From Savute to Camp Moremi

We've been asked about safety and health concerns. No lodge wants their guests to become ill, for word of mouth is powerful. Here's the scoop: We ate fresh produce. Meat came from farms (not road kill ;-) and bottled water was always available, whether in camp or during gaming drives. Our family stayed healthy and only Kuan had a slight bug which may have been allergies. Malaria from mosquito bites was a valid concern and none of us were immunized. We preferred to wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants or DEET insecticide. It's reassuring that Mum is an MD too for potential health issues. For valuables, we used the safes in our rooms. Nothing went missing, except a charm from Serene's luggage while in our Cape Town hotel. For important travelers' information, I like to visit the U.S. State Department's country specific web pages. Note that we bought visas at the airport after arriving in Botswana, despite the State Dept's advice. Botswana is financially stable, peaceful and progressively-minded.

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In case you've missed anything, this is a family trip Tien and I took with Tien's mom Joo Lee, dad Ron, brother Kuan, and Kuan's wife Serene. We get along well and travel together easily. We've taken many trips as a group.

After lunch we departed Savute Safari Lodge and spent our first night in Camp Moremi. Follow along for continuing details of our adventure.

At the start of our final Savute game drive with Gwist, he suggested we return to the site of an elephant carcass to see if any animals were scavenging. We agreed to the idea. Unfortunately, nothing was there but the unmistakeably heavy odor of decomposed and rotting flesh. We had seen the carcass at the end of the previous days' drive, but Gwist didn't stop. This morning's stop was brief and I managed a couple of camera clicks. Clearly, the carcass was visited during the night because the thick hide had caved significantly. This image brings back the smell immediately.

Each morning I wore three light layers. I used the blankets provided in the safari trucks to keep warm from the breeze in the still-chilly morning air. By 10:30a, I was down to one layer. Mornings were beautiful, clear and bright.

Hammerkop birds are strange looking. Granted, this is a terrible picture, but bear with me. The birds are faced forward, looking down over their right "shoulders." The head of this bird extends as far backward (feathers) as it does forward (beak), giving the appearance of a hammer, hence the name.

A cane rat sits atop this dead tree. It's a hefty rodent, with an adult weighing as much as a large house cat, and the meat can be eaten as a delicacy. On the lower branch is [need ID].

Waterbuck herd

This is our second sighting of the endangered secretary bird. In this instance, we saw the parents and their juvenile and followed them while they walked a distance. I think this is the juvenile. The parents were far ahead, and their young one chirped repeatedly as if asking, "Wait for me!" Secretary birds have beautiful crown feathers like a woman's hat from the 1940s and, from the knees up, their legs are black as if wearing pedal pushers. These large birds stand over 4' tall and prefer to walk. The one at the San Diego Zoo walks the perimeter of its cage since it doesn't have 20km territory like the ones in the wild (poor thing).

Wildebeest herd

The unevenness in the bare dirt was made by elephants. These holes were everywhere and I was repeatedly astonished that elephants do so much damage. At the Savute watering hole, I watched an elephant kick at the ground to loosen it, draw the dry dirt into its trunk and toss the dirt into its mouth. Elephants take minerals, esp sodium, from dirt to supplement their diet. Voilá, holes in the ground.

My husband Tien's playful expression shows the grand time he was having in the bush.

Serene posed next to our trusty safari vehicle during the morning break.

We saw impala everywhere, but the rare sighting was the black-backed jackal in the distance. Not long after, we saw three bat-eared foxes -- these were Kuan's target animals.

This is one of the hornbills who stole cheese from our lunch on our first day at Savute.

We were having our last Savute lunch when Action called out a leopard. From the dining area, more than twenty of us jumped up to peer across the channel. This cat was hard to find too, and again, I was one of the last to locate the animal. Can you spot it? Click to find the hidden kitty.

The graceful leopard came to bid us farewell.

After two full days with our family, Gwist had become more relaxed with us, so I grilled him about his family and non-work activities. His favorite television series is "24" and his favorite actor is Keifer Sutherland. He was amazed at how computer-generated movies looked so realistic. As for guiding, Gwist was a tough act to follow and he set the standard: Intelligent, educated, well-spoken, with perfect English and a quiet, gentle manner. Goodbye and thank you, Gwist -- our experience was made richer by your knowledge and expertise. Action's hosting was superb -- what a great personality and rich singing voice. We thank him and his crew at Savute Safari Lodge for a memorable stay.

Back to Savute Airstrip, into two small planes (Mum/Dad/me and Tien/Kuan/Serene), and we're off to...

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Camp Moremi, as described in our itinerary: Camp Moremi is situated on the beautiful Xakanaxa Lagoon in the heart of the Okavango Delta within the Moremi Wildlife Reserve. Camp Moremi accommodates only 22 guests in East African-style safari tents, individually situated on raised teak platforms.

Each accommodation had two fully enclosed canvas tents under larger canopies, they were each the bedroom and the bathroom. Baboons are clever and have learned to pull door levers to get inside. We were advised to secure latches to keep them out. I wondered if they had ripped one of our nylon mesh windows, because one was torn wide open.

This is the smallest bedroom we had in the bush. What a comfy bed! The room's back door led to a private deck with seating. The cushions were hand-embroidered with animals and the window coverings were embroidered with guinea fowl.

Our bathroom had the sensation of bathing outdoors with nylon screen windows but was fully private. This is the second camp with a rainfall shower head.

Our new guide fetched us from the airstrip and introduced himself as "Coca Cola" so we'd remember. Coca is also a bird specialist. I was getting to the conclusion that guides prefer birding in general because of the sheer number of species and the diversity. There are only so many mammals. After unpacking and a short rest, we went to the common area to have tea and get to know our new guide. (We had already left Savute, but I was still looking for Gwist!) Coca's quiet presence belies a dangerous and victorious encounter with a crocodile for which he is well known (stay tuned).

Our first outing was on a boat. Poor Mum, a very light sleeper, was in the depths of jet lag. Lack of rest severely interfered with her enjoyment today.

Plant life in the Okavango Delta was flush with papyrus, reeds, and day water lilies in white, pink or lavender surrounded by round pads. At dusk the lilies close, then reopen at daybreak. Coca pulled one out of the water, snapping the blossom from the plant with a length of stem. With deft fingers, he carefully broke and peeled the stem into two even pieces, eventually tying the ends to make a necklace.

Another plentiful Delta plant is water chestnuts. Coca feels the Delta water is safe to drink wherever water chestnut plants grow. The plant is also used to cure stomach ailments.

It's a beautiful plant, spreading from a submerged purple stem into a cluster of sawtoothed edged, triangular leaves that float atop the water. The portion of plant in Coca's hand is the floating section. The rest grows beneath the surface, 12-15'. Note the many water chestnut plants in the background amongst the lily pads.

African darters spread their wings and pose vainly. Tien and I saw these graceful, long necked birds in Peru where they are known as aninga. Snake bird is its other name, for its obvious physical attribute.

African jacana are also known as Jesus birds because they seem to walk on water. Actually, their large feet step easily across floating aquatic plants.

Hippos are dangerous. They kill more humans than any other large animal in Africa (not including mankind). If a hippopotamus stands up beneath your boat, you may as well wave goodbye as you're thrown overboard. Consider how wide their mouths open. Think of the tusks, the canines, and the inner teeth -- you'd get poked, stabbed, then chewed. If a hippo can bite a crocodile in half, we'd be like oatmeal between their teeth. If not for our distance this mother would have surely seen us as a threat to her little one. We stayed clear. Although we saw many hippos, every sighting was like this, just the tops of their heads. During the day, hippos stay cool under water. Only in the evenings do they emerge. An adult hippo can weigh 8,000 lbs. Apologies for the drama; we just watched a frightening documentary.

Coca stopped the boat to serve refreshments and snacks. It was the perfect ending to another perfect safari day.

Our dinner host was BK, one of the lodge managers. During our stay, we spent quite a lot of time with him. We enjoyed his company and his animal stories.

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Today's notable:
Every cup of coffee I've had while in Africa has been good. I've had none of the watery brown weak muck we get in the U.S.

Savute
Good sized poop on our deck from day before; Kalahari apple trees bear no fruit; swamp boubou tooted from trees above
Ground hornbill (conservation status: vulnerable), hammerkop, saddle-billed stork, secretary bird family of three and juvenile chirped for us (conservation status: vulnerable), Wahlberg eagle
Bat eared foxes (3), hippos, leopard on Savute Channel bank, “no zebras bc it is Sunday,” joked Gwist, tree squirrels, [cane rat], waterbucks (9) plus (3) babies; wildebeest herd

Moremi:
Day water lilies, ebony trees, fern, papyrus, water chestnuts
bird song “i-am a-red-eyed-dove!”
African green pigeon, African hoopoe, dove, duck, go away bird or grey lourie, goose, greater blue eared starling, jacana or Jesus birds, little bee eater, African darter, spur wing goose
Baboons, elephants, hippopotamus, impala, red lechwe, vervet monkeys
Guest wearing perfume and red blouse in the jungle (think target), waving her flashlight in other guests' eyes at night, generally rude