Botswana via Helicopter!

We woke up Saturday morning to elephants swimming in the river just below our balcony – this just never gets old. A troop of vervet monkeys scampered all over our balconies all morning. They are such naughty, playful creatures. The males have distinctive blue testicles! The cutest little one stared down at us from the small ceiling level windows above our dining table while we ate our breakfast. Our cleaning crew left the front door open and one got into the villa, rifled through the selection of teas, and pooped on the stairs leading to the kitchen! Thankfully, we were in our bedrooms packing up our things with the doors closed! Naughty, naughty creatures! 

A little bit about Zimbabwe before we depart. Zimbabwe is a landlocked country in southern Africa known for its dramatic landscapes and rich cultural heritage. In addition to the famous falls, Zimbabwe is also home to the ancient city of Great Zimbabwe, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the origin of the country’s name, which showcases impressive stone ruins from a once-thriving medieval kingdom. Despite severe economic challenges like a shocking 90 percent unemployment rate, Zimbabwe boasts diverse wildlife with national parks like Hwange and its economy relies heavily on tourism. We hope we are fortunate enough to visit again someday.

We transferred from the Lodge via boat to town, stopping to see the hippos beached on an island across from our villa, then met our driver for an hour’s drive to the Kasane border crossing.

We went through customs and immigration, stopping at shoe-cleaning stations where all of our shoes had to be sanitized for foot and mouth disease. It’s very dangerous for hoof stock animals and can spread quickly causing serious potential risk to populations of species. We then transferred to another vehicle who took us into Botswana and dropped us at the nearby airport. 

Our next destination in the Okavango Delta region of Botswana was about three to four hours away via car. As an alternative, our safari company arranged for our transfer via helicopter! Hannah sat up front with our pilot, Scottie, and we sat in the back. What a fantastic experience – getting to see the expansive safari lands below from about 4,000 feet above was such a treat! We even saw several parades of elephants, a tower of giraffes, and even zebras!

We landed at a small open field about 10 minutes away from Sable Alley, our private tented camp for the next three nights. Kam, our guide and driver for the duration, met us upon arrival and escorted us to camp. Sable Alley is part of the Natural Selections safari company, and is situated in the Khwai Private Nature Reserve on the Okavango Delta region – just outside of Chobe National Park. 

After getting settled in our tents, we joined Kam for our first game drive. Minutes into the drive, we found a small pack of wild dogs! A new animal to check off our list! They were on the move through tall grass with fairly low light, so we were limited on getting good photos, but it was great to see them nonetheless.

We made our way to a small watering hole for a “sundowner stop” complete with gin & tonics, as well as dried fruit and biltong. While standing there soaking up yet another magnificent sunset, we spot a lone hyena headed our way. We expected it to keep its distance and perhaps head to the water for a drink. Nope…it literally walked directly up to us, getting within five feet of Mark and our guide! Hannah and I had the good sense to jump back up into the vehicle (large and rugged Toyota Land Cruisers outfitted for safaris)! While the photos are super grainy due to poor light at this point, they still depict just how close he was to us! By the way, he was much rougher looking than the cute little guy we saw at Ngala. This one had clearly been through its share of fights!

We returned to the camp, got unpacked, and then headed to the open-air Lodge for dinner. Once we were back at our tents for the night, Hannah found a massive spider (the size of a tarantula) on the inside of the netting surrounding her bed! Her dad was kind enough to signal for a passing guide (you aren’t allowed to walk alone at night), who promptly went to Hannah’s tent and killed it for her.

Another thing about this camp – these are very nice, glamped up tents with luxurious beds, full bathrooms, and electricity. But, unlike Ngala, these do not have hard exterior walls – only screens and canvas. So we hear everything going on around us, including the bellowing of hippos in the pond just outside our tents! I’m not sure how much sleep we will get our first night here!

Tomorrow we have a 5:00 am wake-up call, and will be joining two of the concession’s trackers to learn all about how they track predators.