I had been waiting for this trip for 20 years!

…and I was not disappointed. Those 17 days exceeded my wildest expectations. I have traveled quite a bit, but this self-drive trip was undoubtedly the most breathtaking, the most incredible journey I have ever taken. The banks of the Chobe and the meandering Okavango, among other fabulous sights, will remain etched in my memory, and I hope in those of my husband and children, whom I enlisted in the adventure. My daughter even had the chance to celebrate her 18th birthday there—what better way to transition into adulthood could one imagine?

A trip to Botswana is difficult to summarize! Which anecdote, which moment to choose?

One of our very first evenings at Third Bridge, when, sitting at the table with the confidence of beginners, we had a surprise guest at sunset: an insistent young hyena who wanted our BBQ and forced us to move manu militari to the raised terrace of our furnished tent. The emotion that literally overwhelmed me as we flew over the Okavango in a small plane, faced with such beauty, such a vibrant tableau of colors, this mythical Delta that I had dreamed of for so long and that will continue to populate my nights for a long time to come? The palpitations when, around a large grove in Moremi, we accidentally surprised a small family of elephants, and we had to face the facts: elephants don’t seem to be big fans of surprises and definitely have no sense of humor! We knew very well what the flapping ears and the posture we were facing meant: don’t tell anyone, but we were the ones who backed away. The banks of Chobe, so green, so welcoming, and the end-of-day cruise on the river, which is not to be missed: what a Garden of Eden! We saw a paradise on earth, where elephants swim across the river in single file to reach the Namibian side, where buffalo graze peacefully on the submerged grass just a stone’s throw from large, languid hippos, where a solitary giraffe strides across the background, and where large and small birds dot this magical setting.

I could also tell you about this incredible video taken on the fly, or behind Cherry, our cruise captain, laughing hysterically, as one of these irascible hippos chased us. Who would have thought that such a large body could be so fast, so powerful?

In Botswana, you have to know how to get a little lost. For us, this always led to unexpected encounters, like a reward. Like the day when our GPS, that traitor, took us in a direction that wasn’t ours, but allowed us to come face to face with three magnificent lions lounging in the shade of a thicket, barely a meter from our car! Or that afternoon when we had to reverse countless times in deep sand because we couldn’t cross the streams, whose depth was impossible to gauge (even by throwing a branch in, because, crazy as it may seem, wood floats. Hi, honey 😊!)…to catch a glimpse of the top of the ears of a magnificent leopard lying in the tall grass, then contemplate its majesty as it sat and stared at us, motionless, straight into our eyes for several long minutes.

I could go on and on about this wonderful trip, but you know what? Go see for yourself! Because no words, no photos, no videos can describe the emotions I experienced there! And if you make the best decision of your life, which is to go see for yourself, do it with Julie and Vincent!

They were recommended to me, and I immediately felt confident with them when I started planning this trip a year ago. They put together an itinerary that perfectly matched my criteria, whether it was the length of the daily drive, the mix of accommodations (roof tents and nights in lodges), or the budget. Their comments and answers were very precise, their advice very sharp, and you can tell they really know the country very well. It’s simple: I trusted them completely, I just had to approve their plan without changing anything, and the adventure could begin!

Published on: 21 August 2023