We are no longer flying Celebrity Air, there are ten of us leaving Shinde to a number of destinations; while we headed for Chiefs, the Americans were on stage one of their flights home, to Maun, Jo’burg, Frankfurt and, finally Boston. Our Botswanan friends were headed home to Francistown, the second biggest city.
The flight was ten minutes, it takes one hour twenty minutes by boat. Once again, checking in by the runway with temperature tests and hand sanitiser, we head to the lodge, passing the nurse flown it for PCR tests, not to mention giraffes, elephants and three lionesses with three Cubs which, we are reassured, we shall catch up with later!
I’m feeling crook, I’m not sure if it’s the anti maleria tablets, too much food, four days of not being veggie or, a bad nights sleep. Let’s say I was subdued!!
Chief’s Camp is the ultimate, so luxurious as to be a distraction from the purpose of safari. Our room, a suite on stilts, is huge with outdoor shower, plunge pool, pedestal bath, three sitting areas, and a bed so wide you need to hail a taxi! The rate here is tear inducing, however, Walter, the travel agent, (keep up at the back) had made us aware of the most incredible deal with the suggestion, we’d be mad not to take it up.
A doze and neurofen, and I’m good to go on the afternoon game drive. The Moremi area is known for rhinos, however, the Government have taken the opportunity of the pandemic to round them all up, over 100, place them in a secure, guarded environment to protect and encourage their numbers before returning them to the wild. This sounds like a very good idea. Within five minutes of getting underway, we’ve picked up on the lion pride who’ve been lazing beneath a bush for the last four hours. We were so lucky they decided it was time for a drink and the three lionesses led the way while the kids skipped along behind, to the nearest water hole. All six lay down, as they drank, casting their reflection. Mum was irritated by the Cubs relentless need for the teat. The rest of the drive was subdued, by comparison, before the stop for sundowner and snacks, having had the opportunity to “mark our territory”! You can tell this is a cut above the rest, canapé snacks, excellent wines and a vapour trail miles above our head to remind us there’s a metropolis world out there!
You are escorted everywhere when it’s dark, that’s breakfast and dinner. You don’t need to be reminded of the recent tragedy nearby. It’s no longer the full moon, so there are an infinite number of stars, milky ways form a stellar canopy!
Our final, full day has me feeling a lot better as our guide, Sky, does the honours with personal alarm call before returning at 6.30am to escort us to breakfast. The drive gets underway, as this is our twelfth to date, you get used to your blanket, hot water bottle and snuggle in to your many layers, not quite as attentive we’re it your first.
We are reminded by Sky it’s cold, “no s*** Sherlock”, and the animals are not in a hurry to come out to greet us! However, the three lionesses have dumped the kids for a hunt, taking the opportunity to bask in the morning son, first. There’s a pride of elephants, led by a matriarch. As they live to 70 it’s not surprising she escorts three generations. We see some stunning birds, be it their colours or size.
The guides talk to one another by wallow talkie. We are aware of a leopard and drive through thick scrub to glimpse it in the distance. A lion or cheetah will sit and look at you, a leopard is more skittish. She is hiding behind a bush, utilising her magnificent camouflage. She moved on and as we extracted ourselves from the bush came across one of her Cubs, who hid under a branch. It’s not possible to take clear pictures, nor should you expect to, it’s a memory for life committed to the mind.
We are back after three hours to get our PCR test done. You need the results to leave Botswana, and, get them at the airport. It costs $200 a person to fly a nurse here and get the pathology required back in the big smoke that is Maun. The whole pandemic protocol involves two temperature checks a day, sanitiser when you’ve handled anything and thoughtfully placed tables to maintain social distance. It will be interesting how vaccination plays out, every American we’ve met has had both jabs while we Africans can only wait and wonder.
The walk back to our room is in daylight, we are greeted by four Kudu on our doorstep, come in!! On the deck a female warthog and two piglets, who said all infants are beautiful? In the distance, an elephant grazes, you are surrounded by a carcophony of bird sounds... and, the gurgle of the Jacuzzi, it’s perfect!
The afternoon drive is very relaxed, it’s our ninth, I think! Nothing spectacular to report by way of sighting, just lots of incidents; two elephants pushing one another to make space in a muddy water hole, a little like two ladies arguing over a spa double booking! There was a large herd of them taking a drink as the sun set, a small unit is but a family and with socialising at the waterhole, you’ve heard that old chestnut, they become a joined up herd of families! The strangest sighting was of a male lion’s skeleton and fur, it was obvious it had found this place to die as the skeleton was ordered, bits of mane and fur not blown away. Talking of skeletons, the scenery is dotted with dead acacia trees, when they sprayed a repellent for tetsi fly, which kills humans, they did not know it would kill every acacia tree it touched! Each animal skeleton has a story, a giraffe killed by 11 lions, for instance. When you can’t find an animal you know where the skeletons of note are!
As we pulled up for our sundowner, they had created a bar with three various sizes of A Frames ladders, some table clothes and candles, see the photos if the app can upload them once it has sufficient fibre. It was a delightful touch, we drank pink fizz, toasted a magnificent holiday as the sun descended before us. Heading back, eulogising about the staff and the class of the place, we got to the room to find two ladies beating a treat while giggling. They’d drawn the bath for us, foam spilling over the sides, no further encouragement required! We had dinner beneath the most magnificent celestial canopy of stars and milky ways, millions that you could see so well you got the sense of levels in the cosmos. The occasional satellite made a bolt for it... it was breathtaking!
Our final morning was more leisurely, no guide, frog marching us to an early breakfast, and, once packed, al fresco breakfast graced by a lion, eyeing a breakfast of Impala, over easy, on the other side of the marsh while a water lizard scurried less than ten metres in front of us, think crocodile in shape and size!! The anxious wait for a negative PCR was confirmed and we headed off for a circular tour of the bush on the way to the landing strip. We responsibly shoo’ed Impala off the runway, ironic that you can’t warn from a predator but you can save their life from a ‘plane!
Celebrity Air once more as the two of us had our own ‘plane flying over the magnificent delta towards Maun. We were greeted by the same lady, Gloria, who welcomed us to the country less than a week earlier.
We were flying back to Cape Town via Jo’burg, our least favourite airport. Needless to say, our horizontal personas soon got rattled upwards. The passport lady decided to be a jobsworth, not able to explain why she did, then didn’t, require my ID, why my Permanent Residents Visa had to be the original, why the passport person in Cape Town had made a mistake not doing this, that or the other....?! Twenty minutes later, neither of us knew what she was talking about, especially as AD, with the same paperwork, had breezed through the next booth having been told not to both with the paperwork jobsworth insisted upon! You get hassled by porters, the transit check-in desks are all shut, airport employees push in, in front of you in a definitive entrance for passengers with my bank card..... anyway, the flight home was effortless, except the airline isn’t allowed to serve food domestically, despite it being ok in, and out of the country.... the car park machine ate my credit card, we tried it four times, to be told we were being impatient, I trudged back to the terminal to pay, the barrier shut 5 seconds after opening and, getting home, found out the machine had taken the money twice....... there was load shedding (power cuts) 15 minutes after we got home..... welcome to South Africa, what a place for tourists, what a waste for residents!!
This was the ultimate holistic safari, three experiences that covered all bases from the type of access to animals you’d like, to the luxury you can attach to it. The Okovango Delta is the most comprehensive destination. Safaris are not cheap, however, in this modern world they aim to be high end, to generate income for conservation, the people and the welfare of animals. However, they are all inclusive, meals, drinks, activities, guides... even so, the best things are free, the NGOs and Foundations agitating Governments to the right policy, the magnificence of the eco system that the animals and vegetation add to, despite our best efforts to destroy it and, the memories that last a lifetime. It’s our fifth safari, after the Maasai in Kenya, gorillas in Rwanda, national parks in Namibia, and, the Kruger Park in SA. Botswana is magnificent, a transformed country with modern thinking despite its third world status. It’s wonderful that every one we met was a black Botswanan, all those in positions of responsibility from the four young pilots to lodge managers. You can imagine there is an aspiration to this country and it’s inhabitants. I think we are unlikely to go on another safari, we’ve benefitted from excellent guides, learned so much about the animals, their environment, their customs, habits, survival and hunting techniques, diets and characteristics. It is a savage world, a beautiful one and, if you are lucky to enjoy this type of experience, one you will never forget, or allow to be destroyed.