I’ve just returned from an 11-day off-the-grid adventure, camping in the true true African wilderness, in BOTSWANA!!!!

My trip was arranged by Stars of Africa, the marketing machine behind the other incredible gems i’ve visited this year, Umkumbe Bush Lodge and Hermanus Boutique Guest House. Stars of Africa has curated a circuit to show visitors the best of Botswana with its #StarsOfBotswana expedition, staying in mobile (pop-up) and tented camps throughout the country. I was honoured (read: fell-on-the-floor-excited) to be invited and so excited to now arrange epic Botswana adventures for my Adventurelust Trip Planning & On-Call Travel Buddy clients!!!! Message me if you’re keeeeennn!! :)

My favourite part of this trip was just being in the wild. Our accommodations (for the first half at least) were RUSTIC — no electricity no running water, drop toilets, staying in a tent with a zipper and some mesh separating you from the lions. Most lodges I’ve been to in the past not only have chalets or rooms with walls, but also fencing that (mostly) block the animals out. Here we were sleeping in the true wilderness. i just loved waking up in the mornings, around 5am, and laying awake to listen to the bush get louder and louder as it got up closer to 5:30. Birds, insects, even lions and hyenas and one morning a hippo was throwing a party just outside of our tent — grunting, honking, blowing bubbles, splashing around, it was SO LOUD i would have given anything to step outside and take a peek!! (but like I also didn’t wanna die death by hippo). but these noises of the bush were truly what made my trip.

it was also just amazing to be in THE Okavango Delta. it is so so iconic, such a renowned safari destination and unique topography that Botswana is known for. We were there for rainy season, which made game viewing challenging (we could barely see the lion’s mane poking out the long grass!) but the delta becomes flooded from june-september ish and becomes a completely different scene, something i definitely want to check out!!

Botswana is different from any safari destination i’ve been to. it’s much more wild and sparse. In the Sabi Sands in Kruger, leopards pose for selfies for you, they are so habituated. in the Masai Mara in Kenya, you can tell where your next sighting is going to be based on the group of vehicles that are already surrounding it. (of course this depends where you go but this is based on my experience!). In Botswana, you can drive for hours in the bush, in the Moremi Game Reserve in the Okavango Delta, and not see any animals. Okay maybe some ellies (there’s only 150,000 in Botswana!) but i think you have to truly love the bush and just appreciate all the little things. for me, it’s the breeze on my skin, the sounds and smells of the bush. i could literally sit on a game drive all day every day. tbh that’s basically what we did for 11 days. it’s also about appreciating where you are — untouched, unspoilt, African wilderness, places where humans don’t traverse often, some places (like where we landed with the chopper) where humans had never stepped foot. that is pretty special.

we stayed 2 nights in each camp, and 3 at the last, at the following spots: Nxai Pan, Xaxaba (Okavango Delta proper), Xakanaxa (Moremi Game Reserve), African Excursions Guest House (in Khwai), and Mogogelo Camp. the food at each place was AMAZING, i just love safari diet (bread rolls for days). we did yoga to balance it out. and drank G+Ts, which i think also works. the first 6 days were true off-grid mobile tents, it is so so impressive the way they set up the mobile camps from the ground up for every guest. such a cool and unique experience to be able to stay in these camps. our last two, African Excrusions Guest House and Mogogelo, were more permanent, and we had an amazing time there as well. each place was so different, especially the landscapes, and each place brought very special and unique memories!!

it was also definitely hard to hear how the pandemic has affected these camps, business owners, and staff, whose businesses have basically been brought to a standstill due to the lack of tourism but the costs kept coming. i truly hope some of you reading this will consider visiting and supporting these local legends — shout out Sammy, Mock, General, Socks, and everyone else who worked to make our stay amazing!!

overall, i am just so overwhelmingly grateful that myself, some Canadian girl, has been able to experience Botswana like this. i am so used to my little Cape Town bubble (i’m writing this from The Silo Rooftop lol) but this felt like REAL Africa to me, how mother nature intended it before we all came and ruined it.

I could launch into storytime here, but i’d rather show you. here were some of the highlights of our trip.

Day 1-2: Nxai Pan with Tamog Safaris

breathtaking white sand-coloured ellies under the moody skies
relishing in being off the grid and soaking in the sounds, smells, and breeze of the bush
an epic group of new friends with some maaaajjjor cry-lolz
stunning expansive salt pans
picnic under the spectacular baobab trees

Day 3: In Transit

first: some magical moody skies on our drive from nxai pan to the airport, I was literally obsessing over these skies. the clouds have so much more depth here. also I shotgunned on this drive and got to look out the window (I love doing this as a way to see what a new country’s all about) and listen to tay which is always grounding and reflective for me, so, happy kellie.

then >>> bucket list time: helicopter ride over the freaking okavango delta. this was E P I C. check out my Insta reel here!!

we transferred to our next camp Xaxaba, with Helicopter Horizons, saw ellies and buffalo and giraffes from up in the air. it was literally a safari from the sky (I don’t know why this concept blew my mind while I was up there) and so so so cool. we also stopped in a place that was completely uncharted territory, next to a waterhole where some zebes were having a drink, to browse around and have a beer (well not me but I probably held one for photos or something). so crazy to be somewhere on the Okavango delta where no humans have ever been.

choppers, if you haven’t been on one, are on another level. they are the ONLY preferable mode of transport IMO. chopper and yachts maybe (countdown to Galapalust 2.0). anyway. here are some pics.

Day 3-4: Xaxaba Camp with Afrika Ecco Safaris

um there are few places that take my breath away as much as arriving at Xaxaba did. miiight have had something to do with our arrival by chopper (ohmygod… that’s our camp). but this part of the okavango delta felt like a tropical utopia paradise — i have NEVER seen palm trees as my safari backdrop and they were on every horizon. our view from this camp was floodplains for days, and there were always animals to view here, from ellies (that crossed right over to camp!) to hyenas whose beady eyes stared me down at night and almost gave me a panic attack but anyway coolcoolcool. also antelope, zebras, wildebeest, etc, it was just such an incredible location.

it was here that we had possibly our most amazing sighting of the trip — a CHEETAH. with a fresh impala kill hanging from her mouth. it was literally like 10 minutes into our morning game drive, such a rare sighting, our guide Leo said it was the first they had seen there in 10 years. so that wildlife horseshoe wasn’t lost after all!!

we also had an incredible buffalo sighting (the bankers of the bush, staring at us like we owed them money), and this is where the hippo was raging outside our tents. could not get over these vast landscapes, just loved this spot.

Day 5-6: Xakanaxa with African Excursions

Here we were in the iconic Moremi Game Reserve! Still in our mobile tents, still loving the sounds of the bush, but this one was testing our “sense of adventure” a wee bit more as it rained, and rained, and rained, including for our boat ride on the delta which would have been such an incredible experience with clear skies for sunset. put that on your bucket list and make sure the weather gods show up for you! here we had an incredible lion sighting, they were just glowing in the light under the moody skies.

we also had quite a few nice sightings where we got to just sit and watch and listen with multiple species. these are my favourite scenes. zebra, storks, herons, warthogs, antelope, all at once. the sounds of birds and the peace of the bush.

Days 7-8: African Excursions Guest House in Khwai

i LOVED this Guest House, it felt so authentic and grounding to me. Evie and our guide General saw a fricken leopard here. i missed it and live the rest of my life in regret (but i came to terms with the fact that these are wild animals and i am actually quite happy for that leopard. it is just doing its thing, it didn’t wanna be seen by us annoying humans. let it live.)

we also had some more incredible ellie sighitngs, an amazing sundowner surprise for Nick’s birthday, went on a mokoro ride along the river which was so nice and peaceful. it was here where I really clicked with Botswana: it’s all about the wild, the big skies, the big moody African skies, the untouched wilderness. you have to earn your sightings. but it’s real Africa and it’s a place that truly fills the soul. i’m already craving to go back.

Days 9-11: Mogogelo Camp

Mogogelo (pronounced mo-ho-HELLo.. kinda) was our final camp, and the most luxurious, with beautiful tented rooms on stilts, a room, and plenty of areas to chill from the lounge area (where we had an awesome yoga sesh!) to the beautiful boma (incredible fiery sunrises from here, omg, also the dinners with the lanterns) and the main dining area and pool. there was secretly wifi here and also in African Excursions Guest House (I say secretly cause I don’t want anyone to think I was avoiding them by opting out of wifi for my remaining 5 days) and was just such a comfortable and lovely stay.

we had some pretty crazy things happen on our game drives here, including one drive with not one but TWO different African wild cat sightings!! they are super rare and one of Africa’s “Secret 7” (ask me about them and the Ugly 5 on one of my Adventurelust safaris, some of my favourite safari fun facts). we spotted lions from afar and lost them in the tall grass but it was still soso cool to see their faces gleaming under the sun, they were loving that heat! finally we had a really magical encounter with the elephant silhouettes for our final sunset game drive.

writing and reliving this has brought back some MAJOR feels, i could go back tomorrow. 11 days seems long, it’s more than double any other safari i’ve been on, but it is never enough. thank you Stars of Africa and all your partners for this incredible experience, such a special way to experience Botswana and i will treasure this forever.

please message me if you’re interested in going and experiencing this for yourself and i will help make sure your trip is amazing as possible with my Adventurelust Trip Planning & On-Call Travel Buddy service!

Into the Wild: Botswana with Stars of Africa