Botswana, with lots of wide-open spaces—and lots of wildlife to fill them—is of the few remaining destinations in Africa where the adventuresome safari spirit still survives.
To protect the country's natural assets, government policy promotes low-volume, high-cost tourism. Botswana may have high travel fees, but you're rewarded with an arkful of colorful birds and large game—including lions, brown hyenas and cheetahs, ostriches and zebras, antelope and leopards.
You get to see them in the wild: lazing in the waters of the Okavango Delta (Moremi Game Reserve), grazing on the grasslands of Chobe National Park and tracking the arid salt pans of the Kalahari Desert. Accommodations can range from a tented riverbank campsite to one of the plushest lodges on the continent.
Botswana can afford to discourage mass tourism because of its great mineral wealth. It is one of the world's largest producers of diamonds, and it has reserves of gold, copper and nickel. More than 80% of its small population of 1.7 million lives in a scattering of towns and large villages, leaving plenty of room for animals—and travelers—to roam the countryside unhindered.
Botswana is a landlocked country dominated by the Kalahari Desert in the south and west (more than two-thirds of the nation is desert). The northeast is characterized by gently rolling tablelands interspersed with granite kopjes, or hills, formed of giant rocks balanced upon one another in sometimes fantastic formations. In the northwest, the Okavango, the world's largest inland delta, forms a network of swamps and lagoons.
The nation was originally inhabited by the San people (also known as the Bushmen), then the Tswana, a Bantu group. In 1885, it became the British protectorate of Bechuanaland (mainly to ward off encroachment by the Germans from the west and Boers from the south). The struggle for independence, which was achieved in 1966, was largely peaceful and democratic. Seretse Khama III was elected the country's first president, a post he held until his death in 1980. Since Khama's death, the Botswana Democratic Party has managed to maintain the majority in parliament and has continued to cautiously promote pro-Western policies. Current President Festus Mogae, who has been in power since 1998, secured a second five-year term in a landslide victory during the October 2004 elections.
Perhaps the most important event in Botswana's modern history was the discovery of diamonds in 1967. Diamond wealth has enabled the country to build up foreign currency reserves and economic stability. However, with the 1999 slump in the international diamond market, the country's budget was forced into deficit for the first time in 16 years. In comparison to the rest of the African continent, however, Botswana remains an enormously wealthy and stable country. That stability, accompanied by true multiparty democracy, has served as a model for sub-Saharan Africa. Botswana's greatest problem today is AIDS—some estimates say the virus has infected 1 in 3 people. However, the country has one of Africa's most advanced treatment programs, and anti-retroviral drugs have been available free of charge since 2001. President Mogae has pledged to work toward making Botswana AIDS-free by 2016.
Wildlife viewing, bird-watching, fishing and desert camping are the foremost attractions of Botswana.
Botswana remains a country for the intrepid, adventurous traveler who is interested in superlative wildlife reserves and deserts. Exploring this largely roadless wilderness, however, requires plenty of time, patience and money—this is not a destination for those on a tight budget.
The country is Botswana, the people are Batswana, an individual is a Motswana and the language is Setswana.
David Livingstone didn't discover Victoria Falls, one of the world's Seven Natural Wonders, that separates Zambia and Zimbabwe, but was told about it by his Tswana guides, who referred to it as mosi wa thunya, or the smoke that thunders. The phrase refers to the mist that rises from the falls and the noise the falls make, which can be heard many miles/kilometers away.
Seretse Khama III, heir to the chieftainship of the Bamangwato people, met the Englishwoman Ruth Williams while he was studying in London. Their marriage was opposed by both Khama's uncle, the ruling regent Tshekedi Khama and the British government, which forced the couple to live in exile in England for six years. The Bamangwato were infuriated by this banishment and protested vigorously. When Seretse Khama, still barred from chieftaincy, was allowed to return to his country in 1956, he devoted himself to politics, joining the protectorate's new legislative council in 1961. He became the country's first prime minister in 1965, and a year later, as the knighted Sir Seretse Khama, became Botswana's first president.
Sustainable big game hunting is permitted on some private reserves; there is very little poaching in Botswana.
Stone Age villages and prehistoric beaches can be found in the vast salt pans of the northern Kalahari.
Water is such a precious commodity that the local currency is called pula, which means rain in Setswana. Rain and wealth are considered to be one and the same in Botswana.
Unlike most other African countries, Botswana's flag is dominated by a tranquil blue, a color intended to reflect the peaceful and calm nature of the people. Black-and-white stripes symbolize racial harmony.
