There is something magical about Botswana, it has this peaceful air about it, probably because Botswana is a destination for the more discerning traveller, staying in exclusive lodges and in the tranquility of the African wilderness. It has taken luxury to the extreme.
One of the best ways to see wildlife in Botswana, especially in Moremi and Savute, is to go on a mobile camping safari. I remember the last time I was camping in Botswana was in Savuti campsite, where Joy and her family are staying, and where I saw a host of animals just by sitting in my campsite. The first animal to be spotted was an elephant, this one was busy digging at the ground right in the middle of our campsite. As we approached our tents I could see that the elephant had dug a hole to locate the underground water pipe, which he had smelt out, broken the water pipe and now there was a small watering hole in the middle of the campsite! Close encounters of elephants can be good but when going to our tents we made sure we were as far away from this drinking hole as possible! The elephant did not seem too bothered by us, he just wanted a drink of cool water.
As we had supper we saw wildebeeste, impala, kudu and zebra, we didn't even have to get up to see them, they just walked past us on the way to their water hole. It was all a bit surreal.
Our last known visitor was something special. Night had fallen and we were sitting around our campfire watching the twinkling stars and listening to the noises of the African Bush, it was a beautiful night that night. We had got used to elephants and other animals coming into drink at our waterhole, but when yelping and growling were heard we knew we had some new and exciting visitors. I gradually trained our spotlight onto our waterhole to see four bright blue eyes glaring back at us. The eyes seemed to be the same height as I was when I was standing and then there was that familiar 'laugh' which gave our visitors identification away. I could not believe how enormous these hyena were, we all had our mouths open watching them.
It had been an incredible evening and as I lay in my tent I realised how lucky I was to see these animals - and in my own campsite. It is not often that you say you shared your campsite with an elephant and two hyenas, but then these sort of things happen in Africa.
I am looking forward to hearing about Joy's safari to Africa, I hope they all have some incredible memories too.
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