LUX August 2017

LUX - August 2017 33 Company: Botswana Footprints Name: Tara-Lee Flory Owner of Botswana Footprints Email: [email protected] Web Address: www.botswanafootprints.com Address: www.botswanafootprints.com Telephone: +267 680 0745 “From a luxurious safari retreat in the wilderness - sip- ping cocktails under a dreamy sunset, to a self-drive camping trip with the bush surrounding you while you listen to the calls of the wild - we are here to make sure you experience a trip of a lifetime. “The firm is based on the ground in Maun, the gate- way to the Okavango Delta and we have personally visited each lodge and camp we book, so the firm is in constant contact with them during your safari to ensure you are safe and enjoy your time with us. We know the seasons, the state of the annual Okavan- go Delta flood, the lodge staff themselves and the ever-changing regulations for travelling the protected wildlife areas of Botswana. Botswana’s uniqueness in the abundance of protected wildlife and habitat, offer a safari experience of a lifetime. “The amazing diversity of the country, from the dry Kalahari shrub to the wet Okavango Delta and the salt pans in-between, we guarantee you will leave with long-lasting memories and beautiful photographs. We work with clients and travel agents alike, so our collective knowledge is here for your benefit.” Tara-Lee then shares her insights into the industry currently and the trends see is seeing in this respect. She also tells us how the firm employs technology to ensure that clients always have a most wonderful and memorable experience. “With surrounding wildlife areas in Africa becoming saturated, Botswana is still both wild and beautiful. Most of the country is reserved for tourism, indeed the Botswana Tourism Organisation has been superb at marketing our beautiful country and showcasing the amazing culture, landscape and wildlife we have here. There is no hunting in Botswana, so our government is at the forefront of anti-poaching efforts. With helping move endangered wildlife into Botswana from surrounding countries for their protection, we are providing a safe haven for the species. “Our business is online and payments can be done to us there, ensuring an easy way to secure your perfect African holiday. We will be updating our social media regularly, for example by posting up-to-date photo- graphs of the wildlife and lodges in Botswana.” Tara-Lee outlines the prospects for Botswana Footprints, including exciting developments on the horizon. “In 2018, we will open a branch of our business on the Gold Coast in Australia and will travel between New Zealand as well as Australia, promoting the natural beauty of Africa. As such, we look forward to sharing that beauty with you all. “Botswana is well-known for having some of the best wilderness and wildlife areas on the African continent. With a full 38% of its total land area devoted to national parks, reserves and wildlife management areas – for the most part unfenced, allowing animals to roam wild and free – travel through many parts of the country has the feeling of moving through an immense nature wonderland. “Botswana is indeed a rarity in our overpopulated, over-developed world. Untamed and untameable, it is one of the last great refuges for nature’s magnificent pageantry of life. Experience here the stunning beauty of the world’s largest intact inland Delta – the Okavango – the unimaginable vastness of the world’s second largest game reserve – the Central Kalahari Game Reserve; the isolation and other-worldliness of the Makgadikgadi – uninhabited pans the size of Portugal and the astoundingly prolific wildlife of the Chobe National Park.” Botswana is the last stronghold for several endan- gered bird and mammal species, including wild dog, cheetah, brown hyena, cape vulture, wattled crane, kori bustard and pel’s fishing owl. This makes your safari experience even more memorable and at times you will feel simply surrounded by wild animals, Tara- Lee adds. “The first – and most lasting impressions – will be of vast expanses of uninhabited wilderness stretching from horizon to horizon, the sensation of limitless space, astoundingly rich wildlife and bird viewing, night skies littered with stars and heavenly bodies of an unimaginable brilliance as well as stunning sunsets of unearthly beauty. “As well, with more and more cultural tourism options on offer, you will be charmed by the people of Botswana, visiting their villages and experiencing first-hand their rich cultural heritage. Perhaps most of all however, is Botswana’s greatest gift, to put us in touch with our natural selves. It offers that vital link – so keenly felt by inhabitants of the developed world, a pervasive void we feel but often cannot name – our connectedness with nature and the astonishing diver- sity of plants and animals to be explored.”