Whales, Wildlife & Wilderness                                                                                                                                                 Pam & Wayne Osborn

Botswana

 

Bechuanaland Transformed

 

Botswana was formerly the British protectorate, Bechuanaland and granted independence in September 1966. This landlocked, sparsley populated country has stable government and a rising standard of living. Since independence Botswana has transitioned from one of the poorest countries to a middle income economy. HIV/Aids remains a problem with a high infection rate.

 

The people are known as Batswana and the language is Setswana. 70% of the land mass is Kalahari desert.

 

We visited Botswana late in 2013 and returned again in 2014 & 2016. A list of the safari camps we used can be seen under the maps tab.

 

Botswana is a wilderness photographer's  paradise. Tourism is an important driver of the economy and employment and there is a pervasive theme of protecting the environment. Poaching remains a problem but there is a zero tolerance approach from the government and Botswana's results are better than most.

 

With 130,000 elephants, Botswana has the world's largest elephant population.