No limit!

Let’s not try to hide it. A self-drive trip to Botswana isn’t for everyone.

That’s undoubtedly what makes it so special. And its magnetism. In many ways, Botswana is first and foremost an experience. And it’s always difficult to recount an experience. Botswana blurs landmarks. Let’s face it, the very name of the country invites you to travel, just like neighboring Zambia, Namibia and Zimbabwe. It’s one of the last countries without fences. And that changes a lot of things. Botswana is not a destination. It’s an exploration. From the Chobe River to the Makgadikgadi sands, from Kasane to Maun, from the Okavango to the Kalahari, the discovery of the country is first and foremost a journey. Of course, there’s really nothing more to discover in the country. But that doesn’t stop you from indulging in the pleasures of amazement and getting back to basics along the way.

Going to Botswana by self-drive is therefore a choice, which means accepting to leave the road, to face the difficulties of the track, to live with the sun, to learn to keep a compass course or to locate yourself by GPS coordinates, the only tenuous concession to modernity. It also means rediscovering the experience of silence, autonomy, the pleasures of a campfire and a form of solitude and vulnerability. Finally, it’s the more prosaic experience of relearning how to change a wheel, de-sand a vehicle or simply lift the hood. Ultimately, it’s a matter of knowing how to take one’s place in an unfamiliar environment. So many simple things, but most of the time we’ve completely lost sight of their usefulness.

Botswana is not comfortable. It’s not even relaxing. But, for all these reasons, it proved to be extra ordinary.

And then there are the Tswana people. Quite sparse, it has to be said, as the country is above all a great desert of water or sand. Although much of the country, and in particular the regions we visited, depends on tourism for its livelihood, it never seemed to us to have conceded to the convenient drifts into which some parts of the world have abandoned themselves for the sake of convenience. Of course, there are inaccessible lodges reserved for a particular clientele. But they are the exception. Seen from the outside, the country seems to have retained its authenticity at every level. The Botswana people are just like their natural environment: they don’t take us for granted. They remain welcoming without seeking contact that could prove at best artificial, at worst burdensome. In the end, this is a significant part of the pleasure of the trip.

And then, of course, there are the animals. Everywhere. All the time. Beyond the incredible number of specimens and species we come across on our way, traveling in “Tswana country” above all encourages a beneficial humility in the midst of a nature in which we’ve lost many of our bearings. It soon becomes clear that we are the intruders. But we are never reduced to mere spectators. Contemplating animals in their natural environment without ever being hindered brings us back to reality. On this trip, we’ve relearned to live in the moment. To marvel at simple things. Not to try to do everything, but to do it more intensely. To live in osmosis, yet remain in our place. Even if we never felt any danger, it soon became clear that you can never be too careful in an environment that’s stronger than you are.

Exploring the various national parks on your own means you have to accept that you’ll miss a lot of things that your eyes can no longer spot. After all, you can’t improvise yourself as a guide. But that’s not the point. It reminds us that nature is not something to be programmed. And that’s just as well.

In the end, Botswana is a journey in the ancient sense of the word: a balance between travel, discovery and enjoyment. An experience without limits, as mentioned above, that concedes nothing to the pleasures of tourism, and where the only souvenirs to bring back are the images and moments fixed in our memories.

Published on: 20 July 2019