Reflections of a customer

Mr. M. Vilar, Mai 2005

TRACKING WILD WITH BEL AFRICA

I can't understand why I have never been to the Chobe National Park in Botswana before. Silly really, when you consider that it is less than an hour's drive from Victoria Falls in Livingstone Zambia and I'd been there on several occasions. Friends have raved about Chobe for years but it always seemed incredibly inaccessible.

So when we found ourselves in the Falls with a day or two to spare, we decided to take the opportunity and go there. Our easiest option, we soon found out, was to book with Bel Africa. As we were on holiday we wanted no hassles with transfer or any of the logistics and found out that he takes care of all of that. We jumped at the chance, all we had to do was pay, and at their reasonable rates, even this was painless.

Once in Botswana, we headed towards a camp in the Chobe National Park. It is a short ride from Kasane and we were comfortable in our 4x4. We were immediately rewarded with the sight of Roan Antelope and we continued to be rewarded with interesting gems like Tsessebe, Zebras, Wildebeest, jackals, warthogs and a myriad of birdlife. The sunset spot itself is simply stunning and we arrived to find a table already set with drinks and snacks waiting. It was a lovely surprise and a very special moment, champagne in hand, surrounded by the calls of Africa, the river before us and the sun slipping away into the glorious wide-open night. Breathe deep and let everything out, touching Africa.

On then to the safari camp, where we were met by our hosts who offered us more refreshments. The camp itself is a bush camp and despite the fact that to some people this means only tents, no running water, snakes and crawly little things that wont leave you alone, it actually has everything that you need or could wish for. The Safari accommodation consists of comfortable tents with camping cots and ensuite facilities. We freshened up, settled our things into our tents and went to the fire area for a drink. This is the area were all the meals are held and enjoy a drink from the guides’ bar and unwind.

Louis, our cheerful guide and host kept us amused with some great anecdotes about the bush and the camp and some of the guests that had been on safari with him. (I wonder what he tells people about us?) After a hearty supper we were offered a night game drive. What an enriching experience this is ...I had never been on a game drive with someone who really knew what to look for. Of course I have driven around at night with friends, hallucinating and imagining trees to be giraffes, rocks to be lions.... that sort of thing. This was different. Louis knew exactly what to look for, and we found it. Our guide revealed little night creatures that are absent in sunlight to us, with a little help from his spotlight of course. Lesser bush babies stared with wide eyes before springing from tree to tree, a civet cat prowled in the shadows, steenbok and springhares hopped about. We saw jackals, buffalo, impala, elephant and we even came across the big daddy of all rodents - a porcupine. After Louis gave us a quick introduction to the stars and formations of the Southern skies, we felt we had received more than our money's worth for the day and retired to bed.

The following morning saw us heading for the Chobe River for - no, not a game drive this time-a boat cruise. We embarked on a flat-bottomed boat, loaded it with drinks. The Chobe River is a story all on its own. It forms the boundary between Botswana and Namibia and meets the Zambezi at the point (Kazangula) where Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana meet. Now, this would imply that the Chobe River flows into the Zambezi, but it doesn't. It is more of a backwater of the Zambezi and at times the Zambezi flows into it. It’s a bit confusing really. I mention this for one reason, the rather static nature of the Chobe river means that its wonderfully wide and placid waters are a haven for wildlife, particularly birds. We cruised along gently and watched with wonder, as birds seemed to appear from every direction.

If you are a keen birder, I can't recommend a boat trip on the Chobe enough. We saw several marsh harriers up close, fish eagles, snake eagles, spur winged geese, secretary birds, spoonbills, egrets, cranes, jacanas, plovers, kingfishers and hundreds of pratincoles. And there were large game too, buffalo, red lechwe, puku, hippos and elephants, loads of elephants...They say that there are over 50 000 elephants in the Chobe NP. That is a lot of elephants and you certainly do see them. You also see the effect that these big fellows have on the vegetation, giving rise to much debate as to whether they should introduce culling into Chobe. It is a tough debate but for my part, as an ardent elephant lover, I was happy to see an abundance of pachyderms. To see these huge, gentle beasts with baggy pants gathered at the waters edge, untroubled by man and machines, was a thrill indeed.

After breakfast on the water and a thoroughly enjoyable cruise, we headed for the shore and set of on a game drive through the park. One thing that strikes you about Chobe is that it is relatively "uncrowded". We were there between Christmas and New Year and I expected to see hundreds of 4x4s all racing around in search of something to catch on film. In fact, it felt as if we had the place to ourselves and I think we may have passed, at the most, three vehicles in two hours. That, in my mind is a big attraction and Louis told us that it is even quieter going on a longer safari to Savuti and Moremi in the Okavango Delta, but the real attraction of course is the game itself and we saw plenty of that. In addition to seeing most of the game already mentioned, we were rewarded with the sight of a lone female lion strolling by the water's edge and felt that we had done exceptionally well.

After a pleasant lunch under a large mopane tree, listening to the deep grunts of nearby lions, we were taken back to the Falls and returned to our hotel. We had a thoroughly enjoyable outing and what was especially pleasing was the fact that we had to do absolutely nothing except sit back and enjoy it; transfers, park fees and all meals and drinks are part of the deal.

We have since discovered that Bel Africa has many types of safari packages to offer, tailored to suit any length of stay or taste from participation to luxury safaris. They will show you Botswana: from Chobe and Savuti, to Moremi, Okavango Delta, Mkgadikgadi and Nxai salt pans. To anyone wanting to take a look at what Botswana offers, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to you.