Thanks, John, Michael, Hari, coon... Pred, that is very encouraging as we'll be in Namibia next year.

Hello from the Michelangelo Towers in Sandton...it is very late so I will be brief.

Final tally for my 15 safari nights in Botswana:

25 Wild Dogs spread out over 3 packs of 16, 6 and 3, respectively, including two of the packs on kills.

8 Leopards - 3 at Baines Camp, 3 at Chiefs Camp (including a mother and cub with kill up in a tree) and 2 at Little Kwara (a mother and cub).

2 Cheetah, both adult males (at Linyanti Bushcamp)

??? Lions...who's counting? Lions just aren't as big a deal as the other cats, at least not to me. Saw quite a few at Chiefs Camp and Little Kwara but also saw them at Lebala and Lagoon.

Met some really fabulous fellow guests on this trip and the only ones I did not really care for was an American couple of about 40 years old. The woman was just OBNOXIOUS...first hogging one entire conversation to rave about their 2 nights in Gaborone to visit a friend and being whisked around in Land Rovers and Mercedes and staying at their "rich" friend's house...to devoting 2 nights of a three week trip to their "safari"...to using horrible vocabularly with each other like "right, babe?" and repeatedly uttering "cool"...this from a couple of very educated people...felt bad for the husband...he wasn't a bad guy just a complete airhead...he is the only one during the whole safari who wore his baseball cap at the dinner table and for this I blame not only he but also his wife.

Otherwise, some really great people I met from all over Europe, including Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and even Lichtenstein...got on very well with a couple from Colorado, as well, and really enjoyed the opportunity to get to know so many people.

A short sleep before I am off to Sabi Sabi where I decided to spend 1 night at each Selati, Little Bush Camp and Earth Lodge.

Ate at Bukhara tonight but it was an absolute zoo and I would never return to the one in Sandton at primetime. Terrible acoustics and everyone just tries to outshout everyone else. Still, great food, however, I must admit.

Really a wonderful experience to travel alone and as strange as it sounds, I would recommend it to everyone to try at least once whether married or single. Really a lot of self-discovery as I promise you that you are probably someone entirely different on your own than with your significant other.

Highlights so far:

Meeting so many wonderful people from around the world.

Three packs of wild dogs.

Terrific hosting/management at nearly every camp.

Wonderful and creative food at nearly all the camps, regretably, not allowing me to lose any noticeable weight, as I thought I would, however, on this trip, but at least not gaining weight either.

In a fortunate incident, my sandals broke on only the second night and because I have had no choice but to wear my trail running shoes, my feet, usually the buffet dinner of mosquitos and tetse flies, have survived quite nicely.

Some wonderful spa treatments at Chiefs Camp.

Enjoying the swimming pool at Baines Camp and Little Kwara (didn't use the other pools at Chiefs, Lebala and Lagoon, although they were there).

Discovering the joy of sundowners with my Swiss friends at Little Kwara...amazing how much fun a game drive can be after two or three drinks.

Just so many laughs and wonderful banter with my fellow guests.

Lowlights:

There were a couple nights where the insects were just intolerable.

There were a few occasions where the heat and humidity were just overbearing.

Typical...having the wrong lenses on bodies on a couple occasions and accidentally having settings wrong, etc.

-----------------------------

I did manage to bump into Gaurang ("Africa" on the forum) and Jayna on a couple occasions, first as they were leaving Little Kwara and I was checking in and then again as we shared the Air Botswana flight from Maun to Joburg.

Full trip report with photo links to follow in a couple weeks or longer but I think I will write it all out as a single posting rather than bits and pieces.

That's all for now.

Cheers from Sandton.

Rocco,

I'm glad Kwando gave you amazing sightings.....so you saw both the lagoon and selinda pack of dog. Fantastic!!! With your amazing luck, i'm surprised you didnt see the Kwara pack of 3....but, you saw the chief's dogs....

Will email Gaurang and bombard him with questions in a day or two with regards to sightings....

Hari

Rocco,

Congrats on your dog sightings! You will be as pleased as Punch. What amazes me is why it took you so long to try Botswana :).

John

(Awaiting my light air transfer to Sabi Sabi in the FedAir lounge)

I see quite a bit of interest in Botswana vs. Zambia. My opinion is that they are both great destinations...Botswana is better in some departments while Zambia is better in other departments. I did not find Botswana to be "superior" to Zambia, but neither do I find Zambia "superior" to Botswana.

The best thing, of course, would be to spend time at a couple camps in the Delta, a couple camps in the Linyanti/Kwando area, followed by a camp in Lower Zambezi and finishing with a South Luangwa camp (or in opposite order). Then, of course, there is also the option of instead opting for Hwange and Mana Pools but I will get that first hand experience in about six months time.

About the next few nights, I am just hoping that it is not too much Safari 101, but seeing my fellow guests in the lounge here, I must accept that the Sabi Sand (and Madikwe) is really the first time many are exposed to safari. Didn't bother with private vehicles on this leg of the trip...doesn't really matter, because at this point, everything I see is just gravy...a bonus as I already saw so much in Botswana. I do, however, expect to see plenty of leopards and rhinos...would be nice to see a black rhino in Madikwe but that is about the only thing on my wish list other than possibly some antelope I have not yet seen (Oryx or Sable?).

Hey Rocco
Good to hear from you and how nice that you bumped into Gaurang and Jayna on your travels... did you arrange their trip for this one or was it just complete coincidence?
I was really interested in your comments about travelling alone as it is a very different experience, regardless of whether it's for safari or another kind of trip, to travelling with one's partner. Having met your wife and read your previous trip reports, I can certainly understand that travelling alone would be a very different experience indeed to travelling with her.
Particularly when one's spouse has different interests than you or different levels of interests it can lead to a trip that is still enjoyable but full of compromises. You are also less likely, mainly when tired, to get into deeper conversations with other guests as you can fall back on chit chat with the spouse.
Glad you enjoyed the trip and I'm sure you'll be looking forward to seeing her when you get back home!

Rocco, sounds like a great trip, and Botswana really delivered (looking forward to your photos).

I'm also killing time in the airport, now in Milan, having flown in this morning from Dubai and waiting for my flight to Newark ($16.00 per hour for Internet time in MXP, and I paid $0.83 per hour in Dubai).

I agree....each wilderness location has it's own beauty and draw. I personally believe that, either Botswana or Zambia warrant a seperate visit (unless you plan a VERY long trip). Also, most of us around here are drawn to Africa year after year...so it makes sense to visit both destinations induvidually to do full justice to either.

Cheers,
Hari

Rocco: glad the trip is going so well, it sounds incredible.

Your experience is definitely confirmation that Botswana is the place to see wild dogs. I imagine you will be in for many more leopards now and hopefully you will see black rhino (very good chance) and more dogs at Madikwe.

Safe travels, looking forward to pics and the full report later.

Hello all

We just returned from a 28 day trip in Botswana, this morning. It was good to finally meet Rocco after so much email and Fodors communication. We both booked our trips separately and our first meeting was a lucky one during an airstrip transfer - we were going to the Kwara airstrip and Rocco was arriving from the airstrip, so we met halfway!!!! The day before, I heard about the arrival of a Mr Morelli, so I asked the guides if we could arrange to meet.

Jayna and I had a superb time. We have about 5000 photos and 17 hours of video. A detailed and VERY LONG trip report will follow eventually but I would like to thank Hari and Johan for their superb information on the Kwando camps and Julian, Lynn and others for their info on the Wilderness camps. I have some amazing stories to tell including 3 wild dog packs (hunts, kills, battles with hyenas)and even the mighty pangolin was slayed. But this is just the teaser....you'll have to wait for the full report :)

Regards

Gaurang

Welcome back Gaurang! Sounds like a tremendous trip report will be on the way, can't wait to read all about it.

Gaurang,

I am glad you had a superb trip. Looking forward to hear all about it and of course I would like to see some pictures too.

Best regards,

Johan

Gaurang, you tease! Can't WAIT for the report and photos - glad you had a great time!

Gaurang:
Welcome back--looking forward to your report.

Looking forward to hearing more about Little Kwara, Lebala, and Lagoon -- tents, game viewing, food, etc. Details please!

Gaurang,

Sounds like a FANTASTIC trip....and glad you had a great time...

Hari

Gaurang,

28 days
3 wild dog packs
5000 photos

Some impressive numbers! Welcome home.

Thank you for the welcome-back. Before I forget.......the staff at all of the Kwando camps send their regards to Hari and Johan (we really enjoyed the photo albums that Johan has left at the camps). Also James 007 sends his regards to Lynn.

I hope to get started on the report later this week but the photos may take a bit longer.

Gaurang,

Thanks for sending the regards of the people at Kwando. As a matter of fact, I e-mailed Harry and Monique yesterday, general managers at Kwando now, for my trip in August-September 2007.

You can't believe how much I am looking forward to see them all again.

And I am curious to read who was guiding you at all the camps.

Best regards,

Johan

Roccco - You've certainly got the "dog" monkey off your back! ;-)