We were first introduced to NatHab when we decided to see the Polar Bears in Churchill, Canada in October of 2023. I had found a tour company which did groups of 30 travelers. Nancy suggested NatHab, as their groups were half the size. This would guarantee better viewing on the polar rover. We checked out the reviews and Brian asked a friend who went to Churchill a few years back: "I used Nathab and love them. I'm going on trip number 8 this year!"... and so, we headed to Churchill -- with Nathab as our guide.
We met some great people and at one of the dinners we talked to a couple about some of the trips they had done -- including safari. While out on the tundra later in the week, Nancy was sharing her binoculars and someone commented on how good they were. Joanne responded, "You know, like I was saying before, on Safari you don't need binoculars" (she was soooooooo right). The Churchill trip was amazing and Nathab did an incredible job. We did another NatHab trip to Alaska and it even topped Churchill, and more rave reviews about going on safari. Uncle Doug (check with Peter on him) said how Botswana was even better than Antarctica.
The winter was lousey this year, and with Megan getting married in September we talked about getting away before all the craziness kicks in. We discussed Turks or Costa Rica - basically anywhere to escape the March gray skies of Connecticut. In Africa it was 80 degrees and sunny, and we had done the Caribbean a million times, so Brian threw the safari idea out to Nancy. She was a bit nervous at first, especially with the shots we needed to get and the lack of drinking water (and Nathab does not provide bottled water as conservation is one of their main mission statements). But Nancy sucked it up and got all the shots and psyched herself to go -- and we are grateful she did. 3 days into the trip, Nancy thanked Brian for pushing her out of her comfort zone -- it was that amazing of a trip.
Enjoy reviewing the photos and the stories we journaled on paper (because of the lack of Internet -- which in itself was worth it!) and have transferred here. Feel free to share any of the pictures with your kids or family or friends. Africa really is an AMAZING place with AMAZING, PROUD people. Botswana is trying to reduce their diamond dependency and having the tourism economy grow. If you have a chance to go – do it! You won’t regret it.
At the top of the site is a menu with external resources including our itinerary as NatHab prepared it, a map with the tagged locations we stayed / stopped, and some links about some of the places we visited. Along the side there are links to the camps we stayed at and some of the places we visited in chronological order from the start of our journey to the end. Make sure you scroll down to the photos. Honesty, we think the pictures are amazing but don't do it justice. If you are interested in what we shot photos with, there is a link there too. Finally, as most of you know -- Brian loves to talk. Feel free to reach out if you have questions or just want to hear more about the trip.
Thanks for visiting. All the best,
Brian & Nancy