The Okavango Delta, Botswana.
love for landscape Botswana, and the unconditional support of her mother, led to Florence Kagisō to defy established canons and become the first African woman safari guide. She today she works with Deserts & Delta Safaris which operates in seven reserves and national parks in the north of the country, including the Chobe National Park – home to the largest concentrations of elephants in Africa.
This interview is part of "The World Made Local", a global project of Condé Nast Traveler in the seven international editions, which gives voice to 100 people in 100 countries to discover why their own territory should be your next destination.
How the situation of tourism in the world has affected Botswana.
It has affected us a lot, since Much of the country depends on tourism. But already it seems that people are coming back and the tourism industry is starting to move again. Even new experiences are being created, such as sleeping outdoors in the Makgadikgadi salt flats . To get there you drive from Leroo La Tau to the middle of the salt flats and there we slept under the stars, without a tent, after sharing a dinner cooked over the fire, both guides and travelers. We also do it in Okavango Delta. It is a life changing experience.
What is your favorite place of all those you have traveled.
My job takes me to some of the most beautiful places in this country. People from all over the world come to visit the place where I live... So I'm like on vacation... but working! There is so much peace in the bush, in Botswana... Maybe that's why we are such a peaceful people. But if I have to choose my favorite places are the Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park, that this time of year, when it starts to get a little warmer, the concentration of wildlife is incredible! Especially with the arrival of the birds.
The safari guide, Florence Kagiso in Botswana.
And outside the most touristic circuits?
Discovery Bed & Breakfast , in Maun, is very interesting. This built in the manner of traditional cabins. And if you're in Maun, I also recommend sit on the old bridge and watch the kids fish in the river and bring their cattle and donkeys to drink. There are some shady trees next to the bridge, perfect for spending hours contemplating. And if not, you can get on the bus from here, on line – there are few tourists who live this experience – to do the day trip to Chobe National Park or even the Okavango Delta.
Around Chobe, there is also a group of villages, along the famous Chobe River, which is worth visiting. Here the people, mostly from the Subian ethnic group, they live a very traditional lifestyle, of fishing and farming: they use baskets to sift the sorghum grain. And since the area is surrounded by the Chobe Forest Reserve, Chobe National Park, and the Linyanti and Savute regions – all unfenced wilderness areas – the wild life that roams freely is amazing, including lions and elephants that have adapted their way of life. It is a fascinating area.
Tell us something else about your country that we may not know...
MMM good... Botswana is rich in diamonds. We have found some of the largest diamonds in history! Since our independence in the 1960s, the country's leaders decided that the proceeds from these diamonds would go directly back to the communities. That is why, at present, still We have free basic education and free healthcare: our diamonds are used to help communities in Botswana.