I wasn’t quite prepared for the mind boggling facts that make Botswana and the Okavango Delta such an amazing geographical phenomenon. It is a landlocked country, the same size as France, that is a vast and nearly flat sand-filled basin characterised by scrub-covered desert or savanna. I was not expecting the whole country to be covered in sand, and I could not understand how a delta could be found in a landlocked country. I soon learnt that in the north west the Okavango River flows in from Angola and Namibia and sinks into the sand forming some 15,000 sq km of channels and islands that makes up the Okavango Delta. After the rains have fallen in Angola the delta in Botswana in turn floods providing a playground for people wanting to see the country’s stunning wildlife, whether it be by mokoro, motor boat, car or on foot. It is the most uniformly flat country I think I have ever visited and each time we got into another Cessna 206 or, on a couple of exciting occasions, a helicopter I kept thinking that the landscape would surely be different this time….but no, just miles and miles and miles of flat floodplains, papyrus swamps and islands with palm trees, acacias and sausage trees sprouting out of them. What it lacks in diversity it more than makes up for in its abundance of pristine wildness of its empty spaces, teeming with wildlife. The structure of the delta and its annual flooding makes it virtually impossible to move through that area overland and you therefore begin to feel very cut off and remote and surrounded by truly wild animals. Excellent, back in the bush!!

Seeing as it was November and the start of the rainy season we were pretty lucky with the weather and we didn’t get rained on at all. It was very hot though in the build up to the rains so game drives seemed to get earlier and earlier to avoid the heat of the day. Luckily, all of the fantastic lodges we stayed in either had a swimming pool or individual plunge pools (almost too refreshing some times) to keep us cool. Sadly, being the end of the dry season meant that the water level wasn’t quite high enough in the delta to go out on the boats but we had plenty to keep us occupied with some fantastic game drives, walks in the bush and my very first elephant back safari.

Abu Camp, and its neighbouring Seba Camp, are all about elephants – elephants that have been rescued from circuses around the world. They are so tame it is really quite strange to feel so completely safe standing next to and touching these huge ellies. Having worked in Africa I was used to seeing them outside my bedroom window and bumping into them around the corner from the kitchen on a daily basis but they were still wild and upredictable so it was their patch and they obviously had right of way! But here were humans in control…..they were like a very obedient, if rather large, Labrador. So we set off on an hour and a half stroll through the bush on top of the largest bull elephant, two of us in each seat with our guide sitting at the front. It was certainly a very peaceful way to travel, as we lolloped through the bush and waded through the water on his back.

And then on to Tubu Trees where we were made to feel extraordinarily welcome and our enthusiastic host was most disappointed that we weren’t tucking into the gin and tonics all afternoon…….and he was brimming with excitement when we got back from our game drive that evening as a leopard had just walked past all of our tents and up to the bar for a drink of water. Nothing would surprise me there really – we saw the most amazing variety of game there and I was still buzzing myself from a very close bit of head-on eye contact with a lioness who decided to use our vehicle as a decoy for a bit of stalking of some zebra. We had been watching these two lionesses for some time, waiting for the sun to go down before they attacked. We were convinced we were going to see some action and so decided to forgo getting out of the car for our sundowners, and proceeded to pour drinks in the back of the (very open) car where we were going to sit and wait for our first kill! Mid-pouring, our guide, Moa, very quietly told us to stop and not to move….turning slowly to the lionesses they were heading right towards us and seemed to be fixated on what was being served in the back of the car! Quite a heart stopping experience to think that you are actually about to replace the zebra for supper. But, in typical fashion, she got very close up, then looked away and lay down behind the car. Phew! Didn’t take long to drink that sundowner!

To top it off the next day I saw my first “wild” wild dog, having only seen them at a rehabilitation clinic in Namibia. I have never quite understood all the fuss about wild dog, I know they are increasingly rare but it wasn’t until I saw them here that I realised the attraction. You can see why they are often referred to as the painted dogs, there markings are strikingly clear and beautiful. They were hugely entertaining to watch as the five of them played with eachother endlessly….that is until a very large male baboon up a tree decided to bait them. We sat and watched for an hour as this fascinating interaction pursued. Moa told us what a great sighting this was and was snapping away on his own camera – he was a fountain of knowledge and incredibly interesting on all subjects and he gave us the most brilliant impromptu slide show after dinner of some of his beautiful photographs.

Vumbura Plains was our next stop – having been very sad to leave Tubu and its great team of staff I was blown away by Vumbura Plains. It is quite unlike any safari camp/lodge I have ever seen! No canvas and teak in sight, just very long planks of sandblasted pine and reed blinds and very funky décor and very high ceilings. No dark tents here! My room was just enormous, and with enough space outside in my sala for drinks for 8 of us before dinner! Luckily the rooms are very spread apart and you really felt that you had proper privacy here and I would have been quite happy to skip all game drives and hang around my own plunge pool and watch the animals come to drink at the natural pool infront of my room! But, as always, you never know what you might miss and the lure of venturing into the bush always won.

Kings Pool, last stop, is up on the Linyanti River so from the bar you are looking at Namibia on the other side of the river. The food here was quite simply the most amazing food I have ever come across in Africa, and quite frankly almost anywhere. Andre, the South African chef has been here for 2 years and the kitchen staff are quite incredible. And the presentation was mind blowing. Again, fantastic guiding here from Copper and, would you believe it, more wild dog! Oh, and some 6 month old lion cubs with their mother. I have been dying to see cubs for as long as I can remember, and they did not disappoint. All in all, quite an overload to all of the senses and what a morning game drive to end this visit to the bush on, before heading back towards the big lights of Maun and then Johannesburg!

I haven’t eve mentioned all of the other wildlife we saw along the way – cheetah, warthogs and their “wiglets”, lechwe, incredible array of birds of all sizes, hyena pups, hippos, crocs, new born impala and giraffe. Breeding season was under way with the smell of rain, and therefore, food on the way.

And the Botswana people were totally charming and so knowledgeable, it was a privelage to experience such a trip. Next time I will have to make it down towards the south east for a bit of quad-biking and sleeping under the stars in the Mkgadikgadi Pans and also on a true San Bushman walk in the Kalahari Desert……