22 JUNE: A FILTER, A FILTER, MY KINGDOM FOR A FILTER!

About a week before I leave on safari I always promise myself that this time, things will be different…this time, I absolutely will not be up all night packing the night before I leave. Needless to say it never works, as some crisis or other always crops up, and there I was on the night of June 21…oh well, I don’t sleep much anyhow.

This time the crisis was photographic. The set of lovely B&W filters I had ordered from the US to replace my old Tiffens had still not arrived, and I had sold the Tiffens to a fellow photographer – in other words, I was facing a three-week safari with no protective UV filters on two out of three $1,000+ Canon L lenses. I spent most of the day before I left (when I should have been packing) attempting to source B&W filters in the UK, and had absolutely no joy – B&W filters might be made by a German company, but it’s much easier to find them in New York, thousands of miles from home, than it is to find them across the English channel.

By the time I realised that it was hopeless, it was also too late to go to London – and as I found out the following morning, there were no 77mm filters to be had in Oxford. However, a quick Google search (thank God for evening flights) located a number of camera shops in Joburg. I spent most of the afternoon before I left ringing them see if they had what I needed. For future reference, if you ever need camera gear and you’re in Joburg, head for Sandton City – there are three specialist photographic stores in the mall, and if they don’t have what you need in all likelihood it doesn’t exist in South Africa. I managed to locate a good supply of decent quality 77mm filters and arranged to pick them up the following morning.

Ah, the joys of on-line check-in – no queuing, no fuss, just drop your luggage and go. Being tired tends to make me a bit irrational, and I went a bit mad in the bookstore and bought way too many books to read on the plane…particularly ironic considering that I fell asleep almost as soon as we took off. I was on a bump compensation ticket (for staying an extra night in San Francisco when they needed my seat – it was painful, but someone had to do it) so I was in coach, but the plane was half empty and I was able to stretch out and sleep.

Keep it coming! We (read my trip report for the "we" part) are looking at Botswana/Zambia for 2008 and Destiny Africa is on the UGL's radar.

What a wonderful itinerary, I can hardly wait to hear the rest. Since this was a site inspection trip for Destiny Africa, were you able to sufficiently examine Mombo in only 5 days?

Hello,

The Savuti and Mombo part of the trip was booked in my pre-DA days as my annual African holiday -- the rest of the trip was added on post-DA.

Personally, I could have done with another day or two at Mombo, but then who couldn't?

Cheers,
Julian

23 JUNE: Johannesburg (The Saxon)
Johannesburg, Joburg, Jozi – whatever you call it, I’ll always associate it with that moment of arrival in Africa. Whilst returning Africa is always cause for celebration, spending any unnecessary time in Joburg International Airport is not, so I was happy to see the driver from The Saxon holding up a sign with my name on it. If you have the option, I’d highly recommend booking a car to meet you at the airport, particularly if you’re coming off a long flight from the US – being met by a friendly face is a much nicer start to your trip than having to fend off the scores of taxi touts who lay in wait in International Arrivals. Nothing repels them quite like saying, ‘I’ve got a car waiting’ – they’ll give up on you and search for easier prey.

The Saxon is located in Sandhurst, about 30-40 minutes from the airport in normal traffic and 10 minutes from Sandton City. Sandhurst is one of the poshest neighbourhoods in Joburg, populated by enormous mansions tucked away behind tall walls and imposing gates. The architecture is that uniquely South African modern sort – a bit like an Art Deco take on neo-classical, with a lot of tall stucco columns and imposing cornices. The Saxon fit this mould perfectly, with large square columns of granite-coloured stucco framing an immense solid wood gate. The only indication that it wasn’t a private home were the letters discreetly spelling out the name of the hotel. Past the gates, the road wound through spacious grounds carpeted with green grass and dotted with tall trees.

The main entrance follows the same artistic paradigm as the front gates – Art Deco neo-classical gigantism. To be honest, thus far I wasn’t that impressed from an aesthetic standpoint, though the number of friendly staff who swarmed around the car to welcome me was certainly impressive. But everything changed when I walked through the door…the atrium, which looks a little over the top on their website (http://www.saxon.co.za) is much nicer in reality – grand, yes, but warm and welcoming as well, with natural light flooding down from above. It also featured one of the most tasteful decorative uses of ostrich eggs that I’ve ever seen (anyone who has spent time in South Africa will know that this is no mean feat).

A leather folder lay open on the reception desk, with a check-in sheet ready for signing. I was about to sign on the dotted line when I realised that it wasn’t mine – though as the person concerned was staying in the Nelson Mandela Suite (where he wrote his autobiography) maybe I should have done!

On the way to my suite (a ‘standard’ Egoli Suite’) the porter told me a bit about the history of the hotel – definitely a first. The interior décor couldn’t be more different to the exterior – everything is in warm natural shades. The walls have a sponged parchment look, and the floors are natural slate and polished sandstone with the occasional rug. The theme is ‘Africa’ in a continental sense, and works of art from countries across Africa decorate the corridors. One of the things I noticed most was the number of little sitting areas scattered throughout the hotel – many places don’t have much common space outside of the restaurants and the lobby, but The Saxon has a number of small sitting areas to sit and relax.

My room was enormous, decorated In light birch, cherry wood, and earth tones. In addition to four-poster king-size bed there was a sitting area with a sofa and chairs and a separate dining area with a table and chairs. Outside there is a balcony (also with a table and chairs) overlooking the garden, which is really lovely – the porter told me that it contains trees from all over Africa, some of them 80 years old.

I took a few (well, more than a few) pictures of my room, and then took a look around the rest of the hotel. The Saxon was originally a private residence, and you could still see that in the way things were laid out – instead of a single large ‘pool area’ with multiple pools there was one pool at the front and one at the back (next to a koi pond). Next to the koi pond there was a little deck where people could sit and relax. There was a lounge with a piano and comfortable sofas, as well as an olive bar (I have to admit that all olives taste alike to me). Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to try the new spa, which looks like it would be a great way to ease the pain of jet-lag.

I had lunch in the spa dining room, but ordered off the main dining room menu (I was starving and spa menus are not designed for people with actual appetites). The food was excellent – hotel food is the butt of many jokes, but this was definitely not your regular hotel or your regular hotel food. The lavender crème brulee was brilliant.

After an afternoon meeting, I headed out to Sandton City to pick up my filters. I also picked up a replacement field guide (Wildlife of the Okavango) at Exclusive Books as I’d realised that I’d left mine at home. This is a great little pocket-sized book, ideal for trips to Botswana – I now have an extra copy, so if anyone coming through London would like to buy one off me for a substantial discount let me know.

I’d asked The Saxon to book me into Linger Longer for dinner, as I’d always wanted to try it and it was only 10 minutes from the hotel. Suffice it to say that I did not feel tempted to linger, longer or otherwise. The food was good, but not at the level I expected from a place with LL's reputation, and the atmosphere was very stuffy and old-fashioned. In retrospect, I would have been better off having dinner at The Saxon.

After dinner it was time for a nice relaxing soak in the tub (deep enough to float in) enjoying the Molton Brown toiletries before heading off to bed.

Julian, I'd be interested in that book, please? I'll email you!

Glad you were able to source the replacement filters... hope the hoopla with your CC worked out too?

Looking forward to reading the rest!

JUNE 24: JOHANNESBURG (THE SAXON) / LINYANTI (SAVUTI CAMP)

I overslept and almost missed out the delicious breakfast buffet, which would have been tragic. I’ve stayed in a lot of very nice hotels, and I have to say that this is one of the best breakfast buffets I’ve ever seen. Everything you could wish for was there – coming from England, where ripe fruits are seldom seen, I was almost overwhelmed by the choice presented here. There was the usual cereals, muesli, yogurt, pastries, and smoked salmon (all very high quality, especially the pastries – The Saxon has a separate pastry kitchen) – and more unusual offerings like tissue-paper thin slices of parma ham (rarely seen outside Italy) and oysters on the half-shell. At first the idea of eating oysters for breakfast was a bit odd, but I quickly adapted.

I’m often a bit sceptical of places with august reputations as I find that too many of them skate by on reputation alone, and as The Saxon has featured on a large number of ‘top hotels in the world’ lists I came in with high expectations. But this is one place that definitely lives up to the hype – I can see why Nelson Mandela chose it as a place to write his autobiography. It’s secluded and extremely restful, which must have been a great help to him whilst reliving some of the more harrowing incidents in his eventful life. The extensive grounds give it the feel of a country estate, and you’d never know you were in Johannesburg – but the conveniences of the city are only a short drive away, giving you the best of both worlds. The service is on par with the best places I’ve stayed, and the food is on par with some of the best restaurants in Joburg. A visit to the spa will be the icing on this particular cake. They are in the process of revamping their website, which will hopefully do the place justice in a way that the current one doesn’t.

All too soon it was time to head back to JNB for my Air Botswana flight to Maun. Air Botswana is a monopoly, and IMO a perfect example of why monopolies are evil. They only offer two flights per day from JNB to Maun, and the afternoon flight gets in so late that you’re very likely to miss your afternoon game drive if you’re going to the Linyanti (people who are headed to the Delta can usually make it) so everyone tries to get on the morning one, which is inevitably heavily overbooked – Wilderness had warned me to get to the airport early as people who check in late are often bumped onto the afternoon flight. Air Botswana also has a tendency to drop routes and change flight times at the drop of a hat, which is a real headache for those who have booked their trips a year in advance. Needless to say this is a continual source of extreme frustration for Wilderness and other safari companies, particularly in high season, as they then get stuck having to re-arrange people’s light air transfers at the last minute, not to mention having to cope with a lot of people who are very unhappy about this less than auspicious start to their long-anticipated safari. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel – the monopoly is scheduled to expire sometime in 2007, and Wilderness, CCA, and the other companies have been lobbying heavily for the market to be opened to other airlines. The airport at Maun is being upgraded to take larger planes as well, which should help.

Their airline may be pretty awful, but one of the reasons I love returning to Botswana year after year is the warm welcome from the people I’ve met there. While I was queuing for the flight, there were two young Batswana women in front of me who invited me to go ahead of them – not for any particular reason, but just because they were nice. I was happy to wait, but they insisted that I go first as a guest of their country. Definitely not your normal airline check-in queue behaviour!

Air Botswana has a rather quaint bag-to-passenger matching system – you’re bussed over to the plane, where before boarding you have to pick your bag out of the line-up. Bags which aren’t picked don’t get loaded on. Seeing the long row of identical black dufflebags made me glad for my ancient tweed Hartmann.

The flight was packed, about 85% safari-goers in safari gear to 15% businessmen and normal Batswana. It seemed like half the khaki in the US had been procured to outfit the large number of Americans. I sat next to a couple from Tennessee who knew surprisingly little about where they were going, despite being on a birding trip…at least they were headed to Sandibe and Nxabega, where they should have a decent chance of seeing Pel’s fishing owl as there are two pairs resident near Nxabega. It’s a shame that their agent didn’t take the time to tell them more about their trip.

There was a brat seated behind me who kept whining about something or other throughout the flight, despite his father’s attempts to shut him up. When he wasn’t whining, he was singing in a horrible tone-deaf and rhythmically deficient voice…a great advert for birth control. I prayed that he would not be headed to any camp where I would be staying.

If the bag-to-passenger matching system is quaint, the baggage delivery system when you arrive in Maun is even more so – there’s no conveyor belt, only two guys who literally cart the luggage over from the plane.

After a quick and painless passage through immigration, I was back in the familiar environs of the Maun arrivals lounge, populated by a swarm of people in khaki from the various safari companies who are there to meet their guests. I said hello to the nice woman from Wilderness, who remembered me from my last trip, and sat down with a nice bottle of cold water whilst my luggage was whisked away by a porter from Sefofane. Sefofane might be a small airline, but Air Botswana could learn a thing or two from them about service…

It turned out that I would be the only person on the plane for the first leg of my flight, which was great for aerial photography. I got some very nice shots of the Delta, though as it turned out they were nothing compared to the shots I would later get from the helicopter at Mombo. There were two stops – one at Shinde, to pick up some British birders, and one at Lebala to pick up Autumn (Canechick) – which gave me a chance to get some closer shots on take-off and landing. I’d hoped to get a shot of the plane’s shadow moving over the Delta, but the angle wasn’t right.

When we landed at Savuti, we were met by Kane, who would be our (Autumn’s and my) private guide for the next three days. I’d hoped for Mr T, who had been my guide at Duma Tau last year, but Kane had been highly recommended by Autumn’s guide at Lebala which was a good sign. He was a brilliant guide, and I’d highly recommend him to anyone who is going to Savuti.

When packing for this trip, I’d found a copy of last year’s itinerary at the bottom of my bag, and was amazed to find that I had accidentally booked for almost exactly the same dates. This would turn out to be a blessing in disguise, as it definitely provided some perspective on what would turn out to be a most atypical experience in the Linyanti.

The unseasonal rains, which continued through May, have played havoc with the game-viewing in the Linyanti region. It’s almost as if the game-viewing season has shifted forward by a month or two – great news for those who are booked later in the year, but not so great for us. I usually travel in late June/early July, and I’ve usually had great game-viewing then, with huge herds of ellies as well as large amounts of plains game. This year, because there was still plenty of water in the seasonal pans, the ellies hadn’t started massing yet and the game was less concentrated than it would have been.

Thus it was particularly ironic that this was the year I had finally managed to get into Savuti Camp – I’ve been trying to get into this camp for several years, but it was always booked. The main reason, of course, was the woodpile hide and the chance to sit on it whilst surrounded by ellies. Any other year it would have been fine…but this year, the year I was finally there, there were no ellies in sight. Oh well…such are the vagaries of nature, and it just means I have an excuse to come back soon!

NB this isn’t to say that I didn’t have great game-viewing this time – I had brilliant predator sightings, including the best cheetah viewing I’ve had on any trip to date. We also witness the beginnings of a dynastic struggle amongst the lions of the Linyanti, and had amazing sightings of the smaller lesser-seen predators like caracal and African wild cat. My main focus when it comes to game-viewing is the predators, so for me this was a wonderful trip.

It was very special to see the Savuti Channel flowing – it hasn’t flowed for over 20 years, and I remember driving through some of the areas which are now covered with water. As the pans dry out, the water in the Channel will doubtless draw the animals down to drink, which should make for some great game-viewing.

Ellies or no ellies, Savuti Camp is an absolutely wonderful little camp, one of my favourites in Botswana. I’d recommend it for the sheer warmth and friendliness of the staff, even if they removed the woodpile hide tomorrow. It’s a very small camp with only 6 tents – I love small camps and this was no exception.

The tents at Savuti are elevated on wooden platforms and form a rough semi-circle around the woodpile hide and waterhole. They’re connected to each other and to the main lounge by a virtual maze of elevated walkways. We were in Tent 2, one of two tents with an outdoor loo and shower (the other is Tent 1, the honeymoon tent). You can watch the woodpile as you shower (the front of the room is covered with a sheet of reflective one-way plastic to preserve privacy and prevent drafts).

Our tent was a bit smaller than some of those I’ve stayed at in other 5-paw Wilderness camps (Duma Tau, LV) – Savuti is one of their older camps, and the newer ones tend to have slightly larger rooms. However, I learned from the camp managers that WS has plans to extensively refurbish all of the 5-paw camps to the same standard, so the rooms will be getting larger and will be acquiring both indoor and outdoor showers. There is talk of making the tents at Savuti into two-storey duplexes, with the bedroom upstairs and the bathroom downstairs, which should make for splendid views. The lounge is also being enlarged.

One nice thing about having both indoor and outdoor showers will be having a monkey-safe place to leave one’s toiletries – we were warned not to leave anything in our outdoor bathroom as the monkeys (and the resident cheeky baboon, Joe) tend to steal things left behind. After seeing the aftermath of a baboon tent-raid at LV when someone didn’t shut her door properly, I’ve learned not to underestimate the destructive power of primates.

We had requested a sleep-out in the hide, and after talking with the managers we decided to schedule it for tomorrow night – by that time we would have some sense for how cold it would be and whether we thought we’d be comfortable enough. I had wanted to do the sleep-out last year, but decided not to because of the cold (it’s also one thing that’s a lot less fun to do as a solo traveller than when travelling with a friend).

After tea, we headed out on our first game drive. There is nothing like being back in the bush, and just pulling out of camp always makes my heart lift. We’d heard that the wild dogs had been seen yesterday down in the southern end of the reserve, so we headed out to that area. Unfortunately, we didn’t find them (it was particularly unfortunate because we gave up a call to a sighting of the Savuti Boys to pursue them – though we would have ample opportunity to see the cheetahs later in the trip). We decided to come back the following morning.

Another group had located a lion pride, so we joined them for a wonderful sighting of a lioness and three one-year-old cubs. I got some great shots of them, particularly of one of the cubs – she had a very sweet expression, as young lionesses often do. We didn’t know it at the time, but these lions were about to be caught up in a dynastic struggle which would reshape lion society in the Linyanti. Right then they looked as if they didn’t have a care in the world.

We stopped at the Savuti Channel for sundowners and to take some shots of its miraculous flow – it was an awe-inspiring sight. It was hard to believe that this was the same area I had driven through last year. We saw a croc slide into the water and vanish without a trace – pretty scary.

As the night cooled down, the game-viewing heated up. We saw three African wild cats (who will always remind me of my first cat, KiKi, who had very similar colouring). Mice kept dashing out from under the vehicle, prompting Autumn to joke that the cats should follow us for an easy meal. We also had a wonderful viewing of a caracal, a first for me – this apricot-coloured cat is much more impressive in reality than in photos. She also gave us our first kill, stalking and pouncing on a mouse and devouring it.

That would have been more than enough for any night drive, but there was more to come. A train of elephants emerged out of the darkness like grey ghosts, crossing in eerie silence in front of our vehicle before fading into the night. There was one tiny baby who had to trot to keep up with the others, bringing an unexpected comical note to what was a very impressive sighting. Very close to camp we saw a bat-eared fox – it would turn out that there were a pair of foxes who lived in that particular area, and we would see them on most of nights - what a nice way to end a night drive!

Wonderful report, Julian. Look forward to more --- and your photos!

Julian:

Chapter I sounds wonderful. Can't wait to read more upon my return from Kenya (leave tonight).

Your statement about the weather having an effect on wildlife (elephant) sightings I believe is true this year many places in Africa. The experts at Amboseli tell me there aren't many eles. there now either. However, since Tsavo is still parched there are many there. Just depends on where they had a lot of rain.

Will enjoy reading about the rest of
your trip on my return.

Hello,

Thanks for your comments - glad people are enjoying my report!

Cheers,
Julian

Julian, very interesting, and looking forward to your photos.

I also saw my first (and only) caracal at Savuti, as well as my only aardwolf, in addition to one of my few servals and african wild cats (although I saw many wild cats at Kgalagadi earlier this month). I also saw lots of lions, and one wild dog that ran along side our vehicle for a quarter mile or so in the channel.

Julian,

I like your style of writing....thanks

Hari

Fun and easy read Julian, many thanks.
regards - tom

great report Julian! keep it coming!

Great report and looking forward to the rest! We also enjoyed Mr. T at Duma Tau-he is incredibly knowledgable and it was a pleasure spending time with him.

Great report, Julian, that wonderful night drive description of the eles gave me chills. Can't wait for the next installment.

I'm really enjoying your report, Julian. Thanks!

Sundowner...speaking of trip reports...didn't someone just get back from Mala Mala and Namibia???

Hi Julian,

What a great writer you are...(Star Trek experience I hear?)

Your story has me on the edge of my chair. Can't wait to hear if you did the sleep out in the hide, wow! Just thinking about it gives me chills.

Also eager to read about your heli ride in Mombo, I LOVE heli rides!

Did the whining kid cross paths with you in any of the camps? Funny what you said about "advert birth control", that works the same with me!

Keep it coming...photos too!!!!

Carla

Hi Carla,

The secret is out...a long time ago in another lifetime I did write for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. But don't worry, there's nothing fictional about this trip report!

Thankfully the brat did not cross paths with me again...every time I encounter a kid like this one I'm reminded exactly why I've chosen a child-free life. I pity whomever had to share a camp with him.

Yes, we did do the sleep out in the hide - hopefully it will make it into the next instalment...

Cheers,
Julian

I've been waiting for this one! Great job, Julian...keep it coming, I'm waiting!
Teri

JUNE 25: LINYANTI (SAVUTI CAMP)

The morning dawned at a crisp 7C – pretty chilly, though not quite as cold as Duma Tau last year. We were the first ones up, and we had the fire to ourselves as the staff set up breakfast, which contained an unexpected treat – in addition to the usual Wilderness porridge, I was able to get two poached eggs. Yet another reason Savuti is now one of my favourite camps!

A lioness had been sighted near the hide where we would be spending the night so we swung out that way. When we saw her beside the water hole I thought she was sleeping curled up in the grass, as I’ve seen leopards do at times. But then she moved, and it became clear that she wasn’t sleeping – she was badly injured, with fresh gashes on her flanks, belly, and haunches. The grass beneath her was stained with red, and she looked as if she was in serious pain – her movements over-careful, her eyes half-shut.

Kane believed that she had most likely been injured while defending her cubs from two new males who have moved into the area from Selinda. She was a member of a pride of four lionesses with a number of young cubs; one of the sisters has cubs so young that she has yet to introduce them to the pride, whilst the other three have cubs around a year old, still too young to avoid being killed in a takeover. We’d seen one of the sisters and some of the cubs last night.

Another vehicle located a dead lioness nearby, and it appeared that she too had been attacked by other lions. No dead cubs were found, so it appeared that they had managed to escape. There was no sign of the third sister or the sister with the small cubs. Autumn was quite upset by seeing the wounded lioness, and whilst I know that this is part of the natural cycle of lion society, I couldn’t help but hope that the carefree cubs we had seen last night were safe.

After that sobering encounter, we had a fairly quiet drive – plenty of good plains game but no further predator encounters. One highlight was tracking down some ground hornbills by their distinctive booming ‘oom’ calls – I’m not a birder by any means, but I’ve always found ground hornbills quite striking in their black and crimson plumage, and I got some good shots of them.

On the way back we passed the hide again, where we saw that the lioness had retreated to the shade of a small tree. She still looked like she was in a lot of pain, however, and her shift in position revealed an additional wound on her throat. Kane said that it was unlikely that she would last the night.

When we arrived back in camp for a hearty brunch everyone was talking about the wounded lioness and the inevitable battle royale shaping up between the pride males and the intruders. After brunch one of the managers was waiting to talk to us. We wouldn’t be going to the hide tonight after all – the presence of the wounded lioness made it too dangerous. Though disappointing, this was perfectly understandable – in addition to the lioness herself, her presence could attract other predators. Autumn, who had originally been a bit hesitant about doing the sleep-out, had since become a complete convert to the idea, and I think she was more disappointed than I was.

So instead of packing for the hide, we relaxed in camp. I braved our outdoor shower and found that it wasn’t nearly as chilly as I had feared. We spent some time relaxing in the lounge and watching the animals come to drink at the water hole – no ellies, but we did see some zebra and impala. I also took the opportunity to perform what would become a daily ritual, cleaning the dust off my lenses and downloading the previous evening’s and this morning’s photos to my Epson P-4000.

For our afternoon drive we decided to head out to an area where the Savuti Boys had been spending a lot of their time recently – cheetahs are Autumn’s favourite cats. They weren’t in residence when we arrived, but we did see a rather surreal mixed 'herd' of ostrich and giraffe, as well as several black-backed jackals. As we looped back towards camp, Kane stopped in what appeared to be the middle of no where. He’d ‘spotted’ something in the grass – the Savuti Boys!

The Savuti Boys are big, strong male cheetahs, but I’m always surprised by how frail cheetahs look compared to other big cats. Compared to leopards and lions they look so delicate, with their long lean runner’s build. The light was perfect, and I got some wonderful shots of the brothers in the golden grass under the setting sun. It was one of my best cheetah sightings to date.

While watching the cheetahs, we got a call – another group had spotted the wild dogs! Unfortunately, the sun was sinking fast, and Kane knew that there was no way we could get to that part of the reserve before nightfall – I’ve tried to follow wild dogs at twilight before, and it’s almost impossible to keep up with them. It was agonising knowing they were out there and not to be heading towards the sighting – but Kane was right: within about five minutes the sun had set and the dogs had vanished into the bush.

On the way back to camp we had excellent sightings of two lesser bushbabies, including one which leapt from the road into a tree – I don’t think I’ve ever seen one on the ground before. Our bat-eared neighbours were also in residence.

Autumn had been on safari for over two weeks by this point, and the early mornings were starting to catch up with her – she decided to skip dinner and go to bed early. I turned in pretty soon after dinner as well. I was writing in my journal at around 1030 when I heard a trumpeting, groaning racket erupt outside – maybe there would be ellies at the woodpile in the morning after all…

This is wonderful reading. I love your attention to details. Can't wait for the continuation--completely involved in the lionesses situation.

cw

Bushbabies! This is great.

Wow! This is fantastic! Am really enjoying it, thanks Julian!

JUNE 26: LINYANTI (SAVUTI CAMP)

Amazingly enough, Autumn managed to somehow sleep through last night’s elephantine dispute – apparently they were down by the woodpile, though they’d left by the time we got up. I love listening to the sounds of the bush, and I wonder what it’s like when the big herds are in residence during the dry season.

Shortly after leaving camp, we found the Savuti Boys again in the bed of the channel, resting in the tall grass before getting up to stretch their legs and mark their territory. Again, the dawn light was perfect – this has definitely been my best trip for cheetah sightings. Autumn was really chuffed.

Unfortunately, we drew a blank on the dogs again, though we did have fun listening to Kane call them – ‘Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!’ It sounded pretty realistic to me – if I was a wild dog I would have come over to investigate. He was pretty sure that they were denning somewhere in the south of the reserve, near the border with Selinda – last year they had denned on the Selinda side, so there was a chance that they were denning there again.

One of the guides had returned to check on the lioness last night, and this morning we found out that she had died around sundown – at least she hadn’t suffered long. We stopped near the hide, where she was laying on her side under a different bush – her wounds were much more visible than they had been yesterday, with a severe gouge on her flank and what looked like an amateur tracheotomy visible on her throat. Kane got out of the vehicle for a closer inspection, concluding that the neck wound had most likely been the cause of death.

She was a magnificent cat in the prime of life, and it was sad to see her laying so still in the morning sun. Death has a stillness sleep cannot mimic. Her eyes were half-open, but their amber depths had lost their gleam. Her coat still shone golden in the sun, but already the circle of life was turning – the scavengers had begun their work.

On the way back to camp we got a call from the managers – now that the wounded lioness was no longer a factor, the sleep-out was an option for tonight. Autumn really wanted to do it, and it sounded good to me providing that the smell from the dead lioness didn’t become overwhelming – I didn’t particularly want eau de dead lion to become my new signature scent.

We met with the managers when we got back to camp, and laid out the plan for the sleep-out. Normally we would do a bush dinner over a campfire near the hide, but with the dead lioness nearby and the likelihood of scavengers in the neighbourhood this was cancelled in favour of joining the boma dinner in camp. After the boma dinner we would head out to the hide. However, we would get to have a campfire breakfast in the bush.

Since we would be returning to camp for dinner, we were able to pack relatively light. One thing we should have done was to ask about the provision of hot water, towels, etc – we packed as if neither would be available, when we should have known better…this was Wilderness after all, not some budget camping outfit. But I did pick up a great tip from Autum about these Oil of Olay disposable facecloths – just add water and rub, and they lather up nicely. These would be great for airports and for other places where you want to wash your face after a long trip. Autumn also pre-packed for her departure tomorrow – she was headed out to Victoria Falls, where she would be staying at Tongabezi and Sindabezi.

We had a great time together, and we were already making plans for another trip together in 2008. I knew that she had really been looking forward to this trip, and it made me sad that she wasn’t seeing Botswana at its best – the odd weather had really played havoc with the game-viewing, both here in Savuti and at Lebala, where she had stayed just before coming here (though she did have superb viewing of some intense lion-buffalo interaction at Duba Plains).

I really wanted her to enjoy the sort of game-viewing I’ve always experienced in Botswana, so I invited her to join me at Mombo for a few days instead of going to Vic Falls. She was highly tempted, but in the end decided to stick to her plan to go to the Falls.

After packing, and going through the daily ritual of shower followed by lens cleaning and CF card downloading, we went to the Savuti shop. We’d stopped in yesterday to look for fleeces, but the cold weather meant that they were sold out – not a fleece in sight, though more were on the way. We both bought fleece hats though, and Autumn bought a really nice cotton jumper. I’d asked Jackie, the manager who runs the shop, to radio Mombo to see if they any fleeces – if they didn’t I planned to buy a jumper, as I’d found that I hadn’t packed enough warm clothes (there are definite drawbacks to being a one-bag traveller). It turned out that Mombo had a plentiful supply of fleeces, so I decided to wait.

We hung around the lounge, writing in our journals and reading. Autumn wanted to buy a copy of Running Wild (Tico McNutt’s great book on wild dogs) but the shop was out of those as well – they’re probably really popular. I recommended that she visit the Exclusive Books branch in Hyde Park during her Joburg layover – hopefully they would have a copy there. This is a wonderful book, but almost impossible to buy outside Southern Africa.

We made one last try for the dogs on the evening drive, but had no joy. I’ve been fortunate enough to see dogs an all of my trips thus far (no mean feat as I normally travel in June, not the best time for dog sightings) so while I was disappointed it wasn’t too bad – but I felt terrible for Autumn, who had now spent a week in the Linyanti (four nights at Lebala and three at Savuti) without seeing hide nor hair of a single wild dog. It only goes to show that you can never predict wildife, and makes every sighting you have even more special. We assuaged our disappointment by sketching out The Ultimate Wild Dog Itinerary for 2008.

As we drove back from the south of the reserve, we saw a giraffe drinking from the channel (a first for both of us, though we didn’t manage to get any decent photos as the light was coming in from the wrong angle). I was surprised by how fast the giraffe was able to get up and down – for some reason I thought it would take a lot longer than it did, though it probably felt like an eternity from the giraffe’s standpoint. The other giraffes in the herd acted as lookouts while one of them drank.

I heard a call come in over the radio that a leopard had been spotted (rosetted?) nearby. Kane said that the leopard was in a tree, so as we drew close I started scanning for that familiar rosetted coat. No leopard. Then Kane stopped the vehicle and told us to look up – and there they were, not one but two little leopard cubs. They were only about two months old, and somehow I’d gotten the impression that we were looking for an adult leopard so I was surprised by how tiny they were – about the size of a large domestic cat. Their eyes had started to go amber rather than blue, and their coats had started to show the striking adult pattern rather than the darker, densely spotted baby coat. They gazed curiously down on us, first peeking shyly out from behind their enormous fuzzy paws and then, deciding we weren’t of great interest, dropping off to sleep. I took a rather excessive number of pictures as the sun set – for some reason leopards tend to bring out the latent paparazzo in me. Seeing such tiny cubs was very special, and more than made up for missing the dogs.

The leopards alone would have made the evening for me, but there was more to come. We saw our bat-eared neighbours and their children hunting together in their field near camp – Autumn loves these little guys, and I can see why. Their huge ears and little pointed noses give them a comical expression, and it was great fun to watch them as they hunted insects in the grass.

On arriving back in camp we did a bit of final packing and went for dinner. We really wanted to get out to the hide early to have some time there before we went to sleep, and it was a bit dismaying to learn that the staff cultural event was scheduled for tonight. We considered skipping it (the management had explained the situation to the staff so no one would have been offended) but in the end we decided to stay. I’m really glad that we did, as it turned out to be the best cultural event I’ve experienced in any camp.

It wasn’t as slick and professional as some I’ve seen at other camps, but it was much more genuine. The enthusiasm was palpable, and there were some very unusual narrative songs that included some great acting – one was a song about a healer curing a sick woman, and one was a very funny and slightly rude song about flirtation which involved one of the guides trying to tickle the women’s bottoms with a feather duster while they danced away from him. Canius, another guide who acted as master of ceremonies, had a kudu horn trumpet that had a tendency to make inappropriate noises at the funniest moments.

After the show we went into the boma for a traditional meal – and it was a very traditional meal, with the men sitting on chairs and the women sitting on cushions. Canius told us a bit about the history of the kgotla, and nominated one of the guests as chief for the night. The food was very traditional as well (shredded pounded beef, traditionally served to honoured guests; miniature squashes; maize meal) and we ate with our hands (not, it has to be said, my favourite method of eating, though one of the staff did come around with an ewer of water to wash our hands in). I was lucky enough to sit next to Canius during the meal – it turned out that the songs were each from a different tribe, and staff members from each tribe chose and choreographed their own song. He asked for feedback, and the one suggestion I had was to provide translations of the lyrics – the music is beautiful, but a better understanding of the narrative would add another dimension.

Rather than waiting for dessert, Autumn and I decided to leave early to go out to the hide. After a quick stop in our tent to brush our teeth and wash our faces, we left the friendly voices and firelight behind and headed out into the African night.

What a special trip you are having. I love how you've written about it. Looking forward to more!

Cindy

Julian, very interesting report, and particularly revealing story about the lions -- while we generally view them as the top of the food chain, their lives can be brutal.

When I was in Kafunta, I witnessed a battle between a pride of lions and a buffalo, which ended with the lions devouring the buffalo. But the buffalo had inflicted a mortal wound on one of the juvenile lions, whose head and skeleton we located the next day. It had been picked clean by scavengers, and when we arrived, was covered with vultures. The head, though, was left untouched.

Michael

Oh Julian, this is terrific. A first for me...crying while reading a Fodors thread. The lioness saga got to me, I just keep thinking of her trying to protect her babies and then seeing her like you did that am is heartwrenching.

But then I perked back up after your leopard cub sighting, what a thrill!

That's cool that you found someone to share your experience with BUT she TD'd
Mombo???

Julian
Continuing to enjoy the report... despite the lack of wild dog sightings sounds like you and Autumn had some other fantastic sightings that more than made up for it!

Hello everyone,

Thanks for your feedback. Autumn and I also found the story of the lionesses heartbreaking -- you know it has to happen, but that doesn't make it easy to watch. We couldn't make ourselves go and see the other dead lioness though there was sure to be some interesting scavenger activity in progress.

Cheers,
Julian

JUNE 26: LINYANTI (SAVUTI CAMP), Continued:

By this point I’ve logged a lot of hours on night drives in both South Africa and Botswana, and I knew that in reality this was no different than the drive we had done before dinner. But knowing that didn’t stop it from feeling very different – there seemed to be an element of risk that hadn’t been there before. Maybe it was knowing that everyone else was in camp and we would be on our own if something happened. Maybe it was the fact that seeing what had happened to the lionesses had once again underlined that this was a wild, untamed place where death is part of life. Or maybe it was the simple fact of rebelling against all the instincts that had kept our primitive ancestors alive and abandoning the fire for the unknown dark.

The night seemed more alive than it normally did on a night drive (or maybe it was my imagination which was more lively than usual). Kane had the spotlight on like on a normal night drive, and we saw the bat-eared foxes and an African wild cat, and startled some ellies who did not take kindly to this sudden bright intrusion into their evening foraging.

When we reached the hide we got a faint whiff (though only that) of eau de dead lioness. Kane slowed down and swept the area with particular attention as the carcass might have attracted scavengers, but we didn’t see anything.

Kane drove the vehicle around to the back of the hide where the stairs were located. Unlike the front, which is very open, the back was surrounded by some thicker bush. There were lanterns in place leading up to the hide, and he lit those and led us upstairs.

I’ve seen pictures of the sleep-out set up at Chitabe (in the Wilderness brochures) so I had some idea of what to expect, but it was still surprising to see how civilised everything was. There were mattresses covered with individual mosquito nets and furnished with sleeping bags and fleece blankets. There were fluffy towels (hand and face sized) as well as Doom, Peaceful Sleep, and a mosquito coil, not that any mosquitoes were likely to bother us in the dead of winter. There was also a separate sleeping area for Kane. Downstairs, there was a very civilised bush loo, a director’s chair with a wooden toilet seat set over a long drop where ‘flushing’ was accomplished with a scoop of dirt.

Kane built a fire downstairs in front of the hide, where we sat and had some after-dinner drinks. We glimpsed eyes up near where the dead lioness lay – probably a hyaena.

We were more tired than we had expected, so we went to bed soon afterwards. As a house office (medical resident), I learned to live by the maxim ‘Eat when you can, sleep when you can, and pee when you can, as you never know when you’ll get another chance.’ With that in mind, I made sure to use the loo before we went to bed. This was probably the most nerve-wracking part of the experience – peeing in the bush in the dark whilst hearing unknown animals (probably just inoffensive creatures like impala) moving around nearby, and knowing there was probably a hyaena in the vicinity.

The lanterns were set down low, and we settled down to sleep. Actually getting into the beds was a bit of a faff – the mosquito nets were pinned a bit too securely under the mattresses. Great for bite prevention, but not so great when attempting to wriggle one’s way inside. Once inside, I remembered why I had never liked sleeping bags in my scouting days – they’re rather claustrophobic. Autumn recommended unzipping the bag and using it as a blanket, which worked much better.

Even a tent blocks some of the smaller night sounds, but here in the open air we were treated to a full nocturnal chorus, carried on the crisp night air. We fell asleep listening to the sounds of an African night – what could be better than that?

Wow!

Ditto that wow!

That's great news about more competition for Air Botswana in 2007. They've managed to alter two of my three Botswana itineraries.

The leopard cubs would be highlight of a whole trip!

Your lack of luck with the dogs this time underscores how tricky it can be to see them, even if you have planned well.

I loved your account of your sleep out and bet it will encourage others to try it. The "full nocturnal chorus" is a perfect way to describe the sounds from the hide.

The sad situation with the lioness must have been hard to witness. We all know that goes on, but few of us have a front row seat to it.

When you have the specs on your Ultimate Wild Dog Itinerary, you'll have to share them.

Julian great report. We were at Duma Tau June 25 to 27 and saw one of the dead lionesses on June 26th. It really affected the guides and made us all sad. We probably passed each other as we saw the 2 cheetahs and the leopard cubs as well. We were very lucky in seeing wild dog on our first game drive at Duma Tau which was in the late afternoon of June 25th. Four dogs were hunting an impala. My trip report is under Back from Botswana and Zambia.

As I was reading about the leopard cubs, I was thinking, "Suddenly everyone is seeing leopard cubs."

That was your report, Raeland, I was recalling. Turns out, it was the same leopard cubs.

As for the many African Wildcats, I was told that the abundant rain meant more rodents and therefore more wildcats.

The bat earred fox family must have been a wonderful sighting, Julian..

How fortunate you both saw the cheetah brothers as well as the baby leopards.

Julian,

Didnt Autumn, get a chance to see the Lagoon pack of dogs, either?

Hari

Julian

We were at Duma Tau when you were at Savuti and I think we saw you at the wounded Lioness in the morning.

Raelond

Seems we missed you at Duma Tau, we left on the morning of the 25th.

Hello Matt and Raelond,

It sounds like quite a few of us where in the Linyanti around the same time...instead of ships passing in the night it was Land Cruisers passing in the morning and afternoon.

Hari,

Autumn stayed at Lebala, and she didn't see the Lagoon pack or the Selinda pack. The situation with the wild dogs at Lagoon has undergone some interesting changes - more on that later, but in short sightings are likely to be a bit more challenging now than they have been in the past.

Cheers,
Julian

Julian:
I am really enjoying your report. As already mentioned by others, the lioness story was moving.

I am very behind on my trip reports and going away for a bit, but I have to say this is better than Deep Space Nine!

Looking forward to the rest. Thank you.

Thanks Julian,

The intrigue!!! Will await your next edition of the trip report to bombard you with more questions.

Anyways, wont be at Kwando until August 22....the dogs may just be bk to say hello. Fingers crossed and hope for the best!!!

Hari

On reading Kwando's game sightings report, the lagoon pack disappeared sometime just prior to July 19 to find a den site deep into the mopane woodlands. So, that's probably why Autumn didnt see them. Normally, even if you are at Lebala you can drive north to see something, should it be a spectacular sighting!!!

Hari

Hi Hari,

Autumn was at Lebala at the end of June - I was at Lagoon at the beginning of July. I'm particularly interested in the dogs so I spent a lot of time talking to the guides about the dog sightings at Kwando - but more on this later. I still haven't left Savuti yet!

Cheers,
Julian

Julian,

It's a shame that I can't read the rest of your excellent trip report until the end of August cause Namibia is waiting for me.

About my ideal wild dogs safari: you should have traversing rights between the Selinda/Linyanti and Kwando concession (that's how it's done if one wants to make a documentary) or you should be able to travel on the spot to the concession where they located the den.

Best regards,

Johan

Hello Johan,

Yes, traversing rights across all three reserves would be ideal...unfortunately I'm not the BBC, and I doubt that a private party would be able to arrange that sort of access. If only I'd become hooked on Africa while I was still working in Hollywood...

Cheers,
Julian

Julian,

I would be extremely difficult to arrange something like that but with the right connections you'll never know.

Best regards,

Johan

I bet if you booked a room in each location, then had a private vehicle without decals there would be no problem.

Hi Matt,

Interesting idea...you'd also need a guide who knew all three reserves well, and a couple of radios so you could listen in on all the frequencies.

Cheers,
Julian

Julian
Please, sir, I want some more. Trip report that is.
regards - tom

Tom just beat me to it... I came to the thread for the same reason... to beg for the next supplement.

BTW which Star Trek stuff did you write?

Hello,

Hang in there...it's coming, hopefully sometime today!

I wrote for the fifth season of Deep Space Nine.

Cheers,
Julian

JUNE 27: LINYANTI (SAVUTI CAMP)

Ironically, after all that concern about freezing, both of us found it rather too warm during the night – together the sleeping bags and fleeces could stave off an Arctic winter. But the beds were very comfortable, and after kicking off the fleece blanket I slept very well.

We woke with the early morning light, listening to the opening strains of the dawn bush chorus. Getting up was simplified by not needing to get dressed (we’d changed in camp and slept in the clothes we planned to wear the following day). Kane had banked the fire last night, and he was already down below with a nice hot kettle of water for washing our faces.

We sat around the campfire watching the sun rise and talking to Kane about his hometown, which turned out to be Gudwiga – some of you may remember the ill-fated Wilderness Bushman experience camp at Gudwiga, which endured a rather amazing run of bad luck before finally burning down. But the camp is being re-built, and will hopefully be re-opening either later this year or in 2007.

Kane’s village is also one of the co-owners of the Vumbura and Duba Plains concessions (home to Little Vumbura, Vumbura Plains, and Duba Plains). I’d always been curious about the tender process for concessions in Botswana, and it was fascinating to learn about how Gudwiga and the other villages had chosen Wilderness to run their concessions. They had had previous experience with Wilderness, and had been so positively impressed by the company that they had elected to offer the concessions to Wilderness without taking other bids. The concession fee for Vumbura was originally $1.5 million per year, but was recently raised to $2.5 million per year when the contract was renewed (which does go a long way towards explaining the prices of the camps in Botswana).

What’s wonderful is that the money is not going to line the pockets of a select few, but is really being used to benefit the community as a whole. A general store was built and supplied with community purchased goods – no small thing when you consider how remote the villages actually are. The store is administered and run by community members, so money spent there stays in the community. Bush ambulances were purchased for the clinic, and scholarships established for children who want to go to university. In addition to receiving money from Wilderness for the concessions, jobs with the company are highly sought-after, particularly as managers and guides. Kane had been a manager at Duba Plains before deciding that he preferred guiding.

We went to the area in the southern part of the reserve where the dogs had been seen for one more shot at them, but had no joy. Kane got out to do some tracking to see if he could turn up anything on foot, taking the rifle with him (guides on sleep-outs are armed). While he was gone, we heard lions starting to roar quite nearby – when we found them it turned out to be the two pride males from the pride which is under siege, a pair of really magnificent males with rufous fur around their faces darkening to black further down. I was surprised to hear that Autumn has rarely seen two males together on her many trips to the Mara.

They weren’t really roaring, but making long, plaintive groans that made Autumn wonder if they knew that two of their wives were dead. I couldn’t help but wonder where they had been when that fight took place.

Kane said that they were about 8 years old, still in their prime. There are four pride males – the other pair is younger, about 6-7 years old. When we wondered why all four didn’t combine forces to repel the invaders, Kane said that they would most likely fight as pairs of brothers, though they did band together to claim this territory. It may be time for them to re-discover strength in numbers of they want to hold on to their hard-won kingdom.

We stayed with the lions for a bit, and then went to check on the little leopard cubs. The cubs were gone from their tree, and we weren’t able to re-locate them. Kane drove down to the river towards Duma Tau, where we found a young male hippo snoozing under a bush – a rather bizarre sight. I’ve never seen a hippo so relaxed out of the water, but Kane said it was quite common to see them in the thickets along the river during the winter, trying to soak up some sun.

Leaving the river behind, we came across a large herd of buffalo in the Savuti Channel, probably a couple of hundred animals strong. One of the great things about buffalo is that when you drive up to them they will all turn and stare at you, so you never get stuck with the Tourist View. It was a classic African scene, with the herd in the foreground and the wide-open grasslands of the Channel behind them. The chocolate brown calves were surprisingly cute (though like hyaenas they definitely don’t improve aesthetically with age). On the way back to camp we saw a nice pair of black-backed jackals.

Before heading into camp we stopped at the woodpile hide to take some pictures – having come all this way to sit on it, we were going to sit on it, ellies or no ellies. It’s much larger and more solid than it looks from a distance, and is constructed from huge leadwood logs to withstand abuse from the ellies. It’s shaped roughly like a hollow square, and getting into the middle proved more challenging than we had anticipated as the normal entrance was blocked by some debris. While climbing in I accidentally stepped between two logs – initially I thought I’d sprained my ankle, but it turned out that I had only bruised it, though I did collect a rather nasty looking scratch on my right shin. We took a few pictures with Kane, and then went back to camp.

Here’s where the medical kit came in handy – as Autumn was packing up I disinfected my leg and bandaged the wound after applying a nice coating of triple antibiotic ointment. I didn’t even want to think about what exotic organisms might be lurking in that woodpile. (It healed fine, though I do now have a faint scar as a permanent moment of Savuti).

Autumn managed to pack up pretty quickly, and we met in the lounge where I was taking pictures of animals at the waterhole (zebras, not ellies, but at this point I wasn’t going to be picky). The lounge is a lot bigger than I thought it was, when you take into account the deck by what has to be the cleanest pool in the bush in Botswana – not a leaf or insect to be seen.

We said a sad goodbye, and promised to get in touch when we returned. I was really sad that the weather had had such a large impact on her trip – I love Botswana and I really wanted her to see it at its best. But she is planning to come back, so there’s always next time. We both agreed that we’d like to come back to Savuti – it’s such a great little camp.

I spent the afternoon doing a little packing – the staff always move everything off the beds when they make them up and turn them down, so there were little bits and bobs scattered all around the tent. I found a bag of my Maison Freres tea (packed in a fit of paranoia about having to endure three weeks of Red Roses) in the drawer of the bedside table on Autumn’s side, and a collection of random stuff on the table where the Doom, Peaceful Sleep, and emergency horn were located. It would be great to have a proper writing table – hopefully that will come in with the renovations.

I hadn’t booked a private vehicle for my last day, so I had four new vehicle-mates, an older man and his wife and their daughter and son-in-law. They really seemed to appreciate their good fortune in being so close to Botswana (unlike some of their compatriots, who moan endlessly about not living in the UK or US). They had done an overland trip through Botswana last year, and found staying in safari camps an interesting contrast. After their safari in Botswana, they were self-driving through Namibia. Self-driving in Botswana sounds like planning a military expedition – you need to be totally self-sufficient, as there is no RAC (AAA) in the Okavango. Definitely not my idea of a holiday, but to each his own…

We set off to look for the dogs again, as the South Africans really wanted to see them as well, but never even made it out to that part of the concession – there was just too much to see along the way. We found a huge herd of buffalo in the forest, a big change from seeing them on the open channel. I got some great pictures of them as the sun filtered through the trees. It was funny to watch them try to scratch themselves on conveniently located branches.

After watching the buffalo for awhile we drove along the channel where we found an unusual sight – a hippo grazing by day. I’d never realised how large a hippo’s head is compared to the rest of its body before.

We heard that one of the other groups had spotted the leopard cubs in the same area where they had been seen before – apparently their mother liked that area. We arrived to find the mother leopard and one cub on the ground near the tree where we had seen them last night. The cub looked even tinier on the ground, and his back still showed the darker densely spotted baby coat. The mother leopard was quite shy, and slipped quickly into the bush. The cub stared at us for a moment longer, blinking wide amber eyes, and followed suit.

We left the leopards in peace and followed the sound of lions roaring to the two pride males I’d seen that morning. They seemed to be beating the bounds of their territory, roaring and marking. It was a shame Autumn missed it, as I don’t think she’s ever heard a lion roar up close.

On the way back to camp, we had another fantastic sighting of a caracal – once again, the apricot-coloured cat was sitting calmly in the middle of the road as if waiting for us. I had already put my cameras away, so I just watched the cat move gracefully through the bush and out of sight. Closer to camp we saw the bat-eared fox family again.

Dinner was the usual good hearty Wilderness fare. I enjoyed a final cup of rooibos and headed back to pack. I did as much as I could in the dark and left the rest for the morning.

JUNE 28: LINYANTI (SAVUTI CAMP) / OKAVANGO DELTA (MOMBO)

The lions roared throughout the night – too bad Autumn wasn’t here to hear them. The guides said they heard both the pride males and the intruders, and looks like it’s shaping up to be a real battle royale.

This morning was back down to 7C (it really did feel warmer at the hide, more like 9C) which made getting up a bit harder. We headed out towards the southern end of the reserve again (where the dogs had been spotted) but got side-tracked (no pun intended) by some cheetah tracks, and then by a call for a lion sighting.

When we arrived, I was overjoyed to see the lioness and cubs from our first game drive – the third sister had escaped. It was nice to see that they were alive and well, though looking a bit thin and stressed. Kane said that unless she teamed up with her remaining sister (the one with the very young cubs) she would really struggle to feed all three of the cubs on her own.

While we were watching the lions, the call I had been waiting so long for finally came in – someone had seen the dogs! They were down south, ironically enough in the very area where we had been headed before getting side-tracked. Kane was completely willing to go for it, but because I was the one with a flight to catch, the others very generously let me make the call as to whether or not to go – if we went, I’d almost certainly have to miss brunch in order to make my flight to Mombo. Of course, I told Kane to go for it – I’d much rather see wild dogs than eat brunch!

Time crawls when you’re in a hurry to get anywhere, and even though I knew Kane was making as much haste as he safely could I kept having the urge to tell him to go faster. As we entered the home stretch, the older South African woman yelled, ‘Cheetah! Cheetah! Cheetah!’ We skidded to a stop – there were the Savuti Boys stretched out a rock.

It seemed to take an eternity for her to take her two or three pictures – she would have taken more, but the rest of us wanted to keep moving so Kane promised that we would come back to see them later. We headed onwards and rounded a bend near a flooded area of the channel where they had been seen hunting. There was another Wilderness vehicle…so where were the dogs? To my dismay we heard that they had disappeared into the bush moments before. I seriously wanted to strangle the South African woman.

We headed back the way we had come, where we found the Savuti Boys strolling and marking their territory. I got some lovely shots of them climbing termite mounds for a better view – this has definitely been my best trip ever for cheetah sightings.

On the way back to camp, we passed the lioness and cubs, who were now resting on a rock in the shade. I silently wished them the best of luck in the days to come.

I didn’t have time to eat, but thankfully Jaci, one of the managers, radioed ahead to Mombo to ask them to prepare a lunch for me. I’d also forgotten to settle my bill and do my tipping last night, so I really had to rush to get everything done. At least I had already written the thank-you notes for Kane and the staff – I put the staff card in the tip box and gave Kane his at the airstrip. I really hope the re-launch of Gudwiga Camp goes well.

Savuti is a great little camp. The tents may be a bit on the small side, but the welcome is so large that it more than makes up for it. I really hope that they don’t lose that wonderful Savuti spirit when they renovate the camp.

The flight to Mombo was in a Cessna Caravan, and took about 25 minutes. There were only four other people on the plane – a father and 12-year-old son who were going to Mombo, and an older couple going to Jao. I really hoped that I wouldn’t end up sharing a vehicle with the kid.

I asked the pilot if she could fly over the camp so I could get some pictures, but she said it wasn’t possible because it might disturb the people currently in camp since it was siesta time. But she did fly by and circle around, and I got some aerial shots that might or might not have worked – it’s hard to tell without looking at them on my computer. I got some nice shots of the Delta, and we saw a big herd of buffalo from the air which was brilliant, though I couldn’t get a picture because of the angle. We hadn’t even landed, and Mombo was already living up to its reputation.

When we landed at Mombo, I was startled to see a familiar face – Cilas, lately of Duma Tau. It turned out that I was going to be sharing a vehicle with the man and his son, but only for two nights (why someone would come to Mombo for only two nights is beyond me, but in this case I was happy that their agent hadn’t recommended a longer stay) and having Cilas as our guide more than made up for it. He had guided me at Duma Tau on a previous trip and is a first-class guide. I told him of the frustrating time I’d had with the dogs at Savuti, and he promised he’d do his best to find the Mombo pack for me.

The current Mombo pack is a completely new pack, not related to the original Mombo pack which made Mombo famous for wild dog sightings in the 1990s. That pack had broken up after the alpha female died, and these dogs were a new pack that had moved into the area within the last year or two. They had denned last year (two pups had made it to adulthood) but the alpha female didn’t appear to be pregnant this year.

We were met with cool facecloths and drinks in the car park, and Noreen, one of the managers, showed me to my tent – if you can really call something like the suites at Mombo a tent. I was in Tent 8, the last tent to the left of the main lounge if you are facing out towards the floodplain in front of the camp. (Tent 9, the honeymoon tent, is even further out that way, but there is a long wooden boardwalk crossing a lagoon between Tents 8 and 9 so Tent 8 feels as if it’s the last one). I’d requested either 8 or 9 when I made my booking, and I’m very glad I did – it’s the shadiest tent in camp, and I liked being on the end near the lagoon (though it was quite a ways from the main lounge.) The tents at Mombo are easily triple the size of my room at Savuti, not including the decks, sala, and outdoor shower. The large wooden door swings open to reveal a double bed with mosquito netting; a proper writing table; a sitting area with very comfortable chairs and ottomans; and an enormous bathroom with free-standing double sinks and a shower built for two. There were two decks; one could be entered from the bathroom and contained the outdoor shower as well as some space to sit, and one attached to the main living area which had a chaise lounge (very comfortable), a table and chairs, and the boardwalk to the thatched sala. The sala had a mattress and cushions which made laying here and watching the animals on the floodplain a perfect way to spend an afternoon siesta. I’ve seen the pictures (in ‘Mombo – The Okavango’s Place of Plenty’) but the reality was much more impressive, particularly in light of the knowledge that the entire thing is held together with wooden dowels rather than nails.

I was here for five nights, and it was nice to really unpack after taking some in-room shots for the Safari Photo Album. Noreen warned me that some of the resident monkeys had learned how to work the tent zips, so it was a good idea to keep medication and anything colourful out of sight to reduce temptation. Fortunately, there was both a spacious wardrobe and a chest of drawers for storage. After unpacking, I went out on my deck, where there was a great view of the floodplains in front of the camp.

After a quick shower, I returned to the main lounge to sign the usual forms and meet the rest of my vehicle-mates, a 50-ish venture capitalist from Manhattan and his girlfriend (very blonde and about 20 years younger), who was dressed in designer clothing and carrying a Louis Vuitton bag and would soon come to be known to everyone in camp as Spa Girl.

We’d arrived at 1230pm, so even after the formalities there was still time to grab a bite to eat and look around the camp. Since they don’t do night drives at Mombo due to park regulations, the afternoon drive does start a bit earlier, with tea at 3 rather than 3:30 since you have to be back by sunset, around 630 in the winter. The morning activities run longer to compensate, with a wake-up call at 6am, breakfast at 630, and returning for brunch around 11am. You do end up spending a bit more time in camp than you do in other camps because of the no night-drive policy, so it’s a good thing that the rooms and public areas are so nice. In addition to a bar, a range of sitting areas, a plunge pool, and a well-stocked library (though unfortunately someone had beaten me to the camp’s copy of ‘Running Wild’), there is a computer and free CDs for downloading digital photographs which was a nice touch. No Internet, of course, but that was fine with me. Everything is raised off the ground and connected by wooden boardwalks.

I made a quick visit to the curios shop before tea, crossing the long raise boardwalk over the lagoon next to my room and heading towards Tent 9 and Little Mombo – the walkways to the curio shop and gym lead off this main walkway between Tents 8 and 9. The shop was much larger than the one at Savuti, and best of all they had fleeces. I bought a nice green one with the old-style Mombo Camp logo on it. I’d also wanted to buy ‘Eye of the Leopard’, the Jouberts’ new book about one of the Mombo leopards, but despite a release date of ‘early 2006’ listed on the brochure in the stationery folder at Savuti it turned out that it had not been released yet.

The Mombo shop was the first place I encountered the work of Patrick Mavros, a supremely talented Zimbabwean silversmith whose beautiful sculptures would also turn up later at Singita (the silver candelabras in the Ebony Lodge dining room, which can be seen in the Safari Photo Album). I was particularly taken with his silver pangolin sculptures, though there was no way I was buying anything that heavy here. He has a shop in London, however (I made a mental note to drop in when I got home) as well as a website, http://www.patrickmavros.com

Tea at Mombo is a more formal affair than in other Wilderness camps – rather than eating buffet-style, you find a seat in the lounge and the staff serve you. States, one of the staff, became my self-appointed personal butler, and put a lot of effort into making sure that I was taken care of during my stay – a refreshing change from being ignored, often the fate of the solo traveller (though not, it has to be said, at any Wilderness camp). There was a delicious chocolate cake, and (!) a wide range of teas to select from, a true rarity in any safari camp.

I also chatted with Craig Scott, the head chef, about the dinner menu, as there was coconut in the soup and I don’t eat it. He is Scottish and trained in London, and gives lie to all the stereotypes about British food. Unlike in other camps where food is served buffet style, here there was a menu with a starter, two mains to choose from, pudding, and after-dinner cheese, biscuits, chocolates and liqueurs. Craig was wonderful about accommodating my requests, and would even make separate dishes if you didn’t happen to like what was one the menu (not just if you were allergic to it).

I met two of Wilderness’s private guides over tea, Richard and Matthew. I was surprised to learn that Matthew had raised Chui, the leopard I had petted at the Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre on the Panorama Route, before becoming a guide.

As lovely as the tea was, and as beautiful as the camp was, I hadn’t come to Mombo for the food or the accommodation – I was here for the game. So it was with great anticipation that I headed down to the car park for my first game drive.

keep it coming julian. im heading to botswana in less than 3 weeks and want to know the latest from mombo and other camps. was Tsile still guiding there? and about your "who stays at mombo for just 2 days" rhetorical question, the answer is undoubtedly, who can afford more than 2 days? hehehe. fortunately we scrapped togethre and are visiting for 3.
look forward to the rest of your report.

Julian,

I'm just catching up on your trip report... sounds like you had some amazing sightings .. and that poor lioness - it must have been heartwrenching but thankfully she didn't suffer for long. AND those Leopard cubs - you are so lucky!

Julian, a couple of questions - When did you pet Chui at Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre? How did you arrange it? This is DEFINATELY one for my list!

Thanks and please keep posting!

Imelda

Hi Imelda,

Thanks for reading my trip report - I'm glad you're enjoying it!

I petted Chui in 2004. He's full-grown now, but still loves to lean up against the fence and have his head rubbed. It was great to meet Matthew and talk to him about what it was like to raise a leopard cub.

Cheers,
Julian

Sorry, forgot to answer the second part of your question. No special arrangements are necessary, though of course it depends on whether he's in the mood to be petted. Any interaction with animals at Moholoholo is supervised by a ranger.

Cheers,
Julian

Julian,

My compliments on your report so far...I'm glad you didn't wait too long to add further instalments.

I'm always pleased to hear of sightings of "the boys" because alongside the wild dogs, they're my favourite animals. I see them most often in the centre of their range (Selinda) but just in the space of a few days now I've read of Fodorites seeing them at Kwando and Savuti. Wonderful! Coincidentally, yesterday I was working on some new scans of photos I took of the boys when they were still a trio back in 2004. The spillway was newly flooded then, and the three unusually were having to cross water to get to where they wanted to go. They were very cautious, anxiously checking out catfish bubbles before suddenly making a mad dash to the other side. <a href="http://www.afrigalah.com/sel3img/Cheetahcrossing806.jpg">Here's the first shot in a series of about 10</a> (I haven't finished the full series yet).

Well, I messed up the code but I think the link still works

John

I'm enjoying your report, Julian. Thanks!

Great photo, afrigalah!

You got to me again Julian with that lioness and cub sighting in Savuti. I would have been a mess leaving that sight as I drove off for the final time just wondering if they were going to be ok. But on the otherhand, how wonderful you got to see them once again and know they were alive.

Sorry you didn't get to see the dogs, I was driving as fast as I could while reading your story! That would have been THE day to have your own private vehicle no doubt.

Ok, so I will cross Mombo off my list as I don't have designer clothes or my LV bags. Can't wait to hear more about Spa girl...I have a feeling this is going to be good. We had a spa girl on my trip too.

So can you throw in a couple photos here and there yet? I am hooked.....

John,

Lovely picture of the cheetahs!!! Yes, you are right....lately, all visitors hv been seeing the two boys, regardless of which part of the linyanti/Kwando/Selinda area they visit. Hope the fodorite luck rubs in, during my trip also.....

Hari

Hello,

Yes, Carla, I've learnt my lesson - from now on it will be all private vehicles and hang the cost.

You'll be hearing more about Spa Girl in the next instalment. But don't worry, you don't need designer clothes at Mombo - she stuck out like a sore thumb in her skintight D&G jeans, looking like a refugee from a chic bar in New York.

Cheers,
Julian

JUNE 28: OKAVANGO DELTA (MOMBO) Continued:

Game-viewing started not more than two or three minutes from camp, with herds of impala and lechwe, followed by a couple of dagga boys grazing amongst the reeds next to the road. As we drove out, there was the usual bit of getting to know you – it turned out that both the father in the father-son duo and the venture capitalist were recreational pilots, and they quickly veered off into a discussion of the merits of various aircraft. The kid turned out to be quite quiet, happy to watch animals through his binoculars and attempt to get pictures of them with his dad’s new Nikon D-50.

This was when Spa Girl earned her name. Naturally we talked about our travel plans, and once I mentioned that I was headed to Singita she was off and running. She could not stop talking about Singita Boulders, her idea of the ideal safari camp – not for its food, or décor, or heaven forbid its game-viewing (though all of the above are exceptional) but for its spa. She had apparently spent virtually every moment of their stay ensconced in the spa while her boyfriend went on game drives, and was rather miffed to find out that neither Vumbura Plains (her last camp) or Mombo was blessed with similar facilities. This was going to be a running theme with her, to the point where I winced every time anyone mentioned Singita in her presence – the spa at Boulders was all she could talk about, and after a certain point it got really annoying. Eventually, it had gone on so long that it went beyond annoying and became rather amusing in a pathetic sort of way – here she was at Mombo, arguably the best place on earth for seeing African animals in the wild, and all she could talk or think about was the spa at Singita (with the occasional word or two for the electric blankets at Singita). I couldn’t help but think of the many Fodorites who would kill to be in her shoes – what a waste!

But even Spa Girl had her redeeming features – the only other thing she could talk about was the helicopter transfer she and her boyfriend had done from Vumbura Plains to Mombo. The transfer was only 15 minutes and the helicopter had a minimum billing period of half an hour, so they’d use the extra 15 minutes to do a scenic flight over the Delta. The views were tremendous, and you could see lots of game from the air. It did sound great, and it was something I wouldn’t have considered until hearing about it and seeing some of her boyfriend’s pictures. Talking about it made her want to do it again, and the father and son also decided to do a flight for the son’s birthday. Both groups asked me if I wanted to join them (the helicopter seats three), and I actually chose the group with the kid, which says it all. We decided to enquire about it when we got back to camp.

We heard an exciting call over the radio – a leopard cub had been found in a tree. When we arrived, the vehicle from Little Mombo was already in place, with what looked like an entire plane’s worth of camera gear on board for a single guest – though what that guy was shooting at that distance with a 400mm prime lens was beyond me. I was sorely tempted to ask if we could swap places, as he would have been better off further back while my 70-200 would have been ideal for where he was sitting.

Draped over the top of a fallen log was the youngest leopard cub I’ve ever seen, a tiny fluffy thing with a dark densely spotted baby coat and enormous ears and paws. It turned out this cub was one of an unusually large litter of three, and was about 1 month old. A shaft of sunlight shone down on its little face as it snoozed peacefully, occasionally opening its blue eyes and rearranging is paws. The cub’s camouflage was incredible, and the guide who spotted it must have one of the best sets of eyes in Botswana. It was a very special sighting, and I felt very privileged to be so close to such a young cub. The two siblings were also nearby, but remained hidden from our vantage point (they were further back in the shadows).

After it became clear that the cubs were going to snooze for quite some time, our group moved on. I would have rather stayed with the cub until it woke up, but the others were first-timers and didn’t have the patience to wait. Another argument for a private vehicle…I had been trying to book a private vehicle at Mombo since around August 2005, but hadn’t been able to secure one. However, we did make plans to come back later in the evening when the cubs were likely to be more active.

We saw some good general game, including a journey of giraffe looking particularly picturesque in the late afternoon light. We were about to head back to the cubs when we heard that a leopard had just made a kill nearby. On arrival at the sighting we found a beautiful female leopard with a freshly killed impala – it was Legadimo, the star of the Jouberts’ new book and movie. So while I didn’t get a chance to buy her biography, I did meet the star ‘in person’. She was so relaxed that we were able to get close enough to hear her gnawing and the sound of her tongue rasping on the meat. The sun was setting swiftly, and she was understandably in a hurry to get the impala opened up so she could eat and dispose of the heavy stomach and hoist the kill before the scavengers picked up on the scent. She was a small leopard, so she would have to eat a lot before she could hoist it.

We stayed with her until it got dark, and left wishing her luck with defending her kill from scavengers. I wish we could have stayed longer, but the no night-drive rule meant that we had to head back to camp. (Even if night drives had been allowed, we probably would have had to leave, as watching the leopard eat her dinner had put Spa Girl right off hers).

I enjoyed a pre-dinner glass of Pimms (a traditional English summer drink) before sitting down to a meal of seared beef fillet and sticky toffee pudding. After dinner we gathered around the fireplace, nibbling on the after-dinner buffet of cheese and biscuits, liqueurs, and homemade chocolates and marshmallows. It’s been forever since I roasted a marshmallow, and made a rather bad job of it, but it was still delicious.

Ah, the joys of having an indoor shower – I was able to shower after dinner. They do smalls in the laundry here, so I piled some clothes in the laundry basket before curling up on one of the cushy armchairs to write in my journal. Around 1030 I was startled from my thoughts by what sounded like wholesale destruction of the camp taking place right outside – an elephant had come to visit, and was determinedly destroying the vegetation beside my tent. At least it sounded like the vegetation – I certainly hoped it wasn’t the walkway or Tent 7 next door. For the next hour the elephant worked on the vegetation, before heading off across the lagoon next to my tent – I could hear the splashing of his footsteps as he padded away. On the way out he bumped into one of the tent supports and the tent swayed briefly before stabilising. Thus ended what would be the first of several Close Encounters of the Elephantine Kind at Mombo.

Wonderful to continue reading your report...

BTW presumably because I stayed in Gudigwa in 2004 I received an email recently from Big Foot Safaris about the reopening of the camp soon. They have taken over what they refer to as proprietorship (by which I assume they mean ownership) which confuses me as I thought the camp was owned by the community working in partnership with WS. Julian do you have more info on this?

Thanks
Kav

Hi Kavey,

Based on my conversation with Kane, the community is definitely still the owner so unless Big Foot is partially owned by them I think that someone may have let their vocabulary run away with them a bit. He said that they were looking into both a luxury option (in partnership with WS) and a budget option (perhaps in partnership with Big Foot).

Cheers,
Julian

"...though what that guy was shooting at that distance with a 400mm prime lens was beyond me."

Depends what you mean by 'that distance', Julian. To put it bluntly, 400mm is usually 'bugger all' with small subjects. Anything less can be a pea-shooter. I don't know, he might be one of those loaded people with more money and camera gear than sense how to use either, but he might also be a photographer making money from his images or a very serious hobbyist, and it's silly to ridicule him without knowing. Provided the subject is not inside his lens' minimum focussing distance, it doesn't matter how long his lens is if he's deliberately going for really tight close-ups. A tiny, well-camouflaged leopard cub might well justify such attention. And if he had a lot of camera gear as you say, he might have done his wider shots before you arrived.

Looking forward to seeing your shots.

John

Julian, I'm looking forward for more information on Mombo, especially sightings that justify your claim that Mombo is "arguably the best place on earth for seeing African animals in the wild" -- so far, it seems surprisingly average, or maybe even less than average since Mombo (like other camps that are well-known among the jetsetting crowd) seems to attract those interested in things other than wildlife viewing (like spas, as you mentioned). For Mombo-money, I'd expect pangolins, aardvarks and caracals on every drive, not the usual stuff that can be seen in other camps. Did Mombo offer anything that you hadn't seen, or could not be seen, at other camps (other than rhinos, which were introduced, and can be seen in great abundance in South Africa).

Based on your report so far, I am very pleased that I chose Savuti and Chitabe, and not Mombo, which I also considered.

Does the game viewing at Mombo get much better? I don't see how it can come close to rivaling the great migration in terms of capturing the title of "arguably the best place on earth for seeing African animals in the wild."

Thanks, Michael

Hi Johan,

No ridicule intended - I really did wonder what on earth he was doing. Based on my experience, it would have been tough to get a good shot with a 400mm and a crop body at that distance - it would have been ideal from where I was sitting, which was a good 20-25 meters back. (My old camera set-up had a maximum reach of 420mm so I'm pretty familiar with that particular focal length). I got some great shots so it didn't really matter, but while shooting over his shoulder I had plenty of time to check out what he was using, and the more I looked at the set-up the more puzzled I was. To each his own...

Cheers,
Julian

Julian,

You are a leopard cub magnet!!!

Does or will Autumn have a report too?

We'll have to see if Julian's visit to Mombo lives up to its billing of "arguably the best place on earth for seeing African animals in the wild" but the two weeks I've spent there on past visits have earned that title without question.

Hi Michael,

There's more to come, but what I found was that while you can get more quantity elsewhere the quality of the sightings at Mombo was tremendous. The animals are very relaxed, and this, combined with the remoteness of the camp, the sheer beauty of the Delta, and the fact that there were so few people makes for what is IMO a nearly ideal game-viewing experience. True, you can get very close to very relaxed animals in the Sabi Sand, but as much as I love the Sabi Sand it doesn't have the same atmosphere as the Delta.

Whether Mombo (or any camp) is worth the money is a personal decision based on what your game-viewing priorities are - I came to Mombo for the predators, particularly leopard, and on that front it certainly delivered, with some of my best leopard sightings to date. I'm looking forward to going back.

With your interests, it may not be the right place for you -- in my experience the Delta in general isn't great for aardvark or caracal (though serval are sometimes seen) -- they're much more commonly seen in the Linyanti region. The Savuti Channel is great for small cats, and hopefully you'll have good sightings there.

I'd love to see a pangolin, but they're a shot in the dark no matter where you go. Interestingly, SIngita has a particularly good record for pangolin sightings in the recent past as there is a research project going on there.

Cheers,
Julian

Sorry Johan -- I meant John!

Cheers,
Julian

Hello Lynn,

Seems like I inadvertently hit a hot button with that statement about Mombo being 'arguably the best place on earth to see animals in the wild.'

Obviously this is a matter of opinion, and depending on your game-viewing interests you may or may not agree -- Mombo may not be the best place for seeing aarvark and caracal (I'd vote for Savuti) but IMO it's one of the best places for really top-notch leopard viewing with the added bonus of a resident pack of wild dogs. Being in the Delta, which I believe is one of the most beautiful places on earth, is the icing on the cake. For me that combination is just about perfect.

Cheers,
Julian

Julian,

Hope to see atleast a few pictures prior to my departure?

Hari

Hi Hari,

Depends on when you're leaving - I finally got my new hard drive today, but I haven't started processing my photos yet.

Cheers,
Julian

Next sunday evening, Julian....August 13th...

Hari

JUNE 29: OKAVANGO DELTA (MOMBO)

I woke to the sound of lions roaring around 530am – a real African wake-up call. To my surprise, when I left my tent the surrounding vegetation appeared mostly intact. And it was even a balmy 11C.

Spa Girl’s hidden virtues were becoming more apparent – because she needed her beauty sleep (actually, I don’t think anything short of a sample sale at Louis Vuitton would get her out of bed early), she and her boyfriend would be joining the morning drive later in the day. It was the kid’s birthday and he wanted to sleep in as well, so I had a private vehicle for most of the morning drive. It’s great that Wilderness has this sort of flexibility. After a quick breakfast of porridge and tea (provided by States) we were off.

Compared to yesterday evening virtually anything would seem slow, and the drive did start off pretty quietly. We saw some general game on the way out of camp – the impala looked fluffy with their fur standing on end to keep them warm. A lone hyaena looked surprisingly handsome in the early morning light (proving beyond a doubt that lighting is everything when it comes to looking photogenic). We also saw a really adorable nest of tiny young tree squirrels sunning themselves on the side of a tree. They were grooming each other and chasing each other around – it was very sweet.

We checked on the leopards, but both cubs and kill were gone. There were no drag marks at the kill site, and Cilas surmised that Legadimo had probably lost the kill to another predator sometime during the night. I hoped that she at least got a good meal out of it.

I got some nice shots of ellies feeding on the lush green Delta foliage in the warm morning light, and a herd of zebra on a floodplain. A short while later, I caught a quick movement in the grass and a flash of black and white – it was a honey badger! We had a great sighting of him foraging in the grass before the thickset little guy did an amazingly speedy disappearing act – my best sighting of a honey badger yet.

The rest of the group arrived to join the drive. During the transfer we received a radio message from the camp – the helicopter flight would be $400 per ½ hour flip, and the pilot was available from 11pm onwards. My first instinct (which turned out to be correct) was to go with 2pm, but Spa Girl and her boyfriend wanted to make sure they had a long afternoon siesta and booked for 12 noon, with my group (myself and the father and son duo) at 12:30.

The timing of the helicopter flight (well, the timing of Spa Girl’s siesta) meant that we did have to leave a great sighting of a little leopard cub (about 2 months old) rather earlier than I would have liked – and after that, the helicopter was late. Spa Girl and her boyfriend ended up leaving at 12:50 and my group left around 13:30. Next time I’ll book the helicopter ride for the afternoon to avoid losing any game-viewing time, or the very early morning to see game on the Delta – and book a private vehicle. I did take advantage of the wait for the helicopter to take some pictures of the public areas of the camp for the Safari Photo Album.

I’ve been travelling to Africa for quite some time now, and up until this point I’ve been able to honestly say that the closest I’ve ever been to a snake was seeing its track in the road. However, that was about to change. On the way to the helicopter pad (actually an open area which was sometimes used as a football pitch by the Mombo staff) we saw something that looked like a stick lying across the road in front of the vehicle. But this was no stick – it was a black mamba. We all jumped (well, except for Cilas) as it slithered off the road and coiled up under a bush, eyeing us balefully. I wish I’d gotten a picture, but I just didn’t think – I was too busy being glad it had retreated. This is the closest I’ve ever been to a seriously poisonous snake in Africa, and it was more than close enough for me – though as it turned out I’d be getting much closer by the time this trip was done.

Julian,

Is it $400 per person for the half hour or just that amount, regardless of the group size?

Will wait to read your report on the actual heli experience.....

Thanks
Hari

Hi Hari,

It's $400 for the helicopter, so the cost per person depends on the number of people. You can seat a maximum of 3 people (two in back and one in front) if you want everyone to have a window seat.

Cheers,
Julian

Julian, I was exaggerating about the pangolin, aardvark and caracal (of the three, I have only seen one caracal, and that on the return into Savuti after dark, and while we watched it for a minute or so, we weren't able to get any photographs).

After my return from Botswana, I didn't realize how lucky I was to see wild dogs (funny, before I corrected a typo, I had transposed two letters and typed wild "gods"), because I found them easily at my three Botswana stops (saw them many times at Chitabe and a lone dog ran alongside us in the Savuti channel for several minutes, and I saw one dog along the Chobe River waterfront).

As for snakes, I have seen very few, but we did see a python on a drive from Chitabe, and I have seen several boomslangs.

That's a very reasonable price for the helicopter -- I was expecting it to be more expensive.

Hi Michael,

I figured you were joking, but you never know! When I was at Mala Mala I heard a funny story known as 'The Japanese Pangolin.' There was a group of Japanese tourists who were the ultimate list-tickers -- they had arrived with a list of animals they planned to see in hand and, come hell or high water, they were going to see them all. And, to their ranger's frustration, all they wanted to do was just that - tick them off on the list. They had no interest in actually watching the animals, or learning about their behaviour. It was tick and move on.

Since it was Mala Mala, where the game-viewing is phenomenal, they were able to to tick every animal on their list bar one - the pangolin. (It became clear that they had no idea what a pangolin was, or what it looked like - they just knew it was rare and wanted to see it). For the last two days of their trip, they cruised around Mala Mala, passing up wonderful sightings of other animals and badgering their ranger endlessly about the pangolin. 'Oh, lion, that's nice - where is the pangolin?' It got to be a running joke among the other rangers - whenever he appeared at dinner, they would say, 'So, how about that pangolin?'

The guests were flying out very early in the morning to make their flight back to Tokyo, so their last drive at Mala Mala was a night drive. As they headed back to camp, pangolin-less, there was a rumble of mutiny from the back seat. They had all heard so much about the game-viewing at Mala Mala, and how easy it was to see all of the animals there. But this was a nefarious lie! There was no pangolin!

Just as they entered the road approaching camp, a mongoose darted across in front of their vehicle. The guests leaned forward in a flurry of excitement - what was that? The ranger turned slowly, and, in a solemn voice, said, 'It was a pangolin.' The final animal on the list was ticked, the guests were ecstatic, and the legend of the Japanese pangolin was born.

Seriously, the question of where the best game-viewing in Africa can be found is a debate that can go on forever, and in the end I think it's a matter of, as we say over here, 'picking horses for courses' -- one person's best place may be different from another's. I've found it very challenging to get good viewing of my favourite two species (leopard and wild dog) in one place, so Mombo is perfect for me.

I also love seeing the small cats, and I really enjoyed my caracal sightings at Savuti. I hope you'll get a chance to see caracal there.

Cheers,
Julian

Correction to the most recent instalment - obviously, the pilot was available from 11*AM* onwards!

Cheers,
Julian

JUNE 29: OKAVANGO DELTA (MOMBO) Continued

I took some shots of the helicopter as it came in to land. Spa Girl and her boyfriend hopped out – apparently they had seen some absolutely enormous crocs, as well as herds of ellies and plains game from the air.

The pilot had already taken the doors off for the previous flight – ideal for aerial photography). We arranged it so that both of the photographers (the father and myself) were on the same side of the helicopter so the pilot knew which way to turn for the best angle. Photography is better from the back seats (in the front the windshield can get in the way, particularly if you have a long lens). I suggested flipping for it, but it turned out that the father wanted to sit in front because of his interest in flying so it was fine.

Up close, a helicopter is amazingly loud – we all had to wear headsets with mics to communicate with each other. Having the doors off was ideal for photography, but did introduce the potential for our gear (or us) to fall out on a quick turn, so the pilot made sure we were firmly strapped in before putting our camera bags in the boot. I did have a momentary waking nightmare about watching one of my 20Ds go spiralling to a watery grave in the Okavango, so I looped the one with the 70-200 around my neck and the one with the 24-105 crosswise over my chest.

As we took off we passed quite low over a herd of lechwe, who leapt away in a series of splashes. The view from a small plane absolutely cannot compare to the view from the helicopter – we were down much lower, and with the doors off the view was crystal clear. I got some wonderful shots of animals from above – lechwe, ellies, hippos, giraffes, and crocs – as well as some stunning shots of the Delta itself. I probably would have gotten even better shots without the lens hood – it did cut glare but had a tendency to catch the wind and vibrate at an inopportune moment.

I learned from the pilot that Wilderness will be offering helicopter transfers in the Delta in the near future, in addition to scenic flights from most Delta camps. If you can do a helicopter transfer, I’d highly recommend it – it’s a totally different perspective. A half-hour flight is plenty of time. One thing I’d definitely recommend is wearing a fleece or a jacket – I went up in just a linen shirt and was pretty cold by the time we landed.

When we got back to camp, I had just enough time for a post-helicopter shower (it does kick up a lot of dust) before tea. The offerings at tea didn’t really appeal to me (too heavy), so I was just going to have some tea (I always eat way too much on safari anyhow). I was very surprised (and the envy of the people sitting next to me) when States appeared with a huge slice of yesterday’s chocolate cake.

The afternoon drive was pretty quiet, meaning ‘only’ sightings of a breeding herd of ellies coming down to drink and play (the babies are so funny!); several pairs of black-backed jackals hunting mice at different points during the drive; and a perfect African scene of impala, giraffe, zebra, and elephants together on an open floodplain, bathed in golden light – like something out of a movie.

The boma night at Mombo was a less traditional affair than the one at Savuti – the guests all sat at a table covered in white linen and ate with forks and knives (I was glad about the last part – eating with your hands is a pain). The food was posher (also a plus from my standpoint as this meant less fatty) and the atmosphere bit more refined, with the staff performance accompanied by a guide playing a guitar rather than a kudu horn. We stayed around the fire talking for awhile afterwards before heading off to bed.

JUNE 30: OKAVANGO DELTA (MOMBO)

The lions were roaring again this morning – who needs an alarm clock? Fortunately the elephant had apparently found greener pastures – I love the sounds of hippos grunting and splashing, but can do without the crashing and snapping of an elephant feeding on / devastating the surrounding vegetation.

I was surprised to find Cilas coming to escort me to the lounge at 630 – under normal circumstances you can walk to the lounge by yourself since the no night-drive rule means that it’s reasonably light outside by the time they wake you up. But a leopard had killed a baboon in camp last night, and stowed it in a tree next to the main walkway between my tent and Tent 7. One of the guides, following the drag marks, had seen the leopard under the walkway, accompanied by a small cub – Cilas thought it might be the cub we saw yesterday as the camp was part of her mother’s territory. She seemed to have slipped away as the camp woke up, but would probably come back once things had quieted down.

My vehicle-mates had once again decided to sleep in, so once again I had a private vehicle at the beginning of the morning drive. (As it turned out neither pair ever showed up at all, so I had the private vehicle for the whole drive). We saw a hyaena on the way out of camp (the same one from yesterday?) as well as a fairly relaxed herd of lechwe.

Down by the edge of one of the pans we saw a comical sight – an entire pack of banded mongooses standing on their hind legs facing the sun. They scattered as we drew closer so I didn’t get a picture of them standing up, but I did get some nice shots of them foraging for mice in the grass. Their banded coats are really beautiful.

I got some very nice shots of a pair of black-backed jackals sunning themselves, followed by my second sighting of giraffes necking. Watching giraffes neck is an amazing sight – you know it’s a form of combat, but it looks like a very slow dance, and they always look so nonchalant. The two bulls shouldered each other back and forth, whilst swaying their heads towards one another, veeeeerrrryyyy sssslllooooowwwlllyyy. Even battle looks peaceful when performed by giraffes.

We were driving through a clearing in a wooded area when three warthogs trotted past with tails held high. Cilas tracked where they had come from, and stepped on the brakes – there was a young female leopard resting in the shade just ahead. She was so beautiful in the dappled light. Ass we watched her, Cilas noted that she didn’t look like she’d fed recently, and said that she might hunt if presented with the opportunity. We saw her go on alert as a group of impala emerged on the fringe of the nearby woods. This time, with no first-timers on board, I was able to sit and wait to see what happened.

Her entire demeanour transformed as she went into hunting mode. For a fascinating hour and a half we watched her stalk, slinking from tree to tuft of grass to tree, taking advantage of every scrap of cover. We were able to stay very close to her – she completely ignored us, all her attention on her prey. Another vehicle stopped by to see her, but moved on as she wasn’t doing much at the time – their loss.

In the blink of an eye she went flat as an unwary francolin walked in front of the tuft of grass where she was hiding. A bird in the paw is worth an impala in the bush, and she pounced in a blur of movement. The francolin let out a strangled squawk, but slipped away, and the leopard came up empty. In the manner of embarrassed cats the world over, she turned her back on the francolin and its loud alarm calls and began to groom herself. We left her under a tree contemplating her lost lunch.

Over my own lunch I met my new vehicle-mates, two former college roommates from Vermont. They’ve done quite a bit of travelling together, but this was their first trip to Africa – and they were certainly going first-class with an all-six-paw itinerary. We all got on quite well, and had similar safari interests – mammals rather than birds, with a focus on predators, especially the cats. They’d never heard of wild dogs before, but when I told them about how I had seen pack members helping an injured dog at Londoz they agreed that they would definitely like to see them. When I mentioned Spa Girl, they knew immediately who I was talking about – apparently they had crossed paths with her at their last camp.

After a quick shower, I took the opportunity to walk through the nearly empty camp taking photos of all the rooms from outside. Virtually everyone in the camp except me and the people in Tent 9 had checked out, and the new guests (a party of 14) had not arrived. The baboon was still in the tree as I took pictures of Tents 7 and 6 (I really hoped the leopard would come and retrieve it soon – it was starting to smell a bit). I moved through the main lounge and took shots of Tents 1-5 (1 is furthest from the lounge and looks very private; 5 is closest to the lounge).

According to Sharon, the manager who runs the shop, a pretty major overhaul is planned for all of the six-paw camps during (African) summer 2008 – she wasn’t sure if this meant January 2008 or December 2008. It sounds like there will be some upgrades, particularly for Mombo and Jao which are the oldest of the six-paw camps. Jao will definitely be getting private plunge pools, and Mombo may do depending on the response of the National Parks board. The furniture will be re-upholstered, and the floors stripped and re-finished. Spa Girl will be in heaven if she can ever be persuaded to return to Botswana, as Mombo, King’s Pool, and Vumbura Plains will be getting spas.

WOW Julian - the more I read the more envious I am . What a fantastic trip and all those Leopards!!!! Looks like Botswana is making it to the short list for our next trip- we REALLY want to increase our chances of having a decent leopard sighting (we saw our first and only leopard this trip in Nakuru but it was quite a way off in a tree). And that helicopter trip sounds like fun.

Thanks for the info on Chui also.

Can't wait to read more!!!!
Imelda

Maybe I'll reconsider my observation about Mombo being the best for game after I visit Mala Mala for the first time next year.

The helicopter is not outrageous if it flies at capacity. Don't think I'll be booking a copter transfer, but I too thought it could be twice that. I heard of one couple getting a surprise helicopter transfer because it just worked out. That would be a nice surprise.

Michael, I liked your typo comment. Here is a joke that goes with it.

Did you hear about the dyslexic agnostic with insomina?

Stayed up all night wondering, "Is there a Dog?"

Awesome to hear you got to see Legidima. she spent some time under our tent and under our vehicle in jan 2005.

Michael, i will try to explain what makes Mombo different that any other camp. Because their are so many predators in the area, there are almost always predator/predator or predator/prey interactions going on and at close range. i have seen plenty of predators at other camps, but no where have i seen so many unique interactions than at Mombo. i have visited 2 times for a total of 7 days and have seen the following interactions:

lion hunting buffalo full out
lion stalking and hunting zebra
lion standing off rhino at a waterhole
lion battling with hyena
lion feeding on buffalo, babboon, zebra
leopard hunting warthog
leopard hunting impala
leopard hunting tree squirrel in camp
leopard under our tent
leopard under our land rover
leopard feeding on impala
hyena interacting with wild dog
wild dog hunting impala

all of these sightings and the stays were both during what is not supposed to be good viewing season in botswana, January.

i like you dont like the crowds or obnoxious other guests but the game outweighs any negatives. plus if you go in dec or jan you usually dont get those types of people, the game is still at its best there, and the photography is great. people say why would i spend the same amount of money to visit mombo in dec/jan as aug, and my response is the game is just as plentiful then and u get more hours of daylight which particularly there is important.

Wow Julian this is an amazing report, it is like reading a really great novel when you can't wait to get back to it to read more. I also loved my time at Mombo so much, I felt like I was in a fantasy land. It is really amazing to me that someone would miss out on the opportunity for game drives at Mombo when there is so much to see. I could have stayed out for the entire day and never been aware of the time, I was so mezmerized. Thanks for sharing such a detailed and compelling account of your trip!

Hi Bigcountry,

Good points about the green season - I've often wondered what it's like at that time of year, but I just can't tolerate the heat and humidity. I may try April or May at some point, though.

Cheers,
Julian

JUNE 30: OKAVANGO DELTA (MOMBO CAMP) Continued

The party of fourteen arrived just in time for tea, and turned out to be three generations of a family from the US celebrating the patriarch’s 75th birthday. A guest at Jao had warned my vehicle-mates about this family, having crossed paths with them at Jack’s Camp, but I found them to be really pleasant. There was the patriarch and his wife; their three daughters and sons-in-law; and various grandchildren – fortunately all of the grandchildren bar one were teenagers. The two teenage boys raved about Jack’s Camp and how much fun they had had on the quad-bikes there; one of their uncles described the walk with the Bushmen as unmissable, but warned me to make sure I wore plenty of layers on the quad bike excursion. At least now I have my fleece.

What was really great about this family was their philosophy towards travel. Through some undisclosed means the grandfather had made a fortune, and rather than sitting on the money he pays for a big family trip like this one every five years. The grandparents also take each grandchild on a week-long trip when they turn thirteen – they’d taken one of the boys to Galapagos. They saw experiences shared and time spent together as a much more valuable gift to their children and grandchildren than the money would be. What was particularly amazing was that the children seemed to actually have some grasp of how rare this sort of opportunity is.

Travelling with them was their long-time travel agent and his wife, who were staying in the guide’s tent (Tent 10). He was in charge of the logistics, which must have been considerable., Tent 10. Since both the agent and the grandparents were birders, they had booked three vehicles (normally their group would have had two, but they had paid for a third vehicle – hence my difficulty in getting a private vehicle, as they had quite understandably booked four years in advance to secure the space in all their camps). One was the designated ‘Birdmobile’ and the other two were for people who were interested in mammals. As much as I wished I could have had a private vehicle, I had to admit that this arrangement made perfect sense – otherwise there probably would have been a mutiny in the Birdmobile.

The family had just come from Duma Tau, where they had seen four wild dogs from the Selinda pack (which was denning on Selinda but making frequent excursions into the Linyanti) on their last drive. I was green with envy, and mentally kicked myself for swapping Selinda for Savuti on the last day of my Linyanti itinerary – I hadn’t wanted to move camp for only one day, but a chance at seeing the dogs would have been worth it. Oh well – there’s always next year…

My new vehicle mates really wanted to see lions, so they were chuffed when we found a pride of four early in our afternoon drive. Three males and a female had just finished polishing off a zebra, and were lolling on their backs like beached whales – I’ve never seen such distended stomachs in my life. They really did not look comfortable, and kept shifting positions – it was pretty comical. One of the males got up for a drink – if you have never seen a lion waddle, take it from me that it’s a really funny sight.

Cilas said that these lions were some of the younger members of a pride of 28, known as the Matatu (‘Trouble’) pride, that dominates a large part of the Mombo concession. The young males were reaching the age where they would be driven out, and were already spending more time on their own to avoid the unwanted attentions of the pride males.

The remains of the kill had been taken over by the scavengers, and in attendance at the carcass were a large number of maribou storks – Cilas called them ‘the undertakers’ and they certainly do look the part – as well as several species of vultures. The hyaenas had apparently been and gone, though we saw the evidence of their powerful jaws on the splintered leg bones. We spent some time watching the ‘clean-up crew’ in action – fascinating stuff.

In addition to good general game viewing (quite exciting for my companions) we shared sundowners with a breeding herd of ellies on the opposite side of a pan. On the way back to camp we saw a few spring hares, an African wild cat, and heard the haunting cry of the jackals.

After a delicious dinner, I found that there were a number of current and former Girl and Boy Scouts among the family of 14, who were delighted with the homemade marshmallows. It was fun to watch the teenagers try to explain S’Mores to the Batswana. They were as excited as I was about the leopard in camp, and we made arrangements to be woken up if she came back during the night.

JULY 1: OKAVANGO DELTA (MOMBO)

Our leonine alarm clocks went off right on schedule. The baboon was gone from the tree, but no one had seen the leopard, who had come and gone like a ghost in the night. On the plus side, at least in my opinion, no one had seen the vervet monkeys or the baboons either – maybe her presence will keep them away.

Our morning drive started out with a sighting of a giant eagle owl in the forest – this huge raptor is a very impressive sight. Giant eagle owls can supposedly carry off impala lambs, and looking at this one I could believe it.

From there it became a lion drive (with a few hyaenas thrown in for good measure). We heard a lion calling and followed the sound to one of the pride males from the Matata Pride. He was huge, with a magnificent mane – rufous around his face and running to dark brown further out. Looking at him standing in the morning light underscored how far the young males at the zebra kill had to go before reaching their prime – where they were a bit gangly and awkward he was sleekly muscled and full of power.

We watched him pace across an open area, making occasional contact calls. As he moved it became apparent that he had a slight limp. Cilas theorised that he might have been in a fight – as the waters rise in the Delta, lions from neighbouring territories are pushed into Mombo from flooded regions. He was probably trying to locate his brothers.

Speak of the devil – as we were watching the large male, we heard that one of the other groups had located the pride of 28. It was likely that the male would be going to join them, but they were quite far away so Cilas suggested coming back to the sighting later when they were all together.

After leaving the lion we saw some good general game, before rounding a corner to find a mother hyaena nursing two cubs in the middle of the road. The little cubs were starting to lose their black baby fur, but were still very cute, particularly when they had finished nursing and started to explore the area around their den. I got some great shots of them.

We headed towards the last location of the lion pride. You’d think that 28 lions would be hard-pushed to disappear, but it took some searching before we located them resting amongst the Kalahari apple-leaf trees. It was hard to count them, but there were definitely a lot of lions there – I counted at least 15 easily visible ones, and I’m sure there were others further back in the bush. We’d hoped to see them all together on open ground, but I still managed some nice pictures of some of the cubs.

One cub had a nasty-looking cut on his face – Cilas said that one of the pride males had swiped at him when he got too bold at a kill. The original injury had apparently resulted in a flap of skin hanging from the cub’s face, but it looks much better now. Luckily for the cub (now known as Scarface), there didn’t appear to be any permanent damage to his facial mobility.

While driving from the hyaenas to the lion sighting, we had come across what looked like a bush breakfast in preparation. Cilas had told us that it probably belonged to Chief’s Camp, which surprised me given the new restrictions on traversing on Chief’s Island (the camps no longer traverse each other’s areas). It turned out that it was indeed a bush breakfast in preparation – for us! Cilas hadn’t wanted to ruin the surprise.

It was a very civilised bush breakfast, with tablecloths, pewter-handled cutlery, glasses, and china plates. There was also a ‘bar’ stocked with various beverages in ice (lots of Pimms) and bush loo like the one at the Savuti hide. The food was amazing – I had a starter of apple and lentil soup (very good); ham and cheese quiche; fruit and fresh bread; and a chocolate crepe made on the spot over a campfire.

After taking a shower and going through my daily camera-cleaning ritual, I finally had a chance to spend some time in my sala. The view was wonderful, and I enjoyed a relaxing afternoon reviewing my photos and writing in my journal. I could hear my neighbour (a male warthog who appeared to spend most his time in the lagoon next to my tent) foraging in the area under the sala, and saw two white egrets ‘dancing’ (courting or fighting?) on the floodplain. It’s hard to think of a better way to spend an afternoon.

After tea, we headed back to check on the lion pride – it was cooling down and they should be becoming more active. Apparently someone forgot to brief these lions on the rules of lion behaviour, because they slept on long after when lions would normally have been active. We decided to leave them for now and check back later.

We were watching a journey of giraffe browse on some candlepod acacias – close enough to hear them crunching the pods – when a strange white apparition emerged from the bush. It was a white giraffe. Not an albino giraffe, as he did have dark patches, but a giraffe with leucism, the same genetic mutation which creates white lions and tigers. He stood out strikingly against the bush and the other giraffes, which made me wonder about his long-term survival chances. Cilas said white animals are sometimes ostracized by members of their own species, perhaps because of the visibility factor or just because they look odd. White lions have sometimes had this problem, as have white lechwe.

While we were watching the white giraffe (who did stand somewhat apart from the others) Cilas noticed that another giraffe was staring at something. With their superior height, giraffes make great sentinels (for other animals) and great ‘predator pointers’ (for us). They often team up with zebra, who have a superior sense of smell, for protection against predators.

We followed the giraffe’s stare to a large, dark-maned male lion sprawled out sleeping in the grass. He wasn’t one of the pride males, so he was probably an interloper driven in by the rising floods.

Leaving the lion to his rest, we drove to a very picturesque pan for sundowners. We then stopped in again to see what the Matata Pride was up to – not much, as it turned out. Most of them were still asleep, though some of the cubs were half-awake.

After another delicious meal we gathered around the fire for after-dinner drinks. I had just settled down with my cup of rooibos when I heard someone cry, ‘Look! A genet!’ There was a beautiful large-spotted genet on the dessert table, looking to help himself to the cheese and biscuits and homemade chocolates (apparently he is a regular visitor, and stole a chocolate the night before). Unfortunately for him, he was early, and the food hadn’t been put out yet. I really wished I had my camera – I’ve never been so close to such a relaxed genet.

It had been a bit windy all day, and the wind seemed to pick up after I went back to my tent. Hearing the wind whistling outside, I was very glad to be inside...with that thought I went to sleep.

Really enjoying your report! Am sorry we missed Mombo on our visit although we certainly were not disappointed in the variety of game we saw.

Julian, this just gets better and better!

Of course, you're right Julian...to each his own.

I shoot 600mm a lot of the time, and used to shoot 800mm. Depending on his camera, 600mm is about the equivalent of the focal length (give or take) the other bloke was probably using-- although one of my wife's digitals, the EOS 5D, has no cropping factor, so 400mm is 400mm. Anyway, 20-25 metres from a small subject like the leopard cub is way too far for tight portraits even with 600mm. Again, depending on the size of the cat and how tight you want to go, you need to be 3-5 metres from the subject. Full-frame, full-face, about 4 metres. It would've been no puzzle to me what the other bloke was up to (unless he was only 1 or 2 metres from the subject ) He wouldn't have wanted to be where you were in a fit.

BTW, the 24-105 zoom you mention...is that the Canon F3.5? I've forgotten its exact designation because it's my wife's and she won't let me near it (joke). Brilliant lens. She uses it most of the time with her 5D. Actually, we were using it last night doing some night shots for a promotional coffee table book about our city and state.

John

Julian,

Since you mentioned it....what is the total traversing area of Chief's camp vs Mombo? Also, any insights into the game-viewing over on that side of the island? Thanks.

Hari

This is a great report. Well after many months of reading and asking questions we have finally made our airline reservations using our FF miles 240K for business class to JB and out of Cape Town from June 5 to June 23. That is if I do not chicken out and change because of the weather. We did this because of the change in season dates this year from Wilderness to June 15 for the start of high season and the tremendous difference in price.
Most of you seem to be traveling in late June through October. Am I making a mistake about the "money" savings and compromising on the game viewing. Our plan at this moment is ;
June 7 - Arrive and overnight JB
June 8-14 in Delta and Linyati
June 15-16 in VF
June 17--20 Kruger
June 21-24 Cape Town
I may hve some of the dates wrong but this is about right. We are working with Eyes on Africa who has been recommended several times on this board.

spiegelcjs,

As far as northern Botswana is concerned, my experience is that the wildlife viewing gets better as the dry (winter/spring) season warms up and the game begins to concentrate around the permanent water. This is not to say that the viewing isn't good in places like the Linyanti in June; just that it's likely to be better as back-country pans dry out. That's why camp rates go up, and it's the main reason why we changed our trips to the Linyanti from June/July to August. If my wife hadn't had commitments back home in September, we would have gone to Africa even later. The other price you may pay for a later safari is hotter, windier and dustier weather, but the compensation is balmy nights compared with the nocturnal chill of mid-winter. The prospects vary from year to year. We found 2002, a very dry year, was spectacular; 2004, with much more water and tall grass, not so good; 2005 back to spectacular. It seems that this year might be similar to 2004. Of course, you can never be sure, but personally I'm putting my money on next year.

John

spiegelcjs,

I've just had a late communication from one of the operators in the Linyanti which touches on the death of two lionesses mentioned by Julian in this thread. A few weeks ago, they thought the lion dynamics were beginning to settle down (with plenty of promising activity) after a year or two of confusion. However, the killing of the two lionesses by two males seems to have continued the confusion, and July was a quiet month for lion. As the operator says: "You can't predict anything in the bush."

John

Hi Hari,

Roughly speaking, Mombo's traversing area is the northern side of Chief's Island; Chief's traversing area is the southern side of Chief's Island. I believe Chief's area is larger geographically, but Mombo's area is known to be more productive. I think the main reason the rules were changed was that Chief's vehicles were spending all of their time up near the Mombo camps.

Cheers,
Julian

Hi John,

The 24-205 is the f/4.0 IS. Personally, I've found that IS is worth its weight in gold on safari, though I know other people feel differently.

Cheers,
Julian

Hi Spiegel,

Personally, I think that you'll be fine in June. I've done trips in both June/July and August/September, and in most years I've had very good game-viewing in June. However, weather is a bigger factor for the Linyanti than it is for the Delta.

Remember that winter in Africa isn't the same as winter in the US or Europe - the days are still sunny, and while the morning drive may be chilly by noon you're usually looking at mid-70sF.

Cheers,
Julian

Julian,

Thanks for the info on Chiefs/Mombo

John,

Seems like my August timing this particular year may just work out in my favour. Fingers crossed!!! (I have my toes crossed too!!!)

Hari

Loving your report! Closer to a black mombo??? Holding my breath, waiting for MORE!
Teri

John,

Not to belabour the point...but given that the guy at the leopard cub sighting was leaning so far backwards out of his vehicle that I thought he might fall out I don't think he knew what he was doing either!

Cheers,
Julian

Julian,

Your description of the leopard and its actions after losing the francolin brings back memories of my past feline friends. I am cat-less at the moment.

How fortunate to extend your private vehicle set up, but I cannot believe several people would not only sleep in at Mombo, but miss the p.m .drive as well. Even if they were honeymooners, they should make time for Mombo outings!

I'll have to enjoy your thrilling conclusion when I return from my own trip.

Spiegelcjs,

I remember all of your potential itineraries from the past. I'm sure Eyes on Africa will put together a great trip. Please post it when your itinerary is set.

Julian,

Doesn't sound like the same zoom, but I agree with you about IS. It's almost indispensable, though extra camera support is still necessary with the bigger IS lenses.

Why worry about belabouring the point? Just about everybody takes a camera on safari, all hope to bring back great shots, and some hope to learn something here. Technique is something which should be discussed just as much as and probably more than equipment is. Unfortunately, technique seems to take second place to fancy bells-and-whistles stuff all too often.

If I was a betting man, I'd put my money on the bloke knowing what he was doing. And if he was a bit of a novice, it sounds like he was trying to be creative, and I'd applaud him for that rather than be smug about it. I've had to lean out of the vehicle, forward and back, quite a bit for framing purposes when using a prime lens because moving the vehicle every few shots to change framing by a few centimetres is plain inconvenient, can be inconsiderate to others, and can risk missing an opportunity. In most cases, zoom quality just doesn't match prime quality, so I've given up using even the very good 100-400 IS zoom on safari. The difference may not always be discernible in web display, but it certainly is in poster-size prints and glossy mags. So I will occasionally have to lean out of a vehicle in Africa when it's safe to do so. It's no hardship.

John

John,

Would i be right to assume that the passenger seat next to the driver in the front is the best seat in the jeep for photography?

Hari

Michael

In regards to your comments about Mombo (some of which I know were tongue-in-cheek) perhaps there's a difference between Mombo and Little Mombo (where we've stayed on both our visits) but our fellow visitors during our two visits were not at all interested in spas and absolutely there for the wildlife. Infact, on the last trip, one couple was also with us at Jacana (which, like us, they'd chosen over Jao) and the other guests had itineraries that took in mostly 5 paw camps not the rest of the 6 paw.

Julian's encounter with Spa Girl notwithstanding many visitors to Mombo select it for the wildlife and for good reason. Of course, as the 6 paws are marketed more strongly as an itinerary in themselves I'm sure there is an increase in the Spa Girl/ luxury seeker types too. But it would be a mistake to dismiss Mombo as nothing more than hype. By all means dismiss it on price grounds but don't underestimate the underlying reason for it's reputation.

If Wilderness Safaris were to replace the Mombo tents with standard 5 paw ones I'd still pay a big supplement to go there above other camps because of the game viewing and I suspect I wouldn't be alone.

I do appreciate that it's hard to really comprehend how good Mombo game viewing is just from reading someone else's trip report because a mere comparison of lists of animals seen (and numbers of sightings/ animals) would not give the true picture but, as Julian says, it's quality of viewing that's the reason for Mombo's enduring fanclub. And if you're into leopards (together with that remoter experience) then it's absolutely magical!

During my first visit in 2001 it was also great for cheetah, lion and wild dogs too though cheetah and wild dogs aren't doing quite as well currently as they were back then. Certainly other camps have been and continue to be better for these species.

Whilst I can't claim to have visited as many camps as others on this board (only 7 in Botswana) I will say that Mombo blew the rest out of the water in terms of quality of game viewing on both visits.

And if you don't believe us, how about the experts like the Jouberts and other film-makers and photographers? They surely can't be accused of choosing Mombo for the accommodation since they don't usually stay in the luxurious guest accommodation at all!

All of that said, I'm kind of sad to hear that Mombo is due for a refurbishment that may include the introduction of a spa and private plunge pools... whilst I'm sure aspects will benefit from being renewed I think the Mombo combination of space, luxury and openess to the wilderness is just right as it is and the emphasis currently is still on the wildlife. Adding a spa may well turn it into another Jao where (so a number of guides told me) it really is a case of the wildlife coming second to the luxury for many of the guests.

Julian

Continuing to really, really enjoy the report and looking forward to the next installments!

Kavey

Julian

Who was the mother of three young cubs?
We saw three belonging to the Tortilis female of about 8-10 weeks old.

Hi Matt,

I don't believe it was the same leopard - the cubs we saw were only about a month old (too young to climb trees), and I saw from the guest book that you were there a few weeks before I was.

John,

The reason I don't want to belabour the point is that what was meant to be a humorous (not 'smug', or anything of the sort) comment about something I saw on my trip has been taken way too seriously - for some reason it seems to have put your back up and I apologise if it has, but it was just meant to give a sense of the scene when I arrived. Maybe it's the sort of thing where you just had to actually be there to appreciate the humour. Anyhow, enough on this subject -- on with the trip report!

Cheers,
Julian

"I got some wonderful shots of animals from above – lechwe, ellies, hippos, giraffes, and crocs – as well as some stunning shots of the Delta itself"

"I got some very nice shots of a pair of black-backed jackals sunning themselves"

"as I took pictures of Tents 7 and 6"

You're just torturing us, Julian! How's that hard drive replacement coming along???

Great report, looking forward to more, and... looking forward to seeing those photos!

Cyn

Julian:
Enjoying your report--it is the closest I will come to staying at Mombo.

What a delicious afternoon, here at the desk, taking a delightful trip through the Okavango. Botswana will be my next trip, and rest assured I'll be saving your posting for reference. Won't be so much fun without Spa Girl - those human sitings can be fun, too. We had Fur Coat Lady at the Grumeti River last month, she carried it everywhere. Your cat stories have captured my heart, the lioness loss, the leopard licking herself after missing the francolin, the sleeping Matata Pride, and of course, the beached whale, waddling stuffed lions. You really could put all this into a publishable book - what a fabulous read!

Ditto to what Wildebeestus said!

The heli ride sounds terrific. And...
we are only half way through your adventure!

Hari,

The short answer is yes, front passenger seat is best...usually. It often comes down to personal preference because the front seat has its drawbacks, like any position in a vehicle. It usually provides a firmer camera platform than other positions, except maybe the roof of poptops. Roofs however have the major disadvantage of not allowing a low perspective. Last trip, I was happy to leave the front seat to others and stay in the back row with my monopod. I was able to get down on the floor a lot for low angles. Door-less vehicles are very useful in that respect.

Julian,

Yes, I appreciate that you were trying to be humourous about a couple of people. We all see and meet people on our travels who we think are funny or strange (leaving aside the truly obnoxious ones). We often have a private chuckle about them among friends. But to have a dig at them in a widely-read public forum is going a bit far in my mind. There is a chance that those people, or people who know them and know where they were at a certain time, will read this forum. I don't think either Spa Girl or the photographer are deserving of your humour in this manner. You probably disagree with my sentiments, but perhaps you will give the matter some thought. I'm otherwise enjoying your report and, like many others, am awaiting your photos with great anticipation.

John

I do not find Julian's comments about spa girl objectionable.
regards - tom

Hello John,

Sorry my sense of humour doesn't match yours - if you find it offensive feel free to ignore my posts, but I'm sure most people realise that no malice is intended.

I've been on this forum for a number of years, and I've come to see this as a place where it was possible to have 'a private chuckle among friends.' Maybe I was mistaken.

Julian

I think it's acceptable to poke fun at the gucci camp types. The whole spa thing is so overdone IMO, and I love having a laugh at the folks who spend ungodly sums on seaweed wraps and the like. They in turn probably think I'm an idiot for spending $2k plus per night on vacation, and they would be free to mock me, if they had ability to do so...

Of course if you're going to have a go, you must be prepared to take some back.

Hi Hari,

Personally I prefer the seat directly behind the guide to the one in the front next to the guide, but that's partially because I'm on the short side and find it hard to avoid getting the bonnet in my shots if I sit in front. The main advantage to being in front in my experience is being able to rest your lens on a beanbag at eye level, which can be challenging further back.

If you're sharing a vehicle it can be hard to shoot from further back (again, if you're tall this is probably less of an issue). If you have a private vehicle, shooting from further back can be great but it can be challenging to communicate with your guide.

Cheers,
Julian

Hi Matt,

I'm sure there are plenty of stories about the crazy Oxford don with the wild dog obssession, too many cameras and not enough hands for them. I've actually run across a few descriptions on travel forums that I think might refer to me, and to be honest I think they're pretty funny...

Cheers,
Julian

JULY 2: OKAVANGO DELTA (MOMBO)

The wind really picked up last night – from the sound of things I half-expected to find half the trees in camp blown over, though everything looked more or less intact this morning. The windstorm seems to have inspired the lions, though – this morning they roared while walking past the camp, starting at the end furthest from my room, moving past, and then out towards Little Mombo.

On the way out of camp we saw the tracks of the local female leopard and her cubs. I couldn’t resist taking a shot of the little cub paw prints in the sand – it will make a great accompaniment to the photos of the cubs.

Not far from camp we came across a herd of buffalo crossing a floodplain – a classic Delta scene. There were several small calves, and I got some great shots of them fording the plain. I also got a few of a lilac breasted roller perched nearby – what’s a trip to Southern Africa without at least one shot of a lilac-breasted roller? As it flew away, Cilas pointed out its back, which shows the colours of the Botswana national flag – no wonder some people want to make it the national bird of Botswana.

On the way to where we had seen the lions last night, we saw several pairs of black-backed jackals. I got some very nice shots of a particularly relaxed pair. Apparently the lions had finally roused themselves last night, as they weren’t there when we arrived.

A sudden flurry of movement in the bushes to the right of our vehicle was followed by the sight of two low-slung black and white shapes motoring across the road – it was a pair of honey badgers! They’re normally solitary, so this must have been either a mating pair or a female and a nearly grown cub.

We stopped beside a particularly picturesque pan for tea, and took some photos of a journey of giraffe with their reflections in the water. Then one of them started slowly manoeuvring its legs into position, and bent down for a brief drink. We saw the giraffe drinking at Savuti, but didn’t have the opportunity to observe the whole process of actually getting into a position where drinking was possible – it was fascinating. Getting down was pretty slow – one leg out, other leg out, first leg out, etc – but getting up was a lot faster than I expected.

After a nice brunch, I took some additional pictures of my tent for the Safari Photo Album and went down to the shop to settle my bill. I’d seen some very nice ostrich shell jewellery made by the San craftsmen of Ghanzi (http://www.kuru.co.bw/sanartsandcrafts.htm) and wanted to buy some bracelets for my mother and sister – unfortunately, the only ones in stock were San-size and were unlikely to fit them. Sharon said that they were expecting some additional stock, and that she could arrange for the buyer to meet me in the Maun airport with a selection in the larger sizes. This sounded great, so I arranged to meet her after my stay at Jack’s Camp.

I strolled along the walkway over to the gym/lounge which sits between Tents 8 and 9 – one of the planned upgrades is to the gym, which would be nice, though using an elliptical machine or Stairmaster in the middle of the Delta might be a bit surreal. There’s a sala and fire pit as well as a private dining room, and this room is sometimes used for private dinners for honeymooners.

Walking further along the path took me to Tent 9, and then past Tent 10 (the guide tent) and over to Little Mombo. The three tents at Little Mombo share their own lounge, pool, dining room and fireplace – it’s very small and intimate, and would be great for a small group of friends or a family who wanted to have their own private camp. Personally, I think I prefer the aesthetics of the main camp – there are more trees around the tents and the view from the tents seems a bit nicer – but liked the size of Little Mombo and the way that the tents are a bit more spread out. Decisions, decisions for that return visit!

As this was my last night at Mombo, I did as much packing as I could during the siesta – fortunately we will be coming back to camp after the morning drive. When we were at brunch Noreen had mentioned that Kwando had scheduled my flight to Lebala for 1030am, which was way too early – there was no way I was giving up drive time at Mombo if I could help it! Fortunately it was possible to reschedule the flight for 1130, so I could do a full morning drive.

My last tea at Mombo featured spring rolls and some delicious chocolate chip cookies decorated with chocolate shavings – they were thin, crisp, and delicate. I ate three before I could stop myself.

Tonight’s pudding is sticky toffee pudding (by request of the large family) but since I’d already had it on my first night Craig asked if I would prefer something else. I would have been fine with some of the fresh fruit sorbet they offer at brunch, but he had some homemade ice-cream that he suggested I try – sounded good to me! He’d also ordered some biltong for me when I arrived, and it had finally come in today’s shipment, so I’d have it for sundowners tonight.

By this point most of the guides knew of my futile quest for the wild dogs at Savuti, and they were working hard to locate the Mombo pack. One of them joked that since it was my last night it was time to let the dogs out, which sparked off a chorus of ‘Who let the dogs out? Woof, woof, woof, woof’ (by the Baha Men) in our vehicle as we pulled out of the car park.

We were skirting the edge of the floodplain where I’d seen the banded mongoose pack when we came upon three lions stretched out in the sun – two young males and a female. Cilas didn’t recognise them, and said they were probably a nascent pride. If the two young males weren’t lucky, though, one of the Mombo prides was likely to poach their lioness.

We left the lions and headed into the forest, where we found the two hyaena cubs again. This time they were without their mum and were quite shy at first, though their curiosity soon got the better of them. After sniffing around the tyres (and trying a quick nibble to see if they were edible) the cubs went down to a pan to drink. The light was beautiful, dappling their dark coats as they explored the area around the pan.

Over the radio came an exciting call – the three little leopards had been spotted (rosetted?). We arrived to find one cub exploring the grass at the base of a tree; his two siblings remained hidden further back in the bush. The angle was terrible for photography, but it was wonderful just to watch the little leopard batting at sticks and leaves with his oversized paws until he tired and decided to join his siblings.

One of the other vehicles had reported seeing a male leopard – likely the cubs’ father – in the area, so we went to look for him. We found him quite nearby, sleeping curled up next to a fallen log (even a sleeping leopard is surprisingly photogenic). It was getting darker, so we decided to wait for him to wake up – it was a nice surprise to learn that my companions were among the first-timers who actually do have the patience to sit and wait for something to happen rather than charging from sighting to sighting.

At first it seemed that the leopard would follow the pattern set by the Matata Pride. There were a few false starts, with yawns and various changes of position, but it seemed like he would sleep on for quite some time. Then Cilas caught movement over to the left – it was a spotted hyaena, probably looking for leopard leftovers. The leopard, who had appeared dead to the world, suddenly lifted his head and snarled, giving out a low growl – while remaining curled up in a ball, which doesn’t strike me as the world’s best fighting position. The hyaena circled closer, the leopard’s head pivoting to follow. I was amazed to see the hyaena come so close to the leopard that my 70-200 lens was too long to fit both animals in frame at the same time – I really wanted to go for my second camera, but I was afraid of spooking the animals.

The hyaena, satisfied that there were no leftovers to be had, moved off, and the leopard settled back down to sleep. Cilas said that he hadn’t really felt threatened, or he would have gotten up, but that he was unlikely to hunt while the hyaena was in the area.

We left the leopard to his nap and went to one of Mombo’s landmark baobab trees for sundowners – we’d had tea here one morning, and I had heard the humming of the beehive inside the trunk. We set up our table and poured our drinks – the biltong was very tender, but also rather spicy; next time I’ll have to remember to specify plain biltong, or droewors. Another group had apparently had the same idea, and pulled up for sundowners as well.

On the far side of the pan near the tree we spotted an elephant coming down to drink – or so we thought. But he (and it was definitely he, as this was a five-legged elephant) had something else in mind. He passed the pan and headed slowly towards our vehicle. We expected him to change direction, but he kept coming straight for us. Cilas quietly told us to move behind the vehicle, which we did with alacrity. As he came closer, we could see that he was in musth. He paced past us, close enough for the musky scent of him to become almost overpowering. Just as his hindquarters passed the back gate of the vehicle he wheeled and flapped his ears at us…before turning on his heel and heading off in to the bush.

I’d been dying to reach for my camera, but it would have involved climbing at least partially into the vehicle which did not seem like a wise idea with the elephant in such close proximity. However, the people in the other vehicle had not been under similar constraints; they had gotten some nice shots of the encounter and offered to send them to us when they got home. (I haven’t seen them yet, but hopefully they’ll send them soon). It would be great to have a shot of my second Close Encounter of the Elephantine Kind.

On the way back to camp we saw another unusual sight – a giraffe nursery, where a rather harried-looking adult female was trying to look after four calves of varying ages. The calves were very cute as they played together in the fading evening light.

Back at the camp we were the envy of everyone for our close encounter with the elephant. It turned out that several people in the other vehicle had taken pictures of us with the elephant – in retrospect, I should have either made a CD or downloaded them to my Epson, but hopefully some of them will remember to send their pictures.

It was everyone’s last night at Mombo, and the dinner had the air of a going-away party. The food was delicious, especially the fresh berry ice-cream Craig provided in lieu of the sticky toffee pudding.

When I got back to my tent, I did a bit more packing. My clothes and other things seemed to be breeding – my one bag no longer seemed fit everything, although the only things I’d bought were the fleece hat at Savuti and the fleece at Mombo. I ended up stuffing a lot of stuff in the bag I’d gotten when I bought my fleece, and crossing my fingers for a half-empty plane tomorrow. I was already feeling nostalgic for Mombo as I climbed into bed for the final time.

Julian, I'm not sure which I find more impressive: a pair of honey badgers (an animal I haven't seen, yet) OR home-made ice cream in the middle of the Okavango.

I keep hearing about these photos you supposedly took any update on when they will be shared?

Well, I've never been so horrified in my life (except the time my pedicurist was running late) that is. I am highly offended at being called a spa GIRL . It's spa PRINCESS, darlings. I also found the very blond comment to be offensive as well - it's honey beige blond with a deep golden glaze with lightly placed and random sunstreaks. We blonds do read, you know. Oh, well off to get a message, all this writing has stressed me and caused me to think Way too much.
Ta,Ta

John and Julian,

Thanks for both your opinions on the "best seat in the jeep". I'm 6feet1" and the back row is darn uncomfortable....that's why i asked about the passenger seat.

The only problem i see, even in a private vehicle is to keep bothering the guides to angle the car to get my shots....as i can't slide around like i could in the longer "row" seats.

Also, during the driving period...perhaps the tracker sitting up front could block my straight view.

Rgds
Hari

Dahling,

Please don't fret your honey beige blond with a deep golden glaze with lightly placed and random sunstreaks head about it -- wouldn't want to bring on a stress headache (wrinkles, you know).

Seriously, I suspect my camp-mates get a lot of mileage out of the British bloke who brought not one but six varieties of gourmet tea so as not to soil his tastebuds with Red Roses...and I definitely know my no onions-no potatoes-no coconut thing has become a bit notorious at Wilderness and CCA camps across Africa (What? A Brit who doesn't eat potatoes?). I suspect both companies now have a thick dossier somewhere with all of my little eccentricities in it.

One last thing about Spa Girl...on the last day we were together, I came back from the morning drive to find her relaxing on the deck near the pool. We chatted a bit and she asked if I also planned to go out for the afternoon drive after having gotten up so early for the morning drive. When I said yes, she gave me a look of horror and said, 'But that means spending almost your entire day looking at animals!' I nodded and said that yes, that was true, and that was why I'd come to Mombo in the first place. She shook her head in amazement, and I can easily imagine her going back to New York and saying, ' There was this crazy British guy we met on safari in Botswana who actually spent most of his time *looking at animals*!' She clearly thought I was equally odd and I hope she and her friends can get a laugh or two out of the experience.

If you ever want a laugh, read 'Hotel Babylon,' a behind the scenes look at life in a five-star hotel in London - both Spa Girl and I are only slightly eccentric compared to some of the people who have stayed in that place.

Cheers,
Julian

Hari

In a private vehicle you should not have to "bother" the guide to position the vehicle. A good guide understands lighting and photography and will automatically position the vehicle in the best possible way for you.
I have certainly found this to be true at all the Kwando camps. At Kwara I had one drive with a new guide and we got talking about photography. He explained that as soon as he was hired by Kwando they gave him an onsite course in photography and how to position the vehicle.
You are right that the tracker will block some of the view but I still find that the advantages of the front seat outweighs the negatives.
Michael

Thanks Michael,

Hope i have some good luck with my subjects to photograph....fingers crossed!!! Yes, i agree the Kwando guides are very good at positioning the vehicle and i dont think i will pester them in the middle of a hectic day....

Hari

Julian,

Is Brooks still one of the guides at Mombo/Little Mombo? We had him guide us in 2004 and i think he is very very good.

However, my impression of Mombo (ever since the taping of the NBC today show with Matt Lauder a couple yrs ago) seems like, a large pretentious crowd is drawn to Mombo for all the wrong reasons....however, perhaps it may just be private vehicles for all serious safari-goers if most ppl opt to sleep-in!!!

Hari

Hari

I think the reality is that any of the luxury camps anywhere will have their fair share of people not so passionate about the animals. Our experience this time was that most people were really into it, last year was a different story.

Brooks is now leading overland trips.

Overland trips...Wow!!! i'm confident he will do a fantastic job!!!

Hari

Hi Hari,

The vast majority of the people I met at Mombo were there for the game -- my two vehicle-mates from Vermont, the father and son, and the 14-person family, and even Spa Girl's boyfriend. So there's definitely room for serious safari-goers at Mombo!

Like Kavey, I'd be happy with five-paw tents and would still be willing to pay a premium for Mombo (but I certainly have no objection to six-paw tents!).

Cheers,
Julian

Hi Julian,

Great to hear that you had some fantastic gameviewing! I was looking for you 15 July thinking that you may be at Founders for lunch, but didn't see you even though my table was set for 2 - I later discovered that is was set for 2 everyday, for whatever reason I am not sure!

Like most people, I also had some gameviewing guests from hell, but I do not wish to remember them in anyway whatsoever so will not mention them in regular detail as there was nothing amusing or worth sharing about those groups. But I will say that I do wish that camps, if they are aware of the fact and I think they are when they arrive with multiple weapons if they are aware of the fact, would not put animal shooters in with guests that do only photo safaris. Speaking for myself only, it was enough to turn my stomach! Enough said I guess!

Kind regards,

Kaye

Kaye,

What are you talking about? Some places ppl walk in with guns and stuff???

Hari

Hi Hari,

No I did not mean that they walk in with guns in hand, but with luggage that contains rifles. In fact, they had so much luggage I would not have been surprised that it also contained animal body parts in there as well!

Kind regards,
Kaye

Kaye,

I'm sorry you had to go through that experience. I would hate to be at camp with ppl like that!!! I can put up with the Spa girl types, but, not these ppl with guns....

Anyways, how was the game viewing on ur trip- Botswana portion?

Hari

Hi Hari,

To be honest it was disappointing as was Zimbabwe, though I did see 3 sable bulls. No off road unless something special in Botswana and none in Zimbabwe and the annoying red light in Botswana and no light in Zimbabwe. I was at the 2 CCA camps in Bots, Nxageba and Sandibe, and while the camps were nice and the staff were fantastic, why July is high season I have no idea. I have never had such distant gameviewing! I will do a trip report when I finish the photos.

Kind regards,

Kaye

Kaye,

If I remember correctly you spent 5 nights at Matetsi Water Lodge...is that correct??? Although hindsight is 20/20, I think a better option would have been to spend 3 nights in Hwange National Park (at Makalolo Plains, Somalisa or The Hide) and then, as a transit, spend a couple nights at Matetsi Water Lodge.

Matetsi is a nice halfway point between Victoria Falls and Kasane, but I probably would not consider it for more than a couple nights. There are much better Zimbabwe options out there and, as mentioned, Hwange NP is very close (a mere 30 minute light air transfer or about a 3 hour drive).

Did you happen to go canoeing while at Matetsi Water Lodge?

Unfortunately, I take it, the plunge pools were probably too cold to use. I was there in early March (2002) and the plunge pools were perfect for that time, as they would be anytime between October - March.

Hi Rocco
I spent 6 nights at Matetsi. After a mixup by CCA in my original booking of Botswana and really wanting to see sable, it was an itinerary that was not of my choosing, as I was aware of the limited gameviewing at Matetsi. I only saw sable Day 4. The no off roading was a huge disadvantage as is the hunting reserve next door. But I absolutely loved the river cruises and ended up doing 3 out of 6 nights.

As for the pools, I have found them useless for me as even in December/January I find them way too cold, so plunge pools (for me) are pretty but useless!

Kind regards,

Kaye

Thanks Kaye, will await your pictures and trip report prior to bombarding you with further questions.

However, that may be in early Sept as i depart on my safari this sunday.

Hari

Yes, i did read that Matetsi is the only photographic zone amongst a huge stretch of hunting concessions....so, in a place like that you aren't going to see much game....skittish if at all you find any...

Hari

Hi Hari,

Have a fabulous trip! I remember you were going to Phinda, I think, so enjoy your time there. My ranger at Londolozi was a long time ranger at Phinda, and he raved about it - especially how close you can get to the Black Rhino!

Yes, unlikely I will be doing a report prior to Sunday so feel free to ask anything in the meantime.

King regards

Kaye

Ditto on the hunters. Happened to me at Kwando.

Hi Kaye,

Sorry we weren't able to meet up - I think I saw you with your nieces at dinner. I had to leave early so I didn't get a chance to come over to Founders the following day, though I saw on the rooms board in the office that you were staying in my room at Pioneer (No 6).

Cheers,
Julian

Julian - Great, great report....but you are evading our pleas for photos!!!!!

Hi Julian,

Wasn't me that you saw as I was by myself and I don't go to dinner unless I have one of those nieces with me.

Kind regards,

Kaye

Kaye, does that mean you don't eat when you travel solo?

I have gone on safaris by myself and with friends, but even when by myself, I have always had dinner in the main area, usually with something to read.

Hi Michael,

As it happens I do eat when I am travelling solo - but I am also up really early, anywhere between 2 - 4am, not really sure why, maybe excitement! So I am in bed by 8.30pm and so it goes, so dinner is usually too late!
Also after people all day, I must say I enjoy the peace in my room!

I make an extra effort with my nieces to go to dinner. At breakfast and lunch I take a book, as otherwise I end up with some poor staff member being made to sit with me, and little do they know but I am happy by myself!

Kind regards,

Kaye

Kaye,

I fully relate to what you hv to say. When i'm on safari....i can never get a full night of sleep. The excietement wakes me up really early and prior to that, i'm up on and off....to the noises of the hyenas or hippos etc etc., If that doesnt wake me, definitely the territorial roars of the local lion pride does!!! Besides, i can never take a power nap during the afternoon siesta break, either!!!

Hari

Hello Cooncat --

Take your pick - trip report or photos. Only one is going to get done at a time! I have over 40GB of photos to process, and I'm pretty new to RAW so it will be awhile.

Cheers,
Julian

Kaye and Hari

Its funny, I get some of my best sleep when on safari, but maybe that's because I live in Manhattan, and my sleep is frequently interrupted by traffic noise, sirens, horns, and I really relish the extreme quietude on safari.

Michael

Michael,

Ah, yes.....manhattan too disrupts my sleep...although i love Manhattan too, just maybe a little less than i do Africa.

Hari

Hari, we now have wild dogs -- the Bronx Zoo introduced an exhibit this year. I'm waiting for cooler weather, maybe in September, before I visit.

Michael,

Thanks...good to know. Def will pay a visit the next time i'm in the area. Think i may hv been to that zoo. Enjoyed the polar bears a lot....

Hari

Julian,

40 GB! I think I have some idea of what you're looking forward to. That's about the equiv of all the shots I took last trip, except I had far fewer because the file size of very high res scanned film is much higher (50-60 MB per shot for 35mm and 160 MB for 6 x 4.5). You'll get the hang of RAW quite quickly, but I'm glad I still work in film.

John

Julian,
I am liking the idea of reading your report and mentally visualizing it all. I can be patient and wait until after your report ends for the photos, its building a greater anticipation!

Thit-
We have the wild dog exhibit at the San Diego Zoo too. It was hard to find and both times I went they were in a corner sleeping (only saw one tail)

Here is a clip from their website:
In 2003, the San Diego Zoo's department of Conservation and Research for Endangered Species (CRES) joined the fight to save these magnificent animals from extinction. Working with the Zambia Wildlife Authority, a conservation project has been set up in Zambia to learn more about the African wild dog and what can be done to help. http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-wild_dog.html

oops, wrong link sorry...
http://cres.sandiegozoo.org/projects/hc_wild_dogs_zambia.html

there's also wild dogs at the Honolulu Zoo. I'll be on Oahu next week so will probably go see them.

I have a few photos of the Zambian wild dogs at the San Diego Wild Animal Park in this gallery:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/rocco/main/san_diego_zoo

At San Diego you can only see the dogs by travelling an escalator, which IMO sucks!

Matt,

I agree, it took me all day to find them. When I was there last week, the escalator wasn't moving so you could stand still on the incline but the dogs were hiding. When its moving there is that small platform about half way up where the information signs are but it would be nice if they had a better viewing area. Do you know how many dogs are in the exhibit?

I think 6

Hi Rocco,

Well, at least you can say you've seen wild dogs now, even if it was at a zoo! Those are the fattest wild dogs I've ever seen...

Cheers,
Julian

Our open-range zoo in South Oz has a pack of about 20 wild dogs which you view from vehicles. They've bred at least one litter that I'm aware of. The city zoo has also had wild dogs for many years but their enclosure is small and I think the Zoological Society will gradually phase it out. Zoos thankfully are making their habitats more natural, and when I need a fix, a trip to the open-range zoo sometimes helps

John

Napamatt,

That *$%R#(*$ escalator at the San Diego Zoo does, however, make for good exercise. I may as well have been on a treadmill as I walked against the treadmill for a good 20 minutes trying to get a few decent photos of the wild dogs. Unfortunately, the camera shake is evident in my photos.

Believe it or not, the first couple zoo employees I asked did not even realize that they had wild dogs at the zoo!

Julian...we will just post a few photos on your trip report until you find the time to organize your own, ok buddy?

Rocco, I have a visual now of you on that escalator, thanks. Try it while its 90 degrees out, talk about a work out! I too had to ask 2 employees where they were, the first one didn't know they had them and the 2nd had a general idea where they might me. I am going back in a couple weeks and hope to see them on my 3rd try. Guess they are just as hard to see at the zoo as in Africa!

Hello,

Well, you may have been wondering where the usual set of weekend instalments has been...to make a long story short, a mini-disaster has struck and while transferring my photos from my computer to my new hard drive my photo library crashed and I lost all of my albums and thumbnails. Fortunately the data is still there, but I can't see what's what (all photos now show as anonymous files). So I'm now in the process of rebuilding the library, which looks like it will take the better part of the day today.

However, I know many people are waiting to see what happens next, so I'll try to get something posted tonight.

Cheers,
Julian

Oh nooo! My sympathies - it's already a job and a half processing photos without the added drama and work you've now got to deal with! Still - at least you haven't lost them!

sorry about the photo setback. You must have experienced some scary moments wondering if you still had them.

Hello,

Thanks for your kind thoughts. Unfortunately it looks like some of the pics didn't make it - they now appear as files with a size of 0KB.

I've finally finished reconstructing the library through the end of 2005. Hopefully I will be able to do the first half of 2006 soon, which would put me back where I was before this happened.

Cheers,
Julian

Oh nooo!
I'm sure you've already tried but there are various data recovery programmes available on the market - might be worth trying one of those or even taking the disk into a data recovery specialist - expensive but might be worth it. If it's too expensive in the UK and once you've taken all the other images off you could send it to somewhere like India where data recovery prices are much lower. I did that with the hard drive in my parents' PC after it crashed and wasn't even spinning but I was able to send it with someone travelling there.

Oh Julian, you poor thing! That's TERRIBLE !!! After all your hard work. I'm so sorry.

Imelda

Hello,

Apologies to all trip-report readers, who are no doubt as frustrated by my hard drive problem as I am! Hopefully this will get sorted this weekend and I will be able to devote more time to trip report writing.

Thanks for the tip Kavey -- the IT people at Oxford are very good, so hopefully they will be able to retrieve the missing photos. So far the number of 'empty' files is quite small - only about 6 or 7.

Cheers,
Julian

"a mini-disaster has struck and while transferring my photos from my computer to my new hard drive my photo library crashed and I lost all of my albums and thumbnails."

Somewhere the much-maligned cutie known as SpaGirl is reading this and laughing really hard ...

I'm so pleased the loss of images is minimal... honestly I felt your pain! And I'm sure the Oxford bods will be able to retrieve anything retrievable!

Take care and see you Tuesday!

JULY 3: OKAVANGO DELTA (MOMBO) / LINYANTI (LEBALA)

I think my elephantine neighbour may have paid me a farewell visit – at least I remember hearing a lot of cracking and snapping. The local hippos definitely did, as I heard them snorting and splashing right under my bedroom.

After a final breakfast of Wilderness porridge, we headed out for our final game drive. I got some great close-up shots of the local lechwe, and we watched a breeding herd of elephants graze (at a discreet distance). Passing the giraffe nursery, we saw one of the babies nursing, which was very sweet.

Our next sighting was the Maparota pride, with all 12 little cubs. These are some of the youngest lion cubs I’ve seen, and they were utterly adorable – little golden balls of fur scrambling over each other on their oversized paws and making little mewing squawks and squeals. I couldn’t decide which was cuter – the cubs themselves or the sounds they made. It was one of the few times I wished I still had my FZ20 with its video capability.

The three mothers were a bit bloody around their faces, and had clearly made a kill. They seemed to be trying to round up the cubs to bring them to the kill, but it was quite literally like herding cats, with cubs bouncing all over the place and tumbling in different directions. Two of the lionesses looked absolutely exasperated, especially when some of the cubs tried to nurse.

As we watched the cubs play, we finally got the call we’d been waiting for – someone had found the Mombo pack! We arrived to find one of the other vehicles with the dogs as they trotted down the road, stopping every so often to nuzzle each other in greeting. The pack is small, with only five dogs (three adults and two of last year’s pups) but all of the dogs looked healthy, their coats of many colours shining in the sun. I got some nice shots of them on the move as we followed them down the road. It was starting to warm up, and when they entered a small clearing three of the dogs lay down; it looked like they were getting ready to bed down for the day.

However, the alpha pair had something else in mind, and we watched in astonishment as they mated. This was a completely unexpected privilege to witness, as wild dogs normally mate in March with the pups being born 10 weeks later. If this mating produced a pregnancy, they would be denning in September. Cilas mentioned that they had denned very late last year as well, and speculated that their timing might have been thrown off due to pressure from other predators, especially hyaena.

The alpha female was clearly the one initiating the mating – she flirted with her mate by wriggling against him, nuzzling him, flicking her tail at him, and assuming an odd position with her hind legs stretched out behind her in a semi-crouch.

The other dogs, meanwhile, took the opportunity for a quick nap.

After seeing them mate a half-dozen times in quick succession (each mating lasted about a minute), I expected them to collapse in a post-coital snooze. But to our astonishment, after a brief respite where the alpha pair did a bit of cuddling and nuzzling, they were on the move again. And not just on the move, but on the hunt! We followed them at speed through an open grassy area broken up with patches of thick bush. There were several times where I thought we’d lost them in the bush, but Cilas seemed to have an instinct for where they would emerge – all those years at Duma Tau were certainly paying off.

The pack pursued a herd of impala across the edge of a floodplain, startling a nearby herd of lechwe into flight as the chase neared the edge of a large lagoon. We caught up with the dogs to find them pacing the water’s edge as the lechwe and impala bounded away.

The dogs found a relatively narrow area to ford the water, and slowly picked their way across. They may have been slow, but we were much slower – getting the vehicles over to the other side without getting bogged down in the mud proved to be a considerable challenge. When we got to the other side, there seemed to be no sign of the dogs – had we lost them? For a moment it looked like we had – and then Cilas spotted a herd of impala sprinting past, with the pack in hot pursuit. We sped up to join them as they closed in, and in a flash it was over – they had caught a young impala.

With only five dogs, even a half-grown impala was enough to fill their stomachs. After eating they moved to a termite mound where the three subordinates lay down to rest. The alpha male came over to investigate our vehicle, followed by the alpha female. She sniffed the bumper, and padded along the left side where I was sitting in the row of seats behind Cilas. She paused and looked up, and I couldn’t help but smile as I looked into her warm brown eyes. I heard the grass whispering under her feet, and saw her eyebrows quirk as we examined on another. Despite what many people have said about wild dogs smelling, I didn’t smell a thing.

They passed alongside our vehicle and lay down directly behind us, providing a great photo opportunity – for everyone else. After a few minutes, they moved on to the shade of a nearby tree, where we very reluctantly left them. I could have stayed with them all day, but all three of us had a plane to catch at 11:30. Needless to say, I was very glad that I’d asked Kwando to change my flight time!

I was able to pack more quickly than I’d anticipated, and had time for a quick but delicious brunch (I highly recommend the Cape Malay calamari). On the way out of camp, a pair of wattled cranes passed low overhead – a final majestic image to take with me from Mombo.

Julian, are you serious! 12 lion cubs...I'm dying! And dogs too, you are so fortunate. That's it...I'm flying to London to help get that photo problem resolved and get your photos posted. Your story just keeps getting better, thanks so much.

JULY 3: OKAVNAGO DELTA (MOMBO) / LINYANTI (LEBALA) Continued:

I was the only person on my transfer to Kwando, so I thought it would be fun to sit up front with the pilot and watch how things were done. I’ve been in the pilot’s seat of a small plane before (a friend of mine in medical school was married to a recreational pilot, who had taken some of us up in his little two-seater and let us steer it), but I’d forgotten how warm it gets in there with the sun coming through the windshield, and to my chagrin after having made the request to sit up front I fell asleep almost immediately.

Going from Mombo to Kwando was always going to be something of a shock, but even with that in mind I was unprepared for exactly how different it turned out to be. When we landed at Lebala we were met by my guide, Spencer, in what has to be one of the oddest vehicles I’ve ever seen. This was, of course, one of the famous Kwando Uris, which were clearly designed solely for function with aesthetics not even coming into the picture – it looked like someone had taken a 1950s Land Rover Defender and deliberately turned every curve into a sharp angle. This was my introduction to Kwando’s funky assortment of vehicles – in addition to the Uris (old and new) there is a converted Toyota Hi-Lux pickup where the game-viewing seats are bolted into the truck’s cargo bed.

Spencer was very fond of his older model mustard-yellow Uri, but I have to admit that I quickly became decidedly less fond of it. The Uris have an extremely stiff suspension which ensures that you feel every bump, and for the first time in my trip I had to resort to taking some painkillers for my back. I’ve never had my bum leave the seat so often on any safari.

The grass was as high as an elephant’s eye…. the line from the old nursery rhyme kept running through my head as we headed towards Lebala. The dry golden grass was much thicker and taller than I’d seen at Savuti, where the grass in the channel was quite short and visibility was good. It was clear that Spencer would have his work cut out for him.

On the way into camp we caught a fleeting glimpse of a side-striped jackal (a first for me) as well as a number of birds. I asked Spencer about whether there had been any recent sightings of the Selinda pack (whose home range includes Lebala), and he said that they hadn’t been seen for awhile, but he had heard that they were denning on the Selinda reserve. However, he thought that the Lagoon pack may have denned near Lagoon Camp.

The area around Lebala is much wetter than I imagined it would be – for some reason I expected it to be more like Savuti. The camp is set on an island sandwiched between two watery floodplains filled with reeds – the main lounge and the tents look out over a narrow strip of open water before the reeds take over. During the dry season animals (including the occasional sable or roan) will come down to drink in front of the camp, though the guides said there wasn’t much to see at the moment. The floodplain behind the camp is home to a large number of hippos that come into camp during the night to graze. A wooden bridge leads from the car park into the main lounge, where after signing the usual forms I found a small but useful library containing all the usual reference books (Veronica Roodt’s tree book, Richard Estes’ animal behaviour book, a couple of bird books) as well as, for some reason, a Lonely Planet guide to China. I was happy to find a dog-eared (no pun intended) copy of ‘Running Wild’, and took it back to my room to read.

I’d been braced for something quite rustic after looking at the pictures on the Kwando website, so I was pleasantly surprised by what I found when I arrived at my tent (No 4). It wasn’t Mombo-size by any means, but comparable with what I have found at WS five-paw camps, and the furnishings were similar but more rustic – closer to a WS vintage camp. (NB The photos on the Kwando website have since been updated). My tent was quite warm as the tents catch the afternoon sun. I’d known about the lack of fans (which probably makes these tents rather hot in the summer) but I was surprised not to find a safe.

I was even more surprised to see a tub in the bathroom – it must be one of the few tubs in the Linyanti. (There used to be an outdoor tub in the honeymoon suite at Savuti, but after a few close encounters of the elephant kind during the heart of the dry season it was removed – sharing a romantic bubble bath with an elephant’s trunk was probably not what most brides had in mind.) I turned the tap on to let the bath fill while I took a few pictures of my room for the Safari Photo Album. When I came back a while later, I was surprised to find the tub filled with what looked like green tea, with bits of what looked like bark and soil floating in it. I’d been warned that the water was a bit brown, but this was a bit much. I probably should have said something about it, but I didn’t want to make a fuss (and I also really wanted to take my bath). Given that the water was from the Delta I figured it was probably reasonably clean, so I got in and took a nice warm green bath. (I later learned that the green water was definitely not normal – hopefully I’ve managed to avoid contracting any water-borne diseases). I’m not sure if it was due to the same problem that caused the green water, but I discovered after my bath that there is a limited supply of hot water – there was no more hot water for the rest of the day.

Instead of tea, Kwando serves lunch before the afternoon drive, so there were plenty of savoury dishes but no sweet ones. I had some delicious miniature lamb chops marinated in some sort of sauce – very tender and tasty – as well as some nice grilled veg. I really wanted something sweet, however, and there were no sweets – until the staff very kindly provided a crème brulee (one of my favourite desserts – any dish cooked with a blowtorch just has to be good).

Over lunch I met my vehicle-mate, Beth, a friendly management consultant from New York. She is a very serious diver who travelled to South Africa to dive the Sardine Run (aka The Greatest Shoal on Earth) and decided to add on a short safari at the end. She had just come from Songwe Village, and would be going on to Lagoon with me tomorrow and then on to Kwara. I also met a nice older British couple who were the only other guests in camp.

After hearing so much about the game-viewing at Kwando, I was really looking forward to my first game drive. Driving off-road in the tall grass made me a bit nervous – we literally couldn’t see anything in front of the vehicle, and the ground was liberally pocked with aardvark holes and tunnels dug by naked mole rats. I felt bad for our tracker, whose position at the front of the vehicle meant that he served as a sort of bush-breaker – the grass came up to his neck and could have concealed a million lions.

Our first sighting was a colourful bateleur eagle perched in a tree. Spencer thought there was something a bit odd about how the eagle was behaving, and drove over to investigate. As we neared the tree, there was a burst of movement at the base of the tree – it was a cheetah with a fresh kill, a young bushbuck.

The cheetah was quite shy, so after catching a few brief glimpses of him (which thrilled Beth to no end) we left him to his meal.

Julian

You dog!

Great sightings. We had those dogs for four days out of six, but saw neither mating nor a kill. If they pee right in front of you, the smell is unbelievable, and not in a good way.

Oh WOW!!! Julian,
Talk about luck with those dogs AND cubs!! As Carla psays, your trip just seems to get better and better.

Imwlda

OK, Evidently I'm not awake if I can't even spell my own name properly

Imelda

We saw dogs at Mombo in 2001 but not on our 2004 trip though I knew that they'd been seen again by then after a few years of absence.

How incredible to see them mating and hunting!

Enjoying the report, as before, can't wait for the next installment!

Hi Matt,

You lucky dog -- four days of wild dog sightings!

It did look for a moment as if the alpha male was about to lift his leg on the front tyre of the vehicle on my side, but after your post I'm now very glad he didn't! I had the opportunity to pet an orphaned pup being hand-raised at DeWildt, and while I didn't notice a smell at the time I did find that my hands smelled a bit like BO afterwards. I also found that her sharp little teeth had done a number on my shoelace.

Cilas said that the dogs have been under some pressure from the large hyaena population at Mombo, but the pack seemed to be doing well. Hopefully next year will see a few more new pack members!

Cheers,
Julian

What other little surprises do you have in store for us?!! What a seriously great trip you had. I can't wait to see the photos. Tell us more!

Cindy

Julian, just picking up reading after business trip to Hamburg last week, when I didn't spend that much time on the Internet.

Sounds like some great game viewing at Mombo -- you're lucky you didn't detect the scent from the wild dogs. We were downwind while following a hunt at Chitabe, and its, quite distinctive.

Not to spoil any surprises, but did you see any mole rats or aardvarks at Lebala (you mentioned driving over their burrows).

Michael

Sounds absolutely fabulous. I can't imagine looking down and into a wild dog's eyes like that. I did it with a male lion in South Luangwa and it is unbelieveable but with the elusive wild dog... what a privileged trip you had!

I was at Lebala towards the end of May - same time as Johan - and was lucky to see the wild dog pack (18) start across open plains, hunting impala - and the subsequent kill. The alpha female was fairly heavily pregnant at the time. We saw a smaller pack several times at Lagoon.
The other highlight (?) of the stay at Lebala were two very small lion cubs that were stuck up a clutch of acacia trees for three days. They had been sent there by their mother after two itinerant males had stolen a buffalo kill from a group of females. For three days the first thing to be checked in the morning, and again in the evening, were the cubs. The constant concern being whether they would survive. We did hear later, when at Lagoon, that they had indeed survived and had been seen waddling (having fed for the first time in days)along the road after mum, some distance from the remains of the kill

Hi Michael,

I've been close to wild dogs a number of times, and never smelt anything other than a faint doggy smell when there was a large pack right next to our vehicle at Londoz -- I'm beginning to wonder if I lack that particular olfactory receptor. When I was in medical school I discovered that I lacked the receptor for gangrene so it's possible.

Cheers,
Julian

JULY 3: LINYANTI (LEBALA) Continued:

Spencer had put a call out on the radio to let the other vehicle know that we had found a cheetah, and they showed up just as we were leaving. He warned the other guide (Pat, who had guided Autumn when she was at Lebala) that the cheetah was quite shy, but the other group decided to see if they could catch a glimpse of it.

I expected us to leave when the other vehicle pulled away, but we remained stationary. At first I didn’t understand why, until Spencer pointed out a little scrub hare right next to the vehicle on my side. I’ve never seen a scrub hare up close before – usually it’s just a quick glimpse of them bounding away under the spotlight. But here I could see individual hairs in the tan and grey brindled fur and the twitching grey nose, blending so perfectly into the ground that I have no idea how Spencer managed to spot it.

My tele lens was too long, so I tried to reach for my other camera with the WA lens on it – but the movement startled the hare, and it bounded away. Beth did manage to get a picture with her point-and-shoot, though.

Our next sighting was a young bull elephant coming down to the water to drink. He posed for us on top of a termite mound before trundling away into the bush. I tried and failed to get a decent shot of a colourful little bee-eater which came to rest on a tree beside the road. We found a journey of giraffe browsing beside a pan, and watched as one of them strolled down to the water’s edge. She seemed particularly nervous, and I wondered if she was going to drink. She was starting to get into drinking position when the other vehicle arrived, startling her into standing up. Only after the other vehicle left did the giraffe relax enough to drink, but the shots of her and her reflection in the warm late afternoon light were worth the wait. This was Beth’s very first game drive, and she was in heaven.

A message came through on the radio: Selinda invited us to come down and see some lions hunting buffalo on their property. We drove down and headed for the island where the lions and buffalo had last been seen, crossing a deep channel where the water actually came up over the bonnet. There was no safari snorkel on the Uri and I half-expected us to stall, but we emerged safely on the other side. However, because this was an older model where the game-viewing seats had been added afterwards there was a gap between the seats and the bed of the truck and water flooded in – not a lot, but enough to make me very glad I’d decided to put my camera bag on the seat.

We searched for the lions, but found neither them nor the buffalo. However, we did find some wattled cranes and had our sundowners while watching them pick their way among the reeds. I wish I had gotten a shot of the cranes flying overhead as I left Mombo – there is no comparing the sight of them on the ground with seeing them in flight.

Heading back to camp meant crossing the deep channel at night, and I could see the headlamps shining through the water as the bonnet went under. The night drive was fairly uneventful – a few spring hares and scrub hares – though we did glimpse another side-striped jackal.

We arrived back at camp to find everything lit up with candles, which gave the animal skulls scattered around the camp (a particular feature of the décor at both Lebala and Lagoon) a particularly macabre air. The food was hearty winter fare, followed by crème brulee – I passed having had one for tea.

After dinner we sat around the fire. In addition to the British couple who had been coming to Kwando annually for years, there was now another couple from the US who had arrived too late for dinner. The husband was in the process of trying to figure out how to use his new digital SLR and was a bit frustrated as he hadn’t been able to get any good shots during their game drive (this is why you should practise with your camera before leaving home). I gave him some tips but couldn’t do much more as he was shooting Nikon and I’m not familiar with the menus and controls.

Beth and I were both scheduled to go to Lagoon tomorrow morning, and we found out over our after-dinner drinks that our bags would be departing with us on the morning game drive, as we would be meeting our guide from Lagoon at Halfway Pan and switching vehicles. With that in mind we left early to do a little packing.

The fluorescent lights in the tents were awful – not only did they give off that nasty blue/purple fluorescent light, they gave off so little of it that packing turned out to be a real challenge. Fortunately I hadn’t unpacked much since I knew I was there for only one night, but it still took forever. I used the torch I’d been given for the walk back to my room to supplement the feeble fluorescents and check to make sure I wasn’t leaving anything behind, but then it died – fortunately it was one of those wind-up ones so I was able to recharge it enough to finish packing. But someone really needs to introduce warm white low-energy lighting to Botswana – there are low-energy options which aren’t these nasty fluorescent things!

Julian,

It's very enjoyable to read your trip report although I can't agree with everything but everyone is entitled to have it's own opinion.

I am looking forward to see your pictures (must be top class if I read what you've seen).

Best regards,

Johan

his of her opinion instead of it's opinion

A dozen lion cubs and mating wild dogs! You have had one heck of a trip!

Interesting that you mentioned a pack of dogs that was denning in Selinda. I just returned from Selinda yesterday and those folks believe the den is in Duma Tau's concession. Of course the den could have been moved between late June and mid-August. With the lack of communication and cooperation between these two areas, it seems like each believes the den is in the neighboring concession. It may be just very well hidden by the dogs somewhere in between.

Hello Lynn,

The dogs will move the den once the current one becomes too flea-infested, so it's quite possible that they've moved between the time I was there and the time you were there. They do seem to like that border area between the two reserves. The good thing is that regardless of where they are denning you can see them hunting on both reserves.

Cheers,
Julian

Lynn,

Yes, last year the dogs moved den a shade past mid-August...but unlike this year, both dens were quite close to Zibalianja so we were able to see them at both.

Isn't the difference in cross-border relationships (Selinda-Duma Tau v. Selinda-Kwando) remarkable? Julian's reference to the Kwando relationship in his report and your mention of the Duma Tau relationship bear out everything I've experienced in that area. It hasn't changed in several years.

John

hey lynn,
hopefully the dogs are denning at duma tau. i will be there in a week so hopefully i can report back having seen some pups. and how was duba plains. was the water high and therefore restrictive to your driving area?

The latest Duma Tau news on the Wilderness site has an update on the Savuti pride and the dogs. Looks like good news for you, bigcountry.

John

JULY 4: LINYANTI (LEBALA) / LINYANTI (LAGOON)

The day dawned on another 7.5C morning in the Linyanti – another reason to miss Mombo and the temperate climate of the Delta. I woke up early to finish packing and went down to grab a bite to eat (porridge and honey). When I asked Beth how she had slept during her first night in the bush, she said it was fine, except for the fact that her neighbour had set his alarm clock for really early in the morning and had kept hitting the snooze button – after two or three times she had really wanted to kill him. I was mortified, because I soon realised that the obnoxious neighbour was none other than yours truly. I’ve never been in a camp where the tents are close enough together for anyone else to hear my alarm clock.

I was even more mortified when she said that she had had to take a cold sponge bath because there was no hot water – I wondered if my bath had somehow drained the hot water for both our tents, as I hadn’t been able to get any hot water since yesterday either. Fortunately she didn’t hold either incident against me – who says management consultants have no hearts?

We headed out towards Halfway Pan, passing through a forested area where we saw some zebra and kudu, as well as an unusually smart herd of impala standing on a hill. We also saw a fish eagle flying low overhead.

We arrived at Halfway Pan around 9am, and stopped for tea. Normally the pan would be mostly dry, but this year it looked more like a lake, complete with a couple of resident crocs.

BK, our guide from Lagoon, arrived a short while later, driving a new green Uri that had been built specifically as a safari vehicle rather than converted from another purpose. The seats were definitely more comfortable (or at least more well-padded), but the suspension was just as stiff. Kwando is definitely not the place for those of us with dodgy backs!

We bade Spencer goodbye and headed north. As we drove we began to hear what sounded like a lonely cat, a repetitive chirping mew. It was a lonely cat all right – a large male cheetah (one of the Savuti Boys) was perched on a termite mound, calling and calling. He was very relaxed, and we stayed with him for a long time as he continued to call. I got some great shots, and Beth shot some video and recorded his calls. BK said that he was most likely calling for a mate, as his brother had been seen nearby and had not responded to the calls.

On the way into camp we saw a lone tssessbe, as well as a monitor lizard concealed in a tree trunk.

The lagoon at Lagoon was an oxbow lagoon rather than a lake, with the tents strung along the shore to either side of the main lounge. My tent was No 2, directly to the left of the main lounge when facing the water. Personally, I would have preferred to be in Tent No 1 next door, which was on the end of the row – the veranda of No 2 was easily visible from the main deck, and though the camp was quiet while I was there I could see that there could be potential noise issues if the camp was full.

All of the tents were on the ground except for Tents 7 and 8, which shared a raised deck and could be used as a family suite. 7 and 8 were also the only two that were not right on the shore of the lagoon, though their elevated position meant that the view was probably fine.

The main lounge was quite similar to Lebala, though it felt a bit posher. The food was very similar – simple, hearty country fare. I particularly enjoyed a guava-coloured drink that I took to be fruit juice but which turned out to be iced tea.

Back at my tent, I took a few pictures while waiting for my shower to heat up. Like Savuti, this was an outdoor shower only set-up, so there would be no showering at night. The concrete floor was a lot colder than the wood deck at Savuti, though! I was a bit surprised by the concrete, as I’d thought there was some rule against using concrete in camps in the Okavango (to keep the camp’s footprint as light as possible); maybe this area dated from before that rule was instated.

Following my shower I started cleaning my camera equipment, which was why I didn’t have a camera to hand when I caught a flicker of movement on my veranda – a cute little dwarf mongoose crouched under one of the canvas deck chairs, peering curiously at me for a moment before scampering away. I was surprised not to see any other mongooses nearby – it’s rare to see a dwarf mongoose alone.

The mongoose reappeared (still alone) as I was writing in my journal, this time outside one of the mesh tent windows. He was quite wary (perhaps a side-effect of being alone) and froze every time I made any noise, so there was no way I could get at my cameras, neatly put away in my securely Velcroed Crumpler bag. So I didn’t get any photos, but it was fun just to watch him as he foraged, darting here and there and digging among the leaves. I think I might have seen a kill (of a mouse) if I’d had a bit more time, but one of the staff came to my tent to remind me that it was lunchtime and the sound of his voice scared the mongoose away.

After a nice lunch we headed out on the afternoon drive, hoping to find some sign of the Lagoon pack of wild dogs. We never saw any sign of them, but we did see another unusual sight – a puff adder frozen in the grass about three feet from our vehicle. I was amazed by how still it was, given that it was frozen in a rather awkward looking position. BK said that the snake probably believed he was invisible because of his camouflage, which wasn’t far from the truth; when I took a look at the photos on my Epson it was still pretty difficult to spot him even knowing where he was. This was my second encounter with a highly venomous snake on this trip, and they seemed to keep getting closer…

We also had an unusual sighting of some hippos out of the water relatively early in the day, grazing on the brown grass. By coincidence, the road (and hence our vehicle) was between them and the water – not a good thing. Once they realised this they started beating a hasty retreat to safety, dashing in front of our vehicle as they headed to the water at a surprising speed for such portly animals. BK seemed surprisingly unconcerned about being caught in one of the classic danger situations you always read about and hope you never end up in – as it turned out, this did not auger well for the rest of our drive.

We saw some interesting mixed herds of general game (giraffe and zebra) before coming upon the buffalo herd we had searched for yesterday without success. There were an unusually large number of oxpeckers and storks – it looked like some of the buffalo were supporting entire flocks of birds. BK explained the role of the oxpeckers to Beth, and we stayed with them for some time, watching the birds do their cleaning and taking pictures of the herd.

We left the buffalo and entered a forested area, where we encountered a heavily pregnant female elephant. She seemed rather edgy, and BK told us that heavily pregnant ellies are more aggressive than musth bulls (after nearly two years of being pregnant, you’d probably be pretty aggressive too).

The fact that he said this made what happened next even more incomprehensible – instead of backing off and giving her some space, he kept moving us closer and closer. She trumpeted, flapping her ears, and made a mock charge. BK backed up a bit, and she stopped, staring at us for a moment before retreating to the sanctuary of her small breeding herd.

Now I’m not a guide, but it would seem that the sensible thing to do at this point would have been to withdraw. BK, however, had other ideas, and moved towards the herd, pursuing them as they withdrew. It was clear that the ellies were becoming quite agitated. Personally, I felt we were too close – BK said we were not inside their ‘flight zone’ but we were well inside my personal flight zone and a better guide would have realised this. Beth, being a safari newbie, was oblivious to the danger. I hinted, quite broadly, that I would feel more comfortable further back, but he blithely assured me that he knew these animals and that we were safe. And we may have been, but that wasn’t really the point – he should have backed off when a guest expressed discomfort with the situation.

The whole debacle climaxed with a charge led by the matriarch – and when the matriarch charges, so does everyone else, down to the calves. It was a solid wall of grey and ivory, six or seven animals abreast thundering down on us in a rush of trumpeting, and I can honestly say it was one of the most terrifying moments I’ve ever experienced on safari. They were actually too close to get a decent shot with my 70-200, which is way too close. BK kept urging us to take more pictures, seemingly more interested in the photo opportunity than in the possibility of getting flattened by an irate elephant.

The ellies stopped short in a cloud of dust – it had been a mock charge. They were about fifty feet away.

At long last we pulled away, heading down to a nearby pan. BK thought that the ellies might be coming down to drink and that it would be nice to get some photos. At this point I had had enough, and I was ready to insist on keeping our distance. Fortunately, they decided to drink elsewhere, and we had sundowners while watching some hippos yawning at each other.

Looking back, I wish I had said something more explicit about my discomfort with BK’s brinksmanship with the ellies. Going after exciting sightings is one thing – this was something else entirely. Not only is it dangerous, but it’s not good for the animals or for animal-human relations, not to mention the next poor sod who encounters that herd. But this was so far out of my experience in any safari camp that I wasn’t sure how to express my concerns. I’ve never had an experience like this with a guide before, in South Africa, Botswana, or Tanzania – on this trip, both of my Wilderness guides had explicitly said that we should let them know if we were uncomfortable with anything that was happening, and it was clear that client comfort with game-viewing circumstances was a priority.

On the way back to camp we saw a few scrub hares and spring hares, in addition to a genet in a tree.

After a tasty meal, we spent some time sitting around the campfire with the only other people in camp, an older British couple who were repeat visitors to Kwando. Then it was off to bed.

JULY 5: LINYANTI (LAGOON)

Maybe it’s my imagination (or just wishful thinking) but mornings in the Linyanti seem to be getting warmer. Getting up in the morning is certainly getting easier. After a quick breakfast we headed out.

For the first hour the drive was pretty quiet – occasional general game, but not much else. Then we encountered what has to be the most ancient warthog I’ve ever seen, with warts that had grown so large they were squashing his eyes. I didn’t realise that the warts continued to grow throughout their lives. This old boy looked pretty tough, as he must be to survive as long as he had.

Beth had no idea how astonishing it was to hear BK cry, ‘Sable antelope!’ Sable? Here? But there they were, a herd of chocolate-brown females and one huge black male, with their distinctive curving horns. They were a bit nervous, and I would have expected BK to take a slow and steady approach, as I’ve seen guides do with nervous animals in the past. However, BK had other ideas, and charged straight in, with the predictable result that the sable took off. I missed a great shot of the male, as we pulled in so close that my 70-200 was too long – by the time I had reached for my other camera with the WA lens he had taken off, leaving me with an impression of an immensely muscled white rump.

We followed them through the bush, catching frustratingly brief glimpses of them. There were a few times where I thought I could sense that we were about to enter their flight zone, and sure enough as we crossed that invisible line they took off again. Hurrah for my instincts, but I wish I had been more assertive about getting BK to stop when I knew we were getting close. But he was the guide, and I wasn’t used to being with a guide who appeared to be oblivious to things like that. The male in particular was very nervous – he was always the first to bolt, and when he ran the others followed. It was one of the few times when I wished I had brought a longer lens, though I think I got a few halfway decent shots before we lost them in the mopane woodlands.

The sighting had been brief and frustrating, but it was still a thrill to see sable. I would later learn that they often come down to drink at the lagoon near Tent No 1 in the dry season.

Our final sighting of the morning was another monitor lizard peeking out of a tree trunk. He was very well concealed and hard to spot even when you knew he was there – whatever BK’s flaws as a guide, he does have good eyes.

After a nice omelette for brunch I went back to my tent to relax a bit before taking a short boat cruise on Lagoon’s double decker boat. It was getting rather hot and I wasn’t really looking forward to the cruise, but felt I should do it since their double-decker boats are one of the things that make the Kwando camps unique. It would be interesting to see how much difference having two decks would make in terms of viewing animals from the water.

I cleaned my camera gear while keeping an eye on the boat, where my tracker, Jeffrey, was preparing for departure – there are some advantages to having a veranda right next to the boat launch. My room was getting pretty hot as well – I’m not sure I’d want to stay in there in October without a fan. Unfortunately my mongoose neighbour didn’t drop by to pay me a visit.

Beth had decided that it was too hot to go out on the boat (a sentiment I secretly seconded) so I was the only passenger. Jeffrey provided a bottle of ice-cold water, but it was still rather hot on the unshaded upper deck, particularly as we pulled away from the shade of the trees near the lounge and the sun started to beat down on the aluminium deck. I got some nice shots of the camp as we pulled away.

I’d hoped to see some hippos or crocs, but there wasn’t much to see, though I got some nice shots of the reeds and riverbanks and Jeffrey found a large monitor lizard on the bank. I even glimpsed what might have been some hippos disappearing into the reeds. Jeffrey was great about getting the boat into position to photograph the lizard and some unusual purple lilies. He plucked a lily out so I could get a better picture – though I appreciated the thought, I wish he had just left it alone.

We had a bit of a parking problem when we got back to camp, and had to be helped into place by one of the new guests, an American man who was there with his wife and two daughters. The kids were around 8-10 years old, and spent the rest of the siesta period shrieking and running around the deck in front of the main lounge – with them in camp, noise did become a problem at Tent No 2, reminding me forcibly why I prefer a child-free safari…

Over lunch I met Steve Kgwatalala, who would be my private guide for my final day at Lagoon. As Kwando veterans may recall, Steve used to guide at Kwando before becoming a private guide. He’s well-known for his talent for locating wild dogs, and regularly guides Michael Vecht (mv) on his visits to Kwando. So far we hadn’t found any sign of the dogs at either Lebala or Lagoon, and the guides at Lagoon they hadn’t seen them for several weeks so I was hoping Steve would have some insight into their whereabouts. I’ve heard a lot about the wild dogs at Kwando and was hoping to spend some time with the Lagoon pack.

It turned out that the large pack that has provided such wonderful sightings died out some years ago, and the new pack that has moved into the Lagoon area is much smaller (only six dogs) and relatively skittish. The old Lagoon pack used to den in termite mounds near Lagoon, but the new pack prefers to den back in the thick mopane, making the dens much more difficult to find. Sightings at Lagoon have thus become much less reliable than they once were.

I had plenty of time to chat with Steve about the dogs, as the kitchen had forgotten that I don’t eat onions and there were onions in all of the lunch dishes. For some reason when I asked for an alternative to the onion-covered chicken they thought I was a vegetarian, and brought out a grilled vegetable kebab – which had onions on it. It took forever for the kitchen to finally produce some (rather dry) grilled chicken. By that point I was starving so I just made the best of it, though I loathe dry chicken. One of the managers apologised, admitting that they has completely forgotten about my dietary requirements and assured me it would not happen again (it didn’t).

The problem with lunch meant that we got a late start, which was rather frustrating. Steve and I had discussed our strategy while we were waiting for the food, and he had suggested checking out the pack’s former den sites. He warned me that we would need to cover a lot of ground (without braking for general game) to have a decent chance of finding them – this was fine with me as by this point in the trip I’d seen plenty of game. He also warned me that one day wasn’t really enough, and that there was a chance we wouldn’t see them at all – this was fine as well as I realised the limitations of the timeframe and wanted to give it my best shot.

We had the converted Hi-Lux pickup as our vehicle, which despite looking like the most homely of the lot was also the most comfortable – the suspension was considerably easier on the back, which was fortunate as hunting for the dogs meant a lot of offroading deep into the mopane. My bum didn’t leave the seat nearly as often, which was a relief, though it was still a pretty bone-rattling ride.

In the end, we drew a blank on the dogs – not even any tracks. But although we may have remained dog-less, it turned out to be a banner day for rare antelope – Steve spotted my first roan antelope, a young bull browsing near some trees. We couldn’t get that close as he was quite nervous, but I did get some halfway decent shots of him. He was a magnificent antelope – I love their facial markings. His ears looked comically large, though they would look more well-proportioned once his horns grow out.

According to Steve, he was a bit too young to be on his own, but was approaching the age when he would break away from the herd – being a short distance from them now was a way of becoming more comfortable with being on his own. We found the herd a short distance away (too far from us for photography, unfortunately).

We didn’t stop for sundowners, but continued to look for signs of the dogs as long as there was light. On the way back to camp we found an unusually relaxed eagle owl roosting in a tree beside the road.

There had been a call for lions that we had passed up, and I’d hoped that Beth would get a chance to see them as she really wanted to see lions in the wild; unfortunately, she didn’t see them. I’d seen the American family at the roan sighting, and I wondered if they realised how rare it was to see roan.

After another hearty meal, it was back to my tent to do as much packing as possible – the plan was to maximise my drive time by bringing my luggage with us on the morning drive and doing a bush breakfast so we could go straight to the airstrip. Again Kwando had scheduled me for an early transfer which would cut into my game-viewing time, which was a pain in the bum.

Packing by the light of the feeble fluorescents was also a pain in the bum – even though I had made certain to secure a well-charged torch that wouldn’t die. I kept worrying that I was leaving something behind. Packing my camera gear was particularly challenging, as the ideal configuration for moving camp is definitely not the best configuration for photography. I ended up packing for the game drive with the hope that I would have a chance to re-arrange my gear before boarding the plane.

Hi Julian,

I am surprised that you didn't voice your concern regarding the eles. I would have been reluctant to put myself back into a vehicle with him, because you really do put your life into their hands, and to me, that does give you an enormous voice to say when something doesn't feel comfortable.

Really annoying regarding the sable, I have what is called insurance shots, that you take them from a distance and approach steadily stopping, and taking a better shot. That way, at least you have something, and of course with digital, you delete as required. I have had a few rangers that try for the very best shot but you end up with nothing!

Fortunate with the roan as well!

Kind regards,

Kaye

Hi Kaye,

Maybe this wasn't clear from what I wrote, but I did voice my concerns to him, much more forcefully than I have ever done before (to the point of saying, 'I'd like to leave -- NOW!'). Everything was happening so fast, and I was also concerned about making too much noise that the ellies might have interpreted as aggression. But as you know we have a national allergy to making a fuss, and I just don't think I expressed myself as well as I could have.

I did get in a few insurance shots with the sable the following day -- they're not great but they're passable.

Cheers,
Julian

JULY 6: LINYANTI (LAGOON) / MAKGADIKGADI PANS (JACK’S CAMP)

The best-laid plans of mice and men…there was just too much packing left to be done, so I ended up getting a later start than I had planned (though we were still the first ones out of camp). Admittedly, staying up to finish ‘The Guide’s Guide to Guiding’ (Garth Thompson) didn’t help when it came to getting up early.

We spent the morning checking additional old den sites, which involved some serious bush-bashing – unfortunately to no avail. To be honest, I’d pretty much given up on seeing them here – despite its reputation, it looked like my Kwando stay was going to remain dog-less. There was always the chance I would see them in the Sabi Sands – stranger things have happened, and I’ve seen dogs several times at Londolozi.

At this point in the trip, I’ve had so much great game-viewing that having a quite couple of days at Kwando didn’t bother me as much as it might have under other circumstances, particularly with a week in the Sabi Sands coming up. But I was very glad that I hadn’t done an all-Kwando itinerary, or I might have been very disappointed.

As it was, it was nice just to drive around in the bush, enjoying the occasional sighting of general game but mostly just sucking up the atmosphere on my last day in northern Botswana. I didn’t take any pictures except a quick snapshot of the bush breakfast, which was a bit of a surprise – I’d expected a continental breakfast but there was also some smoked ham and some weird egg tart things which were way too greasy for me. The ham was also a bit fatty for my taste but I ate a bit for the protein, as I knew that I had a long travel day ahead and bush planes in Botswana are a food-free zone. As soon as I realised there was biltong I ditched the ham in favour of the biltong.

We never did find any sign of the dogs – I think Steve was more disappointed than I was. We headed to the airstrip, where I said goodbye to Steve and asked him to say hello to Michael Vecht (mv) who would be arriving that afternoon. Hopefully he would have better luck with the dogs than I had.

After the superb photos I’d gotten on the helicopter flight, I no longer felt the need to take photos during my light aircraft transfers – the helicopter shots were a league away in terms of quality, as you’re so much lower down, moving much more slowly, and there’s no glass to shoot through. So I sat back and watched the Botswanan landscape scrolling past beneath me – first the golds and greens of the Linyanti, then the verdant floodplains of the Delta, and finally the dusty outskirts of Maun. I have nothing against Maun per se, but seeing its motley mix of rondavels and little tin-roofed buildings appear beneath the plane always makes me sad because it means my trip is over and I’m going to have to leave Botswana.

However, this particular flight was an exception – rather than heading back to Joburg, I was transferring to a light aircraft transfer to Jack’s Camp. When Michael Vecht and I had dinner in London, we’d wondered if we might see each other in the departures lounge at Maun since we were both transiting through there on the same day, but as it turned out I never even went into arrivals, much less departures – a porter from Sefofane met me with a golf cart as I disembarked. After a quick loo stop (it had been over an hour from Kwando and would be another hour to Jack’s and there are no loos on these planes) I boarded my flight to Jack’s Camp via Chitabe.

Aboard the plane I saw a familiar face – the cabin steward was the same one who had done my transfer from Savuti to Mombo. He remembered me because I’d asked if the pilot could circle the camp so I could get some photos. He asked if they’d turned out all right – I wasn’t really sure as it was hard to tell on the Epson.

Ironically enough, after dashing to the loo I was dying of thirst – and just my luck, this was one of the only Sefofane flights I’d been on with no water cooler. Sometimes the smaller planes don’t have them, but the Caravans (like this one) usually do so I hadn’t thought to ask – my fault entirely. The steward said that he would try to get some water at Chitabe, where we were stopping to pick up some passengers and drop off a number of Chitabe staff who were returning to camp after making a supply run to Maun. I had an interesting conversation with one of the managers about Air Botswana and the coming end of its evil monopoly.

When we landed at Chitabe I was surprised to see a vehicle marked Sandibe at the airstrip – I’d forgotten that they shared an airstrip. There was a veritable fleet of Chitabe vehicles as well, and I was dreading a full flight until I realised they were all empty – they were here to pick up the staff and supplies. And there were a lot of supplies, an amazing motley assortment of goods encompassing everything from crockery to what looked like folding chairs and radio gear. I was astonished by how much they’d managed to stuff into the hold – just when I thought they were done they pulled out another bag or box.

When they had finally unloaded, the two people from Sandibe boarded – a retired American couple on a Micato trip, who were very nice but rather fussy. Oddly enough, they didn’t seem to have any idea what their camps would be like (e.g. they had no idea where Jack’s was or that it wasn’t really a big game-viewing camp) or what being on safari was like (they had been told that they didn’t need binoculars as the camps would provide them). Their agent really should have done a better job of briefing them on what to expect.

Thankfully the cabin steward was able to procure some water from the Sandibe ranger – otherwise it would have been a long and thirsty flight. I’d hope to get some shots of the Makgadikgadi Pans from the plane, but it turned out that I was on the wrong side of the plane to get a good view of them. I reminded myself to sit on the opposite side when I left.

We landed on an unusually dusty airstrip in a surprisingly forested area – for some reason I’d had the impression that everything in the pans was flat and open. There were two other planes on the airstrip, one hired by a family that had taken over San Camp and another belonging to Ralph Bousfield, the legendary safari guide who owns Jack’s and San.

Our guide, Kitty, said that Ralph uses the plane to commute back and forth between the camps and his place in Francistown, where his company’s offices and the Bousfields’ animal orphanage are located. Logically, a plane is the only way to manage that commute, but given Ralph’s history with flying small planes I had to admire his courage. Kitty mentioned that Ralph was in camp and would be joining us for dinner tonight – I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my first night at Jack’s.

Julian, I didn't realize that sable and roan were in the delta. I saw plenty of sable in Chobe (in large groups), but I have only seen roan in Mkhaza, Swaziland (re-introduced).

I'm looking forward to your report on Jack's -- thatès high on my list.

Iæm writing this from Sarajevo, BiH, so forgive some strange symbols. Tomorrow I begin my trip overland via Mostar to Dubrovnik.

Michael

Hi Michael,

I haven't been fortunate enough to see sable in the Delta, though I hope to do so at some point. I hope to go to Hwange next year, which is supposed to be good for sable sightings. I didn't realise there were roan in Swaziland!

Cheers,
Julian

Julian,

I regret that your time at Kwando wasn't enjoyable and you had an "ellie incident". But such things can happen in any camp (even at Wilderness Camps)and I agree with you that the safety of the clients should be the first priority of the guides.


Best regards,

Johan

Sable at Vumbura which is considered Delta and Roan at Kings Pool.

Hi Matt,

Lucky dog!

Cheers,
Julian

JULY 6: MAKGADIKGADI PANS (JACK'S CAMP) Continued:

The drive to camp took about 30-40 minutes. The vehicles at Jack’s are unlike any others I’ve seen, Land Rovers with canvas roofs built around an unusual metal frame supporting fold-down seats on the roof (over the first row of seats behind the guide). The view from the roof was often spectacular, if a bit sunny and windy. There were wooden beanbag trays in front of the seats, and a number of plump suede-covered beanbags.

Jack’s has a very distinct personality and style, springing from Ralph’s direct involvement in all aspects of the camp. He personally goes to the UK and recruits all of his guides from the zoology graduates of Oxford, Cambridge, London, and a few other select UK universities, and interviews them in person before bringing them out to the bush, where he and the head guide, Super, oversee their training. Many of the guides have ended up doing PhDs on the wildlife of the Makgadikgadi – so little is known about the pans.

Our guide, Kitty, did a zoology degree in the UK. Her particular passion was birds, particularly raptors, and I think she was a bit disappointed to find that there were no birders amongst us. But she also knew an immense amount about the non-avian wildlife of the pans and about the environment itself, and was very easy to get on with. On the drive from the airstrip she told us about the geology of the pans and how the unusual weather had affected the environment. Normally the pan in front of Jack’s would have long since dried up and we would have driven straight across it into the camp, but because of the late rains it still held water and we had to circle around. There was something decidedly unreal about seeing this shimmering lake in the middle of the desert, with flamingos and other birds picking their way along the shore.

For the first time on this trip it was getting seriously hot, and as we drove into camp I joked that I hoped that I wasn’t in the tent facing the pan, which looked really hot (the joke was on me, as it turned out that that was my tent (No 10).

Alvain, the camp manager, met us at what could be termed the main entrance – a path that led from the mess tent out to the road. Alvain was very urbane and civilised, the consummate host – a throwback to the best parts of the old days. But there was nothing colonial about his attitude – he is passionate about working to bring some of the economic benefits of eco-tourism to the Bushmen while encouraging younger members of the community to value their culture. One of his ongoing projects was trying to persuade the Bushmen that their traditional crafts have as much value as the shiny new Western things they crave by selling them in a shop at the camp, so that the skills don’t die out with the older generation.

Alvain’s shop is some time in the future, however, as one of the most striking things about Jack’s is how non-commercial it is. This is the only camp I’ve ever stayed at where there was no shop (even Little Vumbura has a tiny little room with postcards for sale). As Ralph later said, he views the camp as an extension of his home, and who would ever think of putting a shop in their home, or selling postcards of it?

On the way into camp we’d decided we’d like to have a light lunch, as we were all a bit hungry – it had been a long time since that biltong at Kwando. We had a Nicoise salad, a nice light meal which suited the hot weather. The food at Jack’s was some of the best I had on this trip, which was particularly amazing given that it was easily the most remote camp I stayed at.

Over lunch Kitty described some of the activities at Jack’s and asked us what sorts of things we were interested in. The camp wasn’t full, so there was quite a bit of flexibility. Some of the other guests were going quad biking this evening – did we want to join them? Naturally my answer was yes, though the older folks took a bit of persuading. We decided to walk with the Bushmen tomorrow morning, and to visit the brown hyaenas in the afternoon. The following morning we would visit the meerkats.

After lunch I spent some time poking around the main mess tent, the only safari camp lounge to have the distinction of being a National Museum of Botswana. The walls were lined with glass-fronted cabinets full of fascinating artefacts collected out on the pans by Jack Bousfield (Ralph’s father, and the Jack after whom Jack’s Camp is named), Ralph, and the guides – animal skulls, Stone Age tools, fossils. It had a bit of the feel of the Pitt-Rivers Museum in Oxford – more like an eccentric uncle’s attic than the more clinical surrounds of a modern museum. There was also a cabinet showcasing Bushman tools and crafts – Alvain said that the knowledge required to make some of them was fast dying out as younger people had little interest in learning the traditional skills.

Just as fascinating as the artefacts were the photographs of Ralph and his family. Wildlife was always a part of his life thanks to the Bousfields’ animal orphanage – there was a picture of him as a child holding a banded mongoose, and one of his mother bottle-feeding a leopard cub. Another photo showed Ralph and his sisters walking with the half-grown cub.

Kitty walked us to our tents after lunch – the Americans were in Tent No 9, one of the few tents with a double rather than twin beds. It was quite secluded and shady, but didn’t have much in the way of a view as it was surrounded by tall grass. My tent, No 10, had a great view over the pan – Kitty said that it was easily the best tent in camp when the pan was full, and I imagine that the view must be pretty spectacular even when the pan was dry. Unfortunately there wasn’t much in the way of shade, and it was pretty warm inside – thankfully it was also one of the closest tents to the tea tent and plunge pool.

The décor at Jack’s is unique among camps in Botswana, very much in the style of a classic 1940s East African safari camp. The interior of the tents is dusky rose, with dark wooden floors. The eclectic dark wood furniture varies from tent to tent – mine had twin beds so far off the floor that they came with a step stool; a dresser with a selection of natural history books on top; a writing table and chair; a tufted velvet lounge chair; and a striking Moroccan-style table with ornately carved legs and a copper tray as a tabletop. The porch looking out over the pan had canvas deck chairs and a chaise lounge. The ‘throne’ in the loo really did look like a throne. I particularly liked my sink, which reminded me of an old secretary’s desk with its swing-up lid. In addition to an indoor shower with copper piping, there was an outdoor shower.

One thing that was noticeably lacking was anywhere to hang my clothes. There was a nice set of canvas shelves built on a wooden A-frame, but no hangers or hooks – not a big deal, but a bit awkward. I ended up hanging my shirts and coat over the top end of the A. (I later found out from Ralph that there are supposed to be hooks on the ends of the shelves, but mine had been recently replaced so the hooks hadn’t been installed yet.)

Ah, the joys of an indoor shower! Outdoor showers are nice as an option, but sometimes it’s nice to be indoors. No insects and no chilly breezes (though that was much less likely to be a factor here than at Kwando).

After my shower I took a few photos of my room for the Safari Lodge Photo Album and cleaned my camera gear. It was noticeably warmer than it had been at any of my other camps, and my alarm clock/thermometer read 26?C. Fortunately the tent had a large number of windows, and the occasional cooling breeze did help keep the temperature down.

We’d been warned to dress warmly for our night out on the pans, so I forced myself to put on my heavier clothes and to lug both my Mombo fleece and my coat to the tea tent despite the heat. The tea tent faces west and catches the light of the afternoon sun, and instead of chairs has piles of plump floor cushions scattered across the Persian rugs. I’d been tempted to skip tea since we’d had lunch such a short time ago, but I’m glad I went – there was some nice cool iced tea and yummy brownies (quite light, rather than heavy like most brownies).

I noticed a guy in khaki with some pretty serious photo kit shooting pictures of the tent interior, and for a moment I thought he was with Wilderness (doing a photo shoot for the brochure) but he turned out to be a periodontist from San Francisco who was a keen amateur photographer. He also shot Canon, and we had a great time talking about photography. He was on safari with his wife, who had retired from the San Francisco Ballet at the ripe old age of 26 – they were taking a final trip before she started law school in the fall, and were headed to Little Vumbura and on to Zimbabwe after Jack’s. All three of us got on extremely well, and we had a great time getting to know one another over tea.

After tea we piled into two of the vehicles for the 15-minute transfer to the edge of the pan where the quad bikes where located. This was where the fussiness of my two American companions, which had first reared its head on the plane, started to get on my nerves. First it was fussing about where they would sit – the front? The back? In the middle? On the side? Oh dear oh dear, we just can’t decide! They actually got in and then started fussing around, climbing in and out a few times before finally settling on a place to sit. Then it was fussing over whether the wife should wear her hat on the drive (they were sitting under the roof). By the time they had finally settled in, I was wondering if we could have walked there in the time it took them to make up their minds. For crying out loud, it was a 15-minute transfer – I was really hoping they would not be like this on every drive.

When we finally arrived everyone else was waiting. It took Mr and Mrs Fussy another ten minutes to figure out which of them should disembark from the vehicle first, by which time I had long since jumped down and joined the others.

The teenagers in the large family at Mombo had all had colourful kikoys (they are only thing you can buy at Jack’s) from the quad bike excursion. Mine was striped purple, green, and red. Super, the head guide, showed us how to wrap them around our heads and how to construct a face mask from one of the ends to keep the dust out in case it got to be a bit much. It was harder than it looked, and several people needed help from Super or Kitty.

Once everyone had gotten their kikoy into some semblance of order, he gave us a quick briefing on quad-biking. I’d ridden a quad bike occasionally as a child, but some of the others had never seen one before. There was one quad bike per tent, so everyone other than me and the guides would be riding double. Bungee cords were used to strap our camera bags, fleeces, etc to the front of the bike (I could see that my Mombo fleece, already dusty from many game drives, would really be overdue for a wash after this one). Crumpler claimed that its ‘Prince Charles Seal’ would keep water, dust, and corgis out of my bag – well, that claim was about to be put to the test.

When the time came to pick a bike I chose one near the middle of the line, which after a number of rearrangements ended up being second from the end (one of the guides was at the very end in case anyone’s bike stalled) with the couple from San Francisco in front of me. I was a bit concerned about the effect of eating everyone’s dust on my asthma, especially once Super told us that we would be going single file and that no overtaking was allowed – any off-road tracks would scar the pan for centuries. As it turned out, being on the end was ideal from a photographic standpoint – I could stop whenever I saw something interesting without feeling like I was holding anyone up. Super advised us to spread the line out to avoid eating each other’s dust, so that wasn’t a problem either. After a brief flurry of picture taking of various people looking dashing on their quad bikes we were off.

There really aren’t words to describe the atmosphere out on the pans. There is a sense of sheer space that is hard to describe, and even harder to come by in the modern world. The very air was unlike any I have ever experienced, smelling and tasting of a unique tang that reminded me of baking soda and salt. On either side of the trail lay a crystalline version of the moon, a shimmering white cratered cracked wrinkled surface that seemed to stretch on forever. We passed the footprints of long-gone zebra and elephant, and the leathery desiccated remains of algae. An occasional patch of golden grass, rising up like a mirage, would break the stark white expanse.

I took a huge number of pictures, but when I looked at them later on my Epson they captured only the barest sense of the place – its sheer immensity, its living breathing emptiness. The ones I took of the San Francisco couple’s quad bike heading into the distance give the best sense of what it was like. Time seemed to cease to exist.

It was fortunate that we were the last two bikes in the line as both of us kept stopping to take pictures, with the end result that we fell behind and had to gun it to catch up with the others. Racing across the pans at speed with the wind in your face is an amazing experience – you feel like you’re the only person on earth, and that you could just keep going forever.

After about 15-20 minutes Super stopped and invited us to disembark and walk out onto the pan. Feeling it crunch beneath my feet reminded me a bit of walking on new-fallen show. Super told us about the origins of this unique environment in the bed of the ancient superlake which once covered most of Botswana, and about the life which lies hidden in this seemingly empty place. We had driven over hundreds of bullfrogs aestivating beneath the pan’s surface, and were walking on top of millions of brine shrimp enshrined in its crust. If you were to take a piece of the crust and soak in water, within 24 hours you would have thousands of brine shrimp, the choice food of the flamingos who come here to breed. A few scoops of sand showed us how water still lay just beneath the surface of the pan.

We drove on a bit more, and then stopped for drinks out of a cooler on the back of Super’s bike. Some people asked Super to take some pictures of them jumping – apparently if you lay on the ground to take the picture, the flatness of the pans makes it look as if the person is jumping really high off the ground since you can see the horizon under them. The ex-ballerina did a few jetes – I think I might have gotten a decent shot of her, and I told them I would email some copies to them when I got home.

We continued on, the sun sinking slowly towards the horizon. When I first saw the fire in the distance I wondered if it was a hallucination, but as we drew closer we realised that it illuminated a table swathed in white linen and set with silver and crystal, which seemed even more unreal. Kitty and Alvain greeted us with a full portable bar, including mulled wine warmed over the fire, and a canvas-sided bush loo stood nearby, marked with a paraffin lantern. In this surreal place it seemed perfectly natural to be drinking mulled wine for sundowners at the edge of the world.

The moon rose full overhead, reflecting off the surface of the pans and providing so much light that our headlamps weren’t really necessary when we bade Kitty and Alvain farewell and continued on our journey. Super picked up the pace, and I was so busy enjoying the scenery that I fell quite far behind and had to really put on some speed to catch up. We stopped in an area that seemed to embody the statement ‘in the middle of no where’ – there was nothing but whiteness stretching away in all directions. Super asked us to pick a direction, walk out onto the pan for 100 paces, lie down and look at the sky.

Lying on my back on the surface of the pan, inhaling its metallic salty soda tang, I felt like I had never really seen the sky before. The stars had stars, and the swathe of the Milky Way was a glittering veil flung across the sky. I could feel my pulse slowing, and the long travel day started to catch up with me. I drifted off wondering how many bullfrogs slept beneath me.

The sound of Super’s voice woke me from a dream about something I couldn’t recall, and we headed back towards camp. It had finally gotten cold, and I put both my fleece and jacket on for the ride back.

We had an amazing dinner in camp that night – it would have done Mombo proud, and the remoteness of the camp made it even more incredible. Unfortunately, Ralph wasn’t able to join us in the end, but I had a great time talking to the San Francisco couple about travel and photography. The ex-ballerina had a very interesting perspective on life, having effectively finished one career before most people have even gotten started. Hopefully I would get the chance to meet Ralph before I left.

We sat around the fire in front of the mess tent for after dinner drinks for awhile before heading back to our tents. I arrived to find three paraffin lanterns burning in my tent – I left two in the bedroom and took one into the bathroom to brush my teeth. As I washed up I belatedly realised that the lantern was becoming quite smoky, and emerged to find that the other two had filled my room with so much smoke that I had to roll the canvas windows up to let the room air out. The cool night breeze made short work of the smoke, but also made me very glad of the hot water bottle I found tucked between the covers on my bed…

Julian, your trip just goes on and on and gets better and better! I'm glad to hear a description of Jack's Camp. I wondered what it was like. The Makgadikgadi Pans are such an amazing place and I've only seen it dry.

Have you seen that movie "The Gods Must Be Crazy"? It's from 1980 and filmed in Bots and there is a vehicle in it that said Jack something. In the cast credits someone played Jack Hind. I know our guide, Nick, knew Jack but I don't remember him using a last name. Does anyone know if that is Jack's Camp?

Sundowner I can tell you Jacks surname was Bousfield. The Bushmen at Jacks Camp are related to the Bushman in the movie though.

Hi Cindy,

The Jack of Jack's Camp is Ralph's father (Jack Bousfield). He was a Great White Hunter who once held the record for the number of crocodiles killed, but became a conservationist later in life.

Cheers,
Julian

Hello,

Correction: Jack's uses Land Cruisers, not Land Rovers.

As long as it wasn't a Uri I was happy!

Cheers,
Julian

Julian,

Like I said before there is freedom of speech and you made your point (you were not impressed by Kwando) but that doesn't mean that you have to repeat yourself over and over again.

Do you know what I don't like?

People that tend to forget that it is a privelege to be able to see such wonderful places as the Okavango Delta and are instead complaining all the time about minor issues.

Hello Johan,

For someone with a bad back -- mine is from a car accident -- an extremely stiff suspension is NOT a minor issue. If I hadn't been fortunate enough to switch to the Hi-Lux on my third day, I might not have gone out at all. That was how bad it was.

I've tried to make the best of the situation by seeing the humour in it (which you apparently find offensive) but to be frank my back was in serious pain.

I understand that you've had a wonderful experiences at Kwando but unfortunately I didn't -- just as not all Fodorites have had great experiences at Londoz, where I've enjoyed so many wonderful visits. Sometimes that's just the way it is, and I think it's important to be honest about both the ups and the downs in a trip report.

Cheers,
Julian

just wanted to throw in my opinion.
I actually love the Uri because of its stiffer suspension. Also as I normally sits next to the driver I find that i have more legroom/room for my camerastuff. I also believe that it is lower than the Landcruiser, a must as a photographer.
Michael

Hi Michael,

Glad to see that there's a silver lining to this cloud -- you're definitely right in that being lower to the ground is great for photography.

I'm on the shorter side so I've found that I can't sit next to the driver without getting the bonnet in a lot of my shots, but in an effort to get lower down I sometimes end up sitting on the floor of the row behind the guide.

Cheers,
Julian

Julian,

We have a different sense of humour I think. Although I travel more to Wilderness camps than to Kwando camps, I felt Kwando was done unjustice by your comments. Murphy himself was at Kwando, when you were there ...

Safari camps are a dynamic environment (staff changes - changes in wildlife - vehicles/accomodation) so everytime is different. F.e. people who went to Mombo in the old days would be surprised to see it nowadays or Londolozi is quite different from what it used to be when Lex Hes and Map Ives were around.

When I am upset about something serious (like the probem with your back is), I'll discuss it directly with the management so they can do something about it if it is in their power. Irrelevant issues are never mentioned by me. But what I don't do, is to describe a place like you do on a forum , so people think that this place must be a real nightmare. And it's not about Kwando, I would react the same if any other company that I know was mentioned in such a way.

It's my opinion that lots of people expect to be the accomodation (if not everything) as like at home ... (so why travel to wild places)

F.e. I had people complaining about the showers at Skeleton Coast Research Camp (Wilderness Safaris) were not what they expected. And if you have been to Skeleton Coast you should be amazed what Wilderness Safaris is able to provide in such an harsh environment.

Greetings,

Johan

I'm sorry Johan, but I for one am extremely grateful for Julian's complete report on how HE found each camp and each company's offering.

Quite frankly, whilst you're entitled not to enjoy Julian's style of trip report, there are clearly many of us who really appreciate it just as it is and given that it doesn't break any Fodors rules, perhaps you either need to let it be or choose not to read it.

Whilst, as a huge Kwando fan, you clearly don't like seeing them criticised, it's actually really important for me that I get a complete picture of a camp I'm considering visiting.

All of us here can absorb everything Julian is sharing and judge for ourselves which of the issues are relevant/ important for us (and may influence our own future choices) and which, whilst unfortunate for Julian, aren't and won't.

For me issues related to comfort within the vehicle are very much of interest - I too have back problems and arthritic hips as well and so a vehicle with very stiff suspension over dry/ hard terrain will likely lead to my having to actually miss a number of game drives during my stay. That's a serious issue for me.

I happen not to be as concerned/ interested about food so where Julian has had some incidents on that front I'll likely ignore those or put little weight on them when I make my own camp choices.

Giving a full and frank report does not mean in the slightest that one has not fully appreciated their good fortune in being able to enjoy the wonders of the Delta.

Loving something, someone or someplace doesn't mean one has to be blind to the negatives - one simply chooses to love that thing, person or place regardless.

Julian, not that you will, I know, but please don't stop sharing your honest and personal opinions on every aspect with us. Many of us appreciate that very facet of your report.

Kavey

PS As for discussing issues that come up with management so that they can attempt to resolve them - I fully agree. I'm fairly confident that Julian did exactly that and was both polite and reasonable about it too.

It's really not for you to pronounce judgement on which issues are irrelevant or minor since all of us have (and are entitled to have) different priorities to each other.

But, as you can imagine, some things can't easily be resolved. Such as vehicle types and operational differences. Those kind of things are exactly the kind of things people want to know.

I agree with Kavey, 100%.
regards - tom

Kavey,

I respect your opinion but don't agree because I don't think you got all of my point.

It's best for me to leave Fodor's to the people who still enjoy visiting this forum.

Best regards,

Johan

I'm sorry that I failed to appreciate the point you were making. My suggestion was not for you to leave Fodors but to ignore this thread since you are clearly not appreciating it whilst others are. I appreciate input from all fellow travellers, yourself included.

Loved your report and all the details-am so happy to read about Jack's camp since it's high on my list.

'fraid I'm with the others Johan. While Julian's style is not to everybody's liking (I'll never go along with making specific fun of fellow travellers in public), honest accounts and opinions about destinations, organisation, facilities and so on is surely what this forum should be about. Julian's report gave me the third 'bad story' involving the Kwando organisation that I've either experienced or heard of in the past 12 months (I've reported on the others, so I won't repeat them here). Three in a year certainly gives cause for concern, yet I'm aware as anybody that mistakes can be made and relaying these things should not and does not amount to condemnation. Kwando is a marvellous destination but we need to know these things and reach our own conclusions, and not get our knickers in a twist if one of our favourite places gets a serve now and then. I gave my favourite destination two little serves last year...did anybody notice?...and Lynn has just recently assured me, probably unwittingly, that all is well again

John

As a business owner, I know how painful it can be to have one's business discussed negatively, without recourse. Sometimes these discussions are made without the owner being present and able to explain "the other side of the story". Sometimes the owner is unaware of a problem, and has not had an opportunity to rectify a situation.

People forget that a business is the livelihood of not only the owner, but of all the people they employ. Posting negatives about someone's business online makes me feel sad - there are potentially ?hundreds? of people who read these sights, and who may shy away from a business just because of a minor problem someone had.

I can't begin to imagine how the camps in Africa are able to provide the level of service that they do...

Sorry - don't mean to be on a soapbox, but I'm with Johan on this.

Cyn

'I can't begin to imagine how the camps in Africa are able to provide the level of service that they do...'--Cyn

Exactly why I chided somebody for a bad joke about camp property. But Cyn, people who go into business must be prepared for both criticism and praise of their services, whether or not they have a chance to respond. What use would this forum be if we heard nothing but backslaps? I can tell you from experience that many businesses would take advantage and self-promotion would grow like Topsy here.

John

Cyn

I can totally see where you're coming from. It's never easy to see criticism of one's business. But it's part and parcel of being a business owner.

The other side of this issue is that consumers should be free to share their opinions of businesses with each other and to base their decisions not just on business' marketing materials but on the real life experiences of those whose opinions they trust and value.

As long as reports shared in public are genuine (and not disguised attacks from rival businesses or individuals with a grudge) then I think they have a valid place.

Especially on consumer discussion boards such as this one!

Hello,

Thank you to everyone for your comments.

Trip reports are a funny thing - in the end they're one person's story of one trip, but they're very helpful in learning about places when you're planning a trip (and often make fun reading as well). I know I've learned a lot from reading other people's reports, and had a lot of laughs as well. I hope at least some people have found this report interesting and, at least at times, amusing.

Personally, I like it when people writing reports take the 'warts and all' approach as I find that most helpful to me when planning a trip, and I've written this report with that in mind. Everyone can cherry-pick those things which matter to them and ignore (or laugh at) the rest.

Just for the record, I don't think Kwando is a nightmare. I'm glad other people have had great experiences there - it's just not for me. Spencer and Steve are excellent guides and I would highly recommend them to anyone who plans a trip to Kwando.

I love Africa, and to me a day in Africa (even when everything is going pear-shaped) is a day to be treasured. Being surrounded by the sights, sounds, and scents of the bush is a wonder in itself, and spending time with its wild denizens as they go about their daily lives is a tremendous privilege that I only wish more people could share. The wilderness is unpredictable, but that's what draws me back again and again - you never know what you're going to see, which makes every sighting even more special.

Cheers,
Julian

Good bye Johan. Please don't punch your monitor on the way out.
regards - tom

Cyn,

I am both a business owner (three businesses, to be exact) and a consumer, and I always try to look at things from both sides.

Despite my newfound position as a tour operator in the safari industry, given that I consider myself a consumer advocate, needing to scratch and claw for every one of my past safaris, I also think that the clients who are being asked to spend $750 per person per night in high season are deserving of first hand honest assessments.

I will be at Kwando in 9 weeks and despite Julian's report and my business partnership with Julian, I am not hesitant in the least about my upcoming visit but rather looking forward to it greatly. Both Julian and I are firm believers that monopolies are evil and neither of us wants to see Botswana dominated by a single operator.

I do not have any back problems so a stiff suspension will not bother me, but I agree that it is something that should be reported if it turns out to be the case.

I have thought very highly about Kwando for years, so I am very excited about my upcoming visit, as well as my visit afterward to Sanctuary Lodges (Chiefs Camp and Baines Camp).

One thing that should be kept in mind is that there is some legitimate concern at the moment with Kwando due to a change in leadership. Hopefully I will be able to help dispell any such fears as will other Fodorites who are scheduled to soon visit Kwando. Fodorites are a sophisticated bunch of safarigoers and deserve to know the intricacies especially when someone of Julian's experience is reporting.

Johan,
Your input has been very helpful. Please continue your posts.

Julian,
I loved your accurate descriptions of the pans and the activities at Jack's. I had not been to thrilled with the quad bike option initially. But after a few minutes, once I got the hang of shifting, I was gunning for warp speed.

Hope your upcoming meerkat encounter is a good one.

Hi Julian,

Thank you for such an outstanding report. It took me a long time to read it but I loved every moment of it. I call it the Mother of all trip reports (MOATR)

Regards,

Vijay

Hi Vijay,

Glad you liked the report - believe it or not, there are still a few more instalments coming, as I still have one and half days left at Jack's Camp!

Cheers,
Julian

Hi Julian,

I am looking forward to reading it. Any Spa Girl's in it ?

I am looking forward to your photographas as well.

Vijay

Julian:

Appreciate the detailed and honest report.

Johan:

I appreciate your objections. Hard to judge what is correct. Honest feelings are helpful in informing others about the camps. PLEASE continue your posts. Your photos in particular are wonderful.

Rocco:

I would suggest you stop mentioning you are a tour operator. I appreciate your postings and am afraid you risk getting banned.

Kevin

Kevin,

Thanks for your concern. The problem is that if I don't point out what is obvious to so many people in a response the nature of my last one, then I sometimes get Fodorites who think I am trying to pull a fast one, when that is not my intent.

Unlike some in the industry on this forum, I am not posting a link back to a business website and I do operate within the Fodors rules and regulations.

Case in point, I have gotten a couple responses such as the following and I am even taking the liberty to self-censor the name so I do not benefit from this post:


Author: Bo2642
Date: 07/03/2006, 10:47 pm
Am loving your report.
Concerning XXXXXXX XXXXXX (Rocco?)--Rocco, do you now have your own business? Nothing wrong with that, and a lot of us on the boards would gladly put ourselves into your hands, but don't you think, in light of the need for disclosure, that every time you post from now on, you should mention that? Either way, though, it's advertising.


(I do not want to disrupt the trip report any further...I was only trying to add a little insight. Please let's return to the trip report)

Hi Vijay,

No Spa Girls, just meerkats! And Ralph Bousfield, who is probably the ultimate anti-Spa Girl.

Cheers,
Julian

JULY 7: MAKGADIKGADI PANS (JACK’S CAMP)

The Bushman walk didn’t start until relatively late, enabling me to have a lie-in until a luxurious 7am. My wake-up call came with hot water (for tea), milk, and demarra sugar on a silver tray with some shortbread biscuits. I nibbled the shortbread, sipped my tea, and watched the sun rise over the pan, a slow delicate blush of salmon on silvery blue.

What should have been a relatively short stroll to the mess tent took much longer than strictly necessary, as I kept finding wonderful opportunities for photography along the way – the pan, the reflections in the plunge pool, the tea tent and mess tent emerging from palm tree grove. It really bothers me when people are late, so I felt terrible when I realised I was almost ten minutes late to the mess tent – as it turned out, Alvain was the only person there. I took a few photos of the tent and had a bowl of cereal and another cup of tea while waiting for the others. Alvain mentioned that breakfast after the walk would be the camp’s legendary eggs Benedict – Ralph’s favourite, so hopefully he would be joining us for breakfast.

People slowly wandered in. The couple from San Francisco had walked with the Bushmen yesterday morning and they were going out to look at the fossil bed, so my companions for the Bushman walk would be the American couple and a mother and teenage son (also from the US). It was getting a bit warm, so I decided to leave my jacket in the mess tent and just take my fleece for my walk with the Bushmen.

I was surprised to find that we had a group of guides rather than one or two guides – two older men, one younger man about my age, and a shy teenager. Everyone introduced themselves; our guides’ names all began with that ! (clicking) sound, making them impossible to pronounce, though they did find our attempts pretty funny (the American teenager was pretty good at it).

We walked out onto the pan, following our guides. Interestingly, none of the Jack’s guides accompanied us – Kitty said that they felt that their presence distracted people from the experience.

We stopped a short distance from the mess tent when one of the older men spotted a few spindly green leaves poking up out of the ground. It looked like some sort of grass to me, but they knew better – their digging sticks quickly unearthed a medium-sized tuber, which looked a lot like a large sweet potato. The older men didn’t speak much English, so the younger man served as an interpreter; he told us that it was a medicinal plant used to treat stomach upset. He seemed to have traded some of his traditional education for his knowledge of English, as he often had to ask the older men for answers to question from our group. They carefully placed the tuber back in its hole and filled the sand back in before continuing on.

This time a twig poking up from the grounds was the cue for some very industrious digging, which eventually revealed what looked like the Mother of All Turnips. The oldest man used a spear to whittle the ‘turnip’ until a small pile of white shavings had accumulated. I expected him to eat them (and was wondering if I could persuade them to let me try some) so I was puzzled when he gathered up the shavings and formed them into a loose ball. Holding the ball over the ‘bowl’ he had whittled out of the side of the turnip, he squeezed – and water ran out! A surprising amount of water could be squeezed from the shavings, and he was able to drink it from the ‘bowl’ he had carved in the turnip. The turnip shavings smelled, well, like a turnip, and I wondered what the water tasted like, but they wouldn’t let me try it – I expect it tasted a bit like a turnip. After sipping some of the water, he packed the shavings back into the hollow area and placed the turnip back into the ground.

We crossed an open area where animal tracks where visible on the pan – I took a photo of some brown hyaena tracks in cast that was as close as I got to a brown hyaena. Our interpreter explained how to read the tracks and described how the Bushmen would hunt animals (usually steenbok) with their poisoned arrows. The teenager pulled a steenbok skin out of the quiver he was carrying and showed us how it could be used to make a loincloth. Wildebeest hide, because it was tougher, was used for sandals.

One of the older men knelt down and started laying out some mysterious implements – a stick, another stick with a set of mysterious round holes, and an old sandal. Slowly it became clear – he was preparing to make fire. He gathered some tinder (dried grass) and set to work, rubbing the stick back and forth between his hands with one end in one of the holes. He told the teenager to take over – the boy wasn’t as coordinated and the stick kept slipping out of the hole before getting hot enough to light the tinder. With a continued stream of instructions/encouragement/scolding from his elders, the teenager slowly got the hand of it and smoke started to curl up from the hole. There’s always something riveting about watching someone try to start a fire – perhaps some echo of a primal memory in which fire was the difference between life and death – and this was no exception. I found that I was holding my breath, praying for it to work.

The tinder caught, and more fuel was quickly added. Soon a little blaze was crackling away, quickly consuming the dried grass. Wisely they had chosen an open area with no readily available fuel, and the fire quickly began to die down. The Bushmen seemed to see this as a case of ‘waste not, want not’ and one of the older men took out what looked like a brass bo’sun’s whistle made from the casing of a very large calibre bullet. It turned out to be a pipe, which was promptly filled with tobacco and passed around. Thankfully they didn’t offer it to us – after my experience sharing a sheesha with some friendly locals in Egypt (which left me with a serious headache for the remainder of the day) I’ve rather gone off shared pipes.

The two American women had a number of questions about Bushman society, particularly the role of women. Learning that the shy teenager was due to get married (following his initiation hunt) prompted a flood of questions. What was a Bushman marriage like? How would he meet his wife? Apparently his parents (mostly his mother) would choose his wife, and he might not even meet her before the wedding.

While the older men where answering some of the questions (through the interpreter) the teenager slipped away, to reappear dressed in traditional Bushman garb. He pretended to ‘marry’ the older American woman, which spurred her husband to ask how many cows he could get for her, which puzzled the Bushmen to no end (the couple has been to East Africa and apparently didn’t realise the difference between the Bushmen and pastoralists like the Maasai).

Back at camp, brunch was the best eggs Benedict I’ve ever had – the bread was just a bit sweet with a crisp crust and the sauce was just the right blend of creamy and tangy. I had a fascinating conversation with Alvain and the San Francisco couple about how Bushman society is changing. Alvain’s attempts to convince the Bushmen that people will pay for their traditional art and crafts have been less than successful; there is a tendency, especially among the younger people, to view their traditional skills as worthless. I mentioned the project at Ghanzi which supplies the Wilderness camps with Bushman crafts; while Alvain admires that project, he would much rather work with the local community. He’s also trying to get some of the Bushman women involved in guiding, which would be wonderful. We were shocked to learn that it wasn’t so long ago that a licence could be bought to hunt Bushmen. Man’s inhumanity to man will never fail to astonish me.

After going back to my tent for a short break, I met Kitty in the mess tent to head over to San Camp to take a look around. The camps are only about 20 minutes apart, but it felt longer because it was so dry – by the time we arrived I was dying for a drink of water.

Personally, I find the colour of the tents at San (white) more aesthetically appealing than the colour of the tents at Jack’s (green, apparently based on an old jacket of Jack’s) – I can only imagine what it must be like to drive into camp over the dry pans and see the white tenets rising up like a mirage.

We were met by one of the managers, and after introducing ourselves Kitty showed me one of the guest tents. It was quite a bit smaller and simpler than the tents at Jack’s, with no indoor sitting area. There was a lovely veranda with a copper washbasin, and a bathroom with flush look and open-air bucket shower out back. The tents are widely spread out along the edge of the pan, providing ample privacy. After taking a few photos for the Safari Lodge Photo Album, we headed back to the mess tent.

I really liked the open-air feel of the San Camp mess tent – the air seemed to circulate a bit more easily than it did in the mess tent at Jack’s, making it a bit cooler. The décor had a similar flavour, with a cabinet full of artefacts and a portable campaign bar, but the camp feels less permanent – which makes sense since it is completely broken down for each rainy season. I think I’d really enjoy staying here on my next visit to the Pans.

"We were shocked to learn that it wasn’t so long ago that a licence could be bought to hunt Bushmen." Julian, someone else told me this a couple of years ago and I couldn't decide whether to believe him or not. I chose not to. Now I'll have to wonder again.

Hi Cindy,

Yes, that rates as one of the most shocking things I've ever heard on my travels, to Africa or elsehwere. I've seen references to this happening in the early days of the Cape Colony, but wasn't aware that it took place afterwards.

Cheers,
Julian

"Man’s inhumanity to man will never fail to astonish me."

I just read your most recent istallment, after having spent the past two days in Sarajevo and Mostar (Bosnia and Hercegovina), and am now writing this in Mostar. You would be equally astonished to see the effects of ethnic conflict in Europe in the 1990s -- not another continent, and not another century! I am likewise astonished at the metamorphosis -- Mostar, where I am now, is vibrant, tourist-friendly and beautiful, at least in the UNESCO area around the old bridge, but there are hundreds of ruins and building shells within a hundred yards of the historic center.

Anyway, back to your report, and Jack's and San Camp sound great -- I didn't see any brown hyenas or meerkats in Kgalagadi, so I'm awaiting your next installment.

Now off to catch bus to Dubrovnik.

JULY 7: MAKGADIKGADI PANS (JACK’S CAMP) Continued:

We headed back to Jack’s, stopping along the way for some exterior shots of San Camp. Before heading back to my tent, I stopped in the mess tent to get some ice and a glass of water. By the time I got back to my tent (admittedly with a stop-off to chat to the San Francisco couple who were sitting by the plunge pool) the ice had almost melted.

Once again I was tempted to skip tea (hot weather makes me lose my appetite – according to my alarm clock/thermometer the temperature was around 28C). And once again I was very glad I didn’t – in addition to enjoying the delicious biscuits and a glass of cool water with a slice of lemon, I had the chance to say hello to Ralph Bousfield when he dropped by just as we were leaving. For a (very brief) moment I was tempted to stay in camp and talk to him instead of going to see the brown hyaenas, but he assured us he would be at dinner.

There was another familiar face at tea as well – Richard Coke, the private guide I had met at Mombo. He was now with a different client, a single woman who was returning to Botswana for her third safari this year, all of them with Richard as her guide.

My companions for the evening game drive were the San Francisco couple and the Fussies, who took their usual 10-15 minutes to decide where they were going to sit, whether Mrs Fussy wanted to wrap her jumper around her shoulders or wear it, etc etc. When Kitty asked if someone would like to sit on the roof, I mentally groaned – by the time the Fussies had decided if they would like the view, if it would be too hot, if they should take their camera bag, etc etc the hyaenas would long since have buggered off. Fortunately the San Francisco couple nipped that one on the bud by climbing up on top – the seat only fit three people. They asked me if I wanted to join them, but I thought it was a bit too hot (and that being lower down would be better for photography).

In what seemed to be a running theme, we learned that the original habituated clan had relocated, and that the Jack’s team was in the process of habituating another clan, which meant that the sightings were not as reliable as they had once been. However, Jack’s remains arguably the best place to see these elusive animals. Ralph had been out to see them last night and had had a very good sighting of the two cubs, and we hoped that we would do as well.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have as good a sighting as he did – the light was gorgeous, but we saw only one of the cubs, and the tall golden grass made it a real challenge to spot him. The San Francisco couple had the best view from the roof – I ended up climbing on top to join them. The cub was quite shy, and shortly everyone (even Mr Fussy) was on the verge of strangling Mrs Fussy – apparently the word ‘whisper’ was not in her vocabulary, and every time she started talking (loudly) the cub hunched back down in the grass. But even though the sighting was brief and frustrating, it was a real thrill to see a brown hyaena, with the setting sun glinting on his chocolate brown coat.

The San Francisco couple and I would like to have stayed longer, but the Fussies (who had not been advised to bring their own binoculars and thus couldn’t see much for most of the time) had had enough after about half an hour. I think I may have gotten some half-way decent shots, as did the San Franciscans, and we agreed to swap them to our mutual P-4000s when we got back to camp.

For the ride back to camp I climbed up onto the roof with the San Franciscans, which was a lot of fun now that the heat of the day had passed. It gave a great view of the pan, and we stopped for sundowners in a particularly picturesque area where Kitty took some pictures of us sitting on top of the vehicle.

The sun sets quickly in the desert, and the drive back to camp turned into a night drive under the full moon. We passed a herd zebra, which got Kitty really excited, as they’re not commonly seen here in the dry season. Hopefully they would still be there in the morning when we went out to see the meerkats.

After a quick visit to my tent, I joined Ralph and Richard for pre-dinner drinks around the campfire in front of the mess tent. As the others joined us, Ralph told us stories about growing up in the bush and exploring the pans with his father. Even in the dark he was an impressive presence, with a quiet but intense charisma – the archetype of the seasoned safari guide.

We moved inside for dinner, where long practice manoeuvring seating arrangements at High Table in Oxford enabled me to snag a seat next to Ralph. He has guided all over Africa and hearing him talk about his trips was amazing. We both love wild dogs, and I was astonished to hear that he has seen wild dogs on every trip, even trips to Kenya and Tanzania. He has one set of regular clients who are dog fanatics, and has travelled all over Africa with them looking for canines – the next stop is Ethiopia to see the wolves. It would be beyond brilliant to do a safari with Ralph – just spending the time with him would be incredible, with his lifetime of bush knowledge. He’s very selective about his clients, and I hope they realise how lucky they are. If you’re ever in camp when Ralph is there, let the guides know that you want to meet him – if you’re lucky enough to meet do so you’ll understand what I mean.

While Ralph has been a longtime friend of the Bushman community near Jack’s and supports Alvain’s initiative to help the Bushmen sell their crafts, he is still uncomfortable with the idea of having a shop at Jack’s – the camp is his home, and it would be rather odd to sell postcards with pictures of your father’s face or your living room. I could see his point – although there are plenty of postcards of Merton College, where I live as a don in Oxford, there aren’t any pictures of my flat or my cat for sale (Diva is so camera-shy that getting a picture of her would be a real challenge anyhow). He’s really a guide at heart, and the whole marketing side of things is really the domain of his wife, Catherine – you could say that Ralph is the legend, and Catherine is the logistics team behind the legend.

Ralph is very hands-on and involved in all aspects of running the camp, and has very high standards for the people who work for him – informal does not mean lacklustre by any means. When one of the staff responded to my request for ‘rooibos without milk’ with chamomile with milk, Ralph noticed it before I did (I was too interested in the story he was telling) and sent it back; when it was replaced by chamomile without milk, Ralph went and got the rooibos himself. He is also working on an HIV education project for his staff, as he has lost many friends to the disease – he was flying out tomorrow morning to attend the funeral of a friend who had died of AIDS.

If I ever have time, I’d love to go to Francistown and visit the Bousfields’ animal orphanage. Ralph told some fascinating stories about growing up with all sorts of orphaned animals, from genets to leopard cubs. He’s not entirely sure how the orphanage started – people have been turning up with orphaned animals and giving them to his mother for as long as he can remember. Most of them were orphaned after a farmer shot their mothers, but couldn’t bear to kill the cubs. How ironic that Jack Bousfield, the Great White Hunter, ended up as foster father to leopards!

After dinner we gathered around the campfire for after-dinner drinks. Most people probably would have felt a bit odd sitting on the ground while everyone else was in chairs, but Ralph looked perfectly comfortable sitting cross-legged at the fireside. I would have loved to stay and talk some more, but I was falling asleep in my chair. I bade him and the others good-night and headed off to bed.

Julian,
I have thoroughly enjoyed your report. I remember when I sat down to write my report I was a bit nervous, wondering how "honest" I should be. I am glad you included the good, the bad, and the ugly. I have always enjoyed the honesty and difference of experiences, reactions, and opinions on this board, and would hate for that to change. I also enjoy the diversity of personalities here in Fodorville and while reading I realize one persons opinion may be entirely different from another.
Thanks again for a wonderful report, it is thru reports such as yours that helps the rest of us relive or plan our adventures.
Teri

Julian

Excellent work again. Thanks for writing about all aspects of a camp, I really don't understand the "you criticize my favorite so I'm leaving mentality" but each to his own. I criticized Mombo for switching to land cruisers which were far less comfortable than land rovers, but maybe because my report was shorter I only made the criticism once and therefore did not upset all the Mombo advocates.
The beauty of this board is that people post their experiences, you should be able to tell from reading all their posts what kind of a person and traveller they are, and decide from that how much credence to lend their reports.

Julian, I have now gone back and re-read what you've written about Kwando, and I'm unable to find the words that alienated Johan. Guests pay a lot of money for safaris, and its enlightening to see candid and frank assessments from someone who has gone on several safaris. I do appreciate that we are quite privileged to be able to visit the Delta, as Johan points out, but if trip reports were pollyanish and filtered the less-than-good from the great, they would lose value. I, for one, am very glad you chose to describe your trip in great detail (from my trip reports, you can tell I lack the energy to craft such detailed reports).

For example, I was eagerly awaiting your report on the visit to the brown hyena den, and, to me, it seems about a B-, not an A, but I realize that you were very, very lucky to see brown hyenas in the wild. Even so, your report has certainly piqued my interest in visiting Jack's (or San).

Michael

Napamatt, as one of the many Mombo advocates on this thread, I'd like to point out that personally, regardless of my love for Mombo, I really appreciate all genuine and honest reports on the camp, good or bad. It's only through some negative reports here that I learned that Mombo went through what seemed to be at least a year of poor management, guiding and so on (in between my two excellent visits) and I am sure that the communications that went back to WS on the back of those reports contributed in some small part to their checking into the situation and resolving the problems. I am also not so naive as to think that just because I had fabulous experiences that this will be the case for everyone. Not to mention that some potential problems don't necessarily come to light for every visitor.

Micheal, I couldn't figure that out either.

Julian
It's such a delight reading about Jack's as you know it's camp Pete and I really loved on our 2004 visit.
Don't give too much away now, you hear?
During our visit we were extremely lucky to see the habituated brown hyenas (though wasn't able to get any good shots). One was collared for a research project being conducted at that time and all including the pups were used to the presence of vehicles. We sat right up on those roof seats enjoying the sighting. Having not really searched out photos of these hyenas beforehand I was surprised at their appearance. Though I love the more common spotted hyenas I can understand where people who call them ugly are coming from. But the Brown hyenas were so different - they reminded me more of brown bears than of their spotted hyena cousins!
We also had a magical trip out on the quad bikes and a magical morning amidst the habituated meerkats - there were two young babies in the group at the time which was so much fun to watch!
We were also lucky to see large numbers of zebras and flamingoes which have usually left the area by June but had not yet dispersed because of the unusual water levels in 2004.
Oh and the bushman walk was amazing too - learning not only about their lives and skills but also their folklore was a really fascinating experience.
We were not lucky enough to be there at the same time as Ralph but the staff were truly fantastic.
Thanks for helping me relive...
Kavey

Kavey

As always you made my point more lucidly than I did. There is something about typing one's thoughts that for me at least means they dont always make the page in quite the way you intend.

You and several others are REALLY putting me in a Botswana state of mind. Uh oh..........

Hello everyone,

Thanks for all your comments on my report -- I'm glad people are enjoying it. There's still one more instalment on Jack's, and then it will be time to start a new thread with the South African leg of my trip.

Michael,

I was a bit disappointed by my brown hyaena sighting as well, though I expect that things will improve with time as the new clan gets more habituated to people and vehicles. It does seem that if you are able to spend more time you'll have a better time of it -- Ralph saw both cubs and their mum playing together, but he was able to stay for a much longer time as he was on his own.

I'm going back to Jack's next year at the end of April, which I'm really looking forward to -- it will be fascinating to see the pans during the wet season, and I'll have another chance to see the hyaenas. With luck, I may even have a chance to see an aardwolf or an aardvark!

Cheers,
Julian

Hef

Will you get to SA before the year is out?

Hi Matt,

I'll definitely get there before I leave for Tanzania in October. Only one more Botswana instalment to go, and then it's on to a new country and a new thread.

Cheers,
Hef

Oh Boy Julian, I have just caught up again .... I didn't think I had missed so much but this thread is really moving - how do you do it (post so much so quickly I mean?).

Julian, I too am glad it's a 'warts and all' report.
Like Teri I deliberated about how 'honest' my trip report re accomodations should be but in the end I decided that people realise that the things I post are my own personal experiences and preferences. Personally speaking, had I read about some of the things I discovered myself while on Safari at some of the hotels / lodges I would have possibly changed one of my choices of accomodation while one of the others, although it was less than what I expected, I would have still chosen it as there were more puses than minuses. Anyways, please keep it coming Julian!

Imelda

I'm certainly enjoying your report, Julian. I'm also glad you reported things as they appealed/didn't appeal to you. I hesitated when I gave one camp a less than glowing report. Then I decided I would feel pretty bad if someone else went there based on a positive report and then had the experience we had. Speaking of the that camp, it's the only place I felt like I had to carry my own bags to the tent and it was a very long way on loose-sand-walkways in 100+ degree heat. They only had 2 small women doing all of the work and 6 of us arrived at the same time. Ridiculous.

Ok, Julian. I finished "venting". Let's hear some more!

Julian,
I hope your photo rebuilding was successful or is on its way to being successful.

I thought your San comments were quite accurate. I would stay at San camp if I am lucky enough to return to the pans.

Did I miss the meerkats? Or are they coming up.

I think I met Richard also on my last trip, escorting a family.

Hi Lynn,

The photo library rebuilding is coming along -- I'm just about at the point where I was before it crashed. So far it looks like about seven or eight photos were irretrievable.

The meerkats are coming up next, hopefully this weekend!

Cheers,
Julian

JULY 8: MAKGADIKGADI PANS (JACK’S CAMP)

No lie-in for me on my last morning in Botswana – we needed to be at the meerkat colony before they woke up for the best sightings. Thus it was particularly aggravating to have Mr and Mrs Fussy taking even longer than usual to make their momentous decision about where to sit – right as we were about to leave Mrs Fussy decided that she wanted to sit up front next to Kitty, which entailed another good ten minutes of fussing around. I found myself really wishing I had asked if I could join the San Francisco couple and their guide, who had long since departed.

The meerkat colony was located near Chapman’s Baobab, one of the gigantic baobabs used as landmarks by the early explorers. It stood out like a beacon on the flatness of the pans.

There are two guides who take turns spending time with the meerkats, so there is always someone with the colony; they switch off every day or two. As cute as the meerkats are, I couldn’t help but think that it must get pretty boring at times…though it would offer a great opportunity to do some writing or painting. The one on duty waved at us as we drew up. The San Francisco couple was already there, sitting on the ground beside the holes marking the entrances to the meerkats’ burrows.

Fortunately, it was a chilly morning, which kept the meerkats in their burrows longer than usual and enabled us to arrive before they had woken up. We joined the San Franciscans on the ground, keeping quiet so as not to spook them.

Two early-rising meerkats poked their heads out, and emerged to stand on their hind legs facing the sun – apparently this is a way of warming themselves in addition to keeping an eye out for predators. One was a bold young male, and the other was the heavily pregnant alpha female, who looked like a plump, stubby little sausage. By lying on our stomachs and inching forward, we were able to get quite close – my 24-105 lens was more than enough.

When some time had passed without the rest of the colony emerging, Kitty suggested that we give them some space – after all, it must be pretty startling to emerge from your home and find a bunch of giants on your doorstep! So we went back to the vehicles, where the guides had laid out a very posh bush breakfast – delicious home-made muffins as well as hardboiled eggs and little quiches. I had hot chocolate with Amarula – a great way to start the day.

As we ate we heard the familiar hum of an approaching aircraft, and I looked up to see a little red plane overhead – it was Ralph. We waved at him and he waggled his wings in response.

The meerkats were taking their time to wake up, so Kitty led us over to Chapman’s Baobab. The explorers’ baobabs are among the oldest living things in Botswana, and are designated national monuments. It had seemed large enough from the vehicle, but it was only when approaching it on foot did I get a true sense of its immensity. Its roots were large enough to resemble the fallen trunks of smaller trees, and could have served as tables and chairs if we had been inclined to have a picnic. It was hard to get a decent picture with the 24-105, making me wish I hadn’t left my 16-35 in camp.

Up close the bark of the baobab had an odd texture, not like the rough bark of other trees – a bit more waxy, almost like a giant stem. The only reason these trees have survived for so long is the low elephant population – otherwise they would have had their bark stripped long ago. We walked around the trunk, and Kitty pointed out Chapman’s initials, now barely readable as the trunk had slowly healed over the scars. I can only hope that some of the egregious modern carvings (mostly from the 1980s for some reason) will eventually go the same way. Kitty was particularly outraged by how some modern people had actually carved over the explorers’ carvings, rather than using some of the (more than ample) blank space on the trunk.

Kitty caught a hand signal from one of the other guides, and told us that the meerkats were awake. We returned to find a lively group of four or five popping in and out of their burrows and standing up to sun themselves. There were two young ones who tumbled around the colony, play-fighting with mock ferocity as their elders looked on tolerantly. If you stood or sat still they would come very close to you – the two young ones chased each other around and through the legs of the guy from San Francisco. I took a huge number of pictures, as did he.

We spent most of the morning sitting with the meerkats, watching them emerge from their burrows and start foraging while keeping a wary eye on the sky – their main predators are birds of prey. When we finally departed, Kitty said that the guides would try and find the zebra herd we’d seen last night on our drive back to camp. We found them at the edge of a wooded area fringing a grassy plain. I climbed on the roof to take a look – while I didn’t get any good shots as they were quite far away and rather skittish, I enjoyed watching them through my binoculars and listening to the drumming of their hooves as they surged to and fro.

The San Francisco couple and I both had planes to catch, so we couldn’t stay that long with the zebras. I grabbed a bite to eat before going back to my tent to finish packing. I ended up rushing a bit with the result that I left my dental floss behind, a mistake that would haunt me until Singita. But rushing did mean that I had time for a lovely brunch (no eggs Benedict, sadly, though they would have been happy to make them if I had asked Kitty to radio the kitchen on the way back to camp).

As I was settling my bill with Alvain, I made the unfortunate discovery that Jack’s is the only WS camp that does not take credit cards. I normally tip via credit card so I was worried that I wouldn’t have enough cash, but fortunately I had enough South African rand left in my wallet from my Joburg overnight to leave nice tips for Kitty, the staff, and the Bushmen.

All too soon it was time to go. The San Franciscans and I piled our hand luggage on top of the other bags in one of the vehicles and headed to the airstrip. On the way there we swapped meerkat pictures by downloading each other’s memory cards into our Epsons, and made plans to have dinner in San Francisco the next time I was in the area.

We arrived at the airstrip a bit early, and had to duck the dust as the planes landed. There was a Caravan heading back to Maun, and a little one that would be taking the San Franciscans to Little Vumbura. It looked as if the disembarking passengers had raided LL Bean before their trip – they all had the same LL Bean dufflebag in different colours.

I managed a few shots of the pans as we flew over, but I’d really love a chance to shoot them from a helicopter or a bit closer to the ground. Maybe next time I can persuade Ralph to take me up in his plane for some photos.

Seeing the outskirts of Maun appear brought back that familiar sadness at knowing this was the end – it was time to leave Botswana. While I was certainly looking forward to South Africa, I always hate to leave Botswana. There is something so special about this country that, despite the lure of so many other new and exciting destinations to explore, keeps drawing me back.

I was looking forward to buying my Bushman bracelets from the Wilderness buyer when I got to Maun, but when I arrived I learned to my dismay that they still hadn’t received the shipment from Ghanzi. Lesson learnt: next time buy it when you see it as there’s no guarantee you’ll see it again later. (The buyer later contacted me by email when I got home, and I’m arranging to have the bracelets shipped to me – now that’s service!).

It was with a heavy heart that I boarded my Air Botswana flight (and not just because I was flying Air Botswana). But as I watched Maun drop away into the distance, I consoled myself with the thought that I would be back in nine months and twenty days – but who’s counting?

Hello,

Thus it ends -- the Mother of All Trip Reports. I hope you've enjoyed reading it. I'll let everyone know when my photos are ready.

Cheers,
Julian

Well done Hef, I cant wait to hear about MM though!

I really enjoyed your report and am sorry to see it end. Definitely need to try hot chocolate with amarula though!

Hello,

Don't worry Matt - South Africa is coming up soon!

Hot chocolate with Amarula is one of my favourite sundowners -- I was introduced to it at Londoz, and I've been introducing it to every camp I've stayed at ever since. The key IMO is to go light on the Amarula or it drowns out the flavour of the chocolate.

Cheers,
Julian

Thanks, Julian!

Why ever end this? If you stretch it out long enough, you can just start discussing your plans for the next trip on this thread.

Then post the report from that one. This thread could go on for all your traveling years!

Meerkat questions:
Do you know how many meerkats are in the colonly? There were 11 when I was there a year ago and I am hoping it is growing rather than shrinking.

Also last year there were plans to habituate a second meerkat colony. Do you have any info on that?

BRAVO Julian, BRAVO!

I will pour myself an Amarula now to celebrate.

I love those meerkats...got some great photos a couple weeks ago at the San Diego Zoo as I sat for hours watching a dozen of them run around including 3 babies.

Congratulations on a terrific report! I too look forward to Mala Mala.

Hi Julian!
I have printed this out - from top to bottom (116 pages - new record...) and will settle down over a LONG bus ride as soon as I finish Sandi's and Imelda's! I can't wait!

I am looking forward to reading it and seeing what I am can expect in a few years as my next Africa destination.

Julian,

I'm back from a fantastic 10 nights at Kwando!!!

During my brilliant stay at Lebala (my fav camp in all of Africa), i did take a peak at your comments in it....it said, "I wish i spent more time here"....enough said!!!

Btw, havent looked thru these boards yet.....but, are your pictures in....would love to see pics of your first Sable and Roan sightings ever: At Lagoon.

Kind regards,
Hari

Typo....i meant comments in the guest book....

Julian, great finish -- just read your final installment from Durressi, on the Albanian coast (the last day of my trip to the Balkans -- I leave tomorrow to fly via Milan to JFK).

Sounds like a very nice encounter with the meerkats, but why are they continuously monitored, like some black rhinos? I tried, without luck, to see them in Kgalagadi, and I know they are there, but none have been habituated.

Thanks (you set a high bar for trip reports, but I don't think there will be a large audience for a trip report to Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania and Macedonia, so I might take a respite from trip reports). I likely will post photos, though, on Europe forum.

Thanks again, Michael

One more thing -- there is also an enormous baobob near Victoria Falls, and its protected by a fence since elephants frequent the area (its on the Victoria Falls in the Lonely Planet and I visited on my way back to Victoria Falls from the helicopter launch site).

Lynn,

I believe there are about 15 meerkats in the colony I visited. There was mention of a second colony, but I didn't get any details on it.

Hari,

Originally I had wanted either any extra night at Lagoon or an extra night at Jack's, but the vagaries of scheduling meant that I ended up with a one-night stop at Lebala. I really don't think one night is enough to experience a camp, and Spencer was a such a terrific guide it would have been great to spend at least one more day with him.

Michael,

According to the guides at Jack's it's to keep them habituated to humans (they're not necessarily visited every day) and to keep track of the colony as they do have a tendency to pick up and move to a new set of burrows every now and then and it's not always easy to find them afterwards. There are a number of ongoing research projects on their behaviour and the guides' field notes are used by the researchers.

Cheers,
Julian

Julian: Thanks for the thorough report! The bushmen water does indeed have a slight flavor that could be described as turnipish or kind of potatoish even. In the bushmen walk at Deception Valley Lodge they encourage you to try the things with them such as the water, berries, making a fire with sticks, and shooting arrows, etc. Jack's Camp sounds like great fun with the variety of activities. Awesome that you saw a brown hyena -- a very rare treat. I was fortunate to see them in Madikwe.

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your Kwando experience as much as possible and do appreciate the full report. I think people evaluating trip reports need to get numerous opinions and as Matt (I think) was pointing out figure out who seems to fit your style of travel -- this is critical. Often times people become used to a style like Wilderness Safaris and then something different like Kwando doesn't seem as good while others prefer the Kwando experience and then there's people like me who like certain things better about each but enjoy both immensely.

Johan: if you read this far please continue to contribute to this board. You are one of the most knowledgeable sources on this board and I definitely appreciate it!

Woo hoo! That was great, thanks Julian!

Brings back strong memories of our morning with the meerkats... we were lucky in that it was only our group going to the colony that day and given that all five of us AND our guide were from North London we got on unusually well. By that time we were pretty close!

As Julian as said, they watch the group so closely not for research but to ensure that they know just where they are so that visitors can enjoy the experience.

The watchers don't stay out all night - they stay with the meerkats throughout the day until the finally go down into whichever burrow they have chosen. They then come back to camp for the night. They set out again early enough to be absolutely sure they will be at the same burrow before the meerkats emerge.

We were lucky that we were able to sit on the ground right by the burrow and watch them emerge as we enjoying our hot morning drinks brought to us by our wonderful guide. This group seemed to be so completely at ease that people walking about and moving around in between them didn't bother them in the slightest. Infact they seemed to treat us as oddly moving parts of the landscape and scooted around right between us in their search for insects to eat! The little babies made continuous and surprisingly loud begging noises to every and any adult demanding food and loudly munched anything they were given.

It was a magical morning as all five of us were so relaxed and so uplifted that we just smiled and enjoyed it and it was a fabulous morning.



Julian, you're very fortunate to be able to go back again so soon... I don't know when we'll next be able to return and it's already been 2 years!

Thanks for sharing your wonderful experiences with us, Julian!

Hi Kavey,

Visiting the meerkats was one of the highlights of the trip for me -- they are so great to watch. I really hope some of my shots of the sparring youngsters came out! I love mongooses too and they're quite similar in the way they interact with one another, though I've never seen a colony of mongooses as relaxed as these meerkats were.

Cheers,
Julian

Hi PB,

I hadn't realised you could see brown hyaena at Madikwe -- did you have a good sighting? Were they commonly seen at the camps you stayed at?

I've heard that they can also be seen at Deception Valley Lodge, but that the animals are quite shy.

Cheers,
Julian

The kaveyland site where I used to host my south africa photos is down so the only place I have a few up now is alamy.com - if you search on "favelle meerkat" you'll see a series taken in Botswana plus some taken more recently in a UK zoo.

Can't wait to see yours... I'll bet you got some GREAT ones!

Julian

When I stayed at Makanyane, I was told Brown Hyena were very hard to see in the Madikwe.

Hi Matt,

That was what I'd heard as well, which was why I was surprised by PB's post.

What did you think of Makanyane? I've heard some people complain about its proximity to the boundary fence.

Cheers,
Julian

Julian

Makanyane

Rooms - fabulous, maybe the best Ive had. Like KP with electricity.
Food - gourmet and wonderful. Dinner by the pool wasespecially nice.
Guides - two very good guides, 2 days with each.
Vehicles - not great, rear seats were along way from the truck bed, difficult for tripods!
Viewing - not bad, there are definitely some very quiet areas in the park, but we saw perhaps the most handsome male Lion we've seen (he now graces our living room) and of course we saw dogs on our last day.
The fence - we did not meet the fence many times, so no problem.

I am about ten years away from a repeat visit to Madikwe, but I will definitely go back, and if you are concerned about malaria, its a good destination, lacking only Leopard (they are there, just very shy).

Hi Matt,

Thanks for the feedback on Makanyane. At some point I plan to head back to Madikwe to take another look and visit some more lodges -- probably 2008. I'll keep Makanyane in mind.

Cheers,
Julian

Julian: sorry for the delayed response, I was out of town and missed your brown hyena comments.

I had one brief sighting and one sighting that I considered to be very good of brown hyena at Madikwe. It is not like Jack's Camp where you had an opportunity for day time viewing of very habituated animals. My sightings were both about 1/2 hour past dark, typical for such a secretive, generally nocturnal mammal. On my good viewing we were able to follow along for 3 to 4 minutes with the brown hyena stopping a few times and looking in our direction. We were probably 20 yards away for a good bit of the time. Considering this is a rarely seen species I felt it was a good viewing, had it been a lion it would obviously be rated differently.

This occured in the western sector of Madikwe and there was a lion kill that we were hanging out at previous to the sightings so they were likely waiting for a safe crack at the carcas. Both morning leaving Buffalo Ridge our guide found brown hyena tracks on the road from the lodge and was able to find scent posts where the b. hyena leave a thick white substance about the size of a quarter high on the grass. They will patrol regular territories marking in this manner. Our guide seemed very familiar with this and my guess is he spots the markings almost daily. I think in where a guide is this familiar you could find one with some patience and time in the dark. My impression was they considered it a special sighting but one that they do come across with a fair frequency in this area of the park.

Hi Bill,

Which lodge were you at when you saw the brown hyaenas? It would be nice to have a chance to see them when I go back to Madikwe.

Cheers,
Julian

Julian: I was staying at Buffalo Ridge at the time.

I've been reading this thread with great interest. Love Julian's report and all the comments, positive, negative, whatever, which go with it. Was a bit taken aback, though, by Rocco's entry of 8/28/06 wherein he quoted my comments of 7/03/06 (another thread). The hour was late when I made those comments re disclosure. Maybe I was too tired to use good sense, but I've regretted having said what I did ever since because I do value Rocco's opinions and the time he has spent sharing information and insight for the benefit of those of us who want to find our way to, or back to, Africa. So.....I had been hoping that my comments would just fade into the sunset, but since they did not, please, everyone, just disregard. I love these boards, and whatever input is given by the regulars, whether they have recently established a company or not, ok.... Info is info, and it is particularly invaluable from a longtime Fodorite.

Hi Bo,

Everyone makes mistakes -- I'm sure no one here holds it against you!

Glad you've enjoyed the trip report.

Cheers,
Julian

Hi Bill,

Thanks for the lodge info in Madikwe (for brown hyaena).

Cheers,
Julian

Hello,

The South African segment of my trip report can now be found here:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=4&tid=34873545

Cheers,
Julian

Topping for deedeeG

Hi Jasher-

I was wondering if you have posted the pics you mentioned of San Camp. I did not see them in your flickr album, but would be interested to have a look at them, if you have a moment.

Thanks
Cruisinred

Julian, yeah, but, your SA report is still missing a segment or two, yes? Or am I missing it?
regards - tom

ttt photos?

Dear Julian

Your trip report has been inspirational. It is interesting, eh - that there are people who visit Southern Africa as if it is just another notch on the "travel-belt" and those that genuinely appreciate every moment (good and bad and indifferent). Our first O/S trip ever was to Botswana for 21 days in 2005 (and Livingstone Zambia and a few days in Cape Town ZA) it was supposed to be our only "trip of a lifetime". But it whetted our Africa-appetite and the 10 week extensive South African safari we are planning for 2008 probably won't be our last!Loved your gentle and insightful recounting of various personalities. Mr and Mrs Fussy , Spa-Girl, Camera-Man and recalcitrant guides, made us cringe, laugh and their "ways" aside - your trip was fantastic and your writing excellent. How on earth do you find the time to record each day in your journal - I started journaling our last trip on our first night at Sanctuary Lodges, Baines Camp - by the time I had written the list of the wildlife, starting with the zebra, warthog, impala and giraffe that were chased off the airstrip as we landed; I had writers cramp. The Ele experience was too much to write about and as we set out on our 9 day Wilderness Safari camping through the wilds under the guidance and leadership of the magnificent Wilderness Safari's guide, Pilot Manga my journal became more and more sporadic. I think nightly Amarula cream by the fire added to my writing torpor though!

I look forward to your South Africa trip report. Thanks for telling us all about your Botswana adventure. And newbie Fodorites that we may be - we are no longer new to 'Safari" and it's addictions, eye glazing (to non-Africaphiles) detail and reading about other's trips of never ending interest. Thanks Julian. May you have safe and happy travels wherever you go. As I recently read in Tammie Matson's "Dry Water - Diving Headfirst into Africa" When you stop having fun it becomes an adventure...

Thembi

Don't be soo in awe of extremely long detailed trip reports, that take so long to type they never make onto the board in their entirety. Instead keep the notes that matter too you and post the kind of trip report you feel comfortable with. Mine tend to be quite short, one because I recognize my limitations as a writer, and two because I really can't understand the need to give the details of every meal. Your trip sounds like one, that will provide a wealth of information for all of us, so just make a plan to give us the essentials.