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!

Cruising...Okavango Style

September 21, 2014

Exploring the Okavango Delta's shallow waters in a mokoro, a traditional dug-out canoe.

When planning the trip with Team Canada, I wanted us to go somewhere that would be new to all of us. And, I wanted it to be somewhere they might not have ventured to otherwise. Above all though, I wanted it to be somewhere we could all relax and just enjoy the space and place together.

With the southern hem of Botswana lining the northern border of South Africa, Botswana was high on M and I's list in our quest to visit each of the countries that touch South Africa. But, there's more to it than the convenient geographical placement. Botswana is known for its remoteness, free roaming wildlife, and sheer beauty.

While it's only a few hours' drive from Johannesburg to the border of Bots and the capital city of Gabarone, Botswana stretches further north into the continent of Africa and as a whole is very sparsely populated. The majority of the population live in or near Gabarone, and venturing further than the capital's vicinity means very little in the way of civilization. When people ask me what the people of Botswana were like, I actually have to respond that I have no idea...we were so far from any form of human life, and the local residents we did see were almost exclusively of the four-legged variety.

As one might expect in a place as remote as this, travelling around was not without its trials. The roads we travelled by 4x4 in northern Botswana were terrible, and it took hours and hours on dusty, bumpy surfaces to travel relatively short distances. Case in point, it took us nearly seven hours to cover not much more than a hundred kilometres. And in the places where the only way to gain access is via chartered plane, the skies and flight paths didn't much agree with us either...as evidenced by the fact that half of "Team Canada" lost their lunch during one such journey...you see, it's not sunshine and roses all of the time.

Unlike South Africa, the "parks" in Botswana are not fenced, and while you will very likely see animals within the parks invisible boundaries, you may very likely see animals anywhere else in the country as well. All of the areas we stayed in were wide open to wildlife; from a leopard cub steeling M's shoe for a chew toy, to an elephant blocking our path back to camp, to hyenas making use of our fire-pit after we went to bed...we were very close to nature.

One of Botswana's best known wonders is the Okavango Delta. This inland Delta is significant for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that it is created by seasonal flooding, but all of the water that reaches the Delta eventually evaporates and does not flow into a sea or ocean. So, for a large part of the year, the "Delta" is really just a massive, dry, salt pan. We timed our visit to the Delta in September so that we could see it full of life; when there is water in the Delta it creates one of the largest and most unique concentrations of wildlife on the entire continent of Africa. This justifies it's recognition in 2014 as the 1000th UNESCO World Heritage site.

We spent a very glorious eight days roaming this wild and beautiful place. We started off with two nights at the Oddballs Enclave tented-camp in the heart of the Delta, taking mokoro cruises through the water and hiking on foot through the grasslands weaving through the Delta. Before you conjure up images of luxury boating, a mokoro is a traditional dug-out canoe used primarily in the Okavango Delta for navigating the very shallow waters. The boat is pushed through the water by the "poler"- your captain- who stands in the mokoro's stern and uses a very long stick to move the boat through the water. The peacefulness of travelling in this manner is difficult to explain, but it really doesn't get much closer to nature than this.

The best way to really share Bots with you is the show you...so, grab a tea (or a G&T...), and enjoy a collaborative photo-essay from all members of Team Canada of the Okavango Delta portion of our Bots trip. There's more of the trip to share with you, I promise (and, I promise that unlike this post, you won't have to wait six months for the next installment). Stay tuned!

"They made us a sign!". Unlike the welcoming committee in Joburg...

From Air Bots to our own charter flight to the Delta.

Camp! Our tented camps at Oddballs, complete with eco toilets and outdoor bucket showers.

Our poler ready to take us out for our first mokoro ride.

We're off!

Our first mokoro ride was followed by our first bush walk...and our first elephant sighting of the trip!

See, I told you the ellies were here!

Baboons. Freaky creatures.

Cruising back to camp as the sun sinks...

Expert poler navigating the water-ways.

Sundowners on the deck.

Camp life.

Good morning, Sunshine!

Traversing the narrow pathways.

Morning nature walk.

Pumbas! Mo's nephew is a huge fan of these guys, so we spent a good amount of time subjecting them to their very own photo shoot.

Giraffe and impala chillin'.

Big Tree.

Big tree up close.

Zebra bums.

Morning cruise.

Ellie!

 "But, if we keep going, won't we run into him?"

Turns out, he wasn't too bothered with his new-found visitors.

Yes, we're blurry, but there's an ELEPHANT behind us...

Too close for comfort?!

 We opted to spend our last morning at the "hippo pool". We angled our mokoros for the best visual of the hippos, while still being in the get-away position in case they became unhappy with our presence. When you travel in a mokoro, being at the hippo pool actually means being in the hippo pool...

Why, hello there.

Mo putting her telephoto lens to good use to get up close with the hippos.

Everyone in one shot. Epic.

Thanks to our polers for keeping us alive and safe on the Delta!

True, we are domestically departing.

Our ride outta the delta.

The inner-Delta from above. How many ellies can you spot?

Delta.

As we headed to the outer edges of the Delta and towards Chobe National Park, the Delta became progressively dryer. There was only these sparse mud-puddle water sources in this region. I love how you can see the animal trails in and out of the water hole.