Jim’s Perspectives: Botswana is rich with natural beauty and wildlife, and this countries is one of the best in all of Africa in which to “safari”.  I get a lot of questions about taking safaris … and let me tell you … if you go to Botswana you will not be disappointed.  Chobe National Park, a biologically diverse park and the third largest park in the country, is most notable for its elephant population; totals estimate that there are about 50,000 elephants in the whole park! We stayed at the Chobe game park and took daily tours on the river.  Elephants were everywhere … on the banks, swimming across the river, etc. However, the animal highlight of this trip was seeing two Black Mombas mating! These snakes were 15 feet long and were perched up circling each other in a love dance. It was spectacular … however my wife (who does NOT like serpents) Susan is still traumatized by seeing these deadly creatures so close to her!

Country Information:  The capital of Botswana is Gaborone. There are approximately 2.5 million people living here. The official language of the country is English, but the majority of the population speaks Setswana as well as Sekalanga. The majority of the population practices Christianity. The time zone is 6 hours ahead of EST.

An interesting things about Botswana is the quality of its traditional cuisine, the braai meaning ‘grilled meat’. The quality of meat, especially beef is important to the braai, which is similar to an American cookout.

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