Moremi - Botswana

We broke camp at Island and left around 10am after the daily battle of wits with the Vervet Monkeys who were constantly on scan for anything they could pinch. The Sedia agreed we could check into the chalet anytime that morning so we did that first then headed to the airport to meet Ruth & J's flight which was due in around midday.

It had been nearly six months since we had last seen Ruth and J so we were looking forward to seeing them again and give them a taste of the African bush. Maun airport is small and informal and has a relaxed laid back approach which is a nice change form the hustle and bustle which normally accompanies air travel these days.

If flying in from overseas you usually change planes in Joburg or Harare so the airport does not take the big Jumbos and their like. Mostly it handles smaller mid size planes, its main traffic being the host of small planes such as Cessna's which the tour companies use to ferry the foreign tourists from camp to camp.

As flights come in there is always a motley assortment of safari guides and other people waiting to meet clients arriving to start their safari in Botswana. Of course each has their company greeting board with well respected industry names such as Ker Downey, Abercrombie & Kent or Game Trackers etc.

Ruth works for a marketing company in the centre of London and when she first went there it was shortly after the comedy series Bread had been on in the UK so being small with quite a Scouse accent she was immediately nicknamed Avelyne, after one of the characters.

We took our place amongst the waiting safari guides, each resplendent in their contrived casual 'Out Of Africa' look. The guy next to us was one of those 'up his own arse' types and was holding a very posh board with his clients names on. He rather disparagingly glanced at us two scruffs and then did a double take at our board made out of brown cardboard with BENBOOAFRICA Tours and the names Av A Lion and J written on it! We of course just acted natural and professional as all good tour guides should do!

We had told Ruth and J to look inconspicuous when they arrived as we didn't want our street cred damaged! Imagine then when they strolled through the arrivals door wearing Lion and Giraffe masks and Ruth bellowed out 'Hi Ya' in her Scouse accent,  the look on the guys face next to us was a picture!

First thing first was to have some lunch at the Bon Arrivee then onto the chalet at the Sedia. We think Ruth and J were pleasantly surprised that it wasn't a mud hut even though we had baggied the best room with the double bed! We had a drink around the pool then left Ruth and J to relax after their long journey while we went to fill the fuel tanks in readiness for our trip to Moremi the next day.  

We had booked to camp two nights at the public campsite at Xaxanaca, originally we had hoped to camp at least one night at another site called Third Bridge as this is a lovely spot however, the bridge had been washed away in the heavy rains so the site was out of bounds.

Sue and I had never camped at Xaxanaca before so this would be new to us as well. The camp sites are strung out along the edge of the Xaxanaca lagoon which forms part of the Okavango Delta. By luck more than design we had been allocated the furthest site from the ablutions which suited us just fine as it meant we wouldn't have anyone near us.

The track from Maun to Moremi used to be narrow and very sandy, nowadays it is not near as sandy and much wider so you can make quite good time to South Gate where you enter the park. The rangers there confirmed that the track to Xaxanaca via the edge of the lagoon was still impassable so we would have to take the inland route. Even so we were surprised that as we neared Xaxanaca there were still large sections of the track under water necessitating us going off into the bush or wading. 

It was 4pm when we arrived at Xaxanaca where we introduced R&J to the joys of setting up camp before driving to the ablutions to have a hot shower. There were two families of Aussies camped on the site nearest to the ablutions and they had clearly spent the day washing every item of clothing they possessed but had not bothered to keep the Rhodesian boiler stoked with wood so if there had been hot water there was none now, nothing for it but to have a cold shower, my biggest hate when camping.

There were loads of Vervet monkeys hanging about the showers who as soon as we left the vehicle came down to see what they could nick - we warned R & J to always be on their guard and make sure the windows and doors were shut when they got out the Landy. The only consolation is we hoped they would content themselves with the Aussies camp and not come visiting us.

That first night in the bush we had a Durban curry followed by pancakes and maple syrup all washed down with Gin Riokeys. With the camp lit by candles and the camp fire roaring it was all very cosy, Ruth & J were clearly surprised that we weren't surviving on cold bully beef and baked beans.

As we were finishing dinner I suddenly heard a noise coming from the darkness close by. The others were still chatting away oblivious but I suspected what it was and told them to be quiet shining the torch towards the noise. To Ruth and J's horror a large Hippo was slowly walking towards us munching at the grass as he came. His course meant he would pass less than 20 feet away from us but as long as we kept still and didn't disturb or frighten him he should quietly just pass by. It's important to shine your torch or spot to the side of Hippo and not directly at them as they do not like the light and can become quite agitated if you flash it in their eyes. 

Later on as went to bed we could hear Hyena calling nearby so we were pleased it was a nice introduction to Ruth & J's first night in bush, although Ruth refused to let J open the windows on the roof tent where they were sleeping and put earplugs in so she wouldn't hear what was about during the night!

Nest morning we went out on our first game drive in Moremi for 20 years. An Elephant had been around camp during the night as evidenced by the not so little presents he left us but of course Ruth and J had heard nothing sealed up in the roof tent!

The day was lovely and hot (at last we seemed to be getting rid of the rain) so it was late morning by the time we got back to camp. The Aussies had gone but so had all the water, luckily we had filled up our tank and Jerry's before we left Maun so we had plenty to last at least a day or two.

As we were relaxing a Landcruiser came into camp and drove up and down a couple of times before driving close by to a spot which we knew was not a designated camp spot. Completely ignoring us they parked up behind some bushes and got out,  a young couple, what looked like the Grandmother and a small boy. If they had plans to camp here then they had another thing coming but it was possible they had just stopped to have a picnic so we decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and wait to see if they tried to set up a camp.

At first they got food and drink organised then we saw some smoke and although they had not yet put up a tent we had the feeling that was what they planned. I decided to walk over to say hello and to see what their plans were. The guy introduced himself, his wife, her Mother and their young son as all Afrikaners from RSA.

Chatting I gently pointed out that we were on the last official campsite (MX 7) so they were off piste so to speak and they must have missed their site. They feigned surprise that the sites were even allocated numbers, so I asked what site number they had been given when they booked. They then admitted they had not booked but had just dropped by on spec, looking at their receipt it confirmed they had been allocated the reserve site which the rangers keep for people who turn up without a booking. Normally these overflow sites are close to the ranger posts but at Xaxanaca for some strange reason the reserve site (MX-R) is placed between official sites MX3 and MX4.

Either way this meant they should be camped well away from us which I pointed out but then the wife suddenly said "oh we looked at that site but its too overgrown and we want to be closer to other people" - being Afrikaners it had simply never occurred to them that we might not wish to be close to them!    

I suggested that if the site was overgrown then they go onto the site vacated by the Aussies (MX1) but she didn't want to do this either as "there was too much evidence of Monkeys" - Christ they had come to the bush so what did they expect might be here! She said she would speak with her husband but mumbled it was unlikely they would move!

We decided to give them 20 mins to move and then if not to drive over to the rangers to complain. We needed to speak with one of the rangers anyway as he had promised to get in touch with Savuti to see if we could get on there in two days time. We had tried in Maun to book two nights at Savuti but they said it was fully booked the first night so we had had to accept a site at Linyanti, which is a lovely spot but is quite a hike for just the one night. We were now wise to the fact that what looked booked on the system in Maun could in fact be vacant but only the guys on the ground would know for sure. 

It was clear the interlopers were not going to move as they put up their roof tent so J and I set off for the ranger post leaving Sue and Ruth in camp. The ranger post is about 20 mins drive away but on the way we bumped into two rangers in a truck who were on their way to the campsite with water.

I had got chatting to one of them when we first arrived so he greeted me like an old friend. I asked if his mate who had promised to contact Savuti was on duty back at their post. He said he was but if we couldn't find him to go to the staff quarters as he sometimes gets frightened when left on his own!

As it was he thought Savuti had confirmed there was no problem if we wanted to camp for two nights but he wasn't totally sure. I thanked him and then explained about the interlopers, he promised to check after they had sorted out the water.  J & I carried onto the ranger post to confirm Savuti but sure enough our ranger was no where to be seen and as we couldn't be arsed trying to track him down we headed back to camp.

There was no sign of the rangers with the water when we got back but we could see the interlopers had moved onto the reserve site and were glaring at us as we drove past. Sue and Ruth were full of it when we got back telling us the rangers had come over to where they had set up camp and after a short while they could hear raised voices then the rangers drove off and the interlopers started to move camp, taking their fire still lit on a shovel.  Needless to say we did not exchange contact details so that's another Christmas card list we are struck off! Oh and by the way for avid readers yes they did have Gauteng number plates! 

That night the Hippo came and visited us once again, this time Ruth and J were a bit more relaxed about it all but that soon changed when shortly after we heard a rustling noise not far away and we shone the spot on a young Elephant walking along the bank towards us. He was quite young so I was surprised at first to see him on his own then with an almighty crash Mum suddenly came through the bushes to our side.

Hippo are one thing but Ele you can never take chances with so I shouted to the others to quickly get in the Landy. Ruth and J needed no second invitation and had launched themselves into the back of the truck. Sue had gone around the back of the Landy intending to get in the drivers door as I was standing at the front on her side with the spot. Suddenly I realised she was not going to make it in time before Mum would reach the Landy so I shouted at her to come back round to me and get in her seat while I stood outside with the spot and hoped Mum didn't change her mind and come around to where I was.

In all the excitement Ruth hadn't noticed that the Landy windows were open so as Mum slowly walked past all she could see was a wall of grey flesh, she was so close she could almost have touched her without putting her hand out the window. No sooner had the Ele's gone when a Hyena came prowling around clearly waiting for us to go to bed to see what he could filch, after all this Ruth and J felt it was enough excitement for one night and got into the roof tent where they stay zipped up for the night!

Next morning we were out early again for another game drive,  with all the rains the game was pretty well spread about so whilst we were seeing a good selection of animals they were not in big numbers. Also to our disappointment we had yet to hear Lion never mind see them, something we wanted Ruth and J to experience.

Back at camp for brunch we decided to drive over to the ablutions and get the Rhodesian boiler started so we could have hot showers. The kafuffle with the interlopers (who had left)   meant we had run out of time last night so we had to have cold showers again.

Once you get them fired up Rhodesian boilers work remarkably well, basically a big oil drum encased inside a brick chimney under which you light a big fire. They have a cold water feed from the main tank and the hot water is piped into the showers. Providing you keep them stoked with plenty of wood you have piping hot water 24/7. The problem was the earlier campers obviously could not be bothered (a) gathering the wood and (b) making the effort to get it going so we had to basically start from scratch.

Sue, Ruth and I jumped out to start looking around for wood,  J had stayed in the Landy but after a few choice words and dirty looks from Ruth he got out to come and help but then forgot to shut his door. In a flash a Vervet was out of the trees and in the back of the Landy, by the time we shouted a warning to J he's out and up the tree with something in his hand.          

Fighting the other monkeys off he climbed to the highest point to inspect his spoils. At first we couldn't make out what he'd grabbed then we realised it was a tube of mints J had kept stashed in his seat pocket, without sharing out we may add - so it was justice in the end, what we couldn't work out though was how the Monkey knew they were J's!

Near to Xaxanaca campsite are a couple of up market tented camps and lodges and close by is a small boat yard where you can hire boats to take you around the lagoon and into the  delta. We had arranged a boat to take just the four of us out on sundowner cruise later that afternoon so after brunch and hot showers we go over to the boat yard suitably stocked up with  Gin & Tonic, beers, Hunters cider and assorted nibbles.

Sanjay the old boat man had the boat ready so we where soon off. It was nice that we had it to ourselves and especially nice to be back on water being ferried around for a change. It was still very hot so no sooner had the boat left the dock than we opened the bar and within the hour the girls where well on their way!  We didn't see much game but the sunset was absolutely stunning and it was just very nice to be able to relax and take in the scenery of the Okavango. 

By now Ruth and J had been in Botswana for three days and had started to get a bit of colour, especially J who was looking quite red in the face. When you drive around in the bush you constantly come across something called Swainson's Francolin, a grouse like bird which has the irritating habit of running ahead of you on the tracks so you have to crawl along for ages trying to get past.

The distinctive feature of the Swainson's Francolin is it's red face so J was quickly given the new nickname of Swainey (aka The Swainster ) which has stuck to this day. For the rest of the trip every day you could hear shouts of Oh! Swainey! from Ruth and if anyone ever made a gaffe it became known as a doing a Swainey! To this day we are not sure how much J appreciates his new name and fame!        

Next day we decided to drive to Third Bridge. Sue and I first camped there in 1986 but hadn't been back for years so we decided to re-visit it for old times. We knew from the rangers we could not get across the bridge but we hoped to get as far as it at least.

The tracks as we neared the lagoon where flooded so we had to go by a circuitous route but eventually we reached one end of the bridge. It was interesting to see how overgrown the place looked, when we first camped here in the 80's Botswana was in the midst of a 10 year drought so you see for miles all around and the river flowing under the bridge was just a shallow clear stream, where you used to paddle, mind you you kept alert as the local Lion pride used to quite often walk across the bridge during the day.

Now you could see hardly anything for  bush and we were told it was too dangerous in the river as someone had not long ago been taken by a Croc, which was the excuse for why the bridge had not yet been repaired!

On the drive back to camp we suddenly came across two snakes lying close together on the track. Normally snakes rapidly shoot off into the bush as you approach but these showed absolutely no signs of wanting to move so unless drove over them, which was out of the question, we we would have to force them to move. 

When people in the UK talk to  us about Africa the most common question is "aren't you scared of snakes and other creepy crawlies"?  In short the answer is a qualified no, what many people don't realise is you rarely come across snakes in the bush and if you do a lot times they can be relatively harmless. Now and again however you come across a very dangerous one and this was now the case as we were facing two of the sort which probably leads to more fatalities in Africa than any other type of snake -  The Puff Adder.

The reason Puff Adders tend to kill more people is not because they are the most venomous but because they are a sluggish snake which likes to lie on the paths in the bush and are so slow to move people often step on them and they will bite readily if threatened.

At first we weren't sure if both snakes were Adders as one was much larger, darker and had different markings to the other, then we realised one (the lighter and smaller snake) was probably a male and the other a female and they were probably in the middle of mating - so it was a very tricky situation altogether trying to move them. 

Making sure the others stayed way back, I picked up the longest stick I could find and slowly separated the two snakes. I had no idea how far an Adder can strike, I'd been told Mamba's and Cobra's can strike from up to six foot away but the Adder being a shorter snake I was counting on this reducing it's range.

At first neither showed any inclination to move but after a bit of prodding the female started to slowly move off into the bush and probably still feeling horny the male soon followed. Only that morning Ruth & J had been toying with idea of trying out the ground tent, at least for one night but this little episode soon convinced decided them that the roof tent was close enough to the ground for their liking!

Next day we headed Northwards through the park to our next overnight stop at North Gate, here we would exit Moremi to travel through the bush towards Savuti, a renowned spot for Lion.