right for You?

So, is an adventure safari with Brave Africa right for you? There are a few questions you need to ask yourself.

Why are you going on safari? If your goal is to see the animals, be out in the bush, and explore the many different landscapes of Botswana, then an adventure safari is what you want.
How luxurious do you want your camp to be? If you’re going on safari to take pictures of yourself by the plunge pool, sipping expensive whiskey, and feeding giraffes, Brave Africa isn’t what you want. We try to bring you as close to the African bush as possible with experiences focused on wildlife nut luxury and dedicated to being real, not Instagram setup.
Do you go on vacation to experience and do as much as possible or to nap? You can nap at home. You spent so much money to go to Botswana on safari, wouldn’t you rather that money be spent on activities than sleeping?

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On a Game Drive in Botswana: On Safari in Khwai