Moremi

Breakfast at Audi

This morning we were fortunate to have cloud cover as we set off for some wildlife viewing and overnight wild camping in Botswana’s Moremi Game Reserve. We carried only a day pack and camera equipment - the crew transferred our mats and tents into the gear truck. We were in a purpose built open air safari rig driven by park guide Sam. It had no doors so was a bit of a challenge for me to get up into the back seat but I managed. 

Outside of town we left the tarmac and drove on SAND roads. Super bouncy in the back seat. I think the vehicle handling must be similar to snow.

We had a stop at the buffalo fence to fix a flat and then fix the spare that went flat. Very entertaining to watch the guide commanding the male guests to help.

The buffalo fence is a massive fence that separates Maun area from the Okavango Delta. The purpose is to protect Botswana’s beef from contamination from wildlife and therefore trade-able to the EU market - hoof and mouth disease is a big concern. There are wheel and shoe cleaning stations at checkpoints but today we didn’t have to shoe dip for some reason. 

Sue noticed some carrion birds and found out from the guards that there was a dead elephant behind the admin buildings. We were also fortunate with the wind direction.

Heading on from the checkpoint, the landscape turned burnt and barren. The elephant strip trees then the trees get scorched in the sun. The ground looked lunar with burnt grey sand and piles of dead dark red leaves everywhere. A very Alien landscape. You could see buds starting to form so some greenery will return with the rains in a few weeks. After entering the park proper things started greening up. We started seeing impala, jackals, hippos, elephants, giraffes, zebras and because we had such an awesome guide,  a male lion and his mate. Sam is a native to Maun. He never studied to be a guide but just decided that’s what he wanted to do and went to do the exam - he passed with a perfect score. He, like most of the guides here do not carry guns. They rely on their senses and sensibilities to keep guests safe.

We made our way the camp where among other things, assistant guide Tim set up the bushy-bushy (toilet.) It was very fancy: a pit with a commode seat and a four sided canvas screen. The screen didn’t quite close so one could have a poo with a view if one needed. I could see some zebras with a pee.

Because we had no barriers between us and the wild, we had to pitch the tents in an arc close together, we were have no food in the tent and keep the flaps and door zipped up. If you needed to use the bushy-bushy  in the night you had to bring your tent mate or call the guide to stand watch and scan the area with a headlight for eyes. All the guys and one of the women grabbed empty water bottles to use instead.

In the morning Sam found leopard tracks and saw where a hyena had settled down in the sand and was watching us around the fire!

Because of the cloud cover it was a relatively cool 28C in the tent. I slept through till 5a and didn’t hear a thing! Head count in the morning was 12 guests 3 guides. All good.

We had another game drive in the morning before heading back to Audi Camp and added to our list, wildebeest and painted wild dogs. The leopard eluded us. The dogs have gorgeous markings - they had just eaten so were just lazing around in the shade.  Also saw a dead elephant which smelled. Smelled real bad. It was killed by lions weeks ago. What was truly amazing is that the siblings stood guard and held off predators. Thanks to the sibs, the body was only partially devoured, hence the stink. 

On the rest of the ride back to Maun it was impala, giraffes and zebra! What a fantastic 36 hours!

The rain set in on returning to camp causing our scenic flight over the okavango delta to be cancelled. Charles is going to shuffle our plans to see if we can go in the morning - yay!