Day 5 - Off to Botswana

On Tuesday it was finally time to make our dreams about the lions and elephants come true! We would start our day with a short morning walk to bring back the horses to Horizon, followed by a 4h drive towards Botswana. Owen advised us to keep on our riding gear, as we would go directly for horse riding in Botswana upon arrival. That made us feel happy, because after that long drive the horses would be waiting for us again.

To be fair: time was passing by so quickly that I didn’t even realize it was 4 hours. Abraham was such a nice driver, stopping for several snacks and toilet breaks. One of the stops was a butcher, just like we would have a supermarket attached to the petrol station. Very strange to bump into this random butcher with zebra skins outside and seeing all these types of different animal meat. Laura the manager bought some dried meat for us to try, but personally I didn’t like it very much. It felt unethical to eat these beautiful wild animals such as Kudu and Impala.

Upon arrival in Botswana, we were hosted by Lindy and served by a fresh grapefruit juice. We had a lunch together and discussed the horses. Based on our horse riding experience, Lindy had given us a horse that would suit our needs. To ride inside the game reserve with wild animals such as lions and elephants, you must be an advanced rider. This means you must be able to control your horse at all times during the journeys.

All horses are gallons (castrated males) so that they couldn’t interbreed with the wild zebras and dilute the original gene pool. Animals normally never interbreed unless humans force them to do so, but in this wild environment no risk could be taken.

After lunch, Lindy made us do a small test by horse to see if our horses were matching. The test was quite simple: ride a triangle in canter, starting the first lane controlled and steady, followed by the second lane in a speeding gallop, ending with a steady canter heading back to the group. At all times we had to be seated in upright position in the saddle (jumping position), so that we didn’t harm the back of the animals too much. Also, when mounting the horse, we always needed to step up from a big laying branch or rock, so that we didn’t twist the back of the horse too much.

Tip: Keep your passport with you at all times in the car, because you need to stop two times at the border. Once when leaving South-Africa and Pontdrift, and once in Botswana after just 2min drive to fill in the visa. You don’t need to pay extra money, so no need to exchange money.Läs mer