by John Huxley

Seriously, our guide Thuso Sarefo says with a wide, Batswana smile, there is an ever-present danger of being trampled by a rampaging hippo. Or surprised to death by a clumsy elephant. Or snatched, like a fast-food takeaway, by a lion.

When we arrive at Kwara camp, on the north-eastern edge of the delta, it is late summer and hot-water bottles are out of season. But, just as it was that night in the English couple’s tent, there is water everywhere, across the broad, flat land.

During our stay in the region, many airstrips west of Chobe NP are flooded. Regular safari tracks have become impassable even in snorkled-up trucks. Some luxury cabins with “picturesque river views” have suddenly acquired 360-degree water frontage. Further north, in Zambia, the lower steps of Livingstone lodges are lapped by the swollen Zambesi. So much river is tumbling over Victoria Falls, local guides grumble that vantage points for “the smoke that thunders” are too dangerous.

Not far away, whole holiday resorts in Namibia have been inundated, abandoned, replaced here and there on the miles-wide Chobe River by several high-rise houseboats. For the visitor, at least, it is all very exciting.

Like many visitors to Botswana, we had arrived via Johannesburg, where we had a restful night behind the razor wire at a suburban hotel; then Livingstone, where we spent only a couple of days after paying $US50 ($57) for a visa; and then the strange border town of Kazungula. There is a settlement of sorts, built close to the cross on the map that marks where Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Botswana join. But the real action is either side of the Zambezi River.

Elephants at Chobe

Here as many as 250 heavy trucks can be found waiting – often for more than a week, we are told – to make the ferry crossing. Around the slow-moving queue of men and machines has grown a flourishing trade in food, drugs, sex and car washes. It is a fascinating study in patience and poverty. But there’s no time to linger as rich whites are fast-tracked through customs, whisked across the river in a speedboat and taken in open Land Rover, like visiting royalty, into Botswana.

The reputation of the land-locked country precedes us – a blessed fraction of Africa whose friendly efficiency is vouchsafed by author Alexander McCall Smith and his “No.1 ladies’ detective”, Precious Ramotswe.  But after the stress of South Africa and the casual scruffiness of Zambia, the smooth, tarmac roads, manicured verges and colourful signs politely requesting visitors to “Please drive safely and keep Botswana clean” come as a pleasant surprise. As McCall Smith, whose Precious Ramotswe spin-offs now include an opera and a cookbook, admits, it is not flawless. “There’s ‘grim’ in every country,” he has said. But Botswana has less than its fair share of “grim”, more than its fair share of great.

It is difficult to dislike a people whose most-heated political debate in recent years has been over choice of a “national bird”: the mournful kori bustard, known by its call as “the go-away bird”, or that tarty little show-off, the lilac-breasted roller? Both can be easily spotted among the teeming wildlife, elephant-big and butterfly-small, in the Chobe National Park, near the town of Kasane, our starting point for a 10-day trip into the delta. Statistically, we:

• Stay at four camps: Kubu Lodge, Kwando, Kwara and, lest anyone think we’d got stuck on the same page of the directory, Xakanaxa.

• Make three short, scary hops in small planes and one lengthy, lazy boat trip, between the camps and our exit point, Maun.

• Embark on 14 dawn or dusk safaris, four river safaris, two night safaris and three kayak trips.

• Observe up close four of the big five (lion, leopard, elephant and buffalo but no rhino); all of the ugly five (wildebeest, warthog, hyena, vulture and marabou stork); and one of the small five (leopard tortoise but no buffalo weaver, elephant shrew, lion ant or rhino beetle).

• Tick 182 birds, a bigger attraction for us than the three fives, but no hot-water bottles.

• Record zero mosquito bites, illnesses or accidents but come close to being hit by falling fruit from the famous Botswana sausage tree. Pity. “Killed by falling sausage” would have looked so cool on a death certificate.

• Take one decent walk, accompanied by a guide named the General, who has a serious gun and a qualification in alternative bush medicines. He points out plenty of remedies for keeping away evil spirits but none for curing arthritic hips.

• Have one helluva good time.

That said, being on safari is at times an odd experience, frequently evoking feelings of indolence, claustrophobia and displacement, possibly derived from watching too many Out of Africa-style movies and reading too many White Mischief-type books.

Roadway view between Kasane and Chobe NP

The constraints inevitable in organising luxury holidays in remote, potentially dangerous surroundings are, as one of the German guests put it, like living “in einer seifenblase”. That is, “in a bubble”, where we feel expertly, generously, kindly pampered like old-colonial English, overfed and under-exercised. In a word, guilty.

By day three, my gym-junkie wife and I are organising “Botswana biathlons” that involve swimming two three-stroke laps of a small splash pool, picking up a carved, wooden hippo, running around the pool, replacing the hippo and repeating, 25 times.

Picture the opening scene to one composite camp stay: A small Cessna 206 with defective dials (“They never work on this model,” the South African pilot cheerfully explains) comes slip-sliding to a halt on a muddy, bush airstrip.

At a rickety wooden table labelled “guest lounge”, the passengers are greeted by the smiling guides, who introduce themselves as “Pete and GT – as in gin and tonic”. Their first question is: “What would you like to drink?” Water, perhaps? “No, not for now, for tonight,” Pete says, explaining the evening ritual of sundowners. Orders placed, guests and luggage are loaded into an open-top four-wheel-drive and are taken off to the camp, where smiling staff are lined up, offering welcome drinks.

Slowly, seductively, guests are drawn into the daily routine, which typically starts with a wake-up call at 6 o’clock and breakfast. The morning safari, which includes a stop for tea and biccies, lasts about four hours. Then it’s back to camp for brunch, a big cooked breakfast. The hot middle of the day is free. Afternoon tea, nicknamed tiffin, is at 4pm, followed by an afternoon safari for two or three hours, depending on animal activity. As the blazing red sun sets on one of the flattest countries in the world, the vehicles stop, the guides climb down and set up a metal table, spread a crisp tablecloth and start serving the sundowners. A couple of hours later, the guests have freshened up and are seated at the communal table hoeing into a four-course meal, with “help yourself from the fridge” drinks.

The catering is wonderful and completed on one memorable evening when all the staff members emerge from kitchens and camp patrols to stage an impromptu concert of songs and dances.

The hospitality, on safari and in camp, is overwhelming. Kwara’s energetic manager, Janet Sejammu, explains: “We always tell our guides they must remember the next game drive may be their 500th but for the visitor it could be the first. Or last.” And the company is never hard going, which is just as well given the hours we spend together being shaken on deeply rutted bush tracks. (Xakanaxa guide Ollie says they are kept like that for guests wanting the “real Africa experience”.) New friends include an American musician who switched from symphony orchestras to heavy-metal bands and an English couple who have driven to Botswana from Manchester. “The worst bit was the M6,” they explain.  And several people who have tacked a safari on to the beginning or end of a tax-deductible overseas “conference”.

Sounds perfect? Well, with minor reservations, a safari holiday in Botswana almost is. But I’d make some suggestions before booking a holiday that could cost thousands:

• Choose to spread time among a number of different camps. However wonderful the wildlife, driving over the same tracks, morning and afternoon, for more than a couple of days becomes surprisingly tedious.

• Inquire whether the camp runs safaris into a national park, where vehicles have to stick to the tracks, or on private property, where they can go wherever they like in search of marquee animals. Clearly, it is more rewarding to be up close to the animals – but we feel that charging through waist-high grass in pursuit of a lone leopard amounts to harassment.

• Ask how many people will travel with you. In terms of comfort, common purpose and the guide’s attention, the fewer the better. And in terms of guides, four eyes – the driver’s and the tracker’s – are more effective and safer than two.

• Check the guides and their qualifications, especially for specialist interests: birds, specific animals, specialist photography etc. After a frustrating trip with a guide who clearly didn’t know his birds, an American woman gave her tip instead to another guest, who’d spotted and correctly identified 90 per cent of the birds seen.

• Accept that, despite its best intentions, Moremi Air, which carries guests between camps and to and from the airport, is running a taxi service rather than scheduled flights, so pick-up times can change at short notice.

One mid-morning, we receive an urgent call from base to rush back to Kwando for our flight to Kwara. Sadly, it comes at a climactic moment as three cheetahs, hidden behind a mopane tree, survey a straggly line of unsuspecting tsessebe. The other couple in the truck are, understandably, even less happy than we are. Did the dozy antelopes escape? Or did the cheetahs, three brothers, make a dash, followed by a leisurely feed? If anyone out there knows, please let me know.

FAST FACTS

Getting there

Qantas flies non-stop to Johannesburg from Sydney (14hr) for about $1650. V Australia flies non-stop from Melbourne (15hr 15 min) for about $1470. Fares are low-season return. Air Botswana will take you on to Maun (1hr 40min) for about $615 return including tax.

Package holidays include transfers into the delta and between camps, by boat or plane, mostly on Moremi Air.

Touring there

The author booked with safaridestinations.net, one of several companies based in Maun. All arrangements and payments were made online, or by bank transfer. Ten days in the delta cost about $260 a person a night, including all domestic flights and boat rides from Kasane to Maun, our point of exit.

Wildlife Safari has a seven-day “Wings Over Botswana” safari in luxury accommodation, with scenic flights to Chobe National Park, Moremi Wildlife Reserve and the Okavango Delta and game-viewing options by open safari vehicle, foot and mokoro (canoe). It costs from $6500 a person, twin share, including all meals, accommodation and domestic flights. Phone 1800 998 558, see www.wildlifesafari.com.au.

For general information see www.botswanatourism.co.bw. For camps mentioned here, see kubulodge.net, www.kwando.co.za (for both Kwando and Kwara), and xakanaxa-camp.com.

© Julian Glover, guardian.co.uk

If its wildlife is to be preserved, more income from the tourists who flock to safari parks must find its way to local people

Something shaming often happens when you clatter up a dusty track and enter any of Africa’s famous national parks, or even some quieter ones, such as Malawi’s Liwonde, which I visited recently. Almost all those outside are black and very poor. Most of those inside, at least the tourists, are white and rich. Quite often you pass through a high electric fence, though whether it is intended to keep the animals in or the hungry poor out is not always clear.

The boundary between the preserved world and the real one is explicit. Beyond Liwonde, life is lived in one of Africa’s populous nations. Women hoe cassava fields; minibuses hoot at petrol stations in search of fuel (Malawi is short of foreign exchange and so petrol). There is commitment and endeavour and hope: lots of small businesses with cheery handpainted slogans (“Save water, drink beer”, suggested one roadside bar).

And just the other side of the fence, there is silence and beauty, and a wide river lagoon packed with belching hippos – a magical place of the sort people fly to Africa to find. But the park is sustained, in part, by a form of tourism detached from the realities of a continent about to see its one-billionth inhabitant. Westerners are more likely these days to be clutching a zoom-lens Nikon than a rifle, but the effect is still deadly: a gated cul-de-sac for the natural environment, hawked to the west as a long-haul luxury product.

Brochures are awash with nostalgia for a colonial dreamworld, the myth of the wilderness. “Imagine the Africa of the great safari era, when blazing sunsets melted into lantern-lit romance and service was an effortless whisper,” declares one, and it is typical. Fantasies such as these, priced out of reach of almost every African, demean a continent and detach themselves from science or conservation. Lions are a backdrop to a sunset gin and tonic, as unreal as the Disney king of the jungle. No one mentions that when the Liwonde park was created in 1973, villages were evicted to make room for game.

This sounds unfair to the efforts of good people. Sustainable tourism is more than a slogan; some tourist projects raise money for schools and healthcare. Parks provide foreign exchange, and without them there would be little incentive to preserve ecosystems. Only a brute could wish for fewer elephants in the world, or to see the warthog snuffle its last, or trees cut down for charcoal, which will damage the soil, disrupt the rains and heat up a continent facing environmental crisis. It is undeniable that Africa’s conservation movement has achieved magnificent things in tough conditions. Few indigenous species have become extinct; even the strange half-striped Okapi from the Congo basin survives, with a tongue so long it can wash its own ears. Despite the horrible trade in powdered rhino horn, sold to a Chinese elite in search of stimulation, brave men and women have, so far, kept the rare black rhino alive in the wild. All this should be celebrated. But can it last, with Africa’s population set to double in the next 50 years and its people – as they should – wanting wealth and jobs?

We want Africa to keep its environment untamed, as we never did ourselves. Lincolnshire too was once wild before we chopped down the trees and drained its soils to grow potatoes. No one now suggests fencing the county off and letting it revert to wolves – but we expect Africa to shoulder the burden. Almost 40% of Tanzania has protected status. Can a growing continent afford it?

Last week Mo Ibrahim, the admirable Sudanese-born philanthropist, pointed out in the Guardian that Africa does not – contrary to repeated claims – have a problem with overpopulation. It has 20% of the world’s land and only 13% of its people. It also has some of the planet’s most outstanding ecology, and it is greatly to Africa’s credit that so many reserves have thrived. But who can blame a poor country for turning its eyes towards obvious sources of wealth – Tanzania and soda-rich Lake Natron, which an Indian company wanted to exploit despite its precious population of flamingos, or the Kongou Falls in Gabon, threatened by a Chinese iron ore project? In 2002 Gabon declared 10% of its land to be national parks. Well-fed conservation-minded Britain cannot match that.

It isn’t hard to take a stand against ivory poachers or an international conglomerate intent on ripping the wealth out of Africa. But should the peasant farmer, desperate for new land, be condemned in the same way? In the 1990s locals smashed down the fence and invaded Liwonde park, almost wiping out its wildlife. They were driven back, but the truce is temporary.

A better balance has to be found. African governments, and tour operators, need to leave income from parks with the people who live near them. And tourists need to stop imagining they are visiting an empty continent in the guise of a latter-day Livingstone or Stanley. They should see wildlife, but meet people too. If one of 50 chose an 18-hour total immersion in rural life, precious dovetails between a park and its surrounds would grow.

The word “stakeholder” has been horribly abused; but unless the world can find a way of giving ownership of Africa’s parks to Africa’s people, the parks will be doomed and the people diminished.

• guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010

Click here to view the embedded video.

I’ve heard of eating Mopane worms, but … well never really took the stories seriously.  One of my friends manages the Kubu Lodge in Kasane.  She provided me with several traditional meals that the cooks at Kubu regularly serve guests.  These will be shared in my upcoming article.  Her not also included a ‘recipe for the more adventurous’.   Yep, a genuine Mopane Worm recipe and I am going to share it with you at the end of the article.  Before we get to preparing the meal, let me give you a little more background on the Mopane worm.

Mopane Worms - photo copyright Marius Coetzee

Mopane worms (Imbrasia belina) are a staple part of the diet in Southern Africa and are harvested twice a year and sold in the local markets.

The Basics:

In Africa’s developing countries, the eating of insects is still wide spread. Caterpillars and termites are the most eaten and marketed insects in Africa. Among these are Mopane worms; caterpillars that hatch in early spring from eggs of Gonimbrasia belina moths. They are mostly seen on Colophospermum mopane trees where they mature within six weeks.

The mopane worm is the brightly coloured caterpillar of the Emperor Moth, which is one of the world’s largest moths. The caterpillar lives primarily on the leaves of the mopane tree (Colophospermum mopane) – hence its name. These ‘worms’ can be all over a tree as seen in the imagebelow.  Thank goodness Mopane worms are an excellent source of protein and are even considered a delicacy in Botswana.  It forms the basis of a multi-million rand trade in edible insects, providing a livelihood for many harvesters, traders and their families. However, the industry is not without problems. Droughts devastate the harvest on a regular basis and there are areas where overexploitation has led to local extinctions.

Mopane Worms at the base of a tree

The worms are hand-picked or shaken off the trees. It takes just a few days of drying in the hot sun and they are ready to be cooked and eaten with pap (cooked mealie meal). As the women collect them they are slowly disappearing from the trees.

A Mopane Worm Myth:

There is a myth that if young Mopane worm are harvested the older individuals will leave the area. According to another myth, when larvae leave the trees and burrow into the ground they are going to die.

In fact, the purpose of digging into the ground is to pupate, and this is essential to complete the life cycle. If the larval stage is thought to end in death, and is not seen as part of a life cycle, there is no reason to conserve the worm at this stage.

While most people surveyed had no suggestions of how the mopane worms could be reintroduced into areas where they had been over-harvested, the rest suggested scattering ashes. There is a myth that the ashes from the fires used to prepare worms for the market could be scattered in areas where the worms are extinct in an appropriate ritual. According to this legend, this will bring the Mopane worms back.

Back to facts – Mopane worms are high in healthy nutrients. Their protein content is three times that of beef and it takes only 3kg of leaves to produce 1kg of worms whereas 1kg of beef requires 10kg of feed to produce. Analysis has shown that the worms contain 60.70% crude protein, 16.70% crude fat, and 10.72% minerals, on a dry matter basis.

Preparation as a food

As you can see from these photos, the Mopane Worms are quite big and juicy when initially harvested

Mopane worms are traditionally cooked in a stew containing tomatoes and onions. Mopani worms are being studied to try and find out more about the extent to which this resource can be harvested on a sustainable basis. In Zimbabwe, an organization known at “Global Facilitation Unit for Underutilized Species” has a funded program to prepare and can mopane worms …. in a can and ready to serve!

I’ll bet you were surprised at how serious this subject is!  MOving this article forward, here is the Kubu Lodge’s recommended cooking method for Mopane worms:

Young kids near a large pile of drying Mopane Worms

For the adventurous: Mophane Worms  – (known as “Phane”)

For 4 – 6 servings you need:

1 kg dried phane

1 tablespoon cooking oil

1 medium onion finely chopped

½ green pepper finely chopped

Salt to taste

1-2 cloves garlic finely chopped

1. In a kitchen fry the onions in oil over low heat till soft and translucent, turn up the heat and add green pepper.
2. Stir fry for a minute and add rinsed phane and garlic.
3. Stir fry a further five minutes and then add ½ cup water and seasoning.
4. Cook another 15/20 minutes till tender adding a little more water if necessary, do not let the dish become to watery.

A Properly prepated meal of Mopane Worms ready for consumption.

It was near lunchtime, the sun was high, so we decided to head to the lodge for a rest.  As we came along the Chobe River shoreline, we saw a huge pod of hippos.  Not that unusual into itself, but these hippos were not very happy.  Fighting was breaking out everywhere.  I took many shots, but unfortunately, the lighting was harsh, the distance was a little far for my lens, but not too far for easy binocular viewing.  To add to things, it seemed many of the good fights were slightly obscured by the bodies of other hippos.  From a pure photo standpoint, the scene was a waste.

We could have left unhappy … but we were in Africa … watching one of natures largest mammals fighting it out with amazing power and action.  We were mesmerized.  We watched for a full hour, totally skipping our lunch.  Yes, you’re paying a lot to be there.  Yes, you only have a few days to get all of the shots you want to get. … and Yes, the opportunity for the photo was missed, but … we could have been at work, or sitting in a house in central Pennsylvania, but, No… we were in Africa, watching one of the greatest shows on earth!

So, this photo tip is a little of a travel tip … a photo is just a photo.  Experience nature and the life and death battles all around you while you are in the bush.  Below are a few of what I did get during the ‘lost shoot’.  To enhance detail I have used Topaz Adjust 4 on several of these.  The mid day sun made for harsh lighting. Enjoy, not as great photos, but as a chance to imagine you were there.

A call to the greatest show on earth. Photo: P. B. Eleazer, Canon 50D, Canon 500mm with 1.4x teleconverter

Heated discussion Photo: P. B. Eleazer, Canon 50D, Canon 500mm with 1.4x teleconverter.

Note the torn flesh - this wasn't just a mock battle - P. B. Eleazer, Canon 50D, Canon 500mm with 1.4x teleconverter.

Splashes everywhere as the battle heats up. P. B. Eleazer, Canon 50D, Canon 500mm with 1.4x teleconverter.

The battle continues - P. B. Eleazer, Canon 50D, Canon 500mm with 1.4x teleconverter.

Well, some weren't fighting, but that Croc probably wishes the hippos would leave him alone. P. B. Eleazer, Canon 50D, Canon 500mm with 1.4x teleconverter.

Hippo Posing for a dental exam - P. B. Eleazer, Canon 50D, Canon 500mm with 1.4x teleconverter.

Land and water battles during my 'Greatest Show on Earth' - copyright: P. B. Eleazer

That's me and my son at the base of this great tree located near the Mowana in Kasane

Baobab in Chobe NP as viewed looking west from the Kasane Road - Photo: Justin Eleazer

Huge Baobab located near the Ngoma Gate within Chobe National Park

This is a Guest Article by Jane Wilkinson.  Rob and Jane Wilkinson, presently live in Windhoek, Namibia, which is an ideal base for pursuing our passions for exploring the  more remote areas of Namibia and Botswana and the photography of birds and wildlife. With our 4X4 fully equipped for camping we spend much of our free time in the great outdoors and look forward to sharing some of our experiences with you through the medium of this web site.  Rob and Jane’s leisure pursuits are wide-ranging and their blog, Wilkinson’s World reflects their interest in writing, photography, cycling, hiking, travel, meditation and Bridge.

Africa is not called the ‘dark continent’ for nothing.  It is a continent of dark secrets and legends. The legends cover not only the people, but the animals, rivers and trees.  And the tree with more legends hanging on its branches than baubles on a Christmas tree has to be the enormous Baobab (Adansonia digitata), found in just about every country south of the equator.

On the road to Epupa Falls

I personally love Baobabs and feel so excited whenever we come across them on our travels.   They transport me back to my childhood in Zimbabwe where I had the utmost reverence for these giant gnarled, funny-looking ‘upside down’ trees.  To me they represent Africa and mystery, and I’m obviously not the only one from whom similar feelings are evoked.

With leaves for 3 months of the year

Any number of legends abound about Baobabs, from their origins to their magical powers.  Every tribe has their own version of the good and bad things associated with Baobabs – which is why they are so venerated and feared.  Many believe that benevolent spirits and ancestors dwell in them, whilst others fear the more malevolent spirits of both the trees and their Gods.  Offerings of food and gifts are placed near the trees to pacify angry spirits or to show gratitude for bountiful harvests.  Rituals are held in hollowed out Baobab trunks, with drums being beaten and prayers offered up for protection, and communication is made with dead ancestors and spirits.  Animals seek shelter in them and up to forty people have been known to crowd into one hollow trunk.

In northern Namibia Baobabs are even responsible for keeping the environment clean, for legend has it that anyone who pollutes the area around a Baobab will be engulfed in its large trunk.  He or she can only be rescued by a hardworking woodpecker (and this is highly unlikely as woodpeckers apparently resent humans for tearing down trees without asking their permission first) or by a hornless mooing black cow, which is extremely hard to find.  The natives often say they hear victims crying in the trees.  This ties up with yet another urban legend that has the evil spirits lying in wait amongst the branches.  If one listens up close to the trunk one can hear the spirits laughing inside (a noise most likely caused by bees nesting in the hollow trunk).

Clinging tenaciously to the rocks

In Botswana the Bushmen believe that the flowers, which only bloom for one day, are inhabited by spirits and if  anyone has the audacity to pluck one  they are sure to be eaten by a lion!  Yet other Bushmen believe that one’s fate for such a crime is to be eaten by a tick.  If Bushmen are hunting an animal and it passes under a Baobab tree, the hunt is immediately stopped and another animal killed to preserve the life of the one that received the protection of the tree.

Magnificent specimen at Mahangu Park

There are many different versions of the origin of the tree,  like God being angry because when he planted the tree in the earth it kept on walking, so he uprooted it and threw it onto the ground upside down.  It didn’t die but continued to live with its roots in the air. Yet others believe that the God, Thora, flung the Baobab down from paradise (because it was always complaining) and it landed on earth upside down.  Its elephant-like appearance apparently came about because its maternal creator was startled by an elephant when she was making the tree and it assumed the grotesque shape and dimensions of this large animal.

The big one at Mahangu Park

Talking of dimensions, Baobabs can reach heights of twenty meters and have trunks with a diameter of twelve meters. Their trunks, which absorb vast amounts of water (up to 120 000 liters in an adult tree), vary considerably in size during the dry and rainy seasons.  Because of its watery properties, as well as the food that one can get from it (Cream of Tartar), the Baobab is also known as the ‘tree of life.’  Providing shelter, medicine, rope, cloth and protection it is no wonder that it is held in such high esteem by the people of Africa.  In addition, if one drinks the water that seeds have been soaked in, one is guaranteed not to be eaten by a crocodile!

When the South African army was present in Katimo Mulilo in the Caprivi region of Namibia during the Bush War, they held no reverence or fear of the mighty tree as they fitted a flush toilet into one, thereby defiantly showing the world what they thought the of the superstitions and legends.  The tree had the last laugh though, as its trunk grew over the door, making it difficult to open.

Toilet in the tree - Katimo Mulilo

Lauren Bowers added this insightful Baobab info: There is a pub inside a baobab tree in the Limpopo province. It has electricity, a dart board and even a phone. Another story about the origins of the baobab tree is that back in the beginning the baobab tree wanted flowers like the protea, and the protea agreed. However, the baobab was not satisfied and so the animals plucked it up and shoved it back in the ground upside down. One of the bush legends also says that if a baby drinks a mixture of the tree’s bark and water, the baby will grow up to be powerful. Legend or no legend though, is it not extraordinary the reverence that the tree demands, just by it’s pure presence?

A rare sighting of 3-week-old leopards and their mother, carefully secluded in a den under a fallen tree in the Selinda region of northern Botswana.

During our recent visit to Zarafa Camp in northern Botswana’s Selinda Concession, Nicky and I enjoyed superb game viewing, both on game drive and from the boat.  This area is so lovely during Botswana’s summer months, with the green landscapes, the abundant baby animals and the dramatic skies that it makes one pause at the grandeur.

Our favorite sighting at Zarafa was that of two 3-week-old leopard cubs and their mother, hidden in a den under a fallen tree.  It is not often that one has a chance to see leopard cubs in the wild and this was our first chance to see kittens this young.

The female leopard – Copyright © James Weis

As we approached the den site, we were very quiet and saw the two young cubs in the shadows at the back of the den.  However, we could not see the female leopard anywhere and so we decided to leave the area, as we did not wish to attract any attention to the unprotected cubs.  But just as we were turning the vehicle around to leave, we noticed some movement in the bush to the side of our vehicle…

Female leopard returns to the den – Copyright © James Weis

Moments later, a gorgeous female leopard emerged from the fever-berry bushes and silently moved toward the den.  It was the mother of the cubs, returning from an absence that may have been a day or more in duration.  Female leopards spend only 50-60 percent of their time with cubs at this age, as they must hunt to provide the cubs with milk.  The timing of her return was fortuitous for us, as we now could now stay a short while to take a few images and watch the cubs with their mother.

Female leopard enters the den – Copyright © James Weis

Female leopard peering out from inside the den – Copyright © James Weis

This female leopard is well known to the guides here and she is quite used to being around game drive vehicles and is very relaxed, so Foster (our guide) assured us that we were not causing her any stress by being at the den.  This was quite clear as she calmly passed within 2 meters of our vehicle en route to her cubs, whilst barely casting us a glance.

One of the little cubs gives us a look – Copyright © James Weis

After feeding for perhaps 5 minutes, the little cubs were full and ready for more affection and they proceeded to clamber all about mom’s head and shoulders, looking for more grooming and nuzzling.  With fat tummies, they soon tired and fell asleep under their mother’s chin and all three were soon dozing peacefully. This is how we left them.  What a privilege to have witnessed this.

Mom and her two babies in the den – Copyright © James Weis

Life for a baby leopard is extremely tenuous at this age, as they are completely reliant on their mother for sustenance and protection. The cubs will only venture from hiding at about 6 weeks and then only to make short excursions with their mother, as they are still extremely vulnerable.  At this time they also start to eat meat.  Weaning occurs at around 3 months, but they will stay with their mother for over a year before they are ready to fend for themselves.

The female and her cub in the den – Copyright © James Weis

Leopards will often move their cubs to a new hiding place, especially at this early stage, and in fact all three were seen a week later in a new den site, this one a burrow dug into the side of a termite mound.  If all goes well, then perhaps future visitors to Zarafa will have a chance to see these leopards as they grow.  I hope so!

James Weis
January 2010

Location of Selinda Concession relative to Chobe Reserve

The wreckage of the Mack Air Cessna Caravan made a forced landing due to engine trouble on Chief’s Island last week.

For many travelers who visit both Chobe and also camps near Okavango or Moremi, small charter planes are used to save time and also due to the limited road structure in Botswana.  Most of these plane operate out of Maun or Kasane. Accidents happen with all modes of transportation and in all countries.  This isn’t a Botswana thing. It’s comforting to see that the training of the local bush pilots allows for a safe resolution to this emergency situation. This article just found from the Ngami Times, Edition 490 15 – 22 January, 2009 and is a direct copy of their text.  Any and all copyrights belong to The Ngami Times.  Thanks to the fols at “Plan Your Safari” for the tip about the article.

Quick action by a Maun pilot averted a major disaster in the Okavango delta last Wednesday.

Five people escaped with light injuries after the pilot of a Mack Air plane, Stuart Jordaan, landed his Cessna Caravan on the only floodplain available to him 400 metres from Piajio airstrip on Chief’s Island.

Jordaan, 25, had taken off bound for Maun when he heard a loud bang from the engine. In the few seconds he had to follow emergency procedures, he told his four passengers – two foreign tourists and two Motswana staff members – to tighten their seatbelts as he glided into land on the floodplain.

The nose wheel however stuck in the marshy ground and the plane flipped over.

“It was the quick thinking of the pilot who averted a potential disaster,” said a statement from Mack Air.

It was reported he heard a loud bang and the engine stalled.

Strenuous training the pilots go through and mandatory flight tests carried out every six months by designated examiners, along with route checks carried out by senior training captains within the company, played a major role in the incident.

The company said “he turned to the only escape route, the floodplain, as there were trees all around the site. He touched down successfully but then the nose wheel dug in.

“Jordaan did a fantastic job. This was as a result of strenuous emergency training that our pilots go through every six months. It is ingrained in them on how to deal with such emergencies. He did not have time to think and took action instinctively.” Mack Air said it wanted to thank camp management and staff, the Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana (CAAB), the police, helicopter pilot Annie Fine, paramedic Alison Brown, EuropAssist, MRI, and the Botswana Defence Force “for their professional and immediate service”.

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Copyright rights to this article belong to Kelly Landen and EWB

Every new year, to wind down from the Holiday hustle and bustle, nothing seems better than to relax by taking a casual drive through Chobe National Park.  This year it was no different, except for the unusual surprise when I hit the waterfront… crowded along the floodplains were thousands of elephants! (read about elephant populations and download maps on EWB’s downloads page)

Thousands of elephants relishing the fresh grasses in Chobe

Chobe has quite the reputation for elephant numbers along the waterfront drive, however the reputation was built due to the days of the dry season when water is limited elsewhere, but certainly not during the rainy, wet season, when some days one is hard-pressed to find any elephants at all. So, I certainly did not expect to see such a spectacle.  I sat for many hours under the shade of a tree, watching as the elephants grazed on the fresh grass shoots and gleefully playing in the mud.  What kept me captivated for a while, was 10 fairly large elephant bulls in the distance, slowly vying for the affection of one female in estrous. Her family herd was riled and were making a ruckus, circling her as if to protect her from the bulls. She finally grew tired of the whole event and led her herd off into the distance and then finally off the floodplains and into the hidden safety of the thick  shrubs. (Later as I was leaving, I caught a glimpse of the bull that had won her approval, with her!)

I decided it was time to move on myself. I didn’t need to drive very far into the park because the abundance of wildlife was all within an hour’s distance from the Sedudu entrance gate.  The park is lush and full of vitality, glistening from the combination of rain’s dew and the sun’s rays peeking from building, bellowing clouds.   The wildlife seemed satisfied and content as they carried on with their daily routines of browsing, grooming and nursing their young.  And I was completely happy just sitting and watching them. To view more EWB photos, see EWB Gallery!

Giraffe bulls... sharing is better than fighting

Baboons sifting the grounds for only the finest

Monitor lizard on the hunt

I watched baboon troops sift through the ground vegetation, choosing only the finest of weeds, flowers and roots to eat;  Giraffe wandered about half-lazily attempting neck rallies to claim dominance only to stop and share the woolly-caper bushes;  Warthog families on their knees snorting at the ground and rolling in pools of mud; Impala nurseries, 50 or more strong, guarded by a few adults under the shade of thick bushes;  monitor lizards on the hunt for eggs; and Kudu bulls strolling slowly through the knobbley-combretum, resting with a full view of the riverfront below.

But, the highlight of the day was when I had to scramble to make the 7pm gate closing time and came across a pack of 15 wild dogs on the road! They didn’t seem to have a care in the world that myself and 3 other vehicles were there. They were casually laying in the road, while the older pups were teasing and licking the adults to get up. When they did start to move, they crossed paths with an elephant herd. The elephants became completely irritated…  trumpeting, threatening the dogs, while making a protective circle around their young. Another elephant herd came crashing through the trees, to aid them in their distress, completely ignoring me in their path. It was quite a spectacle! Unfortunately, I could not attain any decent photos, as it was getting dark and I was trying to maneuver to get out of the way of it all! However, I left the park elated and realized any stress that may have been held within me over the hubbub of the Holidays had all been washed away by the excitement and enthusiasm!

Kudu bull finding relief with a scratch of his back

Start your New Year off with an appreciated donation to Elephants Without Borders… Donate here! Cheers!