The Kalahari Ride in Botswana

Horseback riding in Africa is a fascinating and exhilarating way to experience the vast and diverse continent. Riders often come back with stories and pictures from their journeys that tease the imagination and seem to border on the realm of fiction. From heart racing gallops in Kenya’s Masai Mara to swimming horses in the aquamarine waters of Mozambique, the continent is wonderland for the adventurous spirit.

No country captures the very essence of Africa better than Botswana and a report from our guide on The Kalahari Ride promises wonderful opportunities to explore the landscape and the wildlife of the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans on the eastern edge of the Kalahari Desert. Leading the expedition will be long time horseman and profession guide, David Foot. I would like to share his comments and pictures from this past February:

“I absolutely love riding out in the Pans and did not think it could get any better but on the last safari (mid February) it could not have been more perfect. Rain had been scarce for the previous two weeks so many of the flooded pans had dried up allowing for superb riding. But some of the Pans still held water and around these it was like riding through Eden (I imagine!). The center of the Pans were pink with flamingos and these were surrounded by the endless herds of zebra and wildebeest with some walking in single file one way through the Pan and others walking through single file in the other direction. And for the birding enthusiasts huge flocks of ruffs and sandpipers and more black winged stilts than I have ever seen in one place. Magical!

The only downside was that none of us had a camera good enough to capture that image! But there are some wildlife images that stay with you forever and that will be one of them. As will be the moment a mummy meerkat carried one of her young from one burrow to another climbing over all our legs in the process!”