An African Safari
It had been ten years since Jane and I first ventured to Africa. In 2014, we traveled to Kenya and Tanzania with several friends for some awesome wildlife experiences. This summer, 2024, we journeyed with Stu Porter on his Wild 4 African Photographic Safaris to Botswana. Jane and I were two of six intrepid photographers to experience this adventure. And an adventure it was. Ten nights in a mobile tent camp within some of Botswana’s most notable national parks and game reserves.
For Jane and me, the venture really started in December of 2022 when we first decided to embark on this safari with Stu Porter and deposits were made. After that, it was eighteen months of anticipation for the adventure to begin. Reading the trip information, we knew this was going to be a most memorable journey. Our excitement grew as departure time approached, but so did apprehensions about airline schedules and potential delay problems for the long, multi-stop flight from Albuquerque to Johannesburg, South Africa. So, Jane schedule our flights to arrive a day before the start of our tour. We spent our first night in Africa at the City Lodge Hotel at the Johannesburg airport.
On July 27th we met Stu and our fellow travelers, Lin and T.J. Lenahan, and Jean and Keith Aclin, for the Airlink flight from Johannesburg to Maun, Botswana. In Maun, we quickly gathered our bags and transferred to a Mackair charter flight to Moremi, in the Okavango Delta. Waiting for us at the Moremi landing strip were our guides Nkosi Sibanda and Frank Mashebe with the modified Toyota Land Cruiser safari vehicles that would transport us for the next ten days. It was all very exciting as we encountered jackals, giraffes, lions and leopards along the drive from the airstrip to our first camp site.
Staying in a mobile, tented camp was a brand new experience for us and we didn’t know exactly what to expect. An obvious conclusion was that everything, including food, drinking water, kitchen paraphernalia, cots, bedding, and tents had to be brought along as we moved from one remote camp to another. Our outfitter, Thru-the-lens Photographic Safaris, was well experienced in remote, mobile camping and, logistically, all the camp relocations and setups occurred seamlessly. The camp itself was also managed efficiently from the 5:30 AM wakeup call, through breakfast, noon lunch, three o’clock high tea and the evening dinner. Kudos to the camp staff who were always helpful and friendly, but most importantly, kept the camp safe from marauding wildlife through the night.
Our accommodation was an aluminum-framed, marquee style ridge tent large enough to stand up in and contain two cots with space for two bedside tables. There was a covered “porch” area in front with a couple of large folding chairs, four screened window openings, and an attached en suite bathroom. Bathroom facilities included a folding console table that accommodated two small galvanized tubs that were filled with hot water every morning at 5:30 for washing up. There was also a thermos with drinking water for brushing teeth and a bucket shower that was filled with hot water during the lunch break. The toilet was a “porta potty” placed over an open pit.
The daily routine started at 5:30 in the morning when camp staff would bring hot water for washing up. After washing up and dressing warmly (morning temperatures ranged in the mid-40’s), we gathered around the campfire for coffee, tea and breakfast. Then, as twilight started to lighten the sky, we boarded the land cruisers for the morning game run to see what wildlife could be found to photograph. Each vehicle was set up with three rows of seats so each of the six photographers would have a full row for shooting and storing camera gear. Stu instituted a rotation system so that each day we would start in a different row.
During the game run, around mid-morning, there would be a coffee break with cookies, and the proverbial “pit stop”. Typically, we arrived back at camp around noon where staff would be waiting to greet us and prepare lunch. Lunch was buffet style with choices of salads and main course. After lunch, during the harsh light of mid-day, was “free” time for charging camera and laptop batteries, showering and napping. At three, we would gather again at the dining tent for high tea and cake. The afternoon game drive started after high tea, when temperatures ranged in the high-80’s, and lasted until dusk when it became too dark for photography.
After returning to camp from the afternoon drive, it was time for relaxing around the campfire, sharing stories of the day’s experience, and enjoying a cocktail or glass of wine. Dinner followed after Holly, the very talented camp chef, announced the evening’s menu followed by her hearty, high-pitched, tongue trill, ululation. Dinner started with appetizer, or salad, followed by the main course, usually a meat or fish dish, and finished with a tasty dessert.
The game runs were amazing. Frank and Nkosi would maneuver the land cruisers skillfully through a maze of sandy tracks searching for signs of wildlife. They were exceptionally good at reading the signs and tracks of the animals we pursued. Scouring the dry grass and scrubby terrain, they had an uncanny knack for spotting something interesting to photograph. Every run was unique and I anxiously anticipated our encounters with Botswana’s wildlife. At times I felt the experience would have been similar to those of the early big game hunters, only we were shooting with cameras, not guns.
There were many, memorable wildlife encounters. One in particular stands out that I refer to as a “National Geographic” moment. I was in Frank’s land cruiser when he spotted a pack of about twelve wild dogs on a hunt. He immediately left the sandy track we were on and started pursuing the dogs on a parallel course across the open velt, avoiding large shrubs and deep ruts, at a hectic pace. Keeping up with the speeding dogs allowed us to witness the wild dogs take down and devour an impala. That adrenaline inducing chase was truly a “National Geographic” moment.
Water holes were especially productive for photography. However, during the dry season, especially now with global warming, water holes are typically dry. Consequently, Botswana’s wildlife reserves have drilled water wells to seasonally fill a few strategic water holes. We observed a variety of large mammals, including elephants, giraffes, impala, wildebeest, wild dogs, as well as flocks of birds, drinking at the water holes.
After ten nights in our mobile camp tents, we departed the dry Okavango Delta for the Chobe River at Kasane, Botswana. Sadly, we left Frank, Nkosi and our, now familiar, land cruisers at the Savute “International Airport” for our charter flight to Kasane and the Pangolin Hotel. It was way beyond joy to be at the Pangolin Hotel with a real shower and a comfortable bed for two.
At Kasane, our safari mode changed from land cruisers to small boats with outboard motors and special gimbal supports for our cameras. We cruised the Chobe River during mornings and afternoons to photograph wildlife. Along the wide waterway, it was not so much searching for wildlife but rather being at the right place at the right time. The river naturally attracts thirsty animals and the reeds along the river’s edge attract many birds. Our new guide, the boat captain, was adroit at finding small birds, including bee-eaters and several unique kingfishers. Our cameras were kept pretty busy on the Chobe.
We bade Stu an emotional goodbye as he prepared for his next safari and we prepared for our trip extension to Victoria Falls. All six of us hardy travelers loaded our luggage into a van for the transfer to Victoria Falls. Crossing the border from Botswana into Zimbabwe came with its own bit of confusion and humor. Eventually, though, all paper work was completed, visas paid for, and passports stamped. Our destination was the Ilala Lodge near the entrance to Victoria Falls National Park. Once at the hotel, Lin and T.J., as well as Jean and Keith, had their own plans so each couple started their Victoria Falls visit independently.
David Livingstone, the British missionary and explorer, named the falls after Queen Victoria in 1855 and in 1989 the Victoria Falls was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. During the wet season, nearly 300,000 gallons per second of water thunder over a mile long precipice falling 350 feet into the narrow Zambezi River gorge. During the dry season, when we were at the falls, the volume of water cascading over the precipice is only about a third, but still an impressive volume of water.
It was a short taxi ride from the Ilala Lodge to the Victoria Falls National Park entrance. In the park is a paved trail along the edge of the gorge opposite the water fall with a number of viewpoints. In mid-afternoon, the sun is positioned so that a vivid rainbow appears in the spray of mist created by the falling water. Jane and I made sure not to miss that spectacle. We also signed up for a helicopter flight over the falls for an impressive aerial view.
On August 10th, after fifteen adventurous days in Africa, we departed the Ilala Lodge around ten in the morning for our 30 minute taxi ride to Victoria Fall Airport. From there, it was a long journey home. We arrived back in Albuquerque mid-afternoon on August 11th, having spent more than 24 hours in airport terminals and airplanes. Looking back, it is hard to imagine an adventure more memorable than this African safari. The comradery among all our fellow travelers, Stu, Frank, Nkosi, and camp crew, as well as the wildlife encounters, made this a unique, one-of-a-kind, exciting adventure.