Mobile Camping Safari

September 23, 2014

Perfect picnic spot in Chobe National Park, Botswana.

Three words: Mobile. Camping. Safari. Being on the move, or pitching a tent in the wilderness, or spending time on a bush safari. On their own, each very enjoyable. But, combine them all together, and you create a trio of perfection for travelling in Botswana.

I had read a ton about this form of travel in Botswana, as it makes the most of the remoteness of the region, while allowing the traveller to see as much as possible. And so, I think you can guess what we did after we left the Delta...we headed with Team Canada further into the northern reaches of Botswana where we spent the remainder of the trip, you guessed it, on a mobile camping safari.

Before we get ahead of ourselves though, I feel that in the spirit of full-disclosure I should clarify something. While we were camping in every sense of the word, we didn't actually cook a single meal or pitch even one tent during this time. We had an incredible team keeping us alive (and extremely comfortable!) in this remote wilderness- from our selectively-hearing-impaired and very entertaining driver/ranger, to our incredibly resourceful cook/camp caretaker team who made us the most amazing meals from scratch, we were very well looked-after.

We spent the days exploring the Savuti area of the Chobe National Park and the Moremi Game Reserve along the Khwai River, and every evening we would arrive back from our incredible game drives to a fully set up camp, complete with fire-warmed bucket shower-tents open with a view of the stars, and a strategically-angled campfire set up to frame the sunset. Our post-dinner activities consisted mainly of drinking G&T's while recounting the highs and lows from the day- perhaps not as thrilling as seeing one of the many herds of elephants at the river or a leopard dozing in a tree, but still one of my favourite memories from the trip.

Enjoy our final collaborative photo montage from Team Canada's expeditions in Botswana.

Team Canada, safari-bound. 

Starting off in the Savuti region of Chobe National Park. Giants trucks crossing rivers and men with cameras the size of my leg are apparently part of the territory here.

Wait, slow down. I think there's something in that tree...

Why, hello there beautiful.

Completely passed out...she wasn't ever slightly phased that there was a giant safari truck under her sleeping spot.

Mother bird protecting her three eggs. We saw her each time we passed along this particular road, and she was always diligently there, guarding.

Ellies enroute to a watering hole.

Guys! Wait for me...

Mufasa seeking Nala and the rest of the lionesses...

Zebra crossing.

M and E having a caveman war with elephant bones. Sometimes it's better to not ask questions...

Camp fire stories courtesy of Ronnie.

"Roughing it".

Stunning skies.

We spent our morning seeking this- a truly impressive herd of buffalo.

Buffalo.

Making a run for it.

While we were observing the massive herd of buffalo, a fire broke out across the plains. It was rumoured that one of the tourists watching the buffalo threw a cigarette butt into the brush which sparked the fire. There's no way for sure to know if that was true, but it is a stark reminder of what exactly it means for humans and nature to share the same space.

Two male sable antelopes on the plains.

A herd of sable antelopes- the lighter coloured ones are females (love the little baby on the far left).

 It took a few tries, but E managed to figure out his timing (sort of).

Fearless Ronnie.

On our way back to camp, Ronnie suddenly slammed on the breaks in a fury...he got out of the truck, and just in front of the wheel, he retrieved this little guy. He was stuck in the sand, so Ronnie rescued him and moved him to the brush off the road.

This is the smallest baby giraffe I've seen so far. He was still trying to figure out how to walk and was a little wobbly.

Lilac-breasted roller. Also known as: lilly boobs.

After a long day of over-land transit, we moved further south to the Khwai River region of the Moremi Game Reserve.

Cooling off.

I can't take credit for this pic- despite taking dozens (or millions...) of frames of this particular elephant sighting, I couldn't manage to get my timing quite right. CL, on the other hand, took one shot with her point-and-shoot, and managed to capture this guy with his tongue out. Great timing, CL!

Late in the evening, we had a magnificent sighting with these five lions...the ladies were resting up while the male was intermittently interested in us.

Hi, guy.

Getting "feet in the face" from another lioness...very reminiscent of a sibling relationship.

These guys were on some sort of photo-safari, and were so intense they looked like they were at target practice.

African sunset. Nothing like it.

Game-driving with Team Canada. We didn't exactly do the khaki safari attire thing...tight and bright for us!

We spent a good portion of our time in Khawi on a leopard hunt...It started when CL spotted a fresh kill (a red lechwe, it turns out) in the tall grass (look closely in the bottom left of the bottom left photo, and the bottom middle of the top picture). We spent several hours circling the area and following leopard tracks, and even staked out the kill for awhile hoping the leopard would come back for her dinner. Finally, we caught a glimpse of a beautiful, skittish, female leopard sprinting through the grass. She was not wanting to be seen though, and quickly found a hiding place for herself. The next morning, the kill had been dragged further into the bushes, and was nearly devoured. She had a good feast after dark, evidently!

The leopard wasn't the only one on the hunt: two brother lions had just made a fresh kill when we spotted them in the bushes. This was incredible tough to watch, especially given my affinity for the prey of choice (if you're struggling to tell what it is, it was a very young elephant). It is indeed the circle of life.

I have two observations about this guy: First, I'm pretty sure he's blind, or has cataracts, or a lazy eye (note the pupil on the left straying inward...). The second observation I only made when sorting through my photos after the trip: he has a black mane. While not really a separate species per-se, black-maned lions are quite rare, and they are only found in certain regions. This was our first encounter with them. 

That is definitely not your ordinary tawny mane.

This shot was taken the morning following our first sighting of these two males; we found them in exactly the same spot, still working on their prey. It was incredible to see how little was left, in just over twelve hours.

Spotted Hyena waiting for the lions to finish with the kill so he can make his move...

While I haven't posted any hippo pictures from this area of Botswana, suffice to say that these guys (along with crocodiles) were very plentiful along the Khawi River.

Ronnie. Not always entirely legal, but the right amount of quirky to handle being in close quarters with six Canadians for nearly a week.

Elephants everywhere!

Uh...Elephant in the camp...ELEPHANT IN THE CAMP!

Around camp.

This guy was watching us from one of the trees in our camp.

 Last day in Bots.

Thanks for the amazing memories, Bots!