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Published: November 26th 2010
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Someplaces clearly hit our imagination more than others. I still have a pretty long wish list of places I dream to go, dog-sledging in Greenland, trekking Buthan, diving Cocos or PNG...and the list goes one. Okavango has been on my wishlist for a long time. I had to find the right person, well, you know Mari and I are sharing our life for nearly three years now (I'm lucky!)...the right time...this is always tricky...and the right deal at the right place. But we managed to do it, and what a trip!
I've done few safaris so far, from South Africa to Tanzania and Uganda, but Okavango is in another league, or should I say the place we visited is in another world.
We stay at Nxabega Tented Camp. The private concession is 70,000 hectares....to give you an idea, this is roughly a square of 27km by side. The camp accomodate a maximum a 20 guests. This means in 70,000 hectares, you have a maximum of 3 vehicules looking for animals...yes, slightly exclusive.
There are few styles of safaris, you have places in Kenya and Tanzania...a lot of animals, but a LOT of cars too....I spotted in the past
a leopard in Serengeti...he was 200 meters away from our 4x4...and there was easily 80 vehicules around! You could also opt for a smaller private reserve like the ones in South Africa...great and private, but this is nothing else than a big zoo enclosure with few animals who have been "fenced" in a huge encloser....and the animals did arrive by car too!
Okavango is different. Most animals have been here way before the camps. And to keep the place prisitine, few of these super-lodges have teamed up...the rule is huge space, few guests and therefore lower impact on the fauna. Sadly, I have to admit, this does come to a certainly not cheap price.
We first flew from Joburg to Gaborone. We stay one night in Gaborone, as this was the way to allow us to arrive early morning in Okavango, and to leave later also in the afternoon. You jump on a propeller plane from Gaborone to Maun, and in Maun we jump on a smaller 6 seaters plane...yes, we were only 2 of us, it's always nicer to enjoy this kind of exclusivity. Privacy of the plane follow by a private first day of safari, this
was a great introduction to safari world for Mari.
We stay 3 nights in Nxabega. The place is run by Andbeyond, and I can only praise them for the success of these 4 days. During four days, we did a total of 32 hours game drives (including boat drives). So yes, this is pretty intensive. Nxabega is considered as a tent camp...I think they call this glamcamping these days....you enjoy the tent, and all the little treats of a wonderful place.
The density of animals at Nxabega is not huge. There are no rhinos, and it seems pretty impossible to spot cheetahs. But they have spotted in the past 3 leopards and 7 different lions. They have a huge amount of elephants, hyppos, giraffes and the full spread of gazelles. Birds are also all over due to the fact that this is a river delta.
The Okavango Delta is the only delta which is throwing himself not in a sea or an ocean, but into the Kalahari desert. The place is magical, with permanent channels, and channels only flooded during the floods season. There are also a huge amount of water points all over. The question is
simple, is it better to come here in the dry season or in the wet season. Well, we did the dry season....or actually the beginning of the dry season, and it was simply amazing. It seems the lions are not around in the flood season, as they follow the zebras down south.
Nxabega is what you call a wet camp. They provide game drives in 4x4, but you also have the choice of motor boat trips, and also the famous mekoro.
The mekoro is a pirogue, 2 passengers, one puller, and you glide on channels between papyrus and other flora and fauna. It is magical, a true fairytail, especially when you come across an elephant crossing the main channel. You also have a lot of hyppos, but the main rule, is not to go too close from these guys. They may be shy, the can kill you pretty fast!
Few of the highligts of our four days. Spotting our first lion, actually a she...gorgeous basking in the sun. The elephant roaming around our tent at night. We did face them right in front of us few times...adrenaline rush, yes, you can call it this way! To be
honest, when this happens, I do not spend my time taking pictures, you need all your head to move if need to be done...and fast ! Spotting two male lions together and getting very close to them. It was in high grass, so not easy for the pictures, but what an amazing time.
We also saw a dead elephant...a young bull which must have lost a fight to another young bull. The second day it was already smelling like hell, but nobody eating it already....guess the next guests, if they can stand the smell will have some amazing viewing!
For 3 days we tried to find a leopard! This is really not easy, and the reason is simple....this is no Serengeti, the vegetation is dense, and the grass is high, very high! But we found it, first spotted the fresh tracks....follow them for a while...and suddenly here is she. The big female is lying in the tree...ready to hunt, she was not even bother by us....it was only about checking the surrounding till she found a steenbok male. Went down of the tree, and for a hunt. Look at the little video, what a moment for us.
Once the steenbok spot the leopard, it does actually go closer to him, just to prove he is ready to run. And as explained our ranger, the steenbok does run way faster than the leopard...good to know! So we did not see a kill, but somewhere, it was even better, we saw the weak one escaped! This was by far the higlight of our safari. The leopard "experience" lasted a good 20 minutes...during which we were the only 4x4 around.
One good point of such an exclusive concession is that you can roam outside of the tracks with the 4x4, allowing much more freedom to spot the big and smaller guys.
Our camp was a serious oasis of comfort. Food was great, wine even better. Our buttler soon spotted that we were enjoying or Thelama Sauvignon blanc/Semillon, and who show up on regular basis with 2 glasses of chilled wine. Never on the drive thought....need to keep ready to spot amazing animals! Food was amazing too...even the kudu!
Our next serious safari experience will include Leslie....not sure exactly where. I may have to scout one or two other places first to make sure we get the right
place for him. Okavango is not a place for young children....you need patience to spot the incredible...and kids are not the best at patience. You do get rewarded, but here you really have the feeling of a hunt after a long tracking, specially as the hunt transforms a great picture.
This was the first safari experience for Mari. I cannot tell you how much she enjoyed it....her smile and excitement where great...even if we were dead afterfour days of too much and too many good things.
Christmas is coming soon....and this Christmas holiday season will bring another crazy trip, this time with Leslie...wait for dive, history, wines, ski and more adventures, pack in a single trip!
With love from us! What a year!
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:)
One of my best and romantic trip with you ever! Was amazing and surprising! Thank you! I love You!!!