Into the Wild
Sunday, November 18th, 2012Since I finally got caught up on our summer activities, it’s time for us to go on vacation again so I have something new to blog about. We’ve been talking about going to Africa on safari for years and finally decided it was time to it. It’s also much easier to get there from Europe than from the US too. The really weird part is that we flew for 10+ hours and it was still the same timezone when we got off the plane. No jet lag!
Our trip to Africa had 3 parts. We spent the first 8 days in 3 different “camps” in Botswana. The camps can be anything from luxurious permanent structures that can only really can be called a “tent” because the walls are canvas to actual mobile camps that are moved every few days. However, they all have a few things in common which I thought I would use this first post to describe.
First off, let’s just say that even though you are in a tent, this is not roughing it. One of them even had air conditioning! However, another was much more basic with a warm water bucket shower offered once a day. More about all that later. The thing that they all had in common was the food. The quality, taste, and presentation of the dinners was excellent, and would have been worthy of a mention even if we weren’t in the middle of game reserve, 100s of miles from any town.
Which brings me to my next point… The reason that the game viewing at these camps is so great, is also what makes them so difficult to get to. They are far away from major population centers and nature remains mostly undisturbed by people. In order to get to the camps we took small 4-6 seat planes, landing on tiny dirt landing strips that you don’t really notice until you’ve almost hit the ground. The views of the river delta and the plains distracted me from any nerves though. Flying over a group of elephants was incredible.
Finally, I’d like to describe a typical day at the camps so that the next few blogs can concentrate on what we actually saw and did there. They are all slightly different, but most follow this pattern: The guides wake you up at 5:30 – very strange to be up so early when you’re on vacation. They serve you a light snack for breakfast – coffee, muffin or yogurt – before heading out on the morning game drive around 6:30. The drives usually last about 4 hours, depending on what animals you find. The drives are done in specially modified safari trucks that can carry from 6-12 people. All of the ones we took had 6 or less which was great because guides can spend a lot more time talking to you personally and making sure that you’ve gotten a good view and photo of the animals. The trails through the reserves are pretty rugged and although they call the bumpy rides an “African Massage”, it’s a lot more tiring than you expect.
Around 10:30 – 11 your arrive back at the camp and are served brunch. In most cases, this was no light snack, but instead a full hot lunch with salads and deserts. After brunch there is free time to relax, take a swim if there is a pool, read, write in your journal, or what most people do… sleep. It’s very hot in the afternoons and there’s a good reason that the animals just find shade and relax until later in the day. Around 3 :30 they serve tea, which also includes snacks, sandwiches, and pastries. (Notice a pattern here? There’s always food!). Around 4, you all head back out for the evening game drive which may last until 7 or 8, and sometimes includes sundowner drinks. Eric and I discovered that we really like gin and tonic – the classic safari cocktail. I can’t believe I never drank them before. After the game drive it’s back to camp for a shower, dinner, and then to bed. One thing to note about the camps is that they are not fenced in, so any animals can (and do) walk through whenever they feel like it. During the day it’s not really a problem and guests are free to walk from their tents to the dining area. However, at night they require that you have an escort, so after dinner you are put in your tent for rest of the evening.
I think that’s enough description for now. Next up: our first game drive and a nighttime visitor.
Our first tent at the Nxabega Okavango Camp:
The safari “jeep”:
halftime