Camp Life

The camps in Botswana are in a National Reserve in the Okavango Delta, rather than in a fenced private game reserve as we were on in South Africa.  While we did need to go looking for the animals in KwaZulu Natal, they had limited places to go so our chances of finding them were fairly good.  In Botswana, their range is unlimited and we had to drive farther.

The evening meal was an elaborate affair, preceded by the camp staff singing a welcome song or two, announcing each course (followed by appropriate applause and a collective “mmmmmm”).  I tried to capture the ululation sung by the lead singer in between the songs, but that didn’t work.  Oh, and the songs are a capella in 4-part harmony.  Not always perfect, but sung with gusto!

Once it was dusk, or before sunrise, we couldn’t walk around the camp unaccompanied by camp staff.  Even though the camp has a fence around it, that didn’t stop all the animals from coming in.

One morning we were scheduled to set out on our morning drive at 5:45 and we were waiting outside our tent cabin door for Harry to come by, but we were stymied by an elephant about 40 feet away.  We had heard it during the night pulling down branches from a tree and he was still there, next to the path leading to the meeting spot.

Harry motioned to us to scurry behind a bush and to do it quickly before the elephant noticed us.  A lone elephant is always a male and has usually been kicked out of a herd for bad behavior so not the sort of situation you want to test. 

The Land Cruisers in the Okavango were made for water crossings.  See the snorkel on this one?  Lots of times we barreled right through 3 feet of water, no worries.

On the other hand, too much sand put a temporary hold on one of the drives.

The morning drives included a break for coffee, and the afternoon drives made time for a Sundowner.

By the time we got back to camp, showered, had dinner and went to bed it was easily 10:00 and that pre-sunrise wakeup alarm would come quickly.

So oddly enough, the days seemed very busy. 

The animal viewing became better; the Internet became worse.  It seems not much has changed in the world since we lost communication with the outside world, though.

Now, more about the animals …