"Roughing It" at Kwara Camp, Okavango Delta

I awoke this morning to Gums shouting “Good Morning” from outside the tent around 5:30. I had a half hour to get ready before he would return to take me to down for morning tea and coffee. I quickly saw why we needed an escort as some of the locals were interested in joining us.




He first tried some of the local water.


But I guess it was not doing the trick so he came after my coffee. I started to move but they told me to stay put and not make a sound. Without turning around I figured one of two things was happening. One, everyone else was backing up, leaving me as bait. Or two, everyone was getting out their camera, leaving me as bait, in order to photograph the morning kill. Seems the guides knew what they were doing as it was only bluffing and then moved on. Now I just need a guide to escort me back to my “tent” so I can change my shorts.


It was 6:30 and we headed out with Big Tom at the wheel and Gums keeping an eye out for tracks.


Crossing the “bridge” as the sun came up.


There was a surprise at the other end of the bridge, a momma lion and her two teenage sons.






We seemed to have caught their attention.


But not for long, it was already getting hot and time for that early morning nap.


Or breakfast, they had a look in their eyes like they had tasted human before. In our briefing they made it very clear that we are not to leave the vehicle, and told us that the lions will watch for your feet to touch the ground, at which point they come running. I thought great tip, I’ll remember that one.







The mom lion must have caught wind of how funny it was when the elephant scared me this morning and had a joke of her own.


The boys watched with excitement.




She came and sat right behind the vehicle positioning herself just far enough behind so that I would have to lean outside to get that perfect picture. So instead here are some pretty good pictures.




I decided to go for that perfect shot and she became very interested in how bad I wanted it. A quick click of the lens and my arms and legs were back inside for the duration of the ride.


Africa has a lot of very interesting birds and here is one of them. I have no idea what it is, in fact for all I know it could be an American bird down here on safari.


With the excitement of the lions behind us we moved on, coming across a herd of zebras.








Pressing on we found a giraffe hiding in the trees.








We heard over the radio that a cheetah was in the area and went in search of it. Today was not our day as it had no problem out running us. However tomorrow we would see this same cheetah and it would really put on a show for us.


Another one of those African birds, or just a tourist bird on safari, I’m not really sure


Warthogs.


Mother and her newly born son.




If you look in the background this is not the only family with young ones.

Botswana was really blowing me away, we were getting very close to the animals and seeing the intimacy of their family bond. Very different from the Serengeti and the perfect complement to my experience. Father ostrich and his new clan.


Mother ostrich and her new clan.


Mother, Father, and kids.


It was around 11:00 so we headed back to camp to have lunch and wait out the heat of the day. We had a great lunch and shared great stories. There was no electricity except for a community charging station that was solar powered.


I took a few shots of the common area before heading back to my “tent” for a nap.


This was a very nice place, not only was I not roughing it in the Delta, but it also included an open bar. You could drink as much as you like, however between the heat and fear of missing something I kept my beer consumption to under ten a day. I didn’t want to go in to shock or anything. Plus after dark there is no evacuation as none of the airstrips have lights, your only lifeline is by helicopter, that is if there is a full moon so they can see.


The fire pit where we would drink after dinner and share stories. This place was very special and it’s pretty special to be able to be here, it’s kind of how the world was supposed to be until we screwed it up. If there was only a way to get back to this, a way to remember what we forgot, or at the very least a way to show the rest of the world in hopes that they might understand.




I headed back to my “tent”, no escort was needed during the day.


I was not exactly roughing it in the Delta and found my bed made and my laundry cleaned and folded. Laundry service was also included.


Not much else to do but enjoy a St. Louis beer on my deck and then take a nap.


Yeah life is pretty good right now. I still can't believe how fortunate I am to be able to do these things, maybe it's just that I’ve fully paid off my Karmic Debt.


I went in for a nap, making sure I secured the door with the “baboon” lock.






I rested until 4:00 when we headed out again. This time we were traveling by boat across the Delta. We came across an elephant.






It didn’t care for us and apparently it was either not bluffing like the one this morning, or because we were all in the same boat and the guides did not want to get hurt, they gunned the boat and we left him alone. Which had me rethinking the guides advice and motives this morning.




Not too much wildlife but the views were beautiful, simple yet profound. If there is a heaven I don’t think I'm far away from it right now.








We had afternoon tea, AKA happy hour, and watched the birds. I do know that these birds are locals, but still have no idea what they are.






This was my first full day in Botswana and first full day on safari and I was speechless, it would take days to take it all in and process it. Was it even real? Why is it being revealed to me and not everyone else? I can feel the answers but not yet explain them. Oh and I can’t wait to be in my open air shower tonight with nothing more then my headlamp.








VIDEO: Botswana - Day 9 - Kwara Camp