Botswana

We were delayed a little by the crew searching for parts to replace the front bumper bar on  the truck after hitting a cow. Needless to say the closest town, Maun, was still recovering from the Easter celebrations and there was no parts or mechanics to be seen anywhere. So we pressed on regardless.

The part of the Kalahari we drove through was wet and very green from the big rains. Unfortunately this meant that the long grass made it hard to spot big cats like leopards and lions, but the wildflowers were quite spectacular. It also meant that the big game didn’t gather at the waterholes like usual because there was just so much water lying around.

Our next stop was a place called Elephant Sands where we were fed stories of 70 elephants at a time drinking from the waterhole next to the bar. But, of course, we didn’t see a single one. However through the night we did hear lions roaring nearby, and they gradually came closer until they were roaring and rumbling just behind the area where we were camped. It sure made late night toilet runs interesting!

Next morning a few of us went on a game drive and we did see zebras, kudus, impalas, lots of colourful and interesting birds, a giraffe drinking from a waterhole, a steenbok, water buffalos and springboks.  We also saw fresh leopard tracks and were even able to pinpoint where something (possibly the leopard) had made a kill by the scavenger birds hovering above it, but we were unable to approach the site.

Alongside the main road out of there we saw plenty of elephants and giraffes, and at Kasane on the Chobe River we even spotted a hippo in the water next to the supermarket, plus warthogs and baboons running around the town.

The next morning we did a game drive into the Chobe National Park. What a blast! We saw huge herds of impala, a massive herd of buffalo, seven lions including a male and several cubs, a vervet monkey, a mob of baboons with little babies, a slender mongoose, two black backed jackals, a pod of hippos, some kudu, a big water monitor lizard, a giraffe, some warthogs, vultures, eagles and lots of other lovely birds. Sigh!

Following that we did a river cruise in the incredibly swollen Chobe River. Heaps of hippos and crocs presented themselves for our wonderment and amusement, but perhaps the highlight of this rather relaxing and pleasant cruise was watching three young heffalumps frolicking together in the water. Firstly they wandered down for just a drink and then one backed teasingly into the deep water (right next to a rather indolent crocodile relaxing in the shallows) before the others followed the first in and they began wrasseling together in a really juvenile manner. Every human who was fortunate enough to observe this had huge grins plastered across their faces, and Georgie actually said “My life is now complete!”

And if this wasn’t enough for one day we then had another game drive into a camp site deep in the Chobe National Park. On this rather splendid drive we came across so much big game (huge herds of elephants and large family groups of banded mongooses) that we were positively bursting with pleasure. But to top off an almost perfect day we had an amazing encounter with a gorgeous and very rare leopard that walked past within metres of us. Fabulous!

Then, through the night as I was guarding Georgie whilst she went to the rather makeshift loo and as I scanned the surrounding bushland for the red eye reflections of big cats, she tripped and upended the whole shebang and ended up sprawled on the ground, with canvas, poles and the toilet pedestal on top of her. Much giggling and chortling ensued.