Today was our day to travel back home. Not much happened in the morning but having breakfast and then making one last journey in Bibi’s Landcruiser to Maun airport.

We bad fond farewells for all Bibi’s guidance and help before joining the check-in queue for the feeder flight back to Johannesburg. Our bags were checked all the way through so there was nothing to do in Jo’burg airport but enjoy the hospitality in the Virgin lounge for three hours or so.

Botswana had been great. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a friendly, smiling race of people. Many of them don’t have much and their Covid trials have been considerable, relying so heavily on tourism, but they appeared contented and happy.

Here are the stopping points on our journey, numbered in order.

The return flights went smoothly and we arrived at Heathrow about 30 minutes early at 04:30. Happily, our bags also arrived this time and there was no rush to leave the long term car park, the pre-booking for which worked as well (unlike the last attempt at Luton).

We got home with great memories and a bunch of photographs to sort through. 🙂

We packed our camp bed rolls for the final time and, at 07:30, waved our last goodbyes to Rasta and Ona as they beavered away breaking down our last camp at HATAB Campsite MGR8T beside the Hippo pool.

We left the Moremi Game Reserve by a different route but over similarly bumpy and dusty tracks to head back to our original hotel in Maun. En route a Mongoose shot across the road in front of us and paused to stare as we approached, so we paused briefly to return the compliment. There are several Mongoose species in Botswana and I think this one is the Common Slender Mongoose (Herpestes sanguineus).

About the only remaining wildlife of note that we saw heading back was an Elephant with a calf (hiding behind mum) showing how to use a trunk to suck up water from a pool beside the road. She’d lost a tusk.

As we got closer to civilization, we had to pass what Bibi called a Buffalo fence which was designed to separate the wild animals from domestic livestock. This resembled a border crossing and we had to disembark to disinfect our feet against foot and mouth disease, though the disinfectant pad on which we had to tread was almost completely dried out in the sun. A short distance later we got onto a tarmac road which was blissfully free of potholes, for the most part.

With the red fuel warning light glowing ominously, we arrived back at the Sedia RIverside Hotel in Maun. We had travelled 2186 kms over largely bumpy and dusty roads and tracks, happily with no punctures or breakdowns. This felt noteworthy because on our 1996 safari in Kenya we had been plagued by daily punctures, sometimes two a day. Bibi’s Landcruiser had been equipped with new chunky tyres just before our departure and that may well have contributed to the trouble free run.

On our previous visit to this hotel when we’d just arrived in Botswana, the gate to the Thamalakane riverside had been locked. After a relaxing lunch, though, we tried again and this time the gate was open. We went to investigate, carefully avoiding some cattle save for snagging a Red-billed Oxpecker (Buphagus erythrorhynchus) which rode on the back of one of them. There is also a Yellow-billed Oxpecker (Buphagus africanus) which I’d snagged riding the back of a Giraffe during our safari.

I was pleased to find some Odonata activity in the reeds beside the river. I was a bit less than excited because there were just two species neither of which were new to me. The dragonfly was the more or less ubiquitous Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii), which must have one of the widest distributions of any and now breeds in Britain. There was also a damselfly which is nearly as wide-ranging, the Tropical Bluetail (Ischnura senegalensis). We’d met this chap previously in southeast Asia. It occasionally turns up as a vagrant in Britain within imported pond plants. At least it was another two species for this trip.

Francine and I had used but one power bank each on the trip. Our limited experience seemed to indicate that you recover about 12,000 mAh from a 20,000 mAh power bank. That equates to 6 or 7 camera batteries. The limitation is a bit disappointing but just seems to be physics; it is otherwise decently portable technology for recharging both camera batteries and mobile phones. Nonetheless, having three power banks each, we had rather too many. Bibi, though, had expressed an interest in one of the power banks so I sold one of the new, unused ones to him. One of our travelling companions had also expressed an interest so we offloaded another one to him. A pleasure doing business with you, sirs.

Our first night by the Hippo pool was much more interesting on the noises front. Natural the Hippos had been grunting but we’d also heard Elephants over night and Lions, too. The Elephant noises could’ve been the adults protecting young from the predators. Most interesting though, early in the morning, had been an eerie noise that sounded more like birds than anything but which turned out to be a chorus of hyenas. At night hey make a sort of long, drawn out “whoop”.

Having been roused by noises, we looked over the road and across the Hippo pool facing east where this camp gave us quite a sunrise display, just for a change.

We set off at 07:00 in search of last night’s Leopard’s carcass. We found no sign and Bibi wondered if the Hyenas had had it, which would’ve been a shame given all the hard work invested by the Leopard. We did, however, come across a Leopard and cub mooching along together. As usual, other vehicles arrived and the Leopards seemed to go to ground for some peace and quiet, so we left them to it.

We’d had a few glimpses of Vervet Monkeys during our travels and at last we had one who adopted an appealing pose close enough to capture. Vervets are interesting in that the males have a splendidly ostentatious bright blue scrotum. Well, it would be the males, wouldn’t it? We got a glimpse of that, too, but only the left ball. 😆

We were informed of another family of Lions and went to find those. They were in a fairly awkward-to-access location involving some boggy ground and a tree. It was late morning and the Lions were lethargic so not a great photo opportunity. One of the cubs was quite cute, though. As we were leaving, a convoy of 10 jeeps was also looking for them so Bibi pointed them in the right direction but we didn’t give much for the chances of that many vehicles in those conditions.

Several of us had been quite taken with the pioneering pole bridge so, on the way back to camp for lunch, Bibi stopped and let us walk across it. Lunch included some freshly baked home made bread which was made in a Dutch oven with charcoal embers from the camp fire beneath and on top. Very clever and quite a trick in camp.

The later part of our evening game drive got quite exciting.

It was after 18:00 when we came across some wandering Spotted Hyenas. Light was fading and Francine’s camera does a lot better than mine in such a situation. Or maybe Francine does a lot better than me. 😉 If the Leopard of yesterday had lost its Impala kill, these were quite nearby and could’ve been responsible.

Soon afterwards some of those in the truck got a fleeting glimpse of what someone thought was a Serval. Francine to the rescue once again. However, Servals are very elegant and spotted so this ain’t a Serval. It’s also too small. This, I THINK, is a Southern African Wildcat (Felis lybica cafra). It’s that subspecies or just a straightforward African Wildcat (Felis lybica).

Our final heart-pumping encounter was again with cats; big ones. Six big ones to be precise. We came across a group of male lions resplendent with manes. Not to put too fine a point on it, they pretty much chose to surround the rear of our open-sided truck. I peered slowly over my right shoulder and my gaze was met by the piercing eyes of Leo. It was at most 3m away and could easily have reached up into the truck. It was a sobering moment. Francine (again) managed to snag one of the others approaching the other side. ‘T was getting dark so the ISO was up as high as our heartrates and things are a bit grainy.

Bibi moved off,wisely we thought, and the Lions sauntered past us. They appeared to be interested in the Hyenas.

Just having got back to camp at 19:00, a large bull Elephant wandered along the road just between our camp and the Hippo pool. That’s quite enough excitement for one day.

Dinner was beef stew and macaroni with little gem squash dressed with sweetcorn puree. Oh yes, custard with apple. I needed a sugar rush.

Tomorrow morning was the last we’d be seeing of Rasta and Ona so it fell to me to thank them for their fine efforts and give them the customary tip. Our main man Bibi got his as well, of course.

We are moving on to our next and final camp, which Bibi says is his favourite. So we had our usual 06:00 wake-up call and bed roll packing, followed by breakfast. I’m being very naughty and eating toast with peanut butter all the time.

At 07:30 with the trailer once again in tow, Bibi set off apparently still intent on finding a Leopard. We drove around a few places, even an airfield for some socializing [“ehhh”], without success though we did see another pair of Wild Dogs, albeit at a little distance across some water. Decent compensation.

After crossing a bridge that seemed to be built of boy scout pioneering poles [memories of a misspent youth], we eventually arrived at our new campsite at 13:00. We could see why Bibi might think it was his favourite. The site itself was quite open and immediately across the “road” was a Hippo pool. Hmmm. Having Hippos in such close proximity was a bit of a surprise but it’s an official campsite so presumably safe, given sensible precautions. A mother and calf were out of the water on the opposite bank. It’s quite delightful. Hopefully the noises at night would prove interesting.

The afternoon game drive proved exceptional. After chatting to a few other drivers [“ehhh”], as we were making our way along one track, Francine found herself just a few metres away from a magnificent Leopard that appeared to be using a termite mound as a vantage point to look for dinner. If you can yell softly, she yelled “stop” softly, hoping not to alarm it. It was close to the side of our truck. We were beside ourselves; what a spectacular creature. It sat looking around for a while before eventually climbing down to move off.

There was another vehicle behind us which, of course, broadcast the find over the radio. As news spread and the Leopard moved off behind us, we began to be joined by other jeeps. Bibi had to do an about turn to follow.

There was a  large group of Impala on the far side of this patch of grassy meadow. We were soon following on with half a dozen or so other vehicles. Amazingly, the Leopard seemed totally unfazed and crouched low moving forward with undulating shoulder blades as it used the grass for cover to stalk the antelope.

Jeeps continued to turn up and we eventually counted 15 or 16. It seemed a bit obscene, really, and we were hoping the poor old Leopard, which still appeared unbothered, wouldn’t lose out on a meal. I’d have liked to see the hunt conclude but we moved off and left the convoy to it.

During a brief comfort stop at the park gate we heard that the Leopard had indeed made a successful kill. We returned to the scene and found the Leopard hauling a fully grown female Impala through the grass. The Leopard had a cub somewhere and would need to stash dinner in a tree to avoid losing it. The Impala was noticeably bigger and the Leopard could only manage 10 or so steps before needing to pause and rest.

Nature red in tooth and claw. I know there’s a poor ol’ Impala that had been killed but this is life in the wild and it had been a privilege to watch such a magnificent predator doing what it does best. There was still a second jeep with us but light was now fading fast and we both soon left the Leopard to continue bringing home the bacon for its cub.

Our own meal seemed mundane by comparison. It was, though, still well prepared over the good old wood camp fire: spaghetti Bolognese with what seemed like stir-fried coleslaw (and why not?). Yet more custard appeared along with some fruit salad, this time.

What a stunning Leopard. Bibi had invested considerable effort in trying to track down a Leopard several times but to no avail, until now.

With less zips going throughout the night due to inventive in-tent toilet facilities having been fashioned, we did hear a few more sounds of the African night. Our camp was relatively close to a water channel and the occasional grunt of a hippo drifted in. In the early hours of the morning we were surrounded by the excited, fast chattering of ground birds in the bush which, we think, were some kind of Francolin.

Take that with a pinch of salt, though, ‘cos I originally thought this was a Francolin but it’s actually a Red-billed Spurfowl (Pternistis adspersus).

There’s a lot of effort put into finding a Leopard; these fabulous solitary cats really are the main celebrities. After another 06:00 wake-up call which we didn’t really need courtesy of the bird cacophony, we left soon after 07:00 to try again. We did have a quick drive around the local environs but were soon heading out of the park gates to return to where a Leopard had supposedly been sighted yesterday.

On the road there’s a lot of pausing to chat to drivers of other safari vehicles coming in the opposite direction. This is both social and the bush information sharing system. Many of the drivers knew Bibi, whose reputation seemed to precede him. There’s an etiquette to the drivers’ talking, involving muttering “ehhh”, quite frequently. Muttering “ehhh” softly while the other chap is talking is polite and shows respect by demonstrating that you are listening.

While we’re loosely on the subject of language, Botswana is the country whose local language is Setswana, with the people being Batswana [plural] and Motswana [singular]. Tswana is the ethnic group. [ehhh]

Once again, Leopard was there none. It’s about time I included a Zebra, though. There are three species of Zebra in Africa, those in this area being Burchell’s Zebra, which is a subspecies of the Plains Zebra. These’re the ones with the fainter so-called shadow stripe between the bold black stripes. In Namibia you can find Mountain Zebra which lack the shadow stripe. Grevy’s Zebra further north are the now endangered fine-striped pyjama jobs, restricted to the horn of Africa: northern Kenya and southern and eastern Ethiopia.

We happened across another bathing Hippo that was intent on showing us how fine its dentition was and another Saddle-billed Stork that displayed the splendid markings on the aforementioned bill. What I hadn’t noticed before was the yellow patch above what I assume is the black “saddle”.

The afternoon game drive produced a good example of some interesting behaviour. A Yellow-billed Stork was working a modest water body. At a couple of points it extended one or both of its wings as it peered into the water. I have seen this technique before; the extended wing shields the water surface from the bright sunlight and helps the bird see prey beneath. Clever.

Looking as if it fancied being “Monarch of the Savannah”, a handsome Red Lechwe struck a pose for us.

We got back to camp at 19:00 for a freshen up before dinner. Finally I had to charge three batteries, two in the M1X and one in the M1. I’d found I’d been using both cameras, really the lenses, a 300 prime and a 40-150 zoom, in almost equal measure. Power bank #1 came out and did the job nicely, once I’d realized that I needed to use a straight USB C to C cable to recharge in camera. Bibi looked interested in the set-up on the dinner table.

Turning the cameras off while they’re sitting in your lap makes a big difference. This is because they activate the electronic viewfinder if they think your eye gets close, in other words when light is cut off from the viewfinder. Putting a camera in your lap whilst in the truck causes the viewfinder to be darkened by your body and so the viewfinder gets powered up wastefully. We were going to have no trouble with power running out. We’d got far too many power banks. Still, better safe than sorry. I actually found that the camera activated more quickly on the power switch than it did with a half-press of the shutter, too.

Dinner was roast chicken, rice and butternut squash but the star turn had to be what went with our now customary custard: pears with mint chocolate biscuits. This time it was warm, too. Very adventurous.

Another wash-basin-filling 06:00 alarm call to get on the road by 07:30. Today we are off to the Moremi Game Reserve for 2 nights at camp #3.

This would be just 135kms which is just as well over the very sandy and bumpy roads beginning with another short game drive but then, since we’re driving out of one wildlife park and into another, we would, wouldn’t we? 🙂

We came across an impressive male Lion which was surrounded by the usual press of jeeps. The local lodge jeeps all have radios and as soon as something interesting is spotted, word goes out and the hoards descend. When we first arrived, Leo was lying in the road but very soon decided enough was enough and retired to the sanctuary of a rocky hill for some peace and quiet.

As we were checking out a water hole, a herd of Elephant decided they would check it out, too. They appeared to be in something of a hurry to get to the water. Then they appeared to be more interested in us than the water. Worrying. Game drives with the luggage trailer in tow because you’re moving house can be interesting. Bibi is quite adept at reversing with the trailer to get out of tight spots. Bibi now displayed his prowess and turned us around so we could make a getaway should it become necessary. Later he thought the matriarch had been concerned about the water quality and was actually just dissuading her herd from drinking.

We didn’t feel at all threatened next when we stopped beside a colony of Dwarf Mongooses. [Apparently Mongeese is an acceptable plural but Mongooses is more prevalent.] They’re captivating little chaps … if you aren’t on their menu.

Our 13:00 lunch stop was out in very open savannah; decidedly big sky country. There was a shimmering heat haze in the distance which produced some interesting optical effects on three Giraffes which very thoughtfully were wandering along the horizon. I thought I’d try something a bit different. It really needs to be big to see the effect so it may or may not work.

Bibi had originally thought we’d make camp at 15:00. That was before another guide told him of a Leopard sighting. Off we set, trailer and all. We drove in and out of bushes, into some dead ends, searching but in vain. More Bibi trailer reversing skills were needed a few times to get us back on track.

We eventually made camp in Moremi at about 16:15. This was a very pleasant camp site with the tents in their usual horseshoe arrangement but this camp came complete with something I think Bibi called “sticky grass”. I’ve found something called Sticky Bristle Grass or Velcro Grass (Setaria verticellata) that may be the culprit. Trainers, their laces, trousers, all got affected by the spikey seeds. You think you’re being careful but look down and your shoes are covered. Try to pick them off and they stick to your skin, too. I found flicking them off my hand with a fingernail quite effective.

We revived ourselves with a very welcome shower and enjoyed an hour or so down time. We hadn’t had much. Some of our ladies were a bit envious of Francine’s Peebols and came up with an inventive solution of their own. Using an empty 5ltr water container, they cut a good sized hole in one side, I think with nail scissors. This made a very effective overnight potty with the spout and screw cap even working as an emptying mechanism in the morning. They even used micropore tape to cover the rough cut edges, which looked decidedly uncomfortable. Cases of lacerated labia would’ve been very nasty. With eight ladies on the trip, empty 5ltr water containers became a tradable commodity and a cottage industry sprang up.

The African sunset painter was at it again, keeping us entertained before a dinner of pork stroganoff, pasta and stir-fried veggies. The custard came with pears, this time.

The candles on our dining table were attracting flies which, in turn, were attracting a rather charming little Mantis. It was only 2-3cms long. Needs must – here’s a crappy phone camera picture. I don’t think this will be detailed enough to id but it is cute … if you’re not a fly.