People warned me that kids grow up fast, and they were right. My oldest son George is now 15, with a girlfriend and an electric guitar, and my youngest son Dylan is about to hit 13. So last autumn 2017, when my husband Steve and I were planning a summer break, it suddenly felt like we were running out of time. Perhaps we ought to make the summer of 2018 one to remember. The boys were still young enough to travel with us, but old enough to appreciate an adventure – the perfect time to pull out all the stops.

 

We decided to go to Botswana, on the BT14 Wild Side camping safari with Sunway Safaris. It’s not a family safari, designed for young kids, it’s a proper, authentic, get-stuck-in safari and, with the minimum age 12, it was a fit for us. We briefed the kids – there will be no Wifi in the bush, you’ll need to muck in, there will be some long journeys. They were fine with that. What we couldn’t brief them for was just how mind blowing being in Botswana would be.

Obviously, most people come to Botswana for the wildlife, and this does not disappoint. We saw such a huge range and such a vast number of animals here, from a herd of 80 or more elephants at Chobe, to sleeping lions and hyena cubs in Savuti, a rare serval and a large spotted genet in Moremi, and a supporting cast of beautiful impala, giraffe, zebra, kudu and eland throughout.
For us, though, being here was never about ticking sightings off a list, or getting the best picture of a lion ever. We wanted to experience Africa, a continent new to all of us, and just soak it all up – the huge skies, the intense sunsets, the heat at 3pm and the chill at 7am, the bird song and the smell of wild sage, the stars, the sand and the animal noises. This camping safari is 100 percent the best way to do that.
You camp throughout this two-week trip, and for seven nights you camp in the wild. When I told friends about this once home they said things like, ‘there was a fence, right?’ or ‘the guides had guns, surely?’. Nope. Wild camping is just that – pitching tents, building a fire, settling in with nothing between you and the wildlife. Our guide Farai – an absolute star who really made the trip – warned us to take our shoes inside the tent at night so the hyenas didn’t eat them, and to scan the undergrowth around the bushy bushy to check for eyes reflected back. I was woken several times a night by lions roaring or hippos grunting, and would happily register the sound before drifting off to sleep again. You feel safe – when an elephant came incredibly close to camp in Moremi, Farai just carried on making lunch – and you certainly feel immersed.

There are too many highlights to list. Each place we visited was unique, from the papyrus-fringed channels of the Okavango Delta, to the dry grasslands of Savuti. Poling through the Delta to our campsite and spending two nights with the local men and women who make a life here was a rare privilege. The chance to chat with them around the campfire each evening brought an invaluable human element to this wildlife-rich holiday. Taking walking safaris here was another enormous highlight. Tripping – literally tripping – over elephant dung and standing metres away from wallowing hippos is pretty much the definition of an immersive safari experience.

 
Seeing a leopard take a just born red lechwe in Moremi was a dramatic, thrilling and brutal moment, too – birth, first steps and death in a neat eight minutes for the lechwe, but a much-needed meal for the leopard. Even by the end of the trip, when the sight of yet more giraffe, yet another beautiful fish eagle perched in a tree barely merited comment, we continued to be blown away. As we were driving out of Chobe – our final game drive – and almost at the park gates, we saw two female lions calmly leading five young cubs through the bush.
If you imagine a safari is always about posh lodges and sundowners; about dipping into the wilderness before driving back to linen sheets and waiter service, think again. A camping safari is an earthy, authentic alternative; a chance to get really close to the wildlife and the natural environment – so close you’ll be shaking Kalahari sand out of your socks for weeks. Be prepared to help wash up, chop veg, put the tents up and down and generally muck in. For us, that was a pleasure not a chore, and it seemed the more we put into the smooth running of the trip and the sociability of the group, the more we were rewarded with breathtaking sightings and a great sense of fun. As wonderful Farai said: ‘We achieve so much when we work together.’

 
In terms of packing, follow the kit list and you can’t go wrong, but do come prepared to be bowled over by Africa. You might think spotting a lion will be your highlight, then find you’re captivated by the way a zebra’s stripes travel up perfectly into its mane; or the way an elephant swishes grass roots through the water to clean the grit off and help preserve its teeth. You might marvel at the sheer size of a bull elephant or buffalo, but find you lose your heart to a tiny steenbok, lying by the side of the track, staring back at you with shining coal black eyes.
Africa’s wildlife, birds and vastness are incredibly special, but being here is a chance to tune into its people, too. Chatting with our guides to learn more about life here – both human and animal – talking to the polers in the Delta, to the guys selling souvenirs in the market in Victoria Falls or the taxi driver who took us from the falls to our campsite – these things stand out, too, and were the icing on a truly amazing, unforgettable cake.

 

Written by Joanne Simmons