I heard many good things about this country. So I had too much expectations and I admit that I ended up a bit disappointed... After Zimbabwe, we crossed Botswana during the dry season. It had never been that dry since 2007 and all landscapes looked flat and dry. 99% of tourists were traveling on a 4 wheelers drive to appreciate the animals on the remote tracks of the national parks, but we did not. We rather discovered a desert country, touristy and very expensive (20 dollars for a tent pitch, ouch! This is our maximum daily budget for 2 persons). Finally we decided to shorten our trip.

 

During our eight days in Botswana, we saw a lot of wildlife on the side of the roads and also with during a boat safari tour in Chobe National Park from Kasane.

 

At Maun Airport, to celebrate our three years with Sebastian, we tried the hitchhike a scenic plane over the Okavango Delta. After being refused by all the companies, the last company, DELTA AIR, accepted immediatly. There was no scheduled flight but whatever, the pilot gave us a lift just for the two of us few minutes later. It was a amazing surprise ! In exchange of the 40 minutes scenic flight, I offered them some pictures.

Later, while having a beer at the Old Bridge Backpacker (still in Maun), you could see many crocodiles, hippos and birds fighting for their survival in a big pond... all that was left of the dried Thamalakane river . The rainy season was already three weeks late.

 

About hitchhiking, it turned out to be relatively easy, we found drivers who understood the concept (quite rare in Africa) and drove distances. We continued my hitchhiking world tour to Francistown. It is a non-tourist town where we were hosted by a South African couple. They were very generous in time and food. So we could rest and have a first introduction to South Africa that we would reach a few days later ...