Title: This is Botswana
Author: Peter Joyce
Photographer: Daryl Balfour; Sharna Balfour
Publisher: New Holland Publishers
Imprint: Travel and Heritage
London, 2010
ISBN 9781845371463 / ISBN 978-1-84537-146-3
Hardcover, dustjacket, 22x29 cm, 176 pages, numerous colour photos
Botswana lies on the high interior plateau of south-central Africa, a vast, landlocked, flat, sparsely populated, mostly desolate land of diamonds and desert-like wilderness. Enormous tracts of the country have no surface water; the only permanent source is the northern river system, whose most spectacular elements are the Okavango River, its panhandle, and the unique inland delta that fans out over the sands of the Kalahari in an immense and beautiful complex of lake and lily-covered lagoon, palm-fringed island, reed and papyrus bed, labyrinthine channel and fertile floodplain. The rivers, the Delta and the wildlife that they nurture combine to place Botswana firmly among the continent's top tourist destinations. This watery wilderness, and the nearby game-rich Moremi and Chobe wildlife sanctuaries, offer the visitor the best of several worlds, appealing variously to the game-viewer and bird-watcher, the sporting fisherman, the explorer of hidden places and the lover of Africa at its least spoilt. It is this fascinating land that highly acclaimed wildlife photographers Daryl and Sharna Balfour have captured so evocatively, producing a superb visual essay. Peter Joyce's concisely written and eminently readable text is an admirable companion to the splendid pictures.
Profile of Botswana
The Land
The People
Focal Points
Patterns of the Past
Botswana Today
Economic Pointers
Wild Kingdom
Conserving the Wilderness
Portrait of Botswana
The Okavango Delta
Moremi Game Reserve
Chobe
Makgadikgadi and Nxai Pans
Kalahari
Eastern Botswana
Index