After showering and doing our morning language lessons, we met Mark and Cindy for breakfast. We had considered walking around to find a breakfast place near the City Lodge, but our hotel had a large breakfast buffet for a reasonable cost so we ate breakfast there. We had sausages, potatoes, bacon, lots of fruits and cereals. A cook was preparing eggs to order, so I had a ham and cheese omelet along with a variety of fruits.
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| Getting our visas for Botswana |
We were flying to Maun at noon on Friday the 13th. We got through security easily at O. C. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg and boarded the airplane for the 90 minute flight to Maun, Botswana. Upon arriving in Maun, we were met by guides from our outfitter, Desert and Delta Safaris. We would be staying in three Desert and Delta camps during our time in Botswana. The guides got us on a single engine, 12 passenger prop plane to take us to Moremi. Besides the four of us, there was the pilot, our guide, another guide on leave and two teachers from California. We made a quick stop at Okavango near a camp that we will visit next week. The two teachers got out at Okavango and four young men who were traveling to another camp joined our flight. The bush pilot seemed very competent, but the small aircraft was a bit disconcerting.
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| Bush flight from Maun to Moremi |
When we arrived in Moremi Game Reserve at 4:30, we were met by our guide for the day who prepared a snack and lemonade for us. He then took us to meet our regular guide, GB, and a very pleasant couple, Gav and Mel, from South Hampton in southern England. Gav and Mel had already been in Moremi for a few hours and had already seen cheetahs up close. The six of us were in a modified Toyota Land Cruiser set up with a canvas roof, a high torque diesel engine and all terrain suspension. We saw dozens of elephants, and the highlight was seeing two young male lions that were probably brothers. GB told us that while we were in the vehicle, we are not seen by the wildlife as either predator nor prey. We were simply a minor annoyance and were largely ignored. There were hundreds of bird species flying around that we hoped to learn more about.
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| Adult male lion |
Moremi Game Preserve is on the edge of Botswana’s Kalahari Desert and was not what I expected. The view I had of the African landscape came from watching Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan the Ape Man swinging through the trees. Although the Tarzan movies were filmed in Silver Springs, Florida, I am sure that there are heavily forested areas of Africa that we have yet to see.
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| Sipping gin and tonic during our first game drive |
During a break, GB made excellent gin and tonic for us. Since the tonic is said to be antimalarial, we all had a glass. Surprisingly everyone enjoyed the drink. I usually don’t care for gin but found the local Okavango Gin was really good. As we were nearly ready to go to the camp, GB had a call on his radio that a pair of cheetahs were sighted so we made our way to see the two young male cheetahs. They are really beautiful cats and were not bothered by our presence in the least. In fact, they hardly noticed us or at most were a little curious. We were out in the vehicle until after 7 pm. Since it is midwinter here in the southern hemisphere in June, it was dark by the time we arrived at the camp.
Upon arriving at Camp Xakanaka we were shown our tents which were very nice with a sitting area, elevated bed and a bathroom with a shower. The camp has two shared pools, a lounge with an open bar, areas with fire pits and a large dining area. We were impressed that all three of the camps in Botswana are 100% solar energy. Each camp has a solar array that can serve the client’s tents as well as the kitchen, common areas and offices. They have backup diesel generators but seldom have use for them. The camp here at Xukanaka (pronounced “cock a knock a”), Xugana Island Lodge (pronounced “ku gone a”) and Savute Safari Lodge (pronounced “Sa vu ti”)are all operated by Desert and Delta Safaris.
Before dinner we enjoyed sitting by one of the fire pits with Gav and Mel. We have really enjoyed getting to know them. Gav is an accountant in England, and Mel is a vice president for the construction of Carnival cruise ships. At dinner we were entertained with traditional southern African songs and dances by the camp staff. The first course was an ostrich appetizer followed by a buffet of beef, pork, eggplant, vegetables, pearl barley, black rice and a selection of wines.
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| Mary on the porch of our tent |
Upon arriving at Camp Xakanaka we were shown our tents which were very nice with a sitting area, elevated bed and a bathroom with a shower. The camp has two shared pools, a lounge with an open bar, areas with fire pits and a large dining area. We were impressed that all three of the camps in Botswana are 100% solar energy. Each camp has a solar array that can serve the client’s tents as well as the kitchen, common areas and offices. They have backup diesel generators but seldom have use for them. The camp here at Xukanaka (pronounced “cock a knock a”), Xugana Island Lodge (pronounced “ku gone a”) and Savute Safari Lodge (pronounced “Sa vu ti”)are all operated by Desert and Delta Safaris.
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| Dinner at Camp Xakanaxa |
Before dinner we enjoyed sitting by one of the fire pits with Gav and Mel. We have really enjoyed getting to know them. Gav is an accountant in England, and Mel is a vice president for the construction of Carnival cruise ships. At dinner we were entertained with traditional southern African songs and dances by the camp staff. The first course was an ostrich appetizer followed by a buffet of beef, pork, eggplant, vegetables, pearl barley, black rice and a selection of wines.
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| One of Xakanaxa's fire pits |
We sat with a group from eastern Germany, and I really enjoyed talking with them in German. I was quite flattered when they asked where I live in Germany. Thomas spoke no English, but he and I could get by on my German. For the past seven years, Thomas has gone big game hunting in Namibia and has taken many trophy animals.
After dinner, we sat by one of the fire pits and chatted with other guests. There were about 20 of us at Camp Xukanaxa, mostly from the UK. We were the only guests from the US at that time.
Camp rules stipulate that a guide must escort us to tents since animals often come into the camp after dark. He cautioned us to be certain to lock our door since open tents are pillaged by baboons. The local hippopotamus, Oscar, also frequently roams the grounds at night. The trip has already exceeded our expectations. The four of us are of the generation that watched Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom as children. We all wanted to be Marlin Perkins and Jim Fowler traveling through Africa and other exotic locations to learn about the wildlife.
We slept well although a nearby lion roaring woke us at 2 am. The evening was cool in the winter here, but we had plenty of blankets. Even though the air was cool, the staff had lowered the mosquito netting around the bed. We had treated all of our clothing with permethrin spray, but with the cool African weather we doubted that we would be bothered by mosquitos or other insects.
After dinner, we sat by one of the fire pits and chatted with other guests. There were about 20 of us at Camp Xukanaxa, mostly from the UK. We were the only guests from the US at that time.
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| Adult male cheetah |
Camp rules stipulate that a guide must escort us to tents since animals often come into the camp after dark. He cautioned us to be certain to lock our door since open tents are pillaged by baboons. The local hippopotamus, Oscar, also frequently roams the grounds at night. The trip has already exceeded our expectations. The four of us are of the generation that watched Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom as children. We all wanted to be Marlin Perkins and Jim Fowler traveling through Africa and other exotic locations to learn about the wildlife.
We slept well although a nearby lion roaring woke us at 2 am. The evening was cool in the winter here, but we had plenty of blankets. Even though the air was cool, the staff had lowered the mosquito netting around the bed. We had treated all of our clothing with permethrin spray, but with the cool African weather we doubted that we would be bothered by mosquitos or other insects.
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