Beginning of My Journey

 

 

Here was the beginning of an incredible adventure that would not only have such a large impact on my life, but would make me see the world in another light and expand my horizons.

 

I had left early in the morning from my hometown of Johnstown, PA to the JFK airport in New York to begin my journey. This was my first major international trip! The original flight time was about 17 hours, however, the flight ended up only being 14 hours. My first location was at the Chobe Safari Lodge in Botswana, where I was introduced to the culture of this area.

The lodge had rooms to stay in which were very well kept.

I had arrived later in the evening, so I decided to observe and take in everything I had experienced upon entering the country. Botswana had decided in 2013 to implement a policy called "shoot-to-kill" in order to stop poaching within the country. Botswana realized that poaching was not the answer to helping their economic and ecosystem issues. I had decided to choose the Chobe National Park as one of my first locations in order to begin my journey because they have had the most trouble in maintaining numbers with animals and maintaining the economy without the price of the poachers. Botswana had a decision on what would be the best opportunity for as a country. The option to continue with poaching and inviting others to come into their country to deplete and harvest animals, or if they should put an end to poaching to promote more of a tourist venue and adventure. When many people think of Africa and its countries many tend to think of the animals and if poaching had continued then there would not be anything left to study and see in its natural habitat. Visiting animals in their natural habitat react differently then when they are amongst humans locked up in zoos. Botswana had decided to maintain that safari experience for the tourist to experience and that they dream of. Within the national game reserves in Botswana in order to preserve the experience many places do not have paved roads, but have sand roads. At each national game reserve there was a gate you had to go through that involved signing paperwork to maintain that you would follow all the regulations in place to maintain the environment, but to also ensure that you were safe to by taking preventative measures. For my travel throughout this trip I drove a land cruiser that included a tent on top of the vehicle to maintain safety. This was one of the first times I had ever really driven a stick shift car let alone on the left side of the road. The people of Bushlore were the ones that provided me with the vehicle. They were extremely helpful in teaching me the steps to be able to successfully drive the vehicle.