Botswana – Page 4

Aardwolf …

Early breakfast, game drive, late lunch, three hours down time compressed into one and a half by the late lunch, high tea, game drive, late dinner, drop exhausted into bed. That sentence may seem longer than you get for murder but there was an awful lot in it and Pete Oxford made sure there was an awful lot in every single day.

Early morning is magical. It’s cool enough to send a shiver through you, the world seems huge and so much more special than you. The light is gentle. This is the time that you get your best photographs, initially in cool colours becoming warmer as the sun rises. In the tropics at this time of year blue hour plus golden hour combined last about 45 minutes. Treasure the moment.

One morning, just as the sun was breaking the horizon we encountered an Aardwolf, a creature I had never seen before. The Earth Wolf from Dutch via Afrikaans. Or if you prefer a cocktail of pseudo-classical languages Proteles cristatus the first word from Greek, the second from Latin. A Hyenid, but unlike it’s cousins not a killer or scavenger of other mammals. Its diet is almost exclusively termites, as many as a quarter of a million in a night. Unlike the Aardvark (Earth Pig) it does not break into termite mounds it laps them up off the ground. They depend on termites of the family Hodotermitidae which themselves depend on dead grasses thus tying the Aardwolf to savanna country.

Aardwolves are territorial, mark their domain frequently with their anal glands (see the first photo), feed almost exclusively at night and late afternoon and spend their days in a burrow. We were truly fortunate to get stunning views as the sun rose …

Botswana …

We left a few footprints, we took more than a few photos.

Six guests were in the very capable hands of Pete Oxford Expeditions. Pete and his wife Renee are energetic, knowledgeable and passionate. Pete is charismatic, a biologist and renowned photographer (it’s worth visiting their web page just for the stunning headline images). Renee is the organisation and in her spare time godmother to the baboons of Bettys Bay on the south coast of South Africa, and they are probably more easily managed than Pete.

Botswana is one of Africa’s success stories. It has a population of 2.63 million, the capital is Gaborone. You’ve probably not seen the president in the news – for all the right reasons. His name is Mokgweetsi Masisi. Most people speak Tswana but English is the official language and is spoken very well indeed.

The country is landlocked, surrounded by Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. It touches Zambia at a single point on the Zambezi River and is separated from Angola by the narrow Caprivi strip of Namibia. It is largely an arid land. The exception is the Okavango Delta which receives its waters from the Angolan highlands.

The expedition started at Maun and visited three lodges, Qorokwe, Little Vumbura and Chitabe Ladiba. Little Vumbura is situated on an island accessed by small boats. The other two are savanna camps. All were comfortable, the service was impossible to fault. I have a fondness for timber and thatch. The latter two were the epitome of rustic charm.

So much for a few details. Stand by for some highlights.

This is how our days started …

Trip of a Lifetime …

Not a moment left spare, game drives, night drives, river cruises. Details will have to wait until I’ve caught up on sleep! Next stop a very brief visit to Zimbabwe.

In the Delta …

A crazy Pete Oxford Expedition, rarely a moment to edit the photos and I think my record so far is 1600 images in one game drive. I may be publishing them way after I get home. But here’s one as proof of life.

Lazy Day …

The Thalamakane River is due to arrive in June. Like some inland Australian rivers it depends on rainfall in distant parts, in this instance it’s the highlands of Angola. Meanwhile I can forget about hippos and crocodiles and wander along the river bed with the cattle, donkeys and goats.

Today we fly from Maun into the Okavango Delta. I’ll post when I can. Internet speeds are excellent at the Thalamakane River Lodge. So is the food.

Maun …

Only four letters. How many ways can you pronounce it? So far I’ve heard a lazy two syllable version – mah oon, or make the au a diphthong and say it quicker as a single syllable. Or make it rhyme with lawn. Or from our pilot (white South African from the voice) – Marn. The local who drove us from the airport to the Thalamakane River Lodge said mound without the final D. Should be definitive.

However you choose to say it Maun is in the north of Botswana, the fifth largest town in the country with a population getting on for 66,000. It’s close handy to the Okavango Delta so it’s the unofficial tourist capital of Botswana. Presently it’s dry and dusty.

The Thalamakane River Lodge is lovely but no river cruises or risk from crocodiles just at the moment – the river is bone dry. I had a couple of hours yesterday afternoon to get a handle on some of the common local birds. More revision today. Tomorrow on safari.