Lucky!

Lucky's luckiness was further proven the next day when we spotted three hyenas on their way back from the night's hunting & then shortly thereafter, we saw a giraffe come galloping out of the bush on a nearby island & then MD heard why. One of the other guides was saying on the radio that they had spotted some lions nearby! Let's go!!

We bolted across the savannah, heading to the lions' location & as we did so, we spotted another one heading to join her friends, only about 200-300m away. We rounded one end of the island & found 4 lion heads sticking out of the grass, just a few hundred metres away. More excited snapping ensued as I did my best to capture the moment.

After a few minutes, the pride headed off through the grass, away from us & I was both grateful to have seen lions & relieved that they were a long way away & didn't seem interested in eating us.

MD gave me instructions on what to do if charged by various wild animals:

• Lion: stand still & the lion should stop before he/she devours you (apparently, this has worked several times before for MD)
• Elephant: sit down, make yourself as small as possible, & don't make eye contact. Alternatively, run zig zag through the bush (elephants can run fast but they have to dodge trees & can't change direction very quickly thanks to inertia). You can also try running downwind so the elephant can't smell you.
• Water buffalo: hide behind a tree & hope he can't find you. You can also try climbing up a tree or a termite mound.
• Hippo: climb a tree or termite mound. They have short legs & can't climb anything

He said the reason we always travel in single file is that we then appear as a single entity to a lion. It seems they're a bit like the rugby league players of the animal kingdom: big & strong, but not too bright! He said the other reason was to protect his guests which is always his number one priority at all times. He will put his life on the line for his guests!

After the thrill of the lions, the rest of the morning was quite uneventful. However that's ok because we've just seen lions & lived to tell the tale!

Time to return

Somehow, we'd both gotten the days mixed up as we thought I was still due to have one more day out camping but in actual fact, today was the last day, as we found out that morning when we radioed HQ. This made the lion-sighting all the more special!

As we headed back to camp for the last time, I found myself feeling a little sad since tomorrow will be my very last time be out here, trekking around at dawn with MD, spotting all the animals. I have to return to civilisation, connectivity & the real world. It's been nice to take a break from everything for a while ... but there are still some aspects in looking forward to (not the least of which is having a shave as the hair on my face is approaching the length of the hair on my head!).

It's been nice to put the world on hold & not worry about anything more than which animals might eat me for a while. Anything could've happened elsewhere in the world & I blissfully wouldn't have a clue.

I feel like I've learned a fair bit during my 4 days of camping & can now confidently say "Did you see the Impala over there?" or "Looks like the lion headed that way last night" and most of the time, I'm right! Now that I've finally gotten into our daily routine however, it's time to go!

After breakfast on our last morning, we packed up everything & put it all on the Jeep truck then MD & I headed off on foot. Lucky was whistling & MD was humming to himself so it seems everyone was in good spirits. There were some clouds in the sky, the first I'd seen during my entire time in Okavango. I was surprised how close we were to the Oddballs campsite! It had seemed so much further on the way here when we walked here through what would normally have been waterways.

I arrived back at the main campsite after only walking for about 30 minutes, including a detour to avoid an elephant (of course). I rested for a while & finished off the book I'd been reading. At the end, the author talks about having incredibly mixed feelings about leaving the wilderness & coming back to civilisation. I feel like I can relate. It's a weird feeling but I'm sure I'll adapt.

It felt funny that evening, listening to the eager chatter of a new batch of arrivals, a family of 5 Americans from Boston, as they discuss the animals they'd like to see. "I really hope to see a rhino," said one of the girls. "I want to see a leopard," said the boy.

I thought about telling them that rhinos are only held on one island in this part of the Okavango Delta & unfortunately for them, it's not a place that visitors can go since it's where the Wildlife Police are located. They practically sit on top of the rhinos primarily to keep them safe from potential poachers (who are fortunately not too much of a problem in Okavango due to all the camps & guides dotted throughout who realise that their entire livelihood is based on tourists coming to see the animals).

I also considered telling them that there have only been three leopard sightings this year (two of them by me!) so their chances are relatively small.

But I decided not to dampen their enthusiasm & let them have the joy of discovering everything for themselves as they carry out their wide-eyed exploration of this vast new land with their guides. It's an amusing thought that I was in their shoes, just a week before ... it feels like such a lot of time has passed since then.

So I went out instead to fly my drone one last time, around a massive herd of 74 elephants that had just emerged from the undergrowth near the camp.

At dinner that night, it felt somewhat strange to have so many extra people to talk to ... but I certainly managed!

The next morning, I met MD for our very last 6.30am walk & off we went, across the darkened savannah, paddled our Mokoro (wooden canoe) across the tiny channel, then set out to see what creatures might be waiting to be discovered again. Aside from a cheetah, which are exceptionally rare, I'd already seen everything I wanted to see plus many others I hadn't thought of so we were both feeling pretty relaxed about the walk.

We found a few graceful giraffes munching their breakfast of Acacia trees but not too much else as we headed back so I could get a quick massage from Soveery (because she’s So Very good) before packing up & flying back to Maun.

There are places I go to where I'm happy to leave & many places where it makes me sad to depart. Okavango is definitely in the latter category. MD has promised to send me pictures of the Delta in full flood (hopefully soon as the water is drying up quickly & once it's gone, the animals will begin to die). I'm looking forward to hearing from him, staying in touch & returning one day to see the transformation that billions of litres of water make to this area.

Let's hope it's soon - I'm missing it already.