The puddle jumper flew us from Sable Valley to Rra Dinare (Father Buffalo), which was further into the Okevango Delta. Our next guide, Amos, met us at the plane and drove to what was now our third safari camp. It was both more remote and primitive, but also more luxurious than the others. It was hard to get my head around the contrast. All the wildness around you, and then great comfort in your tent and the dining area.

As we drove on safari that afternoon, we now found our eyes more capable of observing wildlife. We often saw animals before, or at the same time as our guide – a Lion, Cape Buffalo, Kudu, Jackal, warthogs, and always Impala. We came across a herd of elephants with several young ones. One in particular was tiny. Our guide said it was the youngest he had ever seen – perhaps two weeks old. It stumbled some, while trying to keep up with it’s mother. We stayed well away from them, as we didn’t want to spook mom.

Late in the day as sundown was approaching, our guide heard on his radio about the appearance of three Cheetahs, but quite a distance from where we were. Amos asked if we were up for a race, and of course we said yes. We spent the next half hour speeding and bumping across the dusty tracks in the sand and clay, and arrived at our destination close to sunset. There they were, a mother and her two daughters, laying in the shade. We were, perhaps, within 25 feet of them and watched for the next fifteen minutes or so. They finally roused themselves, and quietly walked away in the coming darkness. Their movements were graceful and elegant, and achingly beautiful to watch.

There were only ten of us in camp that night. Our six, an Italian couple, and a French/Belgique couple. As a special treat, the dinner table was set up al fresco under the stars with candles and candelabras. The food and drink were excellent as always. GT’s before dinner, a Chenin Blanc with our first course, and a Shiraz/Cab blend with dinner. Later, when it was time to go to bed, our escort guided us to our tent. In this case, we were on an elevated walkway. We suddenly heard noise below us and our guide shined his light under the walkway. Huge Cape Buffalo were laying down and settling in for the night. Their heads and horns were maybe five feet below us.

The next morning, we walked to the dining area for a quick breakfast before our early morning safari. The sun was just rising. Greeting us during breakfast was an elephant munching on a tree that was just a few feet from the dining area. When they are that close, you see how huge they truly are.

More and varied animals were seen in the next day and a half. We saw the three Cheetahs again, this time on the move. Elly’s again, and for the first time, lots of giraffe. We’d seen giraffe before, but never this many and never this close. The word stately comes to mind, when trying to describe the way they walk.

On a canoe trip, we saw birds and frogs and other small life. Remember, don’t put your hands in the water – you never know for sure what is below the surface.

The last morning, we came across a pride of hyenas with an antelope kill that our guide thought they’d taken from a pack of painted dogs. There were probably about 12 hyenas including some young pups. We watched them eat, and then noticed that the matriarch was limping. She was favoring her right front leg. Did something happen in the confrontation with the dogs? We didn’t know, but perhaps it was broken, or otherwise hurt. If it doesn’t heal quickly, she probably wouldn’t last, and another hyena will take over the pride. It only takes one mistake.

We returned to camp and packed. Amos drove us to meet our plane, which flew us to Maun. There we transferred to a larger plane and our flight to Cape Town, where we would be going on a different kind of safari – wine hunting.

**

I’d like to do a call-out to Karen Dewhurst of Sikelieli African Safaris (a family owned business). Karen was our travel consultant and arranged the middle part of our itinerary during our time in Africa. She did all of the work to coordinate our trips to: The Hide, Victoria Falls and the Ilala Hotel in Zimbabwe, and Sable Alley and Rra Dinare Safari camps in Botswana. All accommodations were amazing, the food and wine excellent, and the animal viewing exceeded all expectations. Additionally, I can’t quite imagine coordinating all of the travel arrangements themselves during this portion of the trip – the vans, puddle jumpers, planes, pick ups and drop offs. It all worked perfectly. If you are coming to this part of the world, I highly recommend them. You can reach Karen, and Sikeleli African Safaris at:

Karen Dewhurst

karen@sikelelisafaris.com / (+263) 78 310 6561 (Zimbabwe)

Sikeleli Africa Safaris Ltd.
(+1) 604 281 3274 / Toll Free: 1-844-972-3274 (North America)
https://sikelelisafaris.com

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This is the seventh in a series of short blogs about our trip to Africa in September and October of 2018. I’m not trying to be exact in detail, rather, I’m trying to give a bit of the spirit or feeling of the various parts of the trip. Read at your leisure. Or not.

Related Blogs about the trip to Africa:

He was Young and Made a Mistake (Sixth blog about the trip) https://mnhallblog.wordpress.com/2018/11/23/he-was-young-and-made-a-mistake-sable-valley-in-botswana/

Vic Falls – The Smoke that Thunders (5th Blog about the trip) https://mnhallblog.wordpress.com/2018/11/18/the-smoke-that-thunders/

First Safari Camp, at The Hide (Fourth blog about the trip) https://mnhallblog.wordpress.com/2018/11/15/first-safari-camp/

Fishing and Elephants (Third blog about the trip) https://mnhallblog.wordpress.com/2018/11/12/fishing-and-elephants/

The Drive to Lake Kariba (Second Blog about the trip) – https://mnhallblog.wordpress.com/2018/11/08/the-drive-to-lake-kariba/

Harare (First Blog about the trip) – https://mnhallblog.wordpress.com/2018/11/02/harare-zimbabwe/

Zimbabwe (Just prior to departure) – https://mnhallblog.wordpress.com/2018/09/20/zimbabwe/

Pink Gins (The Genesis)- https://mnhallblog.wordpress.com/2018/04/13/pink-gins/