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Flying Solo In Botswana and South Africa...Rocco's Trip Report

Flying Solo In Botswana and South Africa...Rocco's Trip Report

Old Dec 28th, 2006, 10:51 PM
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Flying Solo In Botswana and South Africa...Rocco's Trip Report

Well, I guess this is long overdue, especially considering that I did reports from the field...but now is as good a time to start as any, so let's get this show on the road.

This safari for me marked my first visit as a tour operator/travel agent/safari specialist...whatever term one would like to use. Even so, first and foremost, I am a passionate traveler just like so many others on this forum. Therefore, I had NO desire to spend a night at each camp and tried to spend 3 nights at most camps, but did spend only 2 nights at other camps, usually when they were closely located to each other. Also, when I discovered that I would be doing this trip solo, I did decide to break up a 3 night stay at Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge into three separate single night visits to Selati Camp, Little Bush Camp and Earth Lodge.

Planning of this trip started roughly around after returning home from Tanzania this past March. The planning in itself took a few twists and turns as I had to choose the properties that not only were right from a commercial standpoint but also the properties that would most fulfill my soul.

As a result, I narrowed down my itinerary to the following:

D'Oreale Grande, Joburg (1 night)

Linyanti Bushcamp, Chobe Enclave, Botswana (3 nights) (the Chobe Enclave is located between the Linyanti concession and Chobe National Park)

Baines Camp, Okavango Delta (3)

Chiefs Camp, Mombo Concession, Moremi (3)

Kwando Lebala, Kwando Concession (2)

Kwando Lagoon, Kwando Concession (2)

Kwando Little Kwara, Kwara Concession (2)

Michelangelo Towers, Sandton, Joburg (1)

Sabi Sabi Selati, Sabi Sand (1)

Sabi Sabi Little Bush Camp, Sabi Sand (1)

Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge, Sabi Sand (1)

Mateya Safari Lodge, Madikwe (3)

Then, as a light dessert, I did book 2 nights at the Observatory Hotel, an Orient Express property, in Sydney, Australia.

The routing was a direct flight on Qantas Airways from Los Angeles to Sydney followed by a mere 2 hour layover and then a direct flight from Sydney to Johannesburg. Due to the brevity of the layover, it really only added about an hour or two than flying through Europe.

Unfortunately, there were no fortuitous car accidents that preceded this trip and, if anything, I was not quite yet dying to return to Africa...as much as I love Africa, I was also making great progress with my diet and exercise program and there is just no place else quite like the gym that I have belonged to for the last 14 years. Plus, I knew that I would not really be able to resist the wonderful food that would be placed in front of me numerous times a day.

Oh well...duty was calling so off I was to Africa for the third time in about the last 13 months. At least I was finally going to see Botswana and not just Botswana but properties there that had long appealed to me.


NEXT - Qantas Airway, D'Oreale Grande and Linyanti Bushcamp
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Old Dec 29th, 2006, 12:36 AM
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Hi Rocco,

I shall try to read this but currently at Lion Sands in the Sabi Sands South Africa, so internet is really slow!

Shall just mention had a fabulously exciting siting this morning of 15 wild dog!

Kind regards,

Kaye
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Old Dec 29th, 2006, 10:12 AM
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I cant wait to read about your report... I am visiting 5 of the same camps you did next month... do continue.
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Old Dec 29th, 2006, 11:03 AM
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I want to hear all about it, Rocco. So get with it!

Also, tell Julian he owes us quite a large portion of trip reporting also.
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Old Dec 30th, 2006, 05:55 AM
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QANTAS AIRWAYS, D'OREALE GRANDE & LINYANTI BUSHCAMP

I pondered long and hard about which route I would take to get from Los Angeles to Southern Africa. In the past I have either gone via JFK - JNB on SAA or gone via London - JNB on either Virgin Atlantic or on SAA.

This time, however, due to the overbearing security restrictions at London Heathrow, I did not entertain that route. Also, because SAA is no longer a partner with Delta, I was not able to use my AMEX Membership Rewards points to convert into Delta Skymiles for this trip. Delta did not begin its service from Atlanta - JNB until a month after my early November departure.

Although I did consider flying through Paris, Dubai and maybe a couple other destinations, I ultimately thought it would be neat to go the opposite way and fly through Sydney, Australia. Being in Los Angeles, it really did not add too much extra distance...sure, maybe it is a full 2000 miles further in each direction, but with the shorter layover than was found in other routes, it probably only added two hours on the way over and possibly did not add any time, other than my elected 2 night layover, on the way back. Plus, I was attracted to Qantas Airways strong reputation.

I didn't really need to do much to prepare for this safari. My one big splurge was for a Canon 300mm f/4 IS lens. Other than that, I had plenty of malaria pills leftover from recent safaris, had all the other camera gear I wanted or needed, and had all the proper attire.

The single biggest challenge is that I would potentially be facing challenges on weight restrictions, even flying through Sydney, because I was doing this trip as a single traveler.

My Tamrac backpack was packed tightly with (2) DSLR camera bodies, four lenses, my laptop and other accessories. Oh, my other splurge was getting a nearly identical camera backpack to the one I already had, but one with wheels. However, when it was time to board the planes, I would always put the backpack on and try to look as nonchalant as possible while in actuality, I felt the weight of the world on my back!

The Qantas flight from Los Angeles - Sydney went perfectly...ontime, maybe only half full (I had a 2 seat row in the back of the plane to myself), video on demand (although I slept half the flight after not sleeping much the night before) and no screaming babies or obnoxious passengers chattering away.

Even after 14 hours of flying to Sydney, I arrived feeling refreshed and not at all hesitant about doing another near 14 hour flight in just a couple hours. Because I was flying Qantas again from SYD - JNB, I did not have to worry about collecting my checked in luggage and had no stress about making my next flight even with not much layover time.

The next flight (SYD-JNB) was very similar to the first and even with 28 hours in the air, I arrived in JNB at about 4PM feeling pretty good.

I was met at the airport by a representative from the D'Oreale Grande and after a longish wait of nearly 30 minutes (due to an inconsiderate other traveler who was also going to the D'Oreale Grande but took forever to change money and do who knows what else), we were finally off to the D'Oreale Grande, a mere 5 minute drive from the airport.

The D'Oreale Grande is located in an area known as Kempton Park, right off the freeway and in the Emperors Casino complex. The Emperors Casino also has a 4 star hotel and a 3 star hotel onsite but the D'Oreale Grande was their 5* option so that was my natural choice.

By the time I arrived at the hotel it was already nearly 6PM and I had no thoughts about going out or even gambling in the casino, as I rarely, if ever gamble. Instead, I just wanted to enjoy having my feet on the ground, take in a pay per view movie, order room service and get a good nights sleep, never mind that I probably slept a combined 10 hours during those two flights...even so, we are talking 10 hours over 30 hours, without much sleep the night before, so I was still a bit tired and with an early departure back to the airport for my Air Botswana flight to Maun.

The D'Oreale Grande was very nice, but in all honesty, I find it a tad short of being a true 5* hotel...my biggest gripe was with the bathtub/shower combo. Also, I found the room service menu a bit uninspiring and settled for a cheeseburger and fries...I will NEVER understand why they put Paprika on fries in South Africa!!! In any event, I was not in Southern Africa for the food but rather for the wildlife and with my first visit to Botswana just hours away, I was very excited.

Returning to the airport in the morning was a piece of cake as the D'Oreale Grande has a shuttle that leaves every 20 minutes. I did have to pick up and pay for my Air Botswana ticket at the airport and that did take about 15 minutes, but even so I arrived in plenty of time.

The Air Botswana flight was completely full and left on time. 90 minutes? later we were on the ground in Maun where I was met by a representative from Mack Air for my scheduled transfer to Linyanti Bushcamp. Being new to Botswana, I had never heard of Mack Air but their planes were all in newer condition and looked to be very well maintained on the inside and out.

There were a couple other passengers on the plane who were dropped off at their camps prior to my leg to Linyanti Bushcamp but that was fine as I appreciated seeing the different areas from above and I have little fear of flying on small planes.

After about two hours, altogether, we finally landed in the airstrip servicing Linyanti Bushcamp. Upon arrival, I was met by my guide, Dennis, in a Land Cruiser, and we were then off to the camp, an hour away from the airstrip.

Going to Linyanti in early November, I was concerned about the gameviewing as once the rains start, the huge elephant populations disperse. Well, this year, even had I gone by mid-October it would have been too late as I think the rains started in early October. The upside, however, was that the heat was not so bad and it was nice to have some green landscapes.

Linyanti Bushcamp is most closely located to Kings Pool which is about 30 kilometers away (18 miles) and is an area known as the Chobe Enclave, between Chobe National Park and the Linyanti concession. It has been a vacant area for about the last 3 - 5 years, last used as a hunting concession.

African Bushcamps is the brainchild of Beks and Sophia Ndlovu, a couple in their early 30's, he from Zimbabwe with an extensive background in Zimbabwean wildlife and she originally from Australia but in the bush for quite some time.

http://www.africanbushcamps.com/guides/beks-ndlovu

If anyone has been a longtime follower of Africa Travel or Africa Geographic, more than likely you have seen ads for private safaris by a company advertising as Beks Safaris...well, that is the same Beks.

Upon arrival at Linyanti Bushcamp, I had quite a welcoming committee that included Beks & Sophia, Bobby and Milena, who are the managers of Somalisa which is African Bushcamps luxury tented camp in Hwange, and others.

Linyanti Bushcamp is located in a beautiful area just 5 kilometers away from the Linyanti entrance to Chobe National Park. The camp overlooks a flood plain and the Namibia border is within sight and only about 5 kilometers away.

The camp itself was very nice with six huge tents, all very nicely appointed with stylish furniture, nice bathroom fixtures and what would turn out to be the most comfortable beds of my entire safari in Botswana.

The common area was not especially huge but big enough for the very nice bar, the dining table a few sofas and a few tables...just fine for a maximum capacity of 12 guests.

Because it is a brand new camp and also due to it being the start of November after the rains had started, I was lucky enough to have the entire camp to myself for my 3 night stay.

Beks and Sophia, as well as Bobby and Milena turned out to be the perfect hosts and even though I was the only guest, I never felt like I was inconveniencing anyone or that shortcuts were made with the food preparation, etc. The food was absolutely delightful and being the sole guest, I did have some veto power over what was on the menu!

Game drives with Dennis were very nice and I found him to be an excellent guide. He had just recently joined African Bushcamps in the prior couple months after spending a few years at nearby Savuti. Conversations were never forced and his safaris were not like listening to a book on tape as they are with some guides who seem to have their whole speech prepared.

Although there were not too many elephants around, we did have a couple good spottings of a herd of about 50 elephants bathing in the water...one thing I was not expecting was there to be much water in the area but that was not the case...no, it was not the Zambezi River by any means, but it was not completely dry, either.

Other gameviewing highlights included coming across a recently deceased giraffe (just hours earlier) while on a walking safari with Beks and Dennis. This giraffe would get quite a bit of attention from us on the next few drives as we were hopeful of coming across hyenas and hopefully lions. Unfortunately, other than a couple hyenas, the giraffe mostly turned into vulture food.

There were African Wildcats all over the place, and we saw them day and night. Also, giraffes were very well represented. Wild dogs are in the area but not during my visit. No leopards or lions sighted on the drives, but the lions were close enough to camp to scare the entire staff into the area where we were enjoying a bush dinner one night in a special enclosure the camp has that features logs most of the way around...so the lions were defitely closeby, but with only one vehicle on the road from the camp (no assistance from a second vehicle) it did make gameviewing a bit more of a challenge...perfect for those safarigoers who like an exclusive experience and no other vehicles, but more challenging, also, to track down the wildlife.

The gameviewing highlight here was likely the sighting of two beautiful male cheetahs. Unfortunately, it was just as it was getting dark and the cats were quite mobile so we did not spend much time with them and I did not get any good photos, but do have a couple just for documentation.

The final morning at Linyanti Bushcamp, just as Dennis, Bobby and I were preparing to go out for a very long walking safari, the heavens opened up and there was a severe downpouring that lasted about an hour...but it was one hour of just heavy, heavy rain. Following the rain, the rain clouds were still around so we just ended up doing a much shorter 90 minute walk in the areas surrounding the camp, but that still proved to be very nice and I did need it after being the only guest and not quite in a position to refuse the great food that was put before me for the prior three days!

I really enjoyed the simple luxury of Linyanti Bushcamp, the wonderful food, the choice of walking safaris or game drives, my guide and all of my hosts. Between about May - October, this area should be excellent for wildlife (in July/August, there are said to be zebras in the thousands that cross the flood plain in front of the camp). However, it proved to be the perfect way to start my safari and I still did see enough to keep me satisfied. Linyanti Bushcamp is definitely a top notch luxury tented camp as good as any I have before visited and best of all, it is (often) an owner operated camp which is a rarity outside of Zambia, so I did very much appreciate that aspect as well. African Bushcamps definitely has a great recipe going for itself and I do look forward to visiting Somalisa in Hwange either in May or July.


NEXT UP...BAINES CAMP.
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Old Dec 30th, 2006, 08:45 AM
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Rocco,

Do you think the two male cheetah are the savute boys? The two that have a HUGE home range? Did your guide mention anything in particular about the two?

Thanks
Hari
 
Old Dec 30th, 2006, 10:20 AM
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Enjoying the first chapters of the report and looking forward to the rest - keep it coming, Rocco!
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Old Dec 30th, 2006, 12:54 PM
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Ditto with KAvey. Looking forward to the next installment.
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Old Dec 31st, 2006, 06:56 AM
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Happy New Year Roccco!! Look forward to reading more about your trip and seeing your photos.

Fred
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Old Dec 31st, 2006, 10:08 AM
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Linyanti Bushcamp looks lovely. Pardon the overt, brash question right off the bat. How does the cost compare with Duma Tau or Savuti? A rough answer is fine, don't need it down to the penny or pula.
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Old Dec 31st, 2006, 02:37 PM
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O.K. Rocco, eought talk about food. How did you like your 300mm F4 lens? Enough reach? Did you use a 1.4X or 2X teleconverter. What changes would you make with your photo lineup?
Chuck
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Old Jan 1st, 2007, 03:16 AM
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Yes, c'mon Rocco, I too want to know how the photographic side of this trip went ??
(Even for a Nikon user...... ;-) )

Cheers
Marc
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Old Jan 1st, 2007, 04:48 PM
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Hi Rocco! I just finished posting a report from five months ago so you aren't late at all. I had been caught up in finishing mine, and now I'm eager to read yours. I hit the other side of the elephant season when I went to the Linyanti in June. Too early and not many to see. With Lynn, I would also like to know the cost of this camp, because I LOVE this area. I'll bet the two cheetahs were 'the brothers'. They are so beautiful and healthy, I love seeing them. Did you get to see them hunt? I can't wait to hear about the Kwando camps. Keep up the energy! Once you stop, it might be a few days! write write write.
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Old Jan 2nd, 2007, 11:34 AM
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I'm really looking forward to all the details of your many camps-what a wonderful trip it must have been!
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Old Jan 2nd, 2007, 08:22 PM
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BAINES CAMP

While I enjoyed my time at Linyanti Bushcamp, I was very excited about my first ever visit to the Okavango Delta. Baines Camp was a natural fit for me for so many different reasons:

1. Exclusivity. With only 5 chalets, Baines Camp is about as small a camp as you will find anywhere.

2. Location. Located overlooking the Boro River, Baines Camp is in an incredibly scenic location.

3. Luxury. A beautiful common area, wonderful raised walkways, a beautiful swimming pool with two open cabanas, and well appointed rooms including a sizeable private deck which you could choose to sleep on under the stars all in the comfort of your own bed that is wheeled out by the lodge.

Baines Camp and Stanley Camp, both Sanctuary properties, share an airstrip. Upon arrival, I was met at the airstrip by my guide, Andrew, and we were off for the 25 minute drive back to the lodge. Andrew never talked so much on the entire safari as he did on that first transfer when he found out I had my own tour operation and started soliciting me to become his partner in an overland safari company, as someone in his position has a much easier time of being granted a license if they have an American partner. While it was a bit annoying, I just mostly ignored him and took in the amazing scenery. Despite it being mid November, there was still plenty of water as this is a year-round water/land camp...definitely this area was as beautiful as any area in Africa I had visited prior.

Upon arrival to Baines Camp, I was welcomed by the manager, Nicola, a nice woman originally from New Zealand in her early 30's who has now been in Botswana for about a decade, working on a wild dog project for about 5 years before taking the job of managing Baines Camp.

After having all of Linyanti Bushcamp to myself, my first question to Nicola was to enquire about who my fellow guests were and from where did they hail. I believe there were two other couples in camp for the first of my three nights and one of the couples was a couple from Colorado, she in her late 40's, he in his mid 50's. The other couple was a Swiss couple, he in his late 30's, she in her mid/late 40's.

I was given a complete tour by Nicola and upon seeing the beautiful swimming pool, with time to spare before afternoon tea and the evening game drive and feeling quite sexy from losing 20 pounds before this trip, it did not take me long to put on my swimming trunks and make a dash to the swimming pool. Nicola arranged to have a Diet Coke with plenty of ice awaiting me which was really nice.

So there I was, on a mid November day...must have been 90 degrees farenheit but I had my Diet Coke in hand, was in up to my neck in the swimming pool and had the most fantastic views with the Boro River nearby. I was in absolute heaven!

Afternoon tea at Baines Camp was always nice with very good appetizers and very good company. Both of the couples turned out to be great and I enjoyed a lot of banter with the Colorado woman who was not at all shy. While her husband was more reserved, he was still very nice.

The Swiss couple was very friendly and the Swiss guy and I really hit it off, especially after I showed him some of my photos on my laptop from my time in the Serengeti. "Hardcore Safari!" is what he termed my photos of the male lion killing the baby impala and my photos of lions ripping impalas to shreds. With the Colorado couple scheduled for the next two nights and the Swiss couple scheduled for all three of my nights, I knew this was going to be a fantastic stay at Baines Camp, no matter which other guests showed up the next day.

Highlights of the first game drive included spending about an hour with a beatiful adult female leopard who first was just in tall grass but then later went on a fallen tree to pose a bit for us. Tssessebee, Wildebeest, Impalas, Buffalo, Zebras, Baboons and other animals were well represented in the area and sighted on most drives.

When I commented to the Colorado couple that our guide did not have much to say, they responded that he was much more talkative before I arrived. Well, either he was cross with me for not giving him the time of day with his idea for a mobile safari partnership, or, like the Colorado couple suspected, he was not as confident speaking in front of an experienced safarigoer like myself as he was with a couple of newbies (they had been on one prior safari to East Africa five years earlier). Well, it didn't really matter because the Colorado woman and I talked virtually nonstop but because the Swiss couple was off doing a boat cruise, we had the vehicle to ourselves and were not disrupting anyone, except perhaps our guide!

Following game drives at Baines Camp, we would arrive back to camp and be allowed 30 - 45 minutes to prepare for dinner...it was casual, however, and I usually just chose to go straight through to the main lodge and have a drink before dinner, rather than returning to the room and changing. Also, dinner times seemed more flexible and this was only possible due to the small size of the camp, but really, small size or not, it was really a nice and relaxed atmosphere and I think that Nicola had the perfect personality for such a camp (or helped create the wonderful atmosphere of the camp).

Dinners at Baines Camp were probably my favorite of any camp I visited in Botswana. Everything was just so perfectly prepared and delicious. Moreover, there were always three choices for a main course...usually one meat dish (beef, ostrich, steenbok, kudu), one fish dish or one vegetarian dish. If that was not enough, chicken was also offered to anyone who did not care for any of the above, and I elected for the chicken on one night when they were serving kudu.

The atmosphere at dinner was absolutely perfect with fireflies, bell frogs in the river, a resident genet who wandered through the main area at night and stimulating conversation at the dinner table. I am sure that the guests all got along with each other at this camp better than at any of my other camps and as a result, we were usually having dinners that lasted 2+ hours with plenty of wine.

The next morning, the Colorado couple and I were off to do the Walk With The Elephants activity. Although we invited the Swiss couple to join us, unfortunately, they were convinced that it was some kind of circus act, but being well versed on the program, I knew that was far from the truth. Instead, the Swiss couple went off for their morning game drive, while we were driven to meet our hosts for the day, Jabu who is the 15 year old bull of the herd, Thembi who is the 15 year old cow and like Jabu was orphaned after a culling program in Kruger National Park a few years back, and Morula who was, herself, orphaned by a culling program, this one in Zimbabwe. All three of them, however, did grow up around humans and only because of this combined with the great handling of their human protectors, Doug and Sandi Groves, are this trio of tuskers able to interact so well with humans.

http://www.livingwithelephants.org/

The rack rate cost to do the Elephant Activity is $350 per person and it includes a half day walking safari with the elephants and lunch with the elephants following the walk.

Although I saw a video of the Walk With The Elephants, nothing can quite prepare a person for when they encounter an elephant face to face and on foot for the first time. Doug Groves was excellent with his safety briefing and in first introducing the elephants. The elephants, however, were also excellent and not once during the day did any of them ever act in a threatening manner.

The activity started with touching the elephant's ear, trunks, soles of their feet, etc., then moved onto a mud pool to watch the elephants enjoy a mud bath, to finally a walk with the elephants, I mean right there, side by side with the elephants...reach out and touch proximity to the elephants, often while holding a trunk in hand!

The elephants did know a few "tricks" and I was a hesitant volunteer for one such trick when Jabu removed my baseball cap from my head, put it square on his own head before putting it perfectly back onto my head.

Jabu knew over 80 verbal commands while the others knew approximately 50 verbal commands.

Following the walk, there was a very nice lunch awaiting the five of us who had participated in the walk (a zoologist from the Brooklyn Zoo and a roving manager who was filling in at Sanctuary also joined us on the activity). As we ate our lunch, the elephants were treated to their own lunch and ate nearby.

As a grande finale, the elephants each made various sounds on command, from loud trumpets, to hissing noises to reverberating noises and more. It was really quite fascinating to hear these different noises and to hear how they each had their own way of sometimes making similar noises.

It was really a very educational experience and was truly one of the highlights of all of my African experiences...I have always loved and respected elephants, but more than ever following this experience. As we were leaving, in unison the elephants all waved goodbye with their trunks and I could not help but return the goodbye wave.

All this and before even a full 24 hours had yet been spent at Baines Camp. Fantastic.

Day two saw the arrival of another couple, this an obviously very wealthy couple from Mexico in their late 40's. Not only were they wealthy, but they each had movie star good looks, he about 6'1" and in great shape, she looking like she could be the star of a Mexican soap opera. Really, all the guests at Baines Camp were quite sexy, I think, but this couple moreso than the rest of us!

Also arriving to fill out the camp was a nice German couple of about 40 years old from Berlin. I hit it off with them because, like me, they had visited Chile and really enjoyed it so we traded a few stories about our experiences.

The afternoon game drive featured not only another leopard, but also an unbelievable sighting of a baboon who we had heard just make a kill of an impala. We followed the noise and quickly found the baboon with his baby impala kill. Although the baboon retreated into some thick brush, we waited him out and he eventually came out into the open and started chomping on the impala with his huge incissors. He was constantly looking over his shoulder, fearful that another baboon or maybe a predator would come up from behind to take his kill.

Eventually, the baboon took his impala lunch atop a termite mound and that made for some nice photo opportunities. No other baboons ever bothered him for his kill and not a hyena in sight, unfortunately.

Dinner was a fun event...another extended meal and quite a bit of politics discussed...fortunately, we were mostly all of the same political persuasion, and except for a racial/gender joke told by the male Mexican guest that the Colorado woman did not care for, everyone had a good time.

On this particular night I chose to "Sleep Under The Stars" so my bed was set up on my deck, complete with mosquito netting. It was nice but the mosquito netting did interfere with the ability to really enjoy the starlit night, yet I was not exactly in a big rush to remove the netting!

The next day was a morning game drive and yet another leopard, this one with a cub. No lions during our stay but the leopards more than made up for it.

For the afternoon activity, the Colorado couple and I went on a boat cruise and that was fun but not a lot of gameviewing, other than elephants in the distance and a couple hippos. The skies were black with rain clouds so we ended our activity about halfway through to return to the lodge. Not more than 30 minutes later, it started pouring buckets of rain and we would have been soaked had we stayed out much longer.

The next morning was one final game drive and I think we even saw one of the leopards we had seen previously. Besides the leopards and the elephant walk, the highlight of the area was the beautiful landscapes all around. Although I had yet to see a lion in six days at Linyanti Bushcamp and Baines Camp, I was not at all worried because I knew next up on the schedule was Chiefs Camp in the Mombo Concession, the Mombo Concession being home to one of the highest lion concentrations in all of Africa (right after the Ngorongoro Crater, I am told).

Baines Camp was really nearly perfect in every way. If it did have a flaw it was that the rooms could stand to be refurbished...nothing that would ruin a stay, but just a little worn here and there even with being a 2.5 year old? camp. Baines/Stanley are coming up for tender again in a few months and Sanctuary is first making sure they again win the concession before doing refurbishments, which is understandable.

However, Baines Camp, overall, exceeded my every expectation and I really enjoyed the manager, Nicola, the staff, the fantastic food, my fellow guests, the Elephant Activity, the leopard viewing and the incredible scenery.


NEXT UP...CHIEFS CAMP
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Old Jan 2nd, 2007, 11:29 PM
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A few photos from the Elephant Experience. I will continue adding more photos over the next few days from my time in Botswana.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/rocco/main/botswana
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Old Jan 3rd, 2007, 06:21 PM
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Atravelynn,

I e-mailed you the answers to your questions.


Now...about the photo gear...hmmm...very difficult question. Unfortunately, I have not yet developed a single photo from this safari so I have not truly seen the results of my Canon 300mm f/4 IS lens. It felt good to use yet at the same time, it was sometimes an inconvenience to have a fixed lens and I was switching bodies back and forth with my Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 lens on the other body...however, this was an inconvenience as sometimes this was just too long.

In the past I have had the Sigma 80-400mm Optical Stablilizing f/4.5 - 5.6 on one body and the Canon 17-85mm IS f/4 - 5.6 on the other body, rarely having to change lenses (but having my Sigma 70-200 nearby at all times).

This time, for anything really long, I would have to slap on the 1.4x Canon teleconvertor, while I did have the ability to go up to 400mm with a simple zoom on my Sigma.

The Canon 300mm f/4 is a bit lighter than the Sigma 80-400mm.

I don't want to dissuade anyone and this just could be my personal preference, but I just felt more comfortable with the setup I had in Tanzania than what I had in Botswana. Then again, who knows, maybe my photos would have been even better in Tanzania had I then had the Canon 300mm f/4. Tough call.

I did make a mistake and forget my Super Flash and this did cost me dearly the night that 16 wild dogs and 5 hyenas went to battle against each other at Lebala.

It was great to have my laptop and I could have gotten away with only having (2) 2GB cards and I actually ended up leaving behind 3 GB's of CF cards to a couple different guides as part of their tips (they were both aspiring photographers and were shooting with CF cards that were inadequate).

Hopefully my photos prove me wrong, but I just don't think I did a good job with my photography on this particular safari. Shouldn't really blame my equipment as it was also that I was really just not as into it as I was in Tanzania...maybe I was having such a good time with my fellow guests that it placed less of a value on my photos and that was truly often the case that I was really enjoying the game drive banter with my fellow guests, and I take all the credit for such fun game drives! (j/k)

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Old Jan 4th, 2007, 08:01 AM
  #18  
 
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Rocco, great to read such a detailed review of Baines Camp, thanks so much!
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Old Jan 4th, 2007, 09:32 AM
  #19  
lbj
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I think Rocco has highlighted a fact that encourages the use of the zoom over the prime. A zoom will give you the flexibility required when not in a private vehicle. You do not need the zoom if you control the whole vehicle
 
Old Jan 4th, 2007, 01:07 PM
  #20  
bat
 
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Rocco:
I enjoyed reading the details about Baines Camp. It sounds great but do we now have to worry if we are sexy enough?
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