As a follow on to my (Tara-Lee's) blog last week entitled Zimbabwe & Botswana Game Tracker 16 day accommodated tour - Part 1 Zimbabwe (ZBa16), here is Part 2 - Botswana edition.

Crossing into Botswana was very different to crossing into Zimbabwe, much easier but then you have to walk across the disinfectant pad to ensure that cattle diseases are not brought into the country.
Botswana is a beef producing country, in an effort to ensure that diseases such as foot and mouth are not brought into the country there are various disinfectant points that are set up, all vehicles drive through "dipping" points and all persons walk over disinfectant pads.

Our first stop was at Thebe River Lodge, we enjoyed a lunch prepared by the group at the truck followed by a little down time to relax and try cool down in the air-conditioned rooms before heading off to our evening boat cruise on the beautiful Chobe River.
We saw many hippos, crocodiles, buffaloes, elephant and red lechwe. The highlight for me, not sure about the rest of the group, was the elephant carcass. The elephant had died of disease, most probably anthrax according to our local guide, about 2 weeks earlier. As this is in a national park the carcass is left in place for the local wildlife to feast off. There were numerous crocodiles around the carcass. All of a sudden the carcass came alive, there was a crocodile litrally inside the elephant. I thought it was quite amusing, not sure the clients felt the same.

It was awesome to see the elephant herds come down to the river to drink, swim and play. Watching the sunset over the islands in the Chobe river is a real treat.

Heading back to Thebe for dinner we were greeted at the camp gate by a heard of elephants, what a sight.
Day 11 gave an option of an early morning game drive, 8 of the 11 clients joined, Jeff and I went on a few more site visits while the clients enjoyed their game drive. Late morning saw us leaving Kasane for Nata, our next overnight stop. Day 12 broke with lots of excitement, today is the day we go into the Okavango Delta. The drive was interesting to say the least, the road between Nata and Maun is full of potholes and livestock. I found it quite amusing to watch the vehicles snaking around the potholes, from the smallest personal cars to the massive double trailored trucks, everyone experiences the problem, and everyone gives way when necessary. We arrived in Maun, did a quick shop before heading to our transfer pick up point. We bid goodbye to the 3 clients that chose to stay in Maun (they were a family of 3 and the youngest person was ill) climbed aboard the Planet Okavango 4wd vehicle and headed off into the Delta to the poling station for lunch, after lunch we climbed aboard the mokoros, our transport into the heart of the Delta and our campsite for the next 2 nights.
Each mokoro takes 2 persons plus the poler, the polers are born in villages in the Delta area, they attended school in Maun, and know the intricate layout of the lagoons and waterways. Some have done further guiding studies in the area and have ventured out to do guiding for various of the accommodations in the area that offer activities, but after chatting with School, our lead poler, he says "once a poler, always a poler" and they all, including him, return to poling to relax.

That evening we did a short guided game walk into the Delta area near the camp, the polers are a wealth of knowledge. Did you know the best mosquito repellant is to put a hot coal on a pile of elephant dung on the perimeter of camp? The smoke keeps the mosquitos at bay. And you are able to enjoy the wild sounds of the Delta without the incessant buzzing of the irritating mosquitos.

While on our walk we saw some Buffalo in the distance, as we approached them we noticed some hippos in the lagoon between us and the buffalo's, all of a sudden the buffalo's were forgotten as the group of hippos was very large, 20+. We stood for a while watching the hippos playing in the water, then noticed that some of the hippos had noticed us, and were coming closer. This continued with us watching, but once they got a little too curious and a little too close we decided it was time to head back to camp. On the walk back we were treated to a beautiful sunset, with the Hippo chorus behind us. And yes, I did keep checking to make sure the hippos stayed in the water until they were out of sight.

The first night in the Delta was quite amusing, we all said good night and headed to our tents, it's pretty dark out in the Delta so once everyone has settled in the sounds are intensified. We heard some hippos in the nearby lagoons and channels. At 01:30ish the wind started to blow quite hard, it sounded like rain, while the coolness was welcomed the clients all panicked a little as most of us had left the window coverings up to allow air circulation in the tent, and as everyone knows, when wild camping you do not get out your tent at night. Needless to say it didn't rain, and apart from the sound of the zippers as clients went to the toilet (chemical en-suite toilets), the flashlights been switched on and off, the rest of the night was cool and went without any further stress. Well for me anyway.
Getting up at 5:30 on day 13, the sun was already up, we prepared our breakfast and ourselves for the long 3 hour game walk ahead. The heat in the Delta is incredible so activities are scheduled for the early morning or evenings so that clients can "siesta" in the heat of the day, or at least attempt to.
I decided to sit this walk out and spend some time working on the blog. The clients left for the walk which itself was adventurous, they saw large herds of giraffe, buffalo, zebra, elephant and of course more hippos.
At one point they saw a herd of elephant in the distance and stopped to admire and take pictures, only to have bush next to them rumble and explode, thankfully away from the group, as 2 Buffalo, which neither the polers nor clients had seen, ran as fast as they could in the opposite direction.
Returning to camp we enjoyed a heart brunch prepared by the group and Joe. After brunch we relaxed around camp until 14:00 when some of the adventurous group went for a swim in the Delta.
At 17:00 the group went on a sunset mokoro cruise, not much wildlife was seen, hippos were heard, but the highlight of the cruise was once again the beautiful sunset.
Dinner around the Campfire was enjoyed by all, after which the polers entertained us with some local songs and dancing. Retiring once again to our tents, the hippos, which had decided to move into the channel near camp, sang us lullabyes.
The clients had decided not to do the final walk on the morning of day 14 so everyone slept in a little, this is quite difficult to do as it gets light and hot very early. We enjoyed our final breakfast in the Delta before packing up, climbing onto the mokoros and heading back to the poling station, once again being serenaded in the final lagoon by hippos.

We returned to our original transfer point at Mochaba Crossing for the night. On arrival I had a quick shower before heading off once again for site visits in the Maun area with the Planet Okavango staff. I arrived back a little later than expected, the clients and guides were all already enjoying dinner, so I quickly joined the group.
After dinner we all retired to our rooms.
Another early start on day 15, breakfast at 6:45, then into the red elephant for a very long day’s driving as we headed to Khama Rhino Sanctuary for our last night on tour. This drive took us along the edge of the Kalahari desert and a glimpse at one of the immense salt pans in the area.
Arriving at Khama we were driven to our chalets and then collected for our 2 hour game drive, Khama was set up in 1992 to try and save the remaining 4 white rhinos in Botswana. They currently have 52 white rhino's and 6 black rhino's. They have also relocated in excess of 30 rhino's to other parks in Botswana since inception.
We managed to see quite a few white rhino's, some springbuck, impala, steenbok, zebra, a giraffe and a jackal.

After complaining bitterly for the last few days that they were all dying of heat, the clients then started complaining that they were all freezing. It was quite nippy on the back of the 4wd vehicles, as soon as we got to the chalets the guides had dinner almost ready and a fire going, all clients grabbed warm jackets and settled in around the fire. Our last dinner together was a typical South African braai, with pork chops and boerewors. For starters we had butternut soup and dessert was jelly and homemade custard.
Our final day broke to pleasantly cool weather, we all made our way to the centre point of the chalets to be greeted by the spoor of the ever elusive leopard, they only animal in the big 5 we didn’t manage to find in any of the many parks we had visited along the way.
Departing Khama Rhino Sanctuary we hit the road for the final stretch of this wonderful adventure that had started 15 days earlier with a group of 12 strangers, who had become friends.
It was truly a great adventure for me and I am sure most of the group agree, our guides, Jeff and Joe looked after us all and did a great job with meals and the constant stream of info that passed on to the group throughout the tour. I have learnt so much about all 3 countries, and the travel bug has most definitely been awaken in my soul.
But having said all of the above, I could not wait to get back home to my family, to share with them the amazing pics and tell stories of all the adventures we along the way.
So with this final note, as we reach the Botswana border, I sign off at last. My heart truly beats with an African rhythm.