Savuti to Maun

Friday 27 September

We’re ready for an epic game drive today as we’re driving through Chobe National Park to Savuti, a camp in the middle.  As it turns out the first 100km or so is tarred, which is a good thing because when we do hit sand roads the going is slow and bone juddering.  Most of the route, weirdly enough is outside of the park but in the forest reserve.  We’re expecting game everywhere, but sadly this is not the case and we have nothing to distract us from the rutted, sandy road.

Late morning we pass back into the national park.  Our camp is 28km from here – an hour’s drive.  The game viewing is still slow, but at last, as we approach camp and the river, we spot signs of life: some impala, kudu and the odd giraffe.

We get checked in and find our site: a huge sandy spot under a tree.  It’s a nice enough site, but boy do you pay for location.  Nick, with his red passport, has been charged a cool $50, while I have been charged about £20.

There’s no point setting up camp this early, so we eat our picnic lunch and then jump back into the car to try to find some animals.  Sticking to the river seems to be the best bet and we do spot more skittish giraffe and various deer.  At the river itself we find a family of elephants so excited to get to the water that they approach it at a run.  The older ones try to act a bit dignified whilst the younger ones just pile in, trunks and all.  You’d think we’d be sick of ellies by now, but it’s a joy to see them having so much fun.

Eventually the river peters out into marshland and the game explodes.  Elephants, wildebeest, waterbucks, warthogs, buffalo….literally as far as the eye can see. 

We’re trying to cross the marsh so that we can loop back the other way, but we’re having some difficulty.  We’re equipped with a detailed map and a sat nav, but the roads change each season with the water levels.  At the moment all our routes across are covered by water. 

We’re briefly distracted by some wild dogs – the first we’ve seen.  They’re having a good old snooze in the mud to cool off, until we disturb them.

Eventually we run out of routes, then we run out of map and finally we run out of road.  The road we’ve been following turns into a narrow track and then disappears, leaving us bouncing through a rutted field of elephant poo.  As we’re approaching despair we hit a real road.  Phew.  We still have no idea where we are, but at least it’s a road.  Another 5 or 6km later we finally hit a junction and find ourselves back on the map.  It’s a bit more than we had planned for the afternoon but we make it back to camp safe and sound (and before dark).

The campsites are completely unfenced.  That means that anything can wander in at will.  Anything.  Elephants before have destroyed the camp in the past and there was a leopard attack on a lone camper.  You can’t even walk to the toilets after dark as it just isn’t safe.  We build a big fire, pretend there’s nothing out there and relax.

Saturday 28 September

In the end it’s a quiet night with no scary visitors (although there are a few paw prints round the fire in the morning).  We battle to get packed up through a buzz of maddening flies.  We’ve got a long way to go today, so it’s time to get driving.  There’s a bit of wildlife whilst we’re along the river, but as we pull away things quiet down and the road turns to soupy sand.

By mid-morning we’ve arrived at Chobe’s southern gate and pass out of the park again.  Ironically enough, as soon as we do elephants and giraffes appear at the side of the road.

We’re heading for Moremi’s north gate now and we both thought we’d be pretty much straight out of one and into the other.  Instead, we find ourselves meandering along a lovely river road.  The scenery is beautiful and there is plenty of game to watch.

At about lunchtime we finally spot the park gates.  The only problem is that there’s an un-bridged pond of water between us and them.  Hmmm.  Three young boys from the local village have waded out into the water and they start waving us through.  We’re skeptical, but we hit the gas and steer into the water.   To their credit they guide us through the shallows, gratefully accept a small tip and see us off with a friendly wave.

We’re driving along the Khwai River and the scenery is changing around us: there are tall, shady trees, peaceful pools of water and some rather pretty swampy areas.

We have our lunch in a little hide overlooking a pool of grumpy hippos.  We’re quite calm and casual now about getting out of the car and wandering about, but a few days later a couple tell us that they saw both lion and leopard near here the day after we passed through.

We’re not so lucky, but there are plenty of other animals to look at including some we haven’t seen before (lechwe, tsessebe).  It’s mid-afternoon by the time we arrive at our campsite: Third Bridge.  The only problem is that said third bridge is half underwater, which kind of defeats the purpose of a bridge.  We bravely plough through.  It’s rickety and there are a few hairy moments, but our trusty Hilux is up to the task.

Nick is knackered after a hard day’s driving (he has banned me from driving on the sand roads because if I get us stuck, he is going to have to dig us out) so we get straight to setting up camp.  Just as we’ve got our tent up and the bed made, our neighbours wander over to tell us that there are 3 male lions at the roadside just 500m from the camp.  Bugger.  Neither of us can face packing everything up again (the one downside of a rooftop tent), so we’ll have to give these lions a skip.  It’s only later that it sinks in that there are 3 lions on the prowl just half a km from our unfenced camp…  We have been distracted by a troupe of cheeky baboons that are roaming the campsite hoping to snatch some unattended food.  They’re a bit of a nuisance, but I can’t help being entertained by their antics.

We’re treated to another spectacular African sunset and it’s time to get the fire burning.

Sunday 29 September

We had a bit of a noisy night: baboons barking, lions growling and hippos grunting, but once again we were spared any scary close encounters.  We’re camping here again tonight so we have the day at our leisure.  As we’re up early we decide to head out for a game drive.  We do a lovely, scenic drive around a finger of land and just as we’re on our way back in we pass a huge herd of buffalo.

After tea at the campsite we set off on a more ambitious route.  For a start we’ve got to bet back over the bridge, which has taken a bit of a battering in the last 24 hours.  It’s even hairier than before, but we make it in one piece.  We wind our way past pools of water, along marshy shorelines and through thick sand. Most of the time we have no idea where we are on the map, but we figure we’ll get somewhere eventually.  We find a lovely, crocodile infested pool to eat our lunch at before winding our way back.

After another pit stop back at camp we head off for one final drive.  We’re planning to cross the bridge again, but a ranger advises us not to: it’s broken he says, and we might make it a cross, but they’ve had to rescue a whole handful of stranded cars already today.  We decide our luck has held long enough and head out the other way, passing a curious elephant that has strolled into camp for a nibble.

It’s another pretty drive but the big cats (or dogs) are yet to show.  I am getting a little obsessed with this beautiful bird though: a southern carmine bee eater.

The baboons are back in camp tonight and as we’ve moved our tent even closer to the water we get lots of hippo grunts through the night, but they keep out of sight.

Monday 30 September

We’re heading out of the park by the south gate today, but we’ve pretty much got all day to get there, so there’s plenty of time for Moremi to surprise us still.

The first surprise is a couple of honey badgers darting across the plain.  Apparently they’re quite vicious little fellas and we’ve been warned about them in campsites.  Nick has been dying to see one and here they are.   The next surprise is a pack of wild dogs sleeping under the trees.  Nick wanted to give this one a bath and a warm spot by the fire.

We’re just past the dogs when Nick spots a lone hyena sloping through the long grass.

It’s been a good morning and we pull into a picnic spot to make our lunch.  We’re quite happy hopping out of the car and strolling about.  Annoyingly, a water bottle has leaked in the back and some of our bedding is wet, so we have a big of a pfaff around trying to clean it up and get things drying in the sun.

After that unexpected delay we’re eager to push on out of the park as it’s still a good 2-hour drive down to Maun where we’re staying.  We’ve just driven away and are no more than a couple of kilometers from the picnic site when I spot something in the grass.  It’s three lions happily munching on a kill. 

That’s a lovely end to our time here and we head out of the park still buzzing.  The road here is atrocious – a mixture of thick sand and steep, sharp drop-offs – but we do eventually hit tar and then find our lodge.  After 15 nights straight camping Nick is feeling a bit battered and sneakily booked us into a chalet for the 3 nights we’re here.  I can’t say I’m not looking forward to sleeping on bed and having the use of an actual toilet.  The chalet is set gloriously on the banks of the sun-kissed Thamalakane River.  The views from our little veranda are gorgeous  - and even a little better from the bar with a cold beer in hand.  Ah.

Tuesday 1 October

The plan for today was to have a bit of a lie in and then run some errands around town.  What we hadn’t factored in is that it’s a public holiday today.  Oops.  Monday 30 September is Botswana’s Independence Day, but we didn’t know that they (Scotland style) spread the holiday out over another day.  Going one better though, the government gives a 'party allowance' to each and every village in the country so that they can arrange a feast.  It means the whole nation can celebrate in style.  Despite the celebrations there’s enough open in town for us to get the most important things sorted.

The Okavango Delta is an easy place to blow your budget.  We’ve avoided the fancy lodges and the fly-in safaris, but I can’t help indulging in a little bit of delta extravagance.

Scenic flights over the delta are meant to be spectacular and we cheekily ask the lodge if they can book us a late afternoon slot.  No problem.  At £200 it isn’t pocket change, but it’s worth every penny for what turns out to be an hour-long private flight over the delta.  We’ve been booked into a little 4-seater plane – the kind that looks more like a toy. 

Nick and I pile into the back while our pilot – a strapping South African lad with the physique of a rugby player – squeezes himself behind the controls.

We’re soon up and reach our cruising altitude of 500 feet (150 meters).  We’re flying low enough to spot game from the air: elephants, giraffe and even some deer. 

The first thing you notice is how flat everything is: there’s not a hill a sight.  It’s dry and dusty down below but the merest hint of water introduces ribbons of green.  Soon we’re over the delta and the wet overtakes the dry in a swirl of turquoise, green and blue. 

It’s simply magic and before we know it we’re back at Maun airport.  Back at the lodge we’re just in time fore beer and a delta sunset.

Wednesday 2 October

Today is my second guilty pleasure: I’ve booked us a mokoro trip into the delta.  A mokoro is kind of like a cross between a canoe and a gondola.  They used to be carved out of tree trunks, but for environmental reasons they are now usually fiberglass. 

I’m a bit worried that it’s going to be a bit tour groupy, but it certainly isn’t.   We’re met at 8 in the morning by Eve, who drives us the hour or so to the boat station.  Mokoro polers are more or less unionized – they have an association they all work through at a fixed rate.  The boat station is managed by a stationmaster, who allocates work on a rotation system so that all the polers get the same amount of work.

Eve introduces us to our poler and guide for the day, Paul.  I have to chuckle: we’re all dressed in our safari outdoor gear, whereas Paul is in designer jeans, a smart button-up shirt, hoody and Timberland style boots.  Still, he’s more that competent whatever the wardrobe.  Eve has brought us two little chairs and a picnic lunch.  Once these are loaded into the boat so are we.  With that we’re off, pushing our way silently through the reeds. 

It’s wonderful to have a change of pace and not spend the day in the car.  We’re down at water level and Paul is full of interesting facts about the local flora and fauna.

After a few hours of paddling we land on an island.  Here Paul takes us out for a game walk.  It’s midday and hot, so most of the animals are having their siesta, but we do see lechwe, zebra, steenbok and, in the far distance, elephants.  Paul points out some elephant prints, giraffe dung and lion prints, but luckily that’s as close as we come to something that considers us as lunch.

We eat our picnic lunch under a tree.  Unfortunately we’ve positioned ourselves on an ant next and it doesn’t take long for them to sniff us out and raid the party.  It’s time for us to pack up and get going anyway.

Paul puts in a bit of speed for the return journey and we’re back just in time to be collected by Eve and ferried back.  She’s a wealth of information about the area, the animals and Botswana in general.

With that it’s time to take in our last night of luxury: we’re roughing it again tomorrow.