KO and the Turk: On To Botswana

Coming from Zambia, we crossed the Zambezi River via our aluminum john boat to the Botswana side. There we were greeted by a handler who exclaimed, "I've been waiting 2 hours for you!". Apparently we were short on time to meet our next bush plane. This guy pulled us into the concrete block immigration building where we saw a long line of people waiting to be processed. Of course we were the only white faces in the vicinity. He took us to the front of the line, talked with the officials, and got us processed quickly. We sprinted out of the building and toward the van, but were told to stop. We had to walk through a cleansing formula before we could leave. I guess Botswana didn't want any Zambian dirt. THEN, we got in the van and raced to Maun where our plane was waiting at the airport.

a large bush plane for this leg

Mark is almost the copilot. Emergency exit is the pilots door.

We never got very high. Could see animals, fires, trails.

Our plane was a bush bus in reality. We would land in grass clearings near safari camps and drop a couple of people off, maybe pick up a couple, then take off again to the next grass clearing. Ours was the third stop. Waiting for us was our jeep and driver who wisked us away to our camp - Machaba Camp on the Kwai River. We were greeted by the people who worked there and welcomed with big smiles. To the bar, located in the main tent, for some refreshments and to the buffet next door for a snack.

the open bar made the Turk very happy

Toilet tent near the bar

Inside of toilet tent - not too bad

Our tent was ready, so we took a trail through the woods to a big dark tent. We were excited to see what this tent would be like. And it was way beyond our expectations!

our spacious tent

This was a fully furnished two bedroom tent with a living room and a two sink bathroom with indoor and outdoor showers fronted by a tent-wide front porch with sleeping cots. The tent faced the Kwai River where elephants, hippos, birds all congregated.

living room with kilim rugs, overstuffed chairs. Bedrooms on either side are king sized beds.

bathroom

outdoor shower

Turk 'opens' the front door

the refreshing pool overlooking the river

The afternoon/evening safari left at 3:30 and we were ready to see what the Moremi Game Reserve here in Botswana had to offer. Our guide at this camp was both driver and scout. He was from the area and had grown up learning the animals' behavior. While his education was not as formal as what we had in Motswari, South Africa, it was equally informative.

Vulture

momma hyena taking care of her, and other, pups at her den

dating lions who woke us up in the night

old female leopard

It was very hot during the day in Botswana, over 100 degrees. The Range Rover was covered with a canopy to help shade the sun. The drives were very bumpy and we held on to everything. We saw great animals and had a chance to just sit and watch them.

As night fell, we drove with a spotlight that the driver would only shine when highlighting an animal who would not be affected by it. Leopards and lions' eyes allow them to see in both dark and light and they dont see a spotlight. While driving we got a distress call from another camp's vehicle. They were stuck in a creek. We headed over and found the water was all the way up into the vehicle and the tourists had their feet up. We jumped out of our Range Rover and our driver got a rope, tied it to the front of their Range Rover, and began to pull. With much noise, and creative driving, our driver pulled them out. YEAH! Then it was time to head back to camp for dinner.

Dinner was a multi-course meal at a long table. The chef introduced the menu and the wines. Wines had been selected for each course, but you could drink whatever you wanted. After a delicious meal, we sat around the campfire with our drinks. Guests were from Europe, UK, Canada, and us from US. We were enjoying the evening when one of the camp managers announced that we should finish our drinks and head to our tents. The lions were on the property! Everyone downed their drinks and waited to be escorted to their tents. Once again, after dark no one is permitted to walk without a trained guide since there are no fences around the property.

That night, the Turk and I slept soundly, until the lion roars woke me up. Then I woke the Turk up. What do you want me to do, he asked. I replied, Be Awake!! We did go back to sleep until 5:30am when we were woken to get ready for the morning safari.

Sunrise

morning bird

We headed out for a mokoro boat ride down a tributary of the Kwai River. This is a traditional boat for the delta area where the water is typically shallow. The Turk was terrified of seeing, and being killed by, a hippo. After being assured there were no hippos in this part of the river, we set off. And found a hippo waiting for us. When the hippo growled, the Turk jumped. Our guides did a good job of guiding our mokoros to provide much space between us and the hippo.

ready to go with our mokoro guides

giving hippo a wide berth, we are too close to water for mistakes

we are close to the elephants -see front of boat

baby elephant nestled between elders

Down river we came across a herd of elephants, including three babies, enjoying the water and each other. We sat and watched them for a while, until they decided to move on. Then we pulled ashore and had tea in the same spot they had been standing only moments before.

tea time!

water lily necklace made by our guide

Turk is now leading

somehow, while we were on the river, our vehicle got flat tire!

We returned to brunch and a restful afternoon lounging by the pool and cooling off. Our evening safari showed us even more animals. We drove onto a clearing that was full of different animals, all hanging out together....just for us! We came across a small lake with 13 hippos in the water. They are likely the same ones that woke us up in the morning from the river outside of our tent. Hippos growl!

Rhino bread for brunch..Turk munched his butt.

our driver Alfred facing down an elephant

a dizzie of zebras

water buffalo

wart hogs

zebras and impalas

group of giraffes galloping away

wildebeest

baby cougar eating yesterday's kill - waterbuck

mother baboon carrying her baby

cool birds

The excitement in the camp during our time was the courting going on between the lions. There are two local males in this reserve and one is dominant. Dominant male gets to mate while his brother has to baby sit the cub who is his nephew. If the cub was not related, it would likely be killed by the lion. But instead, we got to watch the baby play with his uncle by climbing all over him, including in his mouth between those giant teeth.

baby crawling on his uncle's back

baby trying to look just like uncle

After stalking her, she sits next to him

The mating couple had been keeping us up at night with their growls. We got to watch the mating behavior up close and even were there for the 'act'.

she acts a bit shy, and does alot of grooming...just like humans before a date

then she gives a coy look

he reminds her how manly he is, and she's playing hard to get

so they talk a walk to talk things out

we are very close to the action

the act occurs to the relief of us all, especially our guides

And she is now very docile and affectionate, as is he. Light the cigarettes

Our afternoon that day was spent meeting chef Sox and getting a tour of his kitchen. They have four freezers and a big pantry of high quality foods. In addition to the sous chefs, they have a pastry chef. Food is either local or from South Africa. We promised to send them recipes after they asked for our ideas on how to expand their menu.

Our dinners always included a game meat like kudu or wart hog. It was always delicious.

The evening safari was uneventful until a thunderstorm hit. This was totally unexpected since it was 1 1/2 months early from when the rains typically start. But we heard this story throughout our travels in Africa. The seasons are not reliable any longer. The farmers are not sure, for the first time in their knowledge, of when to plant and harvest. Historically these times are reliant on weather changes, but those changes are unpredictable now and it is impacting the food availability.

To get out of the bush, you need another bush plane. Our plane arrived and we realized that I would be copilot, the Turk would be one of three passengers. We took off and landed at the next camp where we picked up a German couple, then at the next camp we dropped them off and picked up someone else. Each camp runway was just a grass clearing. And as we took off, the camp workers always stayed by the runway to wave goodbye.