Having a private guide and tracker for the two of us really feels like a luxury. We could forgo all the other trappings which come with an expensive lodge in Northern Botswana, the huge rooms, fancy furnishings, swimming pools and all-inclusive drinks. None of that floats our boat. Kwara is in a pretty special location, and to have dedicated guides to lead us made sure we got the most out of our stay.
Highlights from our remaining time in the delta region included: a walking safari/bush walk, a boat trip to the Gcodikwe heronry, a short helicopter flight to view the delta from above, and a number of great wildlife sightings. Sadly we were to leave Kwara without ever meeting the Wild Dogs, but that just makes us want to return more.
After spending a couple of hours locating the pride of lions early one morning, we returned to their location later in the afternoon. The flies were out in force, and it wasn’t particularly pleasant spending any time stationary as the afternoon heat started to dissipate. Three lionesses had sought refuge up a tree, leaving their cubs to fend off the flies on the ground below. Oblivious to where their mothers were, the cubs periodically yowled for milk in-between bouts of flopping on top of each other playfully.
As the sun went down, the cubs decided to move off. Only then did the mother lions reluctantly begin to leave the tree, albeit in the clumsiest of fashions.
Based on the assumption that it would be a long time (if ever) until we would return to the region, we splashed out on a helicopter ride.
I had a whale of a time, Sarah less so. Not sure helicopter rides are on the menu for future holidays. One thing’s for sure; saying no to the upsell option of “a 15 min landing on an small island with champagne”, was a good decision.
One afternoon we had a young elephant visit our room and hang right outside our bathroom
The boat trip to the heronry was a nice change of pace from game drives. It’s quite a sight to see thousands of storks in the same place. Although the sight of that many Marabous doesn’t do much for your appetite!
We did very much enjoy watching the Southern Carmine Bee-Eaters, and the White Throated Bee-Eaters feeding in the dying light of the day.
It was also a thrill to see the enormous elephants and hippos in the river, mostly chilled as we zipped past. The older ellies like to feed on the softer submerged papyrus shoots which explains their presence in the water.
On our final morning, barely 30 seconds out of camp, before the sun was even up. Our guides had identified an “interesting” trail. They both promptly hopped off into the bush, and spent the next 20 minutes pushing back trees and peering behind all the bushes in the area. We were puzzled as to what they were looking for, clearly nothing too dangerous, but we were also unfamiliar with the Setswana word they kept using. They eventually returned empty handed, only then it was revealed that they were on the tracks of a pangolin. We almost sent them back out to search harder!
That same final morning we tried in vain to track down the elusive dogs. They would continue to evade us to the end, but thank you to our guides who tried relentlessly to find them. We had to settle for a small pride of lions basking in the morning sun before the heat began to build.
Return to Windhoek
The return flight to Maun was a little bit bumpy given the heat of the afternoon, but we were soon back on terra firma, and enjoying a coffee and some wifi back at the Duck
We had dinner in the Okavango brewery which was pricey but enjoyable. The Sedia hotel was a completely adequate place to stay.
However, driving 10 hours across the Kalahari back to Windhoek is not recommended. There’s little to see, and practically nothing of interest. At over 800km it notched our distance travelled to over 4,500km. Which is a lot for the 18 days we were away.
Returning the vehicle to Melbic was a breeze, and after stocking up on biltong, we were right on time for our flight back to the UK via Johannesburg.
Until next time…
Small Holiday Big Dream 
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