Wed. 12th June ‘24
Today we complete our crossing of (the much larger than we thought) Chobe National Park. As with the drive down to Savuti, we’ve been warned that we will be going through patches of thick sand. However, we are much more confident now that we have Mungo set up properly. The first decision to take is which road to use. The choice is between ‘Sand Ridge Road’ and ‘Marsh Road’ so neither is appealing on first sight! Sand Ridge Road is the shorter route and Google says go that way. The guide book is more equivocal and says that Marsh Road is generally easier driving, except in the rainy season when it is best avoided. The officials on the desk at the exit to Savuti say that both are fine, but we have more chance of animal sightings on Marsh Road – and can we please take a case of UHT milk down to the staff at Mabebe Gate (the southern exit from Chobe).
We’ll never know whether we’d have seen more on Marsh Road as we decide that our best chance of getting to Sango Camp in time for lunch is to take the shorter route. And what an inspired decision that was! After no more than 20mins, Janet goes “B*****! S***! B*******! – I mean LIONS!”. And there, right by the side of the road, no more than a couple of feet onto the verge is a lioness and her cub. The cub is mildly curious about us and watches us with a very cute expression, but the lioness is not interested in us at all. She doesn’t even deign to give us a glance. She plainly knew we were there, and it was amazing to see that they feel so safe in the presence of us in Mungo.
They were too close for the long lenses on our big cameras, so most of the snapping was done on our trusty little compact. We were a little less relaxed than the lioness even though we only had the window down and so we decided to move on before we wore out our welcome. Of course, we were buzzing from this experience and the next few km went by quickly even though we’re only making under 30km/hr. Progress is still sufficiently good that we feel able to stop for pictures of a fish eagle and this giraffe looking quizzically at us.
We’ve got a total of 64km from Savuti to Mabebe Gate, and the lions are a reminder that this is a national park, and the guidance / rule is – don’t get out of your car. Fortunately, Mungo has things completely under control. Yes, there are patches of deep sand but he is able to get through these with ease now and there is never a moment when either of us worry that we’ll grind to a halt. The road surface changes every few hundred metres – sometimes a solid clay, sometimes lumps and bumps, and sometimes sand which can get deep with little warning. Although I experiment a few times with high-range 4WD, its best to stick with low-range ready to use 3rd gear with plenty of revs in the sand.
The kilometres tick down until we are at Mabebe Gate much closer to when we hoped than when we feared. We high-five each other (and Mungo too!) on a job well done. Not only have we broken the back of today’s drive but also we feel that we can now cope with any terrain that Botswana’s roads have to throw at us. After being relieved in the other meaning of the term, we have a celebratory coffee and the last of our “emergency” muffins that we bought in Kasane. Then it’s time to change drivers and see if we can get to Sango Camp in time for lunch.
The rest of the way is on stony, rocky road more like Namibian conditions than those we’ve become used to, but Mungo just rolls along. We’re doing so well for time that we feel able to call in at a marked Hippo Pool just before the village of Khwai and Sango Camp. There are a few hippos in the water, but the surroundings of the pool are so lovely that they were worth the stop by themselves.
Sango is another of these smallish lodges where the accommodation is in half-a-dozen large “tents”. Perhaps not as luxurious as some we’ve been at, but much more so than Mungo’s tent. Even more importantly, we are given a very friendly welcome and introduced to Paco who will be our guide for the two days that we are here. After a little discussion, we agree that we’ll go on game drives this afternoon and tomorrow morning and then out in the mokoro canoes tomorrow afternoon. Decisions made, we can relax / catch up with blog and admin!
As we head out for our game drive, Paco asks what, in particular, we’d like to see – and we both answer “leopard”! I’ve never seen a leopard in the wild and whilst Janet has, it has been from a distance and required binoculars and/or a long lens on the camera. We know how shy leopards are but Paco says that it might be possible. First though, we need to stick near the airstrip as we may be joined by another couple who are just about to fly in. So off we go and find some hippos indulging in their favourite activity of wallowing in the mud.
One thing (of many) that we didn’t understand that before we left the UK, was that Sango is not in Moremi Game Reserve, but instead is in Khwai – a community owned concession that backs on to the northern border of Moremi. This is where we will be exploring for the next couple of days and once we’ve collected Richard and Susan, an Aussie couple, then we head off in search of a leopard that Paco hopes will still be in the area after killing a warthog yesterday. We try to keep our expectations down as we’ve had several futile searches over the last few weeks.
And then, there he is. The give-away, as usual, is a parked up safari truck complete with punters sticking cameras out of the side. We pull up behind and can just about make out a leopard lying down in the grass. He’s not far away – maybe 5 metres – but the grass makes it hard to see or photograph him clearly until he sits up and yawns. Having done that, he decides that perhaps the ground will be a bit softer a few yards away and strolls over to lie down again. All the while, we are clicking away. Definitely male and definitely big and just oozing power – but very relaxed and really not bothered by us.
Paco thinks he’s moving towards the tree where he has stashed his warthog, and so drives there whilst we wait with fingers crossed that he will come along. Sure enough, after a few minutes he reappears, and effortlessly bounds up the tree. After a quick look around, he settles down and has what is obviously his second or third go at this warthog. Somehow, he’s able to balance on a branch, manoeuvre the warthog around and chomp away. What a magnificent animal, and we are so lucky to be so close, to have such good views and to have such beautiful light in which to photograph him – and to hear as he crunches through bones. When we get back to the lodge and get the pictures uploaded on to the computer, we find that between us we have taken 200 photos of the leopard in almost exactly an hour from first to last. Truly a day that has exceeded expectations.