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They say there’s Cape Town; there’s South Africa; and then there’s Africa. They say a lot of things. They said we’d get carjacked in South Africa. But we didn’t. But they still said it, so every time we stopped for fuel or directions on our way to Botswana, the spectre of being beckoned out of the car by a muzzle of a gun ghosted into my thoughts.

For the most part, my paranoia was unjustified, but it was telling that I relaxed as soon as we crossed into Botswana. Even the border crossing, which was slow and disorganised in comparison to the clinical efficient transition for Namibia to South Africa, was a friendly affair. Passports were stamped, visas issued, documents checked, currency exchanged and road tax demanded – all with a smile.

Welcome to Botswana. Welcome to Africa. Thank you very much.

The smiles continued all the way to the capital Gaborone, a safe and sleepy capital, where he biggest security threat we encountered on our brief visit came in the form of the campsite’s resident pig, who introduced himself by feasting on our entire supply of toilet roll and sun cream.

Very amusing. Until we get skin cancer. Stupid pig.

I'm told that Botswana is widely regarded as one of the safest countries in Africa. From what I could gather, this is because the country isn’t afflicted with the huge wealth divide, as in places like Kenya or South Africa. Largely fuelled by De Beers diamond mining, the economy is in relatively good shape - exemplified in Gaborone by cranes, construction sites and conspicuous Chinese residents. The streets were attended to by brush-brandishing uniformed, and potted plants lent colour to the roadsides - a subtle but telling indication of the country's economic health.

Good health, however, cannot be said of the general population, 20 per cent of which suffers from HIV (a figure published by the government, though in rural areas this figure is thought to be as high as 50 per cent). The problem is well publicised – AIDS awareness billboards line the roads and traffic cops hand out condoms as well as road safety advice. Really, they do.