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Botswana

Program Overview

Amogela.
Botswana is one of Africa's last great wilderness areas, home to the Kalahari Desert-dwelling San people, often called "Bushmen," and the
lush marshes, rivers, and islands that make up the Okavango Delta. On this rugged adventure, you explore the fascinating culture of  Botswana, engage in hands-on service projects, and take a safari among spectacular scenery and wildlife.

Orientation at the Mokolodi Reserve
Spend five days in the home of the rare white rhino and the reedbuck. You and your group learn about life in Botswana, participate in Setswana language classes, take game drives, visit the wild animal infirmary, and explore the markets and cultural sites of the capital, Gaborone.

Homestay and Community Service
Prepare to be embraced by your new family as you experience life in rural Botswana. While exploring the community and joining in social activities, continue Setswana classes to enhance
your ability to connect with new family and friends. During your homestay, roll up your sleeves and give back to the community that has taken you in as one of their own.

Sample host community: Otse

Sample activities: Assist at local schools; visit diamond mines and a local wildlife reserve; learn about community-based public health efforts; meet traditional healers.

Sample work projects: Paint and renovate the village school; take part in health education for local youth; engage in small-scale construction at an area clinic.

Camping Safari
Travel with your group across the mystical Kalahari, home of the San people, and into the Okavango Delta, home to wildebeest, elephants, zebras, hippopotamuses, lions, baboons, and countless other species. Camp out in the wilds of the Chobe National Park. Paddle a mokoro, a traditional dugout canoe, through sections of the delta along with your group and local guides to learn more about the plants and animals of this inland waterway. An evening around the campfire is the perfect ending to your journey through Botswana.

The Experiment gave me an opportunity I will always cherish. I bartered with merchants on the streets of Gaborone, built houses in Chadibe, watched elephants in Kasane, rode the waters of the Okavango, fell in love with my homestay community of Oodi, and made friends everywhere. Botswana is a beautiful country. The sky is almost always an impossible blue, a stunning contrast to the rust red earth under your feet. It was on this lovely canvas that my soul was repainted. I intend to return one day to see my family again and wander the lonely Kalahari Desert.

-- John Kelley, Miami, Florida

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