THE BIRDS MIGRATE TO AFRICA FOR CHRISTMAS, YOU SHOULD TOO
Christmas continues in Africa beyond December. We celebrate the festive season with shimmering wetlands, rolling emerald landscapes and sun-hats, instead of white glistening snow and winter jackets. You might say we live in the Garden of Eden.
Christmas in Africa is magical; a secret season filled with wild gifts and lush colourful ornaments, courtesy of mother nature. It is timeless, unlike an advent calendar, our festive season lasts from December to April (our rainy season). Guess what, some of our guests say it’s the best time to visit Botswana for your African safari. Botswana is never too far away and so simple to access.
Here are some reasons why you should book an African Safari during our Christmas season!
NATURE’S DECOR
We celebrate Christmas the traditional way with trees, lights and all kinds of cheerful melodies. But, we’re also thankful for mother nature’s own version of African Christmas Ornaments;
– Instead of Christmas doves, we’re gifted with migratory birds that visit our lands and find peace in the groves of Botswana’s wetlands. They fill the sky with a bounty of bright, festive colours and a sonnet that fills the air with each beat of their wings.
– Botswana’s filled with African Mistletoe, you can’t miss it, the perfect opportunity for a little Christmas romance in Africa.
– Our lights transcend into the sky, dancing and twinkling as if choreographed by the firefly.
– Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen remain in the snowy north pole while our very own version of deer roams the wetlands of Botswana. Roan, sitatunga, impala, and lechwe are a few of the many magnificent alternatives to Santa’s favourite herd of reindeer.
– The purest black nights bring our lands the most striking skies and a guiding crux of stars, the southern cross. Nature’s alternative to the guiding star.
CHRISTMAS GIFTS IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN
Nature’s very own green gifts are delivered in the form of new beginnings, reflective landscapes, abundant birdlife and of course great green season rates.
BIRTH
Like Christmas, the festive season is a time of birth and new beginnings, which begin with blossoming stormy clouds and thunderstorms. As the earth absorbs each drop, it begins to breathe again, creating nourishing gifts for our wild residents. A transformation from dry dusty savannas to prolific fauna and flora.
The wildlife takes advantage of the new greenery. Zebra and antelope give birth almost simultaneously to the most darling adolescents who playfully find their feet for the first time.
Newborns aren’t only a gift to our guests, but to the carnivores who follow behind watching as the young stray waiting for their opportunity. The circle of life is bittersweet, and contrary to popular belief, this time of year is known to have some of the most spectacular encounters.
SCENERY
November to April is Africa’s quintessential paradise for landscape photographers. A theatrical display of nature’s fireworks (lightning and thunder) leaves behind relief from the summer heat. After a thunderstorm, the sky begins to clear up and a spectacular light enhances the colours and contrasts of the landscape. The clean air is crisp and the occasional rainbow casts an arch of every colour that uplifts the soul. Waterholes begin to open up and the channels begin slowly to flow. The underlying foliage begins to emerge and the acacia trees sprout their leafy greens turning the landscape back into Africa’s Eden.
BIRDS
As the rains arrive, over 400 migratory birds swoop in for the summer and soar the skies during the Christmas season, looking for greener pastures and escaping Asia and Europe. Botswana’s birdwatching season transforms from sensational to exceptional during a Botswana green season safari.
As the arid savannas evolve into rich succulent shrubbery, the horizon begins to fill with flecks of colour painting the sky. Bee-eaters swarm a rainbow sky and the long-legged Woolley Necked Stocks storm the channels for prey. The other migratory birds like the Kingfishers, Yellow Billed Kites, Cuckoos and Rollers delight in roaming the meandering Chobe River looking for a place to settle.
GREEN SEASON GIFTS FOR YOU
Though many of the above gifts are for our eyes, it is always good to know that our green gifts come with lower rates which mean exceptional value safaris. Our 6-Night Green Season Discovery (any 2 lodges Jan – March 2023) package starts from $3, 176.00 pp from Maun to Maun inclusive of all internal charter flights. A wonderful combination of the permanent waters of the Xugana concession in the Okavango Delta with the dramatic predator sightings and lush green Savute Marsh. If Christmas in Africa sounds like magic, book between now and April 2023 or November 2023 to April 2024. Get in touch.