Entering Botswana was a laid back affair. Officials were super jovial, super helpful and super efficient, meaning we were across the border by lunch time. At the top of lists for everything good in Africa (health, education, economy, safety, transparency etc), Botswana also has an unbeatable reputation for classy safaris. So, it's a popular spot! For the first time so far we couldn't just show up and expect a campsite.
Unlike other parts of Southern Africa, admission to Botswana's National Parks isn't granted unless you have a paid and confirmed accommodation booking inside. This doesn't make it easy for 'play it by ear' travelers like us, especially when most campsites are well and truly booked out in advance. Additional challenges come from the fact that the operation of facilities inside each park is tendered to a whole range of private companies. There is no single booking system or website. A bit like trying to navigate your online shopping using every possible online store, without knowing which stores stock which products. Botswana is the first country in which we must have 'a plan'. So, we settled in, made 'a plan' and organised ourselves accordingly.
That done, it was time to celebrate!!
Girl had kicked another decade, and chose an exuberant way to celebrate: On a schmancy boat. Seeing Chobe National Park from the water is a once in a lifetime opportunity, so for 3 days and two nights we were to cruise it's waterways on board the 'Chobe Princess'. We traded in the tent for the first time in 3 months for a kind of floating hotel. In between being wined and dined, we were taken on game viewing boats, caught Tiger Fish on a fishing trip and visited Impalila Island, where guy climbed a tree so high he had views of 4 countries from across the Zambezi (Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe). It was all very surreal and super special!
Thoroughly relaxed and spoiled after 1:1 service on-board, we were up for the challenge of driving the 'scenic route' to Maun. Back in Landy to see Chobe from, well, land. Maps, GPS's and websites don't compare to local advice, so we picked the brains of anyone and everyone who we thought might have driven that way. The picture we got ranged somewhere between 'fine' and 'sandy' to the 'worst road in Africa' and 'the most technical trip you can do'. Girl's mind went immediately to the far end of the spectrum. Visions of drowning in sand and not being rescued for weeks were however completely unfounded. The road was actually quite pleasant. Sandy yes, but that's what the Land Rover 'sand lover' shirts are for! Landy made it look easy, and we were in a new home by late morning. Perched above the Linyanti Marshes, we had views of hippos, crocs, otters and every other creature that came to drink. Elephants used the campsite as a bypass route to the water, their mammoth footprints crisscrossing the earth around the tent. A late night walk to the bathrooms meant an up-really-close encounter with one elephant, who thankfully seemed unphased by the fact that we weren't a part of a car. We passed by one another without incident.
The rising of the full moon over Linyanti was exceptional; the subsequent sleep was minimal. Every rustle, grunt, hiccup and growl causing girl to peer out into the moonlight with hopes of glimpsing the creatures of the night. Success didn't come until the following day though. Driving through Savuti a friendly safari guide (its always well worth chatting to the professionals!) pointed us in the direction of a recent lion kill. Arriving at the spot the lions had departed, leaving the remains to the vultures and our very first spotted hyenas. There really wasn't much left of the former wildebeest by then; some garish ribs and teeth being tended by the vultures, some skin and a leg bone for the hyena. Fascinating to watch, though the poor old hyena isn't the most photogenic of creatures! We were thrilled to catch sight of him during the day.
Our next stop was even more spectacular. The Khwai Development Trust operate a community enterprise on the outskirts of Moremi National Park. The park itself is famous, but the Magotho Campsite just outside is practically unheard of. An incredible spot. The drive in was peppered with waterholes, each inhabited by a resident hippo. Or sometimes dozens of them. Bushes had hippos in them too. Along the Khwai River we spotted our first water buck, more hippos, elephants, zebras, antelope and crocs. It was a twitching paradise too. Google what a ground hornbill is, but he was just the start! Not 100m from the water a patch of grass and nothing more marked home. We were roughing it with wet wipe showers and shovel-dug loos for a few days. To compensate for the lack of facilities, a pride of lions roared greetings from across the way. As we ate dinner a hippo ambled up so we could watch him graze in the moonlight and bush babies leaped about. Throughout the night two prides of lions continued to roar and some elephants passed so close we could have reached out of the tent and touched them. It was an African dream brought to life.
We survived the remote and sandy tracks, left the bush and arrived in town at Maun, where we met Freddy the mokoro poler. Mokoros are flat-bottomed canoes made from the trunk of a sausage tree. They are maneuvered by a man (the poler), who stands at the back with a long wooden pole. As the waters of the Okavango Delta are shallow, it allows for him to push off the bottom and propel the canoe forwards. Locals use the mokoros to get about between villages, to bring back supplies, for fishing and to go out cutting reeds. We loaded the little boat with an esky and our camping gear, settled ourselves in, then set off through the waterways.
Mokoro must be one of the most relaxing ways to travel. Sitting at water level, the reeds and lillies glide past in a watery peacefulness. The polers movements make it a blissfully smooth ride. Freddy pointed out birds, plants and animals along the way, explaining their usefulness and helping us brush up on our Tswana vocabulary. Pulled up on our own private island, we set about pitching a tent when we were dumbstruck; Freddy had made a fire appear from nowhere! Within minutes it was raging and we hadn't even heard him strike a match. Turns out he'd noticed a smoldering log earlier and whilst we were busy with the tent, he went back and dug under it to produce ready-made coals. The fire stayed alight over the coming days for both cooking and deterring animals. It didn't work for the field mice though. The food was safely locked in the esky but that didn't stop the rodents from feasting on guys thongs.
Over the coming days Freddy poled us to other islands, where we would park the mokoro and stroll through the landscape, spotting animals and birds or learning about their tracks. Occasionally we would follow a 'hippo highway' across the islands. Hippos get in and out of the water in one place, creating furrows as they walk the same paths daily towards grazing. They leave a deep, bare trail through reeds and grass, just like a marked hiking trail. It was refreshing being out in the landscape on foot; in national parks it's strictly forbidden.
After 3 days of listening to nothing but birds, ripples and the rustling of reeds, the mood could only be described as 'relaxed'. Our entire experience of Botswana until then had focussed on the water. It was time to head to the desert.
Up next: Can we find meerkats in the Kalahari?