Passenger Waiting Lounge, Pom Pom Airport, Okavango Delta

Like that picture? We went in and out of this airport (nothing but a compacted sand strip) several times as we hopped and skipped between safari camps. And indeed, one of the times our plane had mechanical trouble and we had to wait – in that lovely little covered space, for about 15 minutes (yes, in the 100° heat) until another plane came to get us. We also referred to that hut as “baggage claim,” and most commonly “Terminal One.” We all had many a laugh about that rickety structure!

Once we arrived here, the safari trucks (Land Rovers or Land Cruisers) met us – they’d be waiting in the shade nearby if they could find it and once we’d landed they’d drive up to the bush planes. Baggage out (sometimes food for the camp too) and into the waiting trucks we’d go, for another bumpy, hot ride to our next camp. This time it was to Xaranna, pronounced ka-ran-ah. We arrived in time for lunch. The staff would meet and greet us with dance and song, and more of those cold washcloths and a fruit drink to quench our thirst.

Here’s a typical day in the bush, at a safari camp:

1. 5:30 AM A staff member would come to our cabin outside (remember, mostly no walls, just screens or canvas tarps) and call to us  – “it’s 5:30, time to get up; breakfast at 6:00.” We’d answer and say we were awake. We’d quick-like get up, wash our faces (no time for a shower – no sense anyway because we were going to be out in the dust and sand in the bush), throw on our every-other-day safari outfits (remember, we had but two), maybe put on a dash of eye make-up and lipstick, sunscreen and mosquito repellant.

2. 6:00 AM Having trekked to the lodge (sometimes only 100 yards, sometimes 1/4 mile, being ever watchful of wild game wandering through the camp) there would be coffee and tea, bread or croissants, toast, fruit, juices, sometimes muffins, sometimes some cheese. Although we always needed water, the more fluid we drank the more risk there was that we’d have to ask for a “comfort stop” on the game drive. Nobody really wanted to ask. Because of the heat, very few times did we have to ask because we were all somewhat dehydrated the entire time. We’d wolf down some food and at about 6:27 the guide would call us all to go climb on the Land Rovers. And off we’d go. With me on the game drives was: my long-sleeved shirt, usually wearing it, my camera, my safari hat, a Kleenex stuffed into a pocket, and a bottle of water. Oh, and my dark glasses for sure!

3. 6:30 AM We’re off on a game drive that would last for 3 to 4 1/2 hours. All depended on how much game we saw and how far afield we went from the safari camp. Bone-jarring rides in the Land Rover. At first, at 6:30, it’s cool – very pleasant – but within about an hour it begins to heat up and has reached the high 90s by about 10 or 11 AM. Wickedly hot. If we wore a long-sleeved safari shirt, it got peeled off soon enough. But we all wore our safari hats, with the chin strap fastened securely. I’ll do a blog post about the animals (a separate post altogether and put all the animal photos in one post). Sometimes we’d stop for refreshments part way through – coffee, tea, Amarula, snacks (usually peanuts and dried mango slices) and cold soft drinks and beer.

4. 11:00 AM – (approximately) back to the lodge, with cold washcloths and a cold drink. Refresh ourselves at the lodge co-ed bathroom, wander around, stretch our legs a bit, then a lovely sit-down lunch with a couple of courses. Always good food everywhere (this was an Abercrombie & Kent tour, remember). Wine was offered at both lunch and dinner. I preferred a very cold Coke Light on lots of ice.

5. 1:00 PM – (approximately) trek to our tent cabins for an afternoon rest, a snooze, reading, relaxation, watching for game wandering through the cabins, maybe a dunk in our private pool and/or a refreshing cold shower.

6. 4:00 PM – meet back at the lodge for “afternoon tea.” Usually it was a dessert of some kind and whatever kind of drinks, hot or cold, that you wanted.

Our tent cabin at Xaranna, partially clad in wood, screened around the front (the view).

7. 4:30 PM – afternoon game drive. All aboard, and off we’d go for another 2 1/2 – 3 hour game drive. Usually to see the same animals, but we never saw everything on every game drive. Always there were birds, usually elephant, always some impala (remember, they’re kind of the bottom of the food chain for the wild cat family). We’d stop part way through and have a sundowner – same as the morning refreshment stop except that there would be gin and tonic, bourbon, and other types of alcohol, beer, Amarula, soft drinks and water. We’d stand around the Land Rovers sipping drinks, looking out in the distance, aware of the silence.

8. 7:00 PM – (approximately) back to the camp, maybe time to refresh ourselves before dinner. Often we’d gather for a drink and appetizers on the main deck of the lodge, talking, telling stories about the different experiences on the game drives.

9. 7:30-8:00 PM – dinner at the lodge. Always sit down – sometimes within the confines of the lodge; sometimes out on the sand around the lodge. Often a campfire (did we need a campfire? absolutely not, but it was part of the ambiance).

10. 9-10:00 PM – a walk, with a guide, and a flashlight, to our tent cabins and we’d promptly fall sound asleep. Sometimes we’d wake up in the middle of the night to hear animals nearby (baboons playing on the roof) or something furtive going by the tent. I never was scared inside our tents despite the mammoth elephants that walked by.

At Xaranna, as I mentioned earlier, I was surrounded by a herd of female elephants and their babies one afternoon. Gwenda was over at the lodge and I was just resting, when I heard rustling. I looked up and here were elephants very softly foraging for new, green leaves on the trees and shrubs around my tent. I dared not open any of the screens as they were no more than 5 feet from me, and with babies in the midst I knew the mamas would be alarmed. I did open the bathroom door enough to take this picture at left of two adolescent elephants foraging around the plunge pool at our cabin. They took a little drink now and then. They didn’t seem to be alarmed with me there – the only thing that was outside the room was my iPad and my forearms.

There at right is a little bit of décor at one of the camps – made with dried bark and twigs, they’re a depiction of baobab trees. I wished I could have bought some, but there was no place whatsoever to put them in my little duffle bag! After doing some research online, these baobab trees may be made of painted (dried) banana leaves. Very clever. If I ever find them online, I’ll be ordering at least one.

There’s the lodge deck as we relaxed in the late afternoon. There were always plenty of places to sit and read, relax or write notes at a table, and be served a refreshing drink or cocktail. Always there was someone available to help.

Each of the camps did have a tiny gift shop. They didn’t have a lot of merchandise, but some were baskets and trinkets made by the staff during their off hours, or during the off season. Still I was limited because of my small duffle and no room to put anything. At the last camp many of us bought some things – because we’d unloaded the safari clothes and left them for the employees to use or give away – so I did buy some things. They’re sitting on the mantle in my master bedroom – I need to take photos of them to share here on my blog.

If you click on the links (the safari camp names) in all of my posts about the safari camps you’ll get a much better overview of the camps and how luxurious they are, and how open they are to the savannas. My photos don’t do them justice.

That’s something they call cotton grass. There have been fires in the Okavango Delta in recent years and the cotton grass is one of the things that comes up after a fire. My photo doesn’t show it very well, but the cotton grass went on and on almost as far as the eye could see in this area.

That was my view, most frequently, when we were out on a game drive. I preferred to sit in the front row seats, mostly because as a very short person, getting into the lower level (that’s still up about 3 feet above ground but requires agility to get in) was always a challenge. The taller people had an easier time climbing into the higher tiers.

The road there in the picture is actually in really good shape – I think this was the road to the airport. The tracker is sitting out front and he’s eyeballing the road for animal tracks. Every trip to or from an airport was also an opportunity to see game. He’s holding onto a bar on his left side, attached to the seat, so he can stay in place. The roads were bumpy, and when I say bumpy, they were BUMPY. Had he not held on he’d be tossed off the Land Rover in a jiffy. One thing I never realized, when you watch National Geographic or documentaries about African wild animals is that all of Africa is just a maze, a spider web, an irregular one, of tracks. The single-file tracks are either people tracks from one village to another, or elephant tracks. And the 2-tracks, obviously are used by vehicles. All the animals, but particularly the elephants and the cats, use the tracks and roads to get around. This was such a surprise to me – I just assumed they went their own way, regardless of a road or track, but they find it very easy to get around – easier than strolling in the ordinary bush. Not that they don’t go off-road – they do – but when they want to get from one place to another they use the roads just like we do!

When you fly over Africa, at low altitude (which we did in between the different camps) you can really see the maze. I’ll post pictures of that at the end of my African sojourn.

Now there, is an elephant hole. Perhaps a few weeks before this it held some water (see the mud all around), and the elephants used it as a small watering hole. But as the savanna began to dry out in the spring heat, the holes dry up. And because the elephants are smart – very smart – they will dig down into a drying up flattish watering hole to try to find more water, rather than walk another mile, perhaps, to find a bigger water source. So they use their feet to dig. This hole didn’t happen to be ON a road, but on one of our game drive trips the tracker, who is responsible for looking out for elephant holes, was scanning off in the distance, and BOOM, we drove the left front wheel right into an elephant hole. Needless to say, the Land Rover came to a complete stop with the front wheel down about 2-3 feet into the hole. The tracker went flying off. I ended up in the left seatmate’s lap, my knees jammed into the roll bar in front of me, and my camera took a flying leap. Fortunately it landed inside the truck and wasn’t damaged. I was amazed. No one was hurt, thankfully. We all had a laugh about it, though. When you think about hazards in the bush, you may not realize until you’ve been there that an elephant hole can be a serious one!

Another view of the tracker’s seat, attached to the front bumper of the trucks, with a roll bar and wire foot rest. You can just barely see the handle on the far side of the seat. The back folds down when no one is sitting in it, and when we began tracking cats, the tracker gets into the body of the truck – too dangerous to stay out front.

Up in the treetop you can see a bird. It was a lilac-crested roller, I think, though I wasn’t taking notes. I might be wrong. In that waning sunset light even if I blew it up I’m not sure. The sunsets on the savanna were absolutely beyond gorgeous.

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