We are taking a 35 minute light aircraft flight to Shinde, which sits on the edge of the Okavango Delta. It’s just the two of us, onboard, you can get to feel like a celebrity with this lifestyle! Our guide, the very jovial Simon, picks us up from the ‘plane and we check in on the side of the runway beneath a shady tree. The necessary Covid protocols are everyday requirements, temperature, sanitiser and masks!
It’s warmer, more humid here. He bombards us with a plethora of activities and questions what we’d like to do? It’s easier to say “everything!”. He asks what we’d like to see, or haven’t seen so far? Cheetahs and hippopotamus without being too demanding.
The landscape is completely different, a flat open expanse with lots of water holes. Many animals have adapted over time to this environment, be it their paws or diet, for instance, a fish eating leopard that’s unique to this area. Within a few minutes we were made aware of a pair of cheetahs and while scrolling the area in the jeep Angelka spotted a male. The female jumped out of the bush in play fight and they tore off passed the back of the jeep, just so thrilling!
The lodge sits within a copse of trees, with the main areas elevated above the head of a lagoon, within the trees. Shinde means squirrel in Botswanan, no need for explanation there!! It has an understated “Out of Africa” interior design and we are given an al fresco table for lunch that has the most beautiful view of the lagoon. The rooms are beautiful, really comfortable and, with all mod cons, eg an outdoor shower and USB plugs!! We are two of ten guests, a delightful party of six Americans, from Rhode Island, and a Boswanan couple enjoying a birthday break!
Everything is seamless, lunch becomes the afternoon game drive, becomes dinner... evening game drive! In the afternoon, Simon is joined by a trainee guide, Bathusi, who is clearly very nervous. We find a lion who has killed a zebra. It has hauled the dead weight a couple of hundred metres to hide it within a bush. Clearly exhausted, he guards his bounty between snoozing. Lions asphyxiate their prey, the zebra has no claw marks or blood on it despite the trauma it’s been through!
The rest of the drive picks up the cheetahs, who are on a hunt. Simon describes the psychology and guile at play between predator and prey. Over two hours we watch it all play out even though the kill is, ultimately, unsuccessful.
Before dinner, we join with the other guests around a boma. It’s great to hear of pandemic stories, travel anecdotes and the planning of the birthday surprise, relaxed by our wonderful surroundings. There’s a party of six Americans from Rhode Island, all of Italian descent, who are two sisters, a brother, his partner and 83 year old Mum travelling with a pal! They take two holidays a year, all six with some tag alongs, next stop Portugal and The Galápagos Islands, good for them!
One of the reasons for a multi location trip is the variety of experiences. After dinner we get the chance for our first ever night drive. Simon has a strong handheld light that scours the bush looking for reflective eyes that belie an animal’s location. We visit the lion, still guarding his kill, shooing away a jackal, not having to deal with hyena and wild dogs, who would be a major threat to both him and his kill! The cheetahs are equally frightened by the baboons.. such is the animal kingdom!We had a surreal but, serene moment when we killed the engine, listened to the animal chatter, pointed out the brilliant constellations above our heads and chatted about the ISS. Very special. Another wonderful bed, crisp linen and comatose!
A 6.00am alarm call, in person, bearing a flat white, is something you could get used to. We are the only guests for breakfast, it’s warmer here than Savute, marginally, three layers instead of four and less reluctance to emerge from the sheets! We are on a walking safari, this morning. Simon has an automatic rifle with six bullets, you do wonder if this is a good idea. With Bathusi at the rear, we walk in single file so that we appear a single entity to animals. Within a few minutes, we hear a lion and question our stupity!! You realise by rationalising that no hotel or travel operator would endanger guests or their reputation, it’s perfectly safe but, with necessary precautions. Within a couple of kilometres it feels like a walk through a wheat field, to the pub, in England. The only reminder comes with crossroads in the Savannah. These, Simon called a newspaper, it informed you of recent comings and going’s, by who and in what direction? There were prints of elephants, hyena, hippo and lions. We saw some impala, an elephant and a jackal, crossing one path called the hippopotamus highway as it linked two masses of water. The walk was just under 8kms, most layers dispensed with and a nonchalant hand in pocket by the time we were finished.
We have arrived at a large lagoon where our shallow hulled metal boat awaits us. In the background, 7 hippos snort, plume and their tusks clang against one another’s in mock play flights. This is just brilliant! The lagoon is less than two metres deep, the hippos are walking, the tributary water comes from below as the water table is only one metre below the surface. They are such magnificent beasts to observe, added to by a huge fish eagle and playful, curious otter. We anchor the boat, take out two fishing rods, drink tea, eats cookies and catch small fish, immediately returned. Bliss.
The route back to the lodges lagoon is a series of narrow channels, walled by papyrus reefs, lily pads, colourful reefs and water lilies. It’s exquisite. I’m surprised no one has coined the expression, the Venice of Africa. A journey of 20-30 minutes slips by with occasional bird sightings, a malachite kingfisher no less, an abundance of flickering colours darting amongst the reeds. We are both in awe of this morning, what a sideshow to a safari, this is nature at its best, overwhelmed by the natural!
Needless to say, we had to be back for lunch. They rotate your dining position, we have a small deck, just the two of us. It’s ridiculous that you go back to your room to shower or change, to then, have to return for afternoon tea before the next activity! You can opt out but, why would you? We are taking a mokoro, a hallowed out tree as a canoe, expertly steered across the waterways, by Gondola Bathusi!
It’s wonderful to be at this level, a wonderful, peaceful pastime, apart from having to beach for sundowner and snacks... it’s relentless!! Another great chat around the boma, it’s great to have ten people, anxious for a conversation but, mindful of not treading on toes! There’s a curiosity to know how we are all perceived, be it gun control, health systems, Brexit....
We had originally intended to come here for my birthday three weeks ago. It must have been on our booking details, I’m presented with another cake!!
Our final game drive, the following morning, is a circuitous route to the landing strip! The lion, the zebra and the bush, a wildlife novella, is still playing out. Hyenas and jackals are circling. Despite a huge call to arms by a hyena, they are only four strong. There needs to be ten to mount a sustainable challenge. The lion is joined by one of his sons for a feast while he sits back in honour guard!
We head to another part of the area and find a female leopard who is quite magnificent, not as relaxed as a lion, as she quick steps past us to disappear in to the undergrowth. The cheetahs have moved to this region, I’m sure they recognised us!
Shinde is a magnificent location, it’s panoramic views of the lagoon, breathtaking. It’s a different experience to Savute, it’s activity led rather than game drive based. It’s more luxurious but no more welcoming and rewarding, just a different way to experience the same thing.