Morning at Camp and a Safari Game Drive
05.00
I am woken up by a cheery “Good morning!” as Squard, one of the camp staff, arrives and pours fresh, hot water into the basin outside my tent. I’m not quite ready to leave my comfy bed just yet, but the promise of a wildlife-filled game drive lures me up after a few minutes. It is still dark, but the first traces of sunlight are appearing on the horizon and morning birdsong fills the air.
05.30
Wrapping up in some warm layers and pocketing my sunscreen for later, I head over to the dining area for breakfast with my fellow safari-goers. Breakfast is freshly made toast (prepared on the bush campfire), yoghurt, cereals, fresh fruit and hot coffee. The sky turns a beautiful pink as the sun rises, and we hop in the vehicle with our safari guide, Shaka. It’s still a bit chilly, so I wrap up in a traditional kikoy - an African woven wraparound garment which all of our tents come equipped with.
06.00
Leaving camp, we drive past some hippopotamuses which have been enjoying the nearby watering hole. It appears they have waded back in after a cool night, and now we can just see their noses and eyes above the water. I snap a couple of pictures of course – everyone has a window seat on this safari, so there’s no awkward leaning over my fellow travellers!
07.00
In the distance, Shaka spots the unmistakable flick of a lion’s tail, so we head over to investigate. We come across a male lion who is feasting on a fresh kill while a female lounges patiently beside him. Although it tends to be the females that do the hunting, the male eats first and she will have whatever is left. It looks like this male lion has been in a fight recently, as he has claw marks on his face. Our safari guide Shaka suggests this might have been a fight with another male lion over the fresh meat.
08.00
Shaka hears on the radio that a leopard has been spotted in a forested area nearby. We arrive and find her perched in a tree, surveying the land for suitable prey. Shaka tells us that this leopard has a young cub, who she will have hidden in the bush while she goes off hunting. We watch this beautiful creature for a long time as she gracefully climbs down the tree, stalks through the bush and then finds a new vantage point. These big cats don’t need to eat every day, but from her appearance, it’s been a while since she has had a successful hunt.
09.00
Our game drive takes us past herds of zebras, groups of baboons, and even a small leopard tortoise, which is plodding along the side of the road. We also see giraffes grazing on trees and a lone elephant wandering through the bush. A cattle egret bird follows the elephant, eating any bugs that are unearthed by the elephant’s footsteps. The elephant eventually gets annoyed with the egret tripping him up, and kicks it out of the way. The egret decides not to push its luck and flies off to find a new meal ticket.
10.00
After a busy morning, we stop for a coffee break with a lovely view of the hippos swimming in the nearby watering hole. There’s coffee, tea, hot chocolate and some amazing freshly baked biscuits made on the campfire and “bush oven”.
11.00
We head back to camp, only stopping to coo over a family of mongooses. Shaka scans the rest of the bush and spots our leopard friend heading in this direction. We wait with bated breath as she stalks the mongooses, who haven’t noticed her yet.
Suddenly she breaks into a run and the mongooses scatter. A baby is left behind and the leopard rounds on him, apparently calculating whether or not this small creature is worth her energy. The baby mongoose has got some courage – he hisses and spits at the leopard before breaking into a run… right underneath our safari vehicle.
The leopard chases and for a moment I wonder if she is going to dive under our vehicle herself, when suddenly she stops short and nonchalantly licks her paw, looking for all the world like a house cat who doesn’t want to look silly when it fails to catch a laser light. The leopard slinks off after a minute, and we wait patiently for the mongoose to scurry out from under the vehicle and join his friends before we continue.
Lunch, the Leopard and Afternoon Wildlife Watching
12.00
We arrive back in camp to the whoops and shouts from the camp staff. Golo greets us with a very welcome and refreshing iced tea. We settle down and lunch is served – pizza (somehow also made on a campfire?) and several vegetable and salad options. The camp staff are great at catering to any dietary requirement – there was always a vegetarian option, and they can happily provide vegan, gluten-free, lactose-free, etc, as long as they have notice.
13.00
This is the hottest part of the day and there’s not a lot of animal activity, so I relax and recuperate after the early morning start. I put my phone on charge (using the safari vehicle charging ports) and nap under the shaded canopy of my tent. Others with more energy are helping out with camp duties (such as making cakes in the bush oven), playing ball games, or strolling around with our guide to look for small creatures. It feels strange lying down to nap without checking my phone, but there’s no WiFi or reception out in the bush, so we only use phones for taking pictures.
15.30 After a nice shower (the camp staff have kindly topped up my en suite shower with fresh water) I’m ready for the afternoon game drive. I meet everyone else for an afternoon tea before we set out. Today Ludic, the chef, has made us a delicious chocolate cake.
16.30
The first wildlife we spot is a monitor lizard stalking through the bush, which is quickly followed by another reptile, this time a huge python which is trying to be inconspicuous. A small bird circles above it, thwarting the snake’s ambitions by alerting other birds to its presence.
17.00
There’s plenty of birdlife to spot this afternoon, and the binoculars are passed around enthusiastically to see the brightly coloured specimens.
17.30
We spot a herd of elephants who have come to drink at the water’s edge. Some have calves with them, including some very little ones which we don’t think can be more than a few months old. We watch them for a while and take some fantastic photos before the elephants decide to cross the water.
There’s a tense moment as a baby elephant follows its mum into the water – mum wades through it easily but baby completely disappears – and we all breathe a sigh of relief when the little one emerges safely on the other side!
18.00
We stop for sundowner drinks as the sun is setting. The sky turns a brilliant pink and we watch the sun slowly dip towards the horizon, creating striking silhouettes of the elephants and hippos. Somehow Shaka has provided a full-bar service from the safari vehicle fridge and begins to serve us soft drinks, beer, wine, and gin & tonics! We also have some sausage rolls, just in case we are feeling peckish.
An Evening with Hippos in Botswana’s Bush
18.30
It’s getting dark so we head back to camp. In the national parks night drives are not permitted, but we will be visiting a private concession park later in the trip where this is possible. Sunset is incredible for wildlife viewing and we come across a hunting pack of hyenas on our way home.
19.00
We are nearly back at camp when Shaka stops the vehicle. We have water to our left, but to the right, a hippo is grazing. Hippos can feel threatened when they don’t have a clear path back to the water, so it’s important never to walk or drive your vehicle between a hippo and its water source. We wait patiently until the hippo decides he has had enough food and saunters casually back across the track.
19.30
The camp looks beautiful at night, with the blazing campfire and hurricane lamps lighting up the tent entrances. We sit around the fire with our drinks and reminisce about the day until Ludic summons us to the dining table with a song.
Every night we have a three-course dinner. Tonight’s menu is feta and olive tart, followed by a roast fillet of beef with peppercorn sauce (or vegetarian lasagne) and lemon cheesecake for dessert. Ludic assures me that they also have plenty of child-friendly recipes up their sleeves for family groups with young kids. The food is absolutely stunning, and I feel a little humbled that such amazing food can be cooked on an open fire when I struggle to knock something together with all my kitchen appliances at home.
21.00
As the day comes to an end, we sit around the campfire and admire the stars. We can hear the grunt of hippos nearby, and the howl of a hyena in the distance. Using our torches, we can scan the lake for the glinting eyes of crocodiles.
I return to my tent to find my bed freshly made, my clothes washed and folded, and as I settle down for the night, surrounded by the calming sounds of the bush, I hope that tomorrow will be just as much of an adventure as today.
Find out more about our Botswana Bush Safari holiday, or you can speak to our team today.
