Kwa Tuli Island Camp: Tuli Block 8 – 11 November

What an amazing place to spend three nights. It was like a holiday in our holiday. We stayed in tents (large ones with real beds and their own bathrooms). There was also a communal lounge and kitchen to laze around in. These were all situated on an island that was reached via a swing bridge. We were the only ones there and we had our own guide, Jerry, who took us on day and night safaris and morning walks.

We saw animals but not as many as there would normally be because it hadn’t rained enough and some had gone elsewhere to find food. Heaps of the impalas were very pregnant but wouldn’t give birth until the rains came and there is more food. The scenery was amazing, especially on the night drive during a beautiful sunset, and we still got to see some animals we hadn’t seen before (clipspringer, bat eared fox, hyrax and African wild cat).

During morning walks we saw an elephant and heaps of antelope. The elephants are very destructive and have pushed down a lot of the trees. Porcupines do their bit too by knawing off the bark of other trees which kills them. What do you do when you see a two meter long poisonous snake? Jerry spotted a boomslang, called out to us to follow, and started running after it. We followed. It seemed a good idea until afterwards when we actually thought about it.

During the day it was really hot so once school was finished we wallowed in the pool and hung out in the shade.

Jerry and Glenn during a walk

An elephant was here

Khama Rhino Sanctuary 5 – 7 November

There are over 30 white rhinos and 1 black rhino in the sanctuary. There are also a variety of other animals as well. This was the first time I got to see rhinos during the day. They are massive creatures but not overly exciting. The most movement I saw from one was when it was digging a hole to poo in. We did the usual driving around different waterholes stalking animals and were lucky enough to see rhinos a few times. We also got to see a baby springbok and impala as well as some baby warthogs, which were very cute. The adult warthogs run through the grass with their tails standing straight up so the babies can follow them in the long grass. We never saw the black rhino but a family in a nearby campsite had a close encounter when they were pitching their tent and the black rhino walked across it and dragged it towards the bushes. Luckily the tent untangled at the edge of the campsite.

Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, Kubu Island 1 – 5 November

We stayed at the Khumaga Campsite for the first two nights. There was a river close by that we did most of our game viewing at. We saw a variety of animals including hippos, giraffes, elephants and zebras. We had our own camp elephant (we called him Cedric) that came to visit both nights. On the first night he kept its distance and was hanging around eating behind the toilet block. But on the second night Cedric ate his way around our campsite while I was cooking tea and we got to watch him munching on trees, less that 15m away from us, while we ate.

Just another normal day at school


Dinner time Cedric viewing

Kubu Island

The next morning we had a 7 hour trip onto the salt pans to stay at Kubu Island. It isn’t surrounded by water this time of year, it's just a higher group of rocks in the middle of nowhere dotted with baobab trees. We camped in the shade of an enormous baobab tree that was eight meters wide. I climbed the tree with Zane and it has to be said I was a tad worried I wasn’t going to be able to get down. Tana came to the rescue and gave me a hand. I don’t think I’ll be playing that game in the near future (well not until I feel the need to prove I’m not that old again). On our first night we walked to the highest point of the island to watch the full moon come up over the salt pans. It was pretty amazing. Because there is no wild game around Kubu Island we could walk around and explore the island. It was nice to get out and about since we’ve had to stay in the car in most places. This also meant that there would not be any elephant or rhino noises to wake us up (not that I’m complaining, it’s a pretty cool thing to be woken by). We did however have a herd of cows that promptly surrounded us once we were in the tents. They are the loudest peeing noises I’ve ever heard: so much for our quiet night. The second night Tana thought she had it sorted and got up and scared the cows off. As soon as she got back in the tent the rain, gales and thunder started and of course that was joined by my hysterical laughter.

Before I got stuck

Being at one with the pan

Moremi Game Reserve 26-29 October

Hippo print

Moremi is the north eastern part of the Okavango Delta. We drove past the most beautiful scenery on the way in. Beside the river there was lush, green grass, trees and reed covered marshes. To make it that bit more scenic there were also hundreds of elephants clustered around and in the water. We also got to see our first Red Lechwe (antelope) which there are thousands of in the park

Bob (the GPS) had a bit of trouble navigating us to our campsite as there were creeks running across some of the roads we were supposed to take. Of course Bob didn’t realize there was water so sounded like a broken record repeating “do a u-turn when possible”, whenever we turned away from the river. Luckily for us we came across some local guys, who were driving the gear for a safari group, doing a u-turn at one of the creeks. They led us to another road, also with a creek running across it, and walked/swam in front to show us the shallowest part. The reason we hadn’t tried that ourselves was because of croc’s. They obviously weren’t too worried because they went for another swim after we had crossed. After that Tana became our official road/creek crosser. We did make it to our camp without drowning the landie.
That night we were woken several times by very strange noises not too far from the tents. Most of the noises we weren’t able to identify but one sounded like a pack of wild dogs rounding up and killing something. From the noises that were made it wasn’t a quick death.

Our next stop was Xakanaxa Campsite for three nights. We did school inbetween drives to find animals. There wasn’t much to see the first day but during the next two days we saw heaps of animals feeding near the road. There were mostly impala, red lechwe and elephants. A few times we were sitting in the Land Rover with a herd of elephants chomping or drinking close by and crossing in front of us.

On our 2nd and 3rd night at Xakanaxa we went on a two hour boat ride. We saw hippos both times and parked in the reeds close by so we could sit on the roof and watch them. When we came to hippos the driver would shift into reverse and rev loudly and when they went under water he zoomed past them. He said that if we went slowly past them they would see us as a threat and attack. We also pulled into the nesting area of Yellow Billed Stork, Marabu Stork and Cattle Egret - impressed with my bird knowledge? I got Zane to tell me what they were. There were eggs, fluffy chicks and parents coming and going. A sneaky crocodile was lying in wait under the bushes ready for any chicks that fell out of their nests. The sunset on the way back was stunning.

Our next stop was 3rd Bridge Campsite. While tiki touring and checking out the local area we came across a place that did mokoro rides (like a dug-out canoe) so we went on a one hour paddle – OK so we didn’t paddle, the boat guy stood in the back and poled us down the river while we sat back and took in the scenery. The people in front of us came back early because there were three hippos in the way. It was very peaceful and a totally different experience to the motorboat but it wasn’t very stable and I’m not sure I could do days like some people do.