On the day before Christmas Eve, after our successful game viewing at Camp Moremi, we boarded a 6-seat Cessna and flew to Laroo La Tau which is located in Makgadikgadi Pans National Park. Our rooms at Laroo La Tau were totally glass on the Boteti river-facing side (east).
A dozen elephants refreshed themselves in the river which was immediately in front of our decks and we could view them all day. We could even watch the elephants walking by the river while we took our showers. Our schedule at Laroo La Tau was similar to our schedule at Moremi: wake-up at 0530, breakfast at 0600, game drive at 0630, brunch at 1100, rest-time from 1230-1530, tea at 1530, game drive (or boat ride) at 1600, dinner at 1930. During our breaks in the afternoons we could swim, look at all the pictures we took, nap, and then it was time for afternoon tea. After dinner the guide walked us to our rooms because we couldn't be outside alone at night after dark due to the potential for animals to be out after dark. The generator (and thus the electricity) was turned off at 2200 but each guest had an air horn to be used in case of an emergency and there were battery-powered lamps for use when the power was off.
We decided to go to the village near the camp rather than going on an afternoon game drive because we wanted to see the village and this camp offered night drives, which we did not do in Camp Moremi. Lance,our guide, took us in the Land Cruiser to the village. The dirt road was single-lane and it was really bumpy and rustic. We stopped along the way to see the cattle posts- where Batswana stay while they are tending their cattle. The cattle posts were lively because of the Christmas season and people being able to travel from their jobs in the larger towns to their home villages and cattle posts.
On the drive to the village we saw cows, goats, dogs, chickens, and lots of festive people. In the village we finally placed phone calls to our family in Washington. Then we went to the Tuk shop to buy airtime for the cell phone—the Tuk shop was open, but there wasn’t a cashier, so our guide knocked on the door of the house next door and a woman came out in her bath towel and rang up our purchase. The drive around the village was fun and educational. We saw the Kgotla, school, clinic, houses, people, but not many vehicles.
After our trip to the village, we returned to our lodge and dined with our guide and the lodge staff on a lovely dinner including an impressive spread of, among other things crocodile kabobs. Then we departed in the Land Cruiser for our night game drive. On the night drive we saw pearl spotted owlette, giant eagle owl, spring hare, steen bok and a frog. Back at the lodge, we were getting ready for bed when the generator went out and we were left with flashing battery-powered lights and no fan. It was our safari disco night. We got to sleep in time to get a few zz’s before our 0530 wake-up call the next day.
On Christmas Eve day, we boarded the Land Cruiser and drove down to the river where we got into a small boat and motored up the river to a waiting Land Cruiser for our morning game drive. The landscape in the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park was much drier than the terrain at our previous location in Moremi. The wildlife was less abundant but during the drive in the Land Cruiser we got really close to a huge bull elephant as it emerged from the water and then again on our return boat ride when two elephants were wading in the water less than 25 meters from our boat.
Later, the day heated up to 95 degrees, so we lounged around on our deck watching the elephants and zebra for most of the afternoon. Following afternoon tea, we spent the early evening chatting with Changu, one of the hostesses, about travel and life in Botswana and the USA. We reviewed our pictures and spent some time catching up on each others’ lives—since Jessie and Mom hadn’t seen Katie since July.
Dinner was served inside due to thunder and the threat of rain. It was Christmas Eve and we dined with Ben (from Botswana) and George (from Sydney Australia), in addition to the staff. Ben and George went on a night drive but we retired to our room where we all slept together. We heard lions roaring several times during the night and we got up to go to the deck but couldn’t see them.
On Saturday we went on a shorter game drive with Ben and George and it rained. We saw elephants, lots of them, in the water. They were all male because the conditions in that area are too extreme for the females and their young. It was a soggy ride back to the boat landing. Patrick, another camp guide, met us on the east side of the river and took us back to the Lodge where we assembled our bags to go to the airstrip. We were delighted to see Scott in his Santa hat and 6-passenger Cessna. The ride to Camp Okavango was uneventful and we had the opportunity to view much of the Delta from the air.
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