TRIP REPORT: I Speak of Africa… (Botswana 22 June – 7 July 2006)
Jul 31st, 2006, 09:53 AM
#43
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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
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
Jul 31st, 2006, 06:57 PM
#47
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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
Hari
Aug 1st, 2006, 06:18 AM
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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
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
Aug 1st, 2006, 11:37 AM
#49
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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
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
Aug 2nd, 2006, 02:44 AM
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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
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
Aug 5th, 2006, 05:57 AM
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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.
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.
Aug 5th, 2006, 06:13 AM
#58
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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.
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.
Aug 5th, 2006, 06:38 AM
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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 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.
Aug 5th, 2006, 08:23 AM
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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.
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.
