Travelers' Tales: Botswana

VICTORIA FALLS & BOTSWANA

Super spots The Hollidays were delighted to – eventually – catch sight of a leopard

Simon & Sarah Holliday visited Victoria Falls & Botswana with Audley

We recently returned from our

safari honeymoon in Botswana. Our first stop was Victoria Falls on the Zambia- Zimbabwe border. Here, we stayed at the Ilala Lodge, a beautiful hotel with traditional African decor and rolling gardens where we were able to watch the spray from the falls rising majestically on the horizon. We got our first glimpses of wildlife that evening, as we enjoyed a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River where an elephant splashed about on the riverbank and a pod of hippo basked.

We woke up early the next day and set off on a short walk to the area’s pièce de résistance. Upon arriving at the falls’ entrance we politely refused the friendly offers of local traders selling ponchos, instead

choosing to march on in our shorts and t-shirts, camera at the ready.

As we wandered along the paths of the surrounding Victoria Falls National Park, we were soon greeted by the tremendous roar of the ‘Smoke that Thunders’. Its sheer power was breathtaking. Having been drenched from head to toe with spray from the world’s largest sheet of falling water, we couldn’t help but think that perhaps those ponchos may well have been a good idea! The grins on the faces of the locals as we headed back to the hotel said it all.

TRACKING IN CHOBE

Later that morning we traveled by road through Zambezi National Park and on to Chobe National Park in Botswana. Chobe

Elephant Camp was to be our base for the next few days. The lodge has a truly spectacular setting, perched on a ridge above the Chobe River. The views and sunsets over the surrounding landscape are stunning.

As soon as we arrived, we were whisked out on a game drive with our knowledgeable guide, Mike. We were soon lucky enough to get close to a very large herd of buffalo, already closely watched by a male lion. But we saw so many different species in Chobe; ‘Giraffe Valley’, as Mike described it, took us to within a few feet of perhaps 30 giraffe that were licking the soil for vital minerals. We also regularly spotted large herds of elephant, hippo, crocodiles, impala, kudu, zebra, warthog, jackal, and on one evening, a pride of lion feeding on a kill at a small watering hole.

46 | AUDLEY TRAVELER

TRAVELERS’ TALES

Safari sights (clockwise from this image) Rare wild dog, the Victoria Falls and giraffe all featured on the Hollidays’ trip – with a little help from their guides

We did have one unexpected encounter with an animal while having a picnic lunch in the middle of the bush. One of the local vervet monkeys must have had a taste for French cheese, tucking a block of our Camembert under his arm. He found a branch in full view of his startled audience below before sampling his stolen goods… all he was missing was a glass of Bordeaux red!

On our final game drive, Mike tracked down the rare African wild dog. It felt as though we were part of the pack as we sped along the dusty track behind the dog, which had brought down an impala. It was fascinating to see them working together to make a kill, then delivering a rallying call to alert others to their prize. And thanks to Mike, we had front row seats.

CANOEING THE DELTA

The next leg of our journey involved a short flight into the Okavango Delta – a vast, flat, swampy region that floods annually following the rains in the Angola highlands. We felt immersed in the wilderness as our 4x4 crept around each corner searching for the delta’s renowned predators.

Sango Safari Camp was our chosen lodge – a wonderful tented camp set on the bank of the Khwai River on the edge of Moremi Game Reserve. At night we could hear hippo and elephant splashing right outside our tent, and taking an outdoor shower beneath the stars was a truly memorable experience. We also spent an afternoon paddling along the river in a mokoro (a traditional canoe). This was

a tranquil experience that allowed us to take in the delta from a different perspective.

Thanks to our excellent guide, Frank, we were able to get close to a wonderful array of animals, including spotted hyena, a huge bull elephant and a lioness guiding her four tiny cubs through marshy wetland. But our most exhilarating moment came in the last ten minutes of our final game drive. Frank had been on the lookout for a leopard throughout our stay, and after following tracks and listening to the warning calls of impala for over an hour, the moment finally arrived: a leopard slipped out of the tall grass and headed straight towards our truck. Witnessing this was a moment we’ll treasure for the rest of our lives, and the icing on the cake to a perfect honeymoon in Botswana.

AUDLEY TRAVELER | 47