It’s testament to Botswana’s charm that even though I was nearly killed by a gang of hyenas, charged at by a trumpeting elephant and caught in the middle of a dispute between two angry lions, I still came out loving the place.

I went with Quest Overseas who sorted out every detail. They are an excellent company who aim at giving people as authentic an experience of a place as possible - refreshingly free from the mollycoddling attitude of some other travel firms towards young adventure-seekers.

Our first few days were boozily spent at the Planet Baobab campsite, which is dotted with trees more than 2,000 years old boasting girths of eight metres. We weren’t the only ones getting drunk. At night we could hear the elephants stumbling about and demolishing trees as they grew progressively more intoxicated from the fruit of the Amarula tree. Man and beast certainly become one in this beautiful country.

Next it was off to the Makgadikgadi salt pans for a spot of wild quad biking. As far as the eye could see was a blinding sheet of white and off we sped without a care in the world. Driving into a blank space with nothing on the horizon except a clear blue line, where sky meets earth, comes close to being an out-of-body experience. After a fluorescent orange sunset and quite a lot of beer and barbequed meat, it seemed a great idea to taste the salt. My advice is don’t. It tastes like grit, not like the Maldon sea salt I’d imagined.

Two nights in the Okavango Delta then beckoned. You can only reach this patch by mokoro, an African gondola made out of a single piece of wood carved from the sausage tree. Time in the delta is generally spent on the prowl for wildlife where lazy baboons relaxing with their families and warthogs scurrying around are a regular sight. But by far the best vision was the huge family of elephants we saw bounding in and out of the trees, although one didn’t like us getting too close and rushed at us, as if to charge. To say we were scared out of our minds would be an understatement.

Our nights typically consisted of chatting to the locals around the fire and playing silly singing games. This was all very laidback until we heard some lions having a massive scrap frighteningly close to us. Needless to say, we scarpered off to bed and found solace in our sleeping bags, wishing our tent walls were a little less flimsy and a lot more protective.

Leaving our part of the delta was sad but one thing I wasn’t going to miss was our toilet: a man-made pit with an elephant thigh bone for a seat. Hence my two top tips: invest in some “PMates” – the female urinal tool enabling girls everywhere to stand and pee! (excellent for music festivals too) and a packet of toilet wipes – a must when there are no showers around.

The most memorable night came while on a game safari. Everyone was falling into a well-deserved slumber when suddenly the most gruesome cries filled our ears. We were petrified; our camp was under attack by hungry hyenas. Someone hadn’t thrown away their chicken bones properly, and they had smelt us out.

To make matters worse, earlier on we had heard about a camper, whose toe had been torn off by one of these ravenous beasts only three days before our arrival. With this in mind, I watched, heart in mouth, as their silhouettes circled our tents. I genuinely thought it was my last night on earth as the cries and yelps continued into the small hours of the morning. Disney’s Lion King was wrong. Hyenas do not laugh, they howl until kingdom come.

Finally, after about three hours, the animals tired of trawling our site. I had never been so happy to be alive, and my tent buddy had never been so thankful to relieve herself in the nearest available bush.

Funnily enough, Botswana looked the most beautiful I had ever seen it that morning.

Know before you go:

- Currency is the "Pula" - £1 equals 12.6 Pula

- While English is the official language, the national language is called "Setswana".

- Key Setswana Phrases:

Hello – Dumele/a

I love you – Ke a go rata

I don’t speak Setswana – Ga ke bue Setswana

I'm bored of talking. Shall we go to bed? – Ke lapisitswe ke go bolela. A re ye go robala?

Companies to check out:

African Impact Conservation Project:

Conservation project shadowing elephant and leopard researchers on the Mashatu Game Reserve, comprising 80,000 acres of land located on the Northern Tuli Game Reserve, bordering the Limpopo River.

Costs: 1 week – £650, 2 weeks – £1295, 1 month – £2495. Flights, insurance and visas are not included but accommodation, meals and orientation are.

Botswana Okavango River Project:

A conservation project on the west banks of the Okavango River. Involves monitoring crocodile, hippo and elephant populations, participating in community projects, and developing strategies to limit hippo/human conflict.

Costs: 4 weeks –- £1299, 8 weeks –- £2099. Flights, insurance and visas are not included but accommodation and meals are.

Teaching English with Africa Venture:

The government of Botswana has made education a priority, providing it free to all children. Volunteers teach English (the official language) in primary and secondary schools – the latter up to GCSE equivalent.

Costs: 12 weeks – £2740. Includes accommodation, insurance and orientation. Flights and visas not included.

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