Safari Chapter One

Long time, no blog! I have been on safari in northern Botswana and Zimbabwe with my family for the holidays and I am just now re-entering the internet zone. We were out in the bush for 12 days traveling to four different safari camps and lodges. For this blog, I am going to describe Camp Moremi, our first camp in the Moremi Wildlife Reserve.



I flew from Gaborone to Maun and then from Maun to the camp (I was the only passenger on my bush plane) where I met my mom and sister after their 60 hours of travel from Seattle via Sao Paulo, Brazil (they were originally routed to fly through London, but Heathrow was closed due to snow).



Our lodging at Camp Moremi consisted of tents on raised platforms with separate tents for the bathrooms. The camp was comfortable and rustic at the same time. We went on game drives every morning and late afternoon in Land Cruisers driven by Botswanan guides who were expert animal trackers. We were so fortunate to see a lot of different animals and birds. Among the animals we saw were zebra, impala, giraffe, hippo, warthog, water bok, reed buck, bush bok, crocodile, banded mongoose, hyena, elephant, kudu, red leschwe, and jackal. The rarest animals we saw were leopard, lion, and cheetah! We were there during the season when a lot of babies were being born and we saw baby monkeys, baboons, impala, elephants, and hippos, which we really loved. It was fun to sit in our Land Cruiser and observe the mothers and babies interacting.



We also went on a boat safari on the waters of the Okavango Delta and saw an amazing variety of birds, such as stork, eagles, and doves, two kinds of frogs, more crocodiles, and aquatic plants like lilies, reeds, and papyrus. Our boat guide pulled up some bull-rush roots from the bottom of the river for us to eat.

Many people who were planning to travel to Botswana for the holidays got caught in the winter weather in Europe and, as a result, most of our game drives and cruises were private. The guides and staff at camp were delightful and they ate all meals with us. After dinner we sat around the camp fire. The weather at Camp Moremi was hot and slightly humid.

Stay tuned for chapter two: LaRoo La Tau where we watched elephants from our river-front deck.