Monday 27 June 2016

From the Delta to the Desert – on Safari with Ralph Bousfield

Wow – what a special experience! Recently I was privileged to join a group of agents on an Uncharted Africa educational to Moremi, the Delta and the Salt Pans.

Arriving at our mobile camp set up between 2^nd and 3^rd bridge in Moremi Game Reserve after dark was like arriving in fairy land, with all the lanterns down the pathways and throughout the camp.  Welcomed with a glass of sparkling wine, we were settled in.

This luxury mobile set up boasts a combination of elegance and a kind of exploration history giving you all the comforts of beds, en-suite bathrooms with bucket showers and flush toilets.  This was to be our home for the next 2 nights.  A mobile safari gives you a private camp feeling much closer to the bush than the infrastructure of any lodge.  Lying in bed at night and listening the bush come alive, as certain curious species of game come to inspect the different smells and activities of our camp.

Our Guides, Ralph Bousfield and Greg certainly did not disappoint with their in depth knowledge and passion for the bush and stories of exploration, history, culture and scientific facts kept us all engaged and entertained the entire time we were with them.  The other advantage of a mobile safari is creating a trust and a bond with your guide that will be with you throughout your trip.

Day 3 we boated far into the Okavango Delta, to our Island stop where Devon (our Camp Manager) was waiting for us, fly camp set up, with more food and drinks.  Our set up was a roll mat with a mosquito net under the vast stars in the middle of the Okavango Delta. It gave us a feeling of being truly in the wild, in one of the most beautiful places on earth.  Here we experienced the water ways of the Delta, whilst competing against each other on the number of Sitatunga and Otters we spotted.  Nature walks around the island with Ralph proving to Simona we could still make a pizza from natural plants, mushrooms and shrubs on the island as well as curing malaria at the same time.

Day 4 our Delta experience was over and we flew out to the openness of the Makgadikgadi Pans.  Our home here for 2 nights was in the most feminine of all 3 Uncharted Africa camps, San Camp.

You have a choice of 3 camps all meeting 3 different styles and budgets, whilst you can all enjoy the same activities.

Camp Kalahari situated further back in the grasslands is the least expensive of the 3 camps. It is currently  raising all the tents, to allow the breeze to blow through and give you more of a view of the Pans.

San Camp being the lady of the 3, situated on the edge of the pans themselves is seasonal and only operational from April to October.  Its white tents on the edge of the pans gives you the true feeling of being on the moon.

Jacks Camp, this colonial and historic camp based at the edge of the pans but slightly back into the grasslands is the grande-dame of the three.  Packed with history and science with their registered museum, it does look fabulous after the completion of its refurbishment.

One thing to mention on the activities, is all 3 camps run the same activities on a rotational cycle so that guests from 2 different camps don’t do the same activity together.  This is the reason that a 3 night stay in the dry season is recommended to be offered the surprise sleep out (weather dependant).  Activities include a cultural bushman walk, game drives looking for more adapted desert species, quad biking in the dry season, following and interacting with the very comical habituated meerkats, horse riding as an optional extra and watching the sun set where it is so silent that your ears ring.

A safari to the Salt Pans is such a unique experience, from the Zebra migration in the Green Season to exploring the pans on quad bikes in the dry season, it should not be missed.

 

 

Thursday 16 June 2016

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE CATS … AND DOGS!

There is something about the private concessions in Botswana – they just never seem to fail! We were in for an absolute treat on our recent pre Indaba Famtrip where we hosted agents from around the globe. One of our agents had never been on a safari before and her expectations were completely exceeded when it came to the cats; and just as special, the African Wild Dog.

I recall sitting at the breakfast table at Shinde Camp, settling into a scrumptious spread, when an unknown voice from somewhere uttered the words … “wild dogs”. We leapt up to take a closer look and in an instant blur of excitement and mere seconds, we were on the game drive vehicle with our trusted guide following the dogs. We found them and then lost them, found them again and then finally lost them when they disappeared into a thicket. They were on the hunt and it was not an easy task keeping up with them! Still we enjoyed those few precious moments and when we returned to the breakfast table our food had been keep warm and served once again.

We were lucky with the wild dogs in the Khwai concession too! This time it was a more relaxed setting and we watched a pack of 6 dogs go about the daily get up, walk 10 metres, lie down and take a break, get up and go another 10 metres, lie down and so forth. That was a special sighting and one I will remember for a long time still. Just when we thought our afternoon drive could not get any better, we came across a leopard walking in the road not far from our vehicle. My heart nearly skipped a beat … it had been nearly 10 years since I had seen a leopard in the wild. There is just something about a leopard sighting – it so magical watching this gracious and absolutely beautiful cat, so awe inspiring and a tick the box on the bucket list for most visitors to Africa.

Whilst we did not see any lion in the Khwai concession, we most certainly heard them that evening and that has to be the most incredible sound – the true call of the wild. Close your eyes for just a minute, imagine you are in your tent, separated only by a sheet of canvas to the bush around you, it is pitch dark and you cannot see your hand in front of your face….then the first call erupts from somewhere in the not too distant dark of night, a reply comes from another angle and then what sounded like a conference call amongst a pride, bellows through the silent, dark night. Nothing compares to that sound! 

Selinda was probably my favourite concession, with vast open spaces dotted by a termite mound here and there. The grass was still high in places and we headed off to an area where a lioness and cubs had been seen the previous day. This was not an easy find and we all kept our eyes peeled on the bush around us, searching for that slight movement – something that might give their presence away. Our guide was committed and we continued searching, hoping to get a glimpse of these little cubs. Somewhere, someone noticed a small movement and there before our eyes were these absolutely gorgeous and perfect little cats! They were not perturbed with our presence and we were spoilt with a show in their African playground. 

There are no guarantees when it comes to sightings, however I dare say, with strong concessions and committed guides, the experience of a lifetime is guaranteed.

Wednesday 30 January 2013

Bush Ways Safaris & Mayonnaise – on safari in Savuti and Khwai

Bush Ways and Mayonnaise

“Who wants mayonnaise? ‘ Masters asks.  There’s a moment of silence where all five of us fail to jump on his offer.  ‘It’s good for the eyes!!!’ he says, putting another spoonful on his dinner and passing the jar down the table.  ‘If you don’t see any animals tomorrow, you know who to blame.”

We’ve just arrived in Savute.  It’s the end of October, it’s HOT and we’ve just met Masters who will guide us through this area and later on to Khwai.  We’ve also just learnt Masters’ best-kept secret for spotting game, except that he isn’t too concerned with keeping his trick in the bag.

We had returned from an incredible sunset over a waterhole which we shared with a cross-legged elephant and a few roan antelope.  As Masters had pulled out the G&T the roan scattered and herds of impala sprinted out of the background.  “See’ said Masters ‘we were so lucky to see that Roan.  If we’d turned up a little later, we wouldn’t have seen anything at all.”

We were quickly learning that this was the advantage of being on a mobile safari, spending two nights in each area, driving around the same corners but seeing different things on the horizon each time.  Just when we’d begun to recognise the roads and game patterns in one area, we’d travel to the next campsite and look for it all again on a different backdrop, but with the same guide who understood what we’d already seen and where we’d already been.  If we hadn’t seen something yet, Masters usually had a quick solution.   When we put hyenas on our wish-list he pointed to his shirt and grinned, “It’s the Bushways logo!  You’ve already seen one.”

In the wide-open space of the Savute marsh we spent our time chasing wildebeest, watching elephants sleeping standing up against trees, a big male lion bending a branch under his chin for a pillow and wild dog collapsed in a mess of legs and ears under the closest shade they could find.  The animals regarded us vaguely but didn’t bother stirring as our cameras clicked away.   Despite the intense heat which kept most animals in the shade, we came across plenty of elephants butting their heads against trees, hippos yawning out twisted laughter and a herd of buffalo big enough to be counted at a thousand, give or take a few.  “That’s my favourite animal’ said Masters ‘because with that one…eish…the buffalo doesn’t mock charge, so if he comes for you, it’s already too late!”  The rest of our group had already heard these tales in Chobe, spending their first night on safari wide awake as buffalo entered the campsite and Masters’ tales repeated in their minds.

On the road between Savuti and Khwai we watched green open spaces turn to long yellow grasses and closed-in mopane forest before stopping for tea in open grasslands of the Mababe Depression.  The landscape was yellow and the sky a blazing blue that formed mirages on the horizon.  “As soon as the rain starts, this place is green, green, green and full of thousands of zebra and wildebeest.”  It was hard to imagine that we were only a few weeks away from a complete landscape change that would come with the first rains.

Arriving in Khwai, Masters found us seven lions under a tree, across the road from two signs pointing in opposite directions.  “Welcome to Chobe” on the left and “Moremi Game Reserve – 20kms” on the right with no fences in between to impede the animals’ movements.

The lions were almost impossible to see, even as we stared straight at them camouflaged in the yellow grass.  “It’s because I eat mayonnaise” Masters reminded us.  As we jumped out of the vehicle on the Khwai River for sundowners, there was a burst of activity on the radio and Masters bundled us back in the car “There’s a leopard over that way…let’s go!” As the sun dipped towards the horizon, we bumped along off-road and came upon a female leopard making contact calls.  We watched her as she jumped up on branches, circumnavigated termite mounds and prowled around the vehicle.  Heading over to our campsite in the now pitch-black night, Masters told us to look for shining eyes as he moved his flashlight across the bush.   Impala, impala…more impala, then suddenly several pairs of eyes caught the light and we found ourselves amidst ten or so spotted hyena fighting over the carcass of a baby elephant.  We sat and watched as their curved ears caught the torchlight and they pulled meat from the carcass, rocking it back and forth in a little tug of war.  “See?’ says Masters “Bushways watching Bushways!”

Just as we’d thought we were done for the night, a civet ran across the road in a spotted blur and we arrived back at our campsite to find our tents made up, our showers ready and food almost on the table.

Over dinner we discussed food, “I don’t understand how you foreigners each so much’ Masters said piling the mayonnaise on his dinner ‘if we do that, we get fat.” We tried to protest that people don’t normally eat us much as they do on safari, but he cut us off, ‘did you eat your mayonnaise?  If we don’t see anything tomorrow, you know who to blame!”  By now, Masters has made his point and everyone around the table takes a spoonful.

The next day we see the hyenas again, sleeping under bushes as vultures move in on the baby elephant.  In the daylight we can see the tiny protrusions of the elephant’s milk tusks from the skull.  We see waterbuck, giraffe, zebra, red lechwe, hippos, warthog, Egyptian geese, bateleur eagles and saddle-billed storks.  We stop for a mokoro excursion in the afternoon and everyone comes back with water lily necklaces and hats.   That night we see the spotted hyena again, munching on baby elephant for the second night in a row.

On our last night we’re a little sad to think it’s back to the real world where we don’t find ourselves in the middle of herds of antelope, elephant, wildebeest and buffalo every day.  We hear hyena calling in the night and lions roaring close by in the morning.  We’re all excited over breakfast, hoping to catch the lions before we leave.

For a long time we find nothing.  We visit the spot where we found the lions last.  Nothing.  We drive several tracks looking for spoor.  Nothing.  We turn the next corner and meet a vehicle hurtling down the track, the guide behind the wheel motioning for us to follow.  We pick up the pace and arrive at a clearing in the bush where two lionesses are running across the clearing, herding their cubs off.  “This is interesting’ says Masters ‘they’re nervous about something.”  He moves the vehicle and we see three big male lions in the bushes.  “I think they’re trying to kill the cubs so they can mate with the females” he says.  We watch as the lioness lead their cubs quickly off, stopping, looking over their shoulders and moving further into the brush.  Masters moves the vehicle to where he thinks they may emerge from the shrub and sure enough, a few minutes later they walk right past us.  Masters giggles and gets on the radio ‘they’re walking towards our campsite’ he says, ‘I need to radio the camp staff to get in the car.”

“I think they might go to the river for a drink’ says Masters, putting the car in gear.  It’s a guess that pays off.  As Masters parks by the river we wait a little while and sure enough, the lions emerge.  “The girls might just take their cubs across the river for safety.  Those big male lions will try to track them.  This isn’t something you see often, cats don’t like getting wet and crocodiles are a threat to them too.”

The lioness round up their cubs and take them to the narrowest part of the river, belly-flopping into the water and beginning to paddle.  Very soon, all nine are treading over to the other side.  We’re feeling a bit inspired and all cheer ‘mayonnaise!’ as the lions emerge looking soggy and worried before disappearing into the Moremi Game Reserve on the other side of the Khwai River.  A moment later we’re also on the road out of Khwai, heading back to the real world on the calcrete road to Maun.

Bushways Fully Serviced Mobile Safari

6 Nights in Khwai, Savuti & Chobe

Combine with: Victoria Falls and the Okavango Delta on our 10N Authentic Lodge & Mobile with optional extension to Meno a Kwena on the Boteti River/Makgadikgadi NP.

Access: from Maun or Kasane/Vic Falls or Livingstone with Northbound and Southbound departures throughout the year.