Maun, Botswana was as friendly as any small community and easy to navigate, though it is a township. The residents would like to change their status to a city and under those regulations, they would have to eliminate the free-roaming dogs and…donkeys! Driving is a bit precarious at night. I saw a dog rummaging through the trash on the street and next to him a donkey with his head in the barrel. Quite surprising!
My first night in Botswana was spent at the Rhino Executive Lodge (I never considered putting those two words together in a sentence) in Maun. Far from what I would consider executive and not a Rhinoceros in sight, I spent a comfortable night. I arrived in Maun via a local passenger van. I struck up a brief conversation with a young woman about our destination. She told me that her mother, Linda works for Sefofane airlines, a charter flight company that travels to the delta in northern Botswana. She gave me her mother’s phone number. Our conversation was all of 6 sentences.
I was pleased to discover that Maun is one of the friendliest places I’ve ever visited. Everyone greets everyone. Strangers, old friends, new acquaintances-age, gender and race don’t make a difference-we all say hello. I quickly forgot about transportation challenges and remembered what it is like to be friendly. It was in this energy that I met Linda.
Linda was enjoying her day off, but she was glad to meet anyone who knew her daughter. Linda told me she would arrange a few nights for me in a camp in the Okavango Delta. I would be Linda and use her “bed night” or her comp nights she earned as an employee of the company. This was very kind and friendly from someone who was pretty much a stranger. She told me that the camp is two hundred a night. At this point I was uncertain if she meant dollars or pula. Two hundred pula is about thirty five dollars. Our agreement was that Linda said she would call me at noon the next day and give me instructions. Never hearing of Duba Plains and knowing nothing about camping in the delta, I had no idea about what the future held for me.
I found the airport and waited patiently for her call that never came.. At lunchtime, I went to Linda’s office after my numerous failed attempts to contact her. Everyone in the office treated me like an old friend because I was in the office once yesterday. A staff member informed me the mobile phone service isn’t working and that they couldn’t reach Linda either. They sent me to check in at the Sefofane counter at the airport. I had no itinerary and nothing was on paper. I only had Linda’s verbal agreement for the reservation. I asked them to write it down for me because I really am not clear what I am about to do. It was then that he told me I changed planes in Vumbura. I had no idea where or what Vumbura was, but decided this was valuable information.
During the 35-minute flight with four other passengers, I wondered if anyone would meet me in my layover. No one knew my name and I was only referred to as the “bed night.” No money exchanged hands as this was a gift from Linda. I looked at the map before we took off and knew we were headed to remote areas without roads. Once in the air, I worried I had no towel or a sleeping bag or any real camping gear.
After the brief flight, we landed on what appeared to be a clay landing strip in yet another, “the middle of nowhere.” A jeep and driver were waiting for the other passengers and they left quickly. I stood and said a prayer I hadn’t just been abandoned. A few moments later, another bush pilot landed. He said “I’m here for Linda’s “bed night.” I closed my eyes and repeat softly, “thank you.” We boarded an even smaller plane for a 5-minute flight. Thankfully, there to greet me on the even smaller landing strip was my guide, Lebo in his Land Rover. This is where my imagination stopped and I just had to surrender.
Duba Plains
Duba Plains Camp is situated deep in the Okavango Delta: flat plains, waterways, acacia trees and palms. This is home to thousands of birds, lions, buffalo, antelope, fox, hyena and a host of other creatures. National Geographic has lodging here and completed a documentary about the relationship between the lions and cape buffalo that roam the plains together.
Bridget showed me to my home for the next three nights. My “tent” was built up four steps and had an extraordinary wooden veranda. The view was miles and miles of the vast plains in front. Double wooden doors with screened windows all around gave me the feeling I was part of the landscape. Accommodations were en-suite with a flush toilet and the shower was enclosed in glass. There was also an outdoor shower that was completely private, but open to the plains as well. My last day, I showered outside with the warthogs. The linens were elegant, the cuisine was 5-star and all-inclusive. I was so overwhelmed that I didn’t hear half of what Bridget told me. I knew this because she had had to repeat herself a number of times. To say this was spectacularly beautiful was an understatement. A blend of luxury and nature that I never knew existed. I slept in lavish accommodations and I could not walk alone after dark because lions, elephants, as well as other native beasts roamed the property. Each night, I heard the elephants next to my tent, the lions roaring and hyenas laughing in the distance.
The schedule was a wakeup call at 6am, a continental breakfast at 6:30, a 4-hour game drive at 7 and then return for lunch of chicken in puff pastry, potato rolls, homemade bread, salad with sprouts and cheese and fruit plate for dessert.
Siesta time, I enjoyed in my tent because it was a perfect place to be. I sat on the veranda, wrote on my computer, listened to the sounds of nature and watched a hippo in the distance. Tea was at 3:30 and then another game drive until after dark. This was truly an extra treat because most of the game parks close at sunset, but at Okavango Delta, I was able to see some of the nocturnal creatures. I got to see a porcupine with striped quills 18″ long. At night, the cuckoo birds sing and sound just like the clock. Bell frogs don’t ribbit, they sound like chimes.
In every country I’ve visited, I’ve done game drives. I thought before I began my tour that I would tire of these. I’ve since discovered that this is not possible. Originally, I thought that there isn’t any difference between a Zebra from Zambia and a Zebra from Botswana. What I’ve realized is that it isn’t about the animals; it is about the adventure in nature. Each game drive is different. We may see the same animals, but the environment or the activity is different.
The game guides were as exceptional as everything else on Duba Plains. Lebo knew every bird, every species and told us about the flora as well. I learned something new on every safari. He navigated the open-air Land Rover through the water, over the plains and always parked where we could get the best photo. At first, I was surprised to be within ten feet of the lions, but quickly realized that they were not interested in us.
My first drive here, we approached the pride of 7 lions that live in the Delta. The pride had been getting closer to a herd of buffalo and we’re all trying to guess when they will attack. Again, in the beginning of this African adventure, I thought I didn’t want to see the classic predator chase his dinner, but have since altered my thinking…be careful what you ask for.
On my second afternoon game drive, we headed toward the lions. We arrived in time to see the female lion attack the hind end of a male buffalo. Seconds later, the rest of the females leapt on him. They brought him down quickly and just then the male lion appeared. He wrapped his tremendous jaw around the buffalo’s neck and held it there. He was smothering him. This was nature in its raw form. An indescribably powerful event to witness. I was so overcome with emotion at this time that I was unable to hold my camera. I did not shoot any pictures until after the animal was completely dead. Time stopped as I watched the power of the lion commit to ending the life of the buffalo. It seemed like forever, but it was only a few moments. The guides told me that this was one of the most civilized kills that they had ever witnessed. For that, I am grateful.
I realize this was nature and I honor that, but what I wasn’t prepared for was the forcefulness and energy that was expressed. The female lion knew nothing else in that moment, but to kill the beast. The intensity with which the lions attacked the buffalo was unparalleled. I’ve never seen life/death so raw, so real.
Have you ever wondered why the only animal remnant found is a cleaned skull? A carcass feeds many animals. The nocturnal porcupines appear at night to carry off the spine. Hyenas and vultures do their part.
My journal entries for Duba Plains became redundant…words like: fantastic, incredible, magnificent, unbelievable, spectacular fill the pages. I wouldn’t have done this on my own. It was Linda’s generosity that afforded me this lifetime experience. Every country in Africa has been special. Kenya was the Maasai Mara and its people. Namibia, I was in my car, me at the wheel of my own game drives. Botswana is the magical gift of Duba Plains.
So much is different in Africa. Mother Nature, the people, the life and time are different here. A sign in a coffee shop: “Don’t rush us…we’re local.” What I came to realize is that time is a gift. I don’t think time passes by, I think we move through it. I’ve seemed to rush through it earlier in my life. I came to welcome the easy, breathable pace that is Africa. I sat for almost an hour getting money at the bank, but filled my time with a delightful conversation with Linda.I met up with Linda after my nights away and gave her the Botswana Pula left in my wallet. It wasn’t much, not nearly enough to cover what the previous three days would have cost me, but she was elated. In tears she said, “Now I can buy two goats!”