travelswithalice

June 28, 2018

Makgadikgadi

On our last full day in camp, I decide to join the afternoon game drive. Stuart shows me on the map the route we are to take.

Mosah tells me the history of the landscape. Once upon a time, the Okavango delta didn’t exist and the Boteti river fed the saltpans. Over time It has changed course leaving the pans to dry up. The river now comes to a stop in Lake Xau in the south.

The past several months have been very dry and the river on Meno a Kwena has narrowed considerably, retreating miles away from the tree line on either bank. Further upriver though, on Makgadikgadi Park, the river is fuller and bluer.

We drive up to the river’s edge and into a magical world, like stepping “through the looking glass”. But the animals here are not make-believe. They are real. They are wild. And they roam free.

This is their land. We are visitors to their kingdom. We must strive to behave as respectful guests.

Towards the end of the game drive, we get to see two lionesses tending to their three-week old cubs. A brilliant finish to an incredible day in the wild.

*****

On our way home, all are quiet in the jeep as the sun sets and the evening star sparkles in the twilight.

Nirmal breaks the silence, announcing, “I need a bush.”

KB dutifully stops the jeep and steps out with him. Stuart also gets out and heads for a tree.

I’m left in the jeep by myself.

“If all three of you get eaten by lions, what should I do?” I call out to nobody in particular.

“Take pictures,” Stuart replies.

Labels: Africa, Botswana, Meno a Kwena, safari

posted by Alice Dimalanta Jones # June 28, 2018

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