6:00pm. Limpopo river Botswana. Today was an exciting day; we left early this morning from Johannesburg driving northwest to Gaborone. We followed a dirt road out of Gaborone heading northeast attempting to find a nice location along the Limpopo River for animal watching. After about two hours on…Read More

6:00pm. Limpopo river Botswana. Today was an exciting day; we left early this morning from Johannesburg driving northwest to Gaborone.

We followed a dirt road out of Gaborone heading northeast attempting to find a nice location along the Limpopo River for animal watching. After about two hours on the bumpy dirt track we arrived at a small native village. The natives stared at us quietly as we drove through their village. Heinrich (My friend from Johannesburg) told me to smile and act normal. After winding our way through huts and livestock we left the village heading due east towards the Limpopo. After thirty more minutes of driving we came to another small village. Again the people ran out of their huts and just watched us as if they had never seen anyone in a vehicle before. We passed on through scattering dust everywhere. It was beginning to get late so we decided to pitch camp at a dry water hole and continue to the Limpopo in the morning. We both opted to sleep on top of the Mercedes Sprinter (A common place to camp in Africa where there are wild animals) so after dinner over the fire we climbed atop to enjoy the sounds of the African night.

About 9:30pm. Five miles west of the Limpopo river- tonight I am sleeping out under the stars in beautiful Botswana. The moon is full and the stars bright. I can hear the sounds of wildlife all around. There is a cool southern breeze keeping the mosquitoes at bay. Good night.

11:30pm. Finally found a pen! Well, I am writing by moonlight, I had just fallen asleep when out of the southwest came the sounds of native drums! I can hear the drums and people yelling. It makes me a little nervous. Heinrich says its fine.

1:00am. The drums are much louder now, the yelling and singing seems to be getting closer. Heinrich decided it was time to put out the fire and he extinguished his cigarette. Nervous! 1:40am.

They are surrounding us! Heinrich and I are sitting quietly in the dark straining to listen at the footsteps and whistles coming from the bush all around us. The drums are very loud and monotonous, I hope they don’t molest us!

2:30am. Still awake, very nervous, we are totally surrounded by natives in the bush watching us. They communicate to each other by whistles and clicks. The drums are still pounding but I can hear women singing and laughing off in the distance. I have written my address and information in the back of my journal in case something happens and my journal is found.

2:50 am.

I can hear people walking in the bushes, it sounds as if they are fading away in the distance, Heinrich and I sit still waiting and hoping that they decided to move off and let us be, which they did. The drums sounded all night. To this day I can still remember each moment sitting there tense with anticipation of an attack. and wondering if I could escape and survive in the bush until I found my way to safety.

Since this memorable experience I have learned a considerable amount about the rural natives. Simple common sense would have saved us the agony we went through. I should have stopped in each village and offered the chief a coke or gift and asked his permission to travel or camp on his land. He would of made sure we were left alone. Instead we offended them by just taking up residence on their land without asking permission or at least making friends with them. I consider myself fortunate that they were content with just scaring us instead of harming us.

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When we were rough-housing as kids, my mother used tell us we sounded like a herd of elephants. I doubt she realized the compliment. The eles (pronounced Ellie) we encountered were quiet, regal and stately. They stand and sway a bit.…Read More

When we were rough-housing as kids, my mother used tell us we sounded like a herd of elephants. I doubt she realized the compliment. The eles (pronounced Ellie) we encountered were quiet, regal and stately. They stand and sway a bit. Make an occasional “whoof” of air, a twitch of the tail or one of their enormous, almost translucent ears, which act as a cooling system. When they walk, it’s with a slow grace, though they can run at a good clip when necessary.

Our first encounter, however, wasn’t all that quiet. Our jeep inadvertently separated two halves of a migrating herd and one young fellow took exception to this state of affairs and headed toward us, trumpeting away. Fortunately, the matriarch put an end to that nonsense and the herd moved on, leaving me a little shaken.

Which meant, when our driver pulled into the middle of an elephant herd half an hour later and shut off the engine, I was a bit apprehensive. At 10 paces, these animals are very, very big. There were a few looks from the young males, a few feints, but it didn’t take long to realize no one was paying much attention to us and these quiet times just watching the elephants are one of my best memories of Chobe.

During the day, the eles (pronounced Ellie) travel inland considerable distances to find food, then in the evening, back to the river to drink and bathe. The elephants we spent time with were mostly breeding herds made up of females, immature males and babies. They have a matriarchal society and the babies are cared for by mothers, aunts, and older siblings. When we were there, there were dozens of babies from very tiny to half grown. The rule of thumb is if the baby ele can stand under the back end of mom, its under six months old. If it can stand under the front end of mom, its under a year. When the young males get old enough to notice the females, they are sent packing, and we would encounter solitary males now and again, or small packs of two or three.

The most noticeable feature of the herd is the affection. The older females let the little ones lean against a leg or a trunk, or they will reach out a trunk to touch them now and again. They are also incredibly protective, and at the first whiff of danger, the older eles they would surround the babies until you couldn’t even tell they were there.

The youngsters, on the other hand, are mischievous and just love to play. You’d think that something that weights several hundred pounds a birth wouldn’t be quite so playful, but these little kids liked to romp, splash in the water, roll in the dirt. During one afternoon drive, we watched three little ones wrestle in the dirt, having almost as much fun as we were.

The eles would linger on the beach, wading in the water, drinking, spraying their bodies with water, or just resting; then, as the sun began to set, there would be some unheard and unseen (to us) signal from the matriarch, they would head into the water at their slow pace. All you’d hear would be the slosh of water as they waded to one of the islands to graze. Now and again, you’d hear the deep, low growl they use to communicate, and I was told it could be heard up to 20 miles.

As the sky reddened, we would pull a Zambezi (local beer) out of the cooler and settle back to watch the animals silhouetted against the African sunset before heading back to the lodge. Close

We had a little bass boat to skim us along the Chobe River after lunch every day. First day out, we were barely past the Lodge grounds before we watched our first drama unfold. Three pied kingfishers took on a monitor lizard trying…Read More

We had a little bass boat to skim us along the Chobe River after lunch every day. First day out, we were barely past the Lodge grounds before we watched our first drama unfold. Three pied kingfishers took on a monitor lizard trying to steal eggs from their nests (which are actually holes in the side of the riverbank). We watched the lizard dig into the hole while the kingfishers dive-bombed him with their formidable beaks. They fought the good fight, but, unfortunately, the lizard won.

On to the hippos and our second drama. The river was full of them, lazing mid-stream, only eyes and ears above the waterline (remember the Jungle ride at Disneyland?). We passed family groups wading in the shallows and wallowing in the mud to protect their tender skin from sunburn (I kid you not). Occasionally, we would get too close and were warned off their territory with wide-mouth yawns.

One afternoon, on the grassy edge of the river, we found a badly injured hippo with large chunks of flesh hanging from his side. A few hundred yards further up river we caught up with the hoodlum hippos who had “allegedly” done the deed. They must have still been high from the tussle because they chased us – they actually run through the water at an amazing speed. No wonder they kill more people in Africa than any other animal. It gave me great deal of respect for the natives poling along in their mokoros – dug out canoes that that don’t look all that stable.

We pulled alongside an 18-foot crocodile lazing at the edge of the water and as we watched him watching us, our driver mentioned in passing that it was the biggest croc he’d been this close to (were only six feet away). On a return visit, the croc had had his fill of tourists and slid into the water with hardly a ripple. Floating along the surface, eyes and the ridge of his back visible, he looked like a deadly zipper gliding along.

Having seen this silent killer in the water, we weren’t surprised by the skittishness of the impala, lined up at the edge of the river like a very nervous chorus line. Every movement or shadow on the river had them scurring inland, then hesitantly forward again to drink.

The bird life along the river was fantastic. Armed with assorted guidebooks, knowledgeable guide and driver, and telephoto lenses, we photographed an amazing display of plumage from carmine bee-eater with its crimson breast, to eagles by the dozens, cormorants, skimmers, storks, herons, egrets, etc. I checked off 47 species in the little pamphlet we were given the first day out – a drop in the bucket among the 500 living in Botswana. Close

My backside hitting the cold metal of the jeep’s seat did more to wake me up than coffee. One tends to think of Africa as hot. Well, it is in summer, but we were here in May (winter in the southern hemisphere) and…Read More

My backside hitting the cold metal of the jeep’s seat did more to wake me up than coffee. One tends to think of Africa as hot. Well, it is in summer, but we were here in May (winter in the southern hemisphere) and the pre-dawn chill, compounded by being in an open jeep, made me very glad we had warm jackets, several layers of sweaters, hats, and gloves. After my first encounter with the metal seat, I was also grateful for our driver’s thoughtful pile of warm blankets. As the sun rose, I could empathize with the baboons sitting in patches of sunlight, all facing the rising sun, thawing out from the cold night like some religious gathering.

Our morning drives started in lobby of the Lodge where we were served chunks of rusk, sort of a safari version of sea biscuits or hard tack. Got rather used to it by the second day, washed down with tea or coffee, and it certainly helped tide us over until we got back for breakfast.

While the afternoon cruises seemed to be mostly birds, hippos and crocs; the sunset drives, primarily elephants (they call them eles), the dawn drives were a free-for-all. Every morning we’d see something different. Much of the landscape is sandy with low, dense scrub sprinkled with dead trees, compliments of the ravenous elephants. However, the stark branches made elegant perches for the dozens of eagles we saw.

Among the other sightings were: baboons grooming (after they’d thawed out), an African wild cat scampering with the giraffes; an interrupted impala courtship (including a good tongue lashing by the handsome suitor for our rudeness), a Chobe bushbuck, very shy and found only in this area, and so well camouflaged that even after our driver pointed him out we had trouble finding him. We saw small herds of skittish impala; puku, which look like impala, only darker and stockier; glimpses of even more skittish sable antelope; Cape buffalo who aren’t the least bit shy and have attitudes to match their stony glare; and, of course, eles. Our guide also showed us the tiny creatures of Africa, including an army of ants on the move and a migration of frogs, which looked like leaves flitting in the wind.

Though we didn’t see any kills, we saw plenty of evidence of death in the wild: a Cape buffalo stripped to ribs, skull and spine by lion, and the carcass of one very large elephant 100 yards off the track. Even at that distance, and the fact he was three weeks dead, striped white with vulture droppings, the stench was substantial. Close

From Maun we traveled 142km of dirt road in small 4WD safari Land Cruisers. We set up camp at the Xaxanaka area of the Moremi Game Reserve in the northeast section of the Okavango Delta. On the way to camp, we pass an old tractor…Read More

From Maun we traveled 142km of dirt road in small 4WD safari Land Cruisers. We set up camp at the Xaxanaka area of the Moremi Game Reserve in the northeast section of the Okavango Delta. On the way to camp, we pass an old tractor hauling tires behind on chains. Their version of our road grader. We spot an African hawk eagle, and a giraffe standing under an acacia tree. The driver slows down and we spot two female lions under a tree, almost hidden by the bushes. One raises its head, we look back and go on. A number of zebras are grazing along side of the road and birds like the red-billed horn bill makes a strange noise. Springbok and bushbok run freely and a groshawk is perched in a tree. We arrived at our remote camp site and went with the familiarity of putting up the tents. A huge elephant was near our camp as we drove off for a game drive. The area is amazing, not only the animals but the colors of the land. Giraffes lazily eating from the branches of trees. Herds of springbok and impala roam the land and birds of bright colors and shapes flit about from tree to tree. One nyala was standing on a hill looking regal and protecting the females. The tall grass around him glowed in the African sun. The reflections of ibis and other birds were carried into the water. Clouds of fluffy pillows float in the blue sky above the greens of the delta. The smell of wild African sage fills the air. Hippos poke their heads from water holes and crocodiles roam the banks. The air is clear and the noise of the wind can be gently heard through the bush. A baboon sits on top of a giant termite mound shaped like a castle. Two more are climbing a tree. We watch the sun setting over a water hole as a little bird dances near the reed-lined banks. Dinner is waiting back at camp and we have to move our camp chairs back as a huge bull elephant walks into our camp. We thought he might step on one of the tents but he seems calm. We watched as he walked back and forth through the camp and into the trees. I think we had set up camp in his pathway and when he finally found a way around, he disappeared into the bush. A thousand stars came out that night. We see the Milky Way and the Southern Cross. The landscape darkens.

We took a truck safari after breakfast where herds of impala were grazing. All of a sudden the driver stops the truck and motions for us to be quiet—a leopard right in front of us. He sat for a short time and then ran into the high grass. The driver inched forward slowly until I noticed two eyes staring from the bush. He blended in so well, I would not have noticed him if it wasn’t for his eyes. We watched until he got up and walked in front of the truck and down the trail. Such a beautiful animal. We came to an open plain where wildebeest and zebras were grazing. Strange, but it seems if you see one of those animals, you will see the other. We returned to camp to catch a small boat for a safari on the water. Impalas and elephants roamed along the banks and paid no attention to our oohs and aahs coming from the boat. The river winds its way through a maze of interconnecting channels and we spot a group of hippos. They entertained us by dropping in the water with a quick drop and coming back up with a snort that sounded like a sneeze. Papyrus and sedge lined the banks. African jacana seem to be walking on water lilies and other floating vegetation. Birds, like the lilac-breasted roller and the small bee-eater add a dash of bright color to the scene. The reflections in the water invert the scenery. We see red lechwe and antelope. We are experiencing one of Africas most natural and unspoiled lands. I only wish we had more time here.

I woke up to a sunrise that filled our camp with golden hues of orange, reds, and yellow. Packed up our tents and took a slow ride back to Maun stopping along the way to watch a herd of elephants in the bush.

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The Delta is one of Africa's last remaining wilderness regions of papyrus-lined waterways, floodplains, lagoons, forest glades, and savanna grasslands. Covering 6,000km², the area is pristine and untouched. We drove to the Maun airport where we boarded our flight over the delta. The Okavango is…Read More

The Delta is one of Africa's last remaining wilderness regions of papyrus-lined waterways, floodplains, lagoons, forest glades, and savanna grasslands. Covering 6,000km², the area is pristine and untouched. We drove to the Maun airport where we boarded our flight over the delta. The Okavango is known as "the river which never finds the sea" and is Africa's largest natural oasis.

It is a natural refuge for larger animals of the Kalahari. The water gives a place for animals not usually expected in a desert environment. The Okavango is an area that is left from waters of Lake Makgadikgadi that once covered the Kalahari. Some think that the Chobe, Okavango, Kwando, and Zambezi rivers were at one time a single river that flowed to the Indian Ocean.

We flew over herds of elephants making their way to water holes. Hippos were lulling around another water hole and a single giraffe stood in the middle of a plain. Birds flitted about; the land is lush and green. There are wide open spaces lined by trees and pools of water reflect the clouds above. The sky is a deep blue and the shadow of our plane follows the river. More herds of elephants, hippos, and springbok make their way across the Delta. As we leave the airport, I notice a sign with an elephant on it. The sign says, "trophy hunters kill for fun. My family needs me.”

Papyrus, the phoenix palm, and sedge dominate the deltas swamps. There are 80 species of fish in the waters of the delta. Okavango is a continuing work of nature.



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The drive through Botswana to our camp at Dqae-Qare took us past remote villages, donkeys, and bright yellow flowers. Our camp is in the Kalahari on a game reserve owned by the Ncoakhoe people from the village of D’Kar. The camp site has many trees…Read More

The drive through Botswana to our camp at Dqae-Qare took us past remote villages, donkeys, and bright yellow flowers. Our camp is in the Kalahari on a game reserve owned by the Ncoakhoe people from the village of D’Kar. The camp site has many trees and shade to sit and enjoy the setting sun. Met with a few of the Ncoakhoe women for a bush walk into the veld. The Ncoakhoe are proud of their traditions and are willing to share their knowledge about the bush and their lives with visitors. They showed us plants they use in their daily lives for food, medicine, and moisture. The camel acacia bears pods which are food to the kudos and the giraffe. The Bushmen also use the pods as rattles for their babies. The earth is red from the high content of iron oxide and the tall golden grass is dotted with bushes and trees; very dramatic against the blue sky and white fluffy clouds. The air is hot but there is a light breeze. The San Bushmen can be traced back 40,000 years. They are the oldest hunters and gatherers known to any civilization. Today there are only about 100,000 San people left in Africa and half of them live in Botswana.

Our first night in camp brought a huge lightening storm moving over the Kalahari, an experience I wanted to be a part of. I stood in the rain and watched the bolts of jagged lightening give light to different areas. An amazing scene. The darkness and a flash of light through the bushes and trees giving for an instant a clue to a remarkable land. The rain let up and our group walked down a path to the village center where the Bushmen entertained us with their dancing, clapping and singing to represent their life in the desert, the animals, and their beliefs.

We visited their craft shop after the dancing and found a small gallery displaying paintings, woven articles, and the famous Botswana coiled baskets. This is one source of income for the tribe. The camp is located about 23km south of Maun on the road to Ghanzi.

Dqae-Qare
P.O. Box 219, Gantsi, Botswana
Phone: 72527321/72670885/6597702
Fax:6597703
Email: dqae@info.bw



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Chobe National Park is the second largest national park in Botswana and covers 10,566km² with one of the highest concentrations of animals in Africa. The park is divided into four separate eco systems: the Serondela with its lush plains and forests, the Savuti Marsh,…Read More

Chobe National Park is the second largest national park in Botswana and covers 10,566km² with one of the highest concentrations of animals in Africa. The park is divided into four separate eco systems: the Serondela with its lush plains and forests, the Savuti Marsh, the Linyanti Swamps, and the hot dry rural area in between.

The Basarwa or San people inhabited the area. They were hunter-gatherers and nomads who would move from one area to another in search of water and animals for food. In 1960, Chobe was declared a game reserve and in 1967, it became the first National Park of Botswana. Chobe has a large elephant population of about 35,000 and an amazing variety of game and bright colored birds such as the Rollers and Bee-Eaters. There is a natural beauty to this part of Africa with its floodplains, baobab, mopane, and acacia trees and the golden grasslands that border the Chobe River.

Our safari drive north to Kasane brought us in view of many birds and elephant before we reached our camp at the edge of the Chobe River. We made camp near the Chobe Safari Lodge, an upscale lodge with all the amenities one would want. The camp sits in the northern part of Chobe and is part of the Serondela ecosystem. A sign in front of our camp near the water said, “Beware of crocodiles.” There was an optional boat safari down the river but after seeing the swimming pool at the lodge, my mind was made up that that would be my optional excursion. I swam and enjoyed the warm African sun. Hippos in the river serenaded us and baboons played in the trees above us. Two warthogs entertained us running back and forth and one raided our camp. We met a woman at the pool that has been in Botswana for 23 years as a missionary. She said that you can’t be in this country for that long and not be involved in the AIDS/HIV cause. Botswana has a 47% rate of AIDS, the highest of anywhere in the world. She was working with an aviation company evacuating people with emergencies. I made a comment that she must love it here to stay that long. Her comment was, “It’s a love-hate relationship.” The group came back from the boat safari and said they saw elephants, baboons, and a few springbok. The birds were beautiful and they saw crocodile and hippos. I was happy I spent the day as I did.
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January 10, 2006, I started my adventure by taking multiple planes (Chicago-London-Johannesburg-Maun-Sandibe Lodge) the total time it took to get to my first destination was 30 hours. The last plane was an 8 seated prop plane. By the way the plane looked I would be…Read More

January 10, 2006, I started my adventure by taking multiple planes (Chicago-London-Johannesburg-Maun-Sandibe Lodge) the total time it took to get to my first destination was 30 hours. The last plane was an 8 seated prop plane. By the way the plane looked I would be happy to arrive in one piece. It was leaking water on the inside of the plane. This is where I met my fellow travelers, two couples from Germany and 2 girls for Switzerland. One of which, Coni, spoke enough English to hold a conversation with during my safari. By the end of the vacation we would all learn other languages. We also met our guide Sam, who was a fantastic resource and had many years of experience in tracking animals.

Once we arrived at Sandibe Lodge I was taken to my room which was a spacious, open air room. We were given instructions that we were not to leave the room at night, because the animals roamed freely around the lodge. If we had an emergency we needed to blow a whistle and security would come to our aid. At this lodge the electricity would be turned off one hour after dinner and turned on one hour before breakfast. At this point I knew I was in for an experience of a lifetime. The following morning I awoke to the beat of drums, this was our alarm clock. During the night I could hear hippos walking in the marsh in front of my cabin. After breakfast we started the game drives.

This area of Botswana is a true oasis that is situated in the middle of the largest stretch of continuous sand in the world, the Kalahari basin. I visited four game reserves, Sandibe, Savute, Moremi and Chobe. My tour operator was CC Africa Expeditions. Several of the CC Africa Lodges have received international recognition for their work with local communities and in the restoration of degraded habitats. I experienced/survived 6 nights of camping. The bucket showers and bathroom trips, second bush to the left, were a treat. Unexpected dinner guests included a hyena and an elephant. Our dinner, which consisted of pizza and homemade bread, even had extra protein: moths! It was amazing. My 4am wake up call was an impala caught by a wild dog, as evidenced by the tracks outside my tent. Overnight we heard lions and a hippo.

Our camps were at Moremi, Savute, and Chobe Games reserves. Moremi is one of Africa's most beautiful reserves. It has excellent game viewing all year-round. Savute and Chobe are well known for their large herds of animals. Despite being an almost semi-dessert like area, these parks offer an astounding game experience. Even at night, when it wasn't raining, we could see millions of stars. Including the Milky Way. One rainy night we had a long wait for our meal, so we started drinking wine. We managed to drink 5 bottles of red wine while waiting for dinner. Needless to say, we all spoke the same language that night, "drunk." At least I slept well...

Travelers have been marveling at Egypt's wondrous antiquities for thousands of years - even the ancient Greeks and Romans were awed by them. A visit to Egypt is more than an immersion in the past glories. The clamorous present is ever-present: Mud-brick villages sprout TV antennae, stone and glass high-rises tower over ancient monuments and pop music counterpoints the call to prayers. Nearly all of Egypt is desert, but the small part that isn't - the valley of the Nile River - is vital to the nation (95% of the population lives within a few miles of the Nile's banks). Egypt is the largest country in the Arab world, and among African nations, is the second in population only to Nigeria. I arrived in Cairo after another long series of plane rides. I was welcomed by Ahmed, my tour director. After I settled into the Semiramis Intercontinental.

My tour started in the ancient city of Memphis. This was the capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom and most of the Pharaonic period. I started on my tour of Cairo. These 4,500 year old pyramids were built for Pharaohs Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus on the Giza Plateau. The Great Pyramid being the only survivor of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Sphinx is a sculpture of considerable size found on the rock where it was carved so as not to obstruct the views of the pyramids. It has a lion's body and a human's head, which symbolize the strength and the wisdom of the Pharaoh. I checked out of my hotel and started my cruise on the Nile. My tour started with a stop to the Temple at Abu Simbel, just a short plane ride to Aswan. Yes, another plane!

This temple built by the Great Ramses II, Egypt's longest ruling pharaoh, is one of the most recognizable images in the country. Actually two temples, namely the Great Temple of Ra-Harakhte, fronted by the four colossal statues of Ramses II and the Temple of Hathor, dedicated to Ramses' favorite wife Queen Nefertari, they were moved to their current location when the creation of Lake Nasser threatened their existence. Abu Simbel was not freestanding. The facade was a cliff face. The reconstruction is nearly perfect and every year on February 22 and October 22, one day later that originally planned, the dawn rays of the sun reach to the heart of the sanctuary to revive the cult statues. Modern Luxor grew out of the ruins of Thebes, once the capital of ancient Egypt's New Kingdom (1550-1069 BC). The monumental temples at Luxor and Karnak were famed thought the ancient world and have attracted tourists since Greek and Roman times.

Dominating the banks of the Nile in the centre of town, Luxor Temple is an elegant example of Pharonic temple architecture. Dedicated to the Theban triad of Amun, Mut and Khonsu, the temple was largely completed by the 18th Dynasty pharaoh Amenhotep III and added to during the reign of Ramses II in the 19th Dynasty. Although temple was further modified by later rulers, including Alexander the Great, its design remained strikingly coherent in contrast to the sprawling complex that developed at nearby Karnak. The temple is approached by an avenue of sphinxes, which once stretched all the way from Luxor to Karnak, almost 2 km (1.2 miles).

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If you have already been to a traditional land-based Big 5 reserve, try something new in the form of Jao Camp. I found that the staff at Jao really made the camp. The managers, Rebecca and Clinton, are down to earth, friendly, and truly hospitable,…Read More

If you have already been to a traditional land-based Big 5 reserve, try something new in the form of Jao Camp.

I found that the staff at Jao really made the camp. The managers, Rebecca and Clinton, are down to earth, friendly, and truly hospitable, with no pretense about them. Every night there was a big bonfire, where most of the guests would sit around with the staff and chat and enjoy drinks. It was quite nice.

Jao is truly luxury in the delta; unlike a camp near Kruger, there aren't any power or water lines running from a nearby city, so I was astonished at the amenities and structure. We stayed in tent no. 9, the honeymoon suite, which is a bit more removed from the main lodge than the other rooms. We had a wonderful outdoor shower with a view of the delta, a sala with the same view, and a wonderful room. The elevated pathways from room to room and to the lodge are amazing—you feel like you are walking in the trees. Unlike other camps I've been to, there aren't any electric wires or barriers around the perimeter of the camp. We had hippos under our tent every night. On the day we left, we had an elephant walk underneath us. It was a truly unforgettable experience.

Not much has been said about the wildlife at Jao with all the hype about Mombo. I haven't been to Mombo, but there were several couples at Jao who had just come from there, and they said the viewing was comparable, if not better at Jao. One day we took a very long game drive on Hunda Island. We left at about 6am on a boat for a wonderful 45 minutes through reeds and lily pads. We boarded Land Rovers when we got to the island. The drive ended up lasting until 2pm because we kept seeing new things and everyone was keen on staying to check it out rather than going back for lunch. I saw more game on that one drive than I think I had in my last four safari experiences combined! It was incredible! I particularly liked seeing the game in a water environment and watching them drink, run, and wade in the water. We saw lots of lion cubs, which were very hesitant to get in the water at all, and we got to watch a lioness nudge one group into the water. It was amazing. There were huge breeding herds of elephants and the other typical game, but they were in herds larger than I've seen in South Africa. We tracked a couple of leopards but never managed to come across one, although other groups did.

The hippo pools near Jao camp itself were also a delightful experience. We went out on the mokoros, yes, but I truly enjoyed taking the bigger boats out into the deeper water. We had a great time tiger-fishing.

Another aspect I really liked is that Jao's concession is huge, and we never saw anyone else during our activities. This is a major change from the Sabi Sands or Chobe experience, where you are constantly bumping into other Land Rovers. I loved the total isolation and remoteness of the place.

The food was also excellent. We even had sushi one night; they fly the seaweed and fish in from Joberg. I definitely did not expect that in the Delta. For a special occasion, the staff organized for a night game drive for us alone, and they took us to a private island where they had created a huge bonfire and a private dinner. The whole island had been illuminated with lanterns, and we had our own chef ready and waiting for us. This was all a surprise for me, but apparently they went well above and beyond what had been requested. To have the kind of food we had cooked over a fire was truly amazing.

So in sum, I'd highly recommend Jao. I definitely had an amazing game viewing trip (although that wasn't my goal). Jao is definitely luxury and definitely romantic, and I'd definitely recommend it on any itinerary.

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