Let me set the scene. Ben and I are having a casual Sunday lunch with his family, as we do most weeks. I’m sitting in his parents’ living room, probably chatting with his mom or one of his siblings, when all of a sudden, I want a cup of tea. So I get up, go to the kitchen, and run into Ben chatting with his dad. Sean says, “Hey, would it work better for you to go to Africa in March or May?”
“Um, March, I guess,” I said, my curiosity certainly piqued by the question.
“Great, I’ll send you the details as soon as I can.”
Um, what?!
Ben’s family has taken their fair share of incredible trips over the years. (I’m still just a little bit bitter about being left behind when they went to the Galapagos while we were still just dating.) I’m very lucky to have married into such an adventurous family. I’m even more lucky that Ben’s parents decided to splurge on a safari in Botswana and to bring all the kids along! We don’t usually travel with our families, but having the people you love with you makes those kinds of experiences all the more special.
Since Ben’s parents were planning and paying for the trip, I went to Botswana knowing way less about where we’d be staying and what we’d be doing than usual. I knew that Sean had booked the trip through a travel agent, and I knew we would be visiting two different parts of Botswana, the Okavango Delta and the Chobe River. When he sent an itinerary that included the name “Ker and Downey” at the top, I knew I was in for a real treat.
Why Botswana
Botswana is an up and comer in the world of luxury safaris, offering landscapes much more lush and green than some of its competitors like Kenya or Tanzania. No wide, open plains here. Instead, think vast marshes and dense jungles. After having an absolutely incredible time on our trip to Kenya in 2021, I was beyond excited for a different type of safari experience in Botswana.
The Okavango Delta
The Okavango Delta is a vast wetland covering several thousand square kilometers in northern Botswana. During the dry season, animals flock to the delta’s pools, but even during the wet season, it is easy to spot wildlife in this rich environment. One of the cool things about the Okavango Delta is that you have a very high chance of seeing hippos and elephants, since they love the marshy landscape of this area.
After flying a brutal, 17-hour flight from the US to Johannesburg, then hopping on another short flight to Maun and a final little safari plane, we arrived at the Moremi Game Reserve. There, we were met by our guides from Ker and Downey, who took us to our new home for the next three nights: Okuti Camp.
Just on the drive to the safari lodge, we saw tons of animals, including elephants, gazelles, hippos, and even lions. Traveling in the wet season meant some of the animals were a little hard to see in the tall grass, but our amazing guides could spot animals I would have totally missed.
Okuti Camp
We arrived at Okuti camp just in time for dinner. Ker and Downey has several lodges in the Moremi Game Reserve, and around Africa more generally. This is a small lodge, with just seven rooms. “Room” doesn’t quite do the place justice though. Guests have their own private chalet with a beautiful four-poster bed, a bathroom including both an indoor and outdoor shower, and a lovely living space. We were lucky enough to stay in one of the family units, which meant we had not one, but two bedrooms. The structures are designed to resemble a traditional African village, and are beautiful as well as comfortable.
We ate dinner in the restaurant area. Multiple courses of delightful food plus free-flowing wine meant I was one happy camper. Not that I have all that much experience with safaris (much less the luxury kind), but the service at Okuti Camp was truly top notch, and we felt like we made friends with some of the staff while we were there.
Game Drives
As with most luxury safaris, your game drives are included as part of the package. This means, usually, a morning drive, coming back to the camp for lunch and relaxation, then heading back out for another game drive in the evening.
Instead of trying to recount every animal on every game drive, I thought I’d just give you the highlights. This is certainly not a comprehensive list of every animal we saw, but you get the gist.
Lions
King of the jungle indeed, lions are the number one animal everyone wants to see on safari. We saw lions on pretty much all of our game drives, though sometimes they were hiding in the bushes. There was one group that included several cubs that we spotted on more than one occasion. One of the highlights of the trip was watching a lioness attack a waterbuck. The water buck got away, but it was still really cool to watch this powerful animal pursuing her prey.
Elephants
Probably my favorite animal encounters we had on this trip were with elephants. I have always loved these wacky animals, and we saw lots of them, including adorable babies. On one game drive, an elephant came right up next to our vehicle, so close, I probably could have stuck out my hand and touched it! (Don’t worry, I didn’t.)
Giraffes
While we only saw a couple of giraffes, I’ll never get tired of watching these funny looking animals
Gazelles/ Zebras/ Antelope
In Kenya, we saw so many of these “plains animals” we started ignoring them. While we didn’t see quite that many in Botswana, we came upon several different herds, and we saw different types of antelope I hadn’t seen before.
Leopards
Ahh, the elusive leopard. We saw two, one on our second evening that was lounging in a tree, and again on our very last game drive. We saw the same female leopard a second time, but this time, she had her cub with her. It was truly amazing to watch them!
Birds
I feel like someone told me at some point that the birdwatching in Botswana is some of the best in the world. Well, I believe it! If I wasn’t a birdwatcher before, I definitely am now! The birds we saw were incredibly diverse, coming in every different shape, size, and color imagineable!
Wild Dogs
On our second morning on safari, we saw a whole pack of wild dogs and followed them as they ran in the tall, yellow grass. These animals were really fun to watch, and reminded me more than a little of my big-eared corgis back home.
Hippos
My mother-in-law’s favorite animal is the hippo, so as you can imagine, she was super excited every time we saw a hippo, which was actually pretty often. We saw them in the water on multiple occasions, and even a few running around on land.
All in all, our safari experience with Ker and Downey in the Okavango Delta was nothing short of spectacular. The accommodations, food, staff, and guides were all wonderful, though of course, it was nature herself who was the true star of the show. This was a wonderful safari experience, and totally different from what I had seen of Africa before. I would go back in a heartbeat!
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