When I first flew over Botswana, I was awestruck by the landscape and the seemingly endless animal trails that weaved from Maun into the iconic Okavango Delta. Having never flown in a small plane, and already feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of integrating into a new team and environment, my stomach was in knots until I saw the beauty of the Delta.
It was early May when I touched down in the dust that would become my best friend for the next three months. Clinging to every surface, I would learn to love it, realising that it was never going away. The water had yet to arrive in the swamps, and the termite mounds reached towards the sun, becoming the skyscrapers I would learn to use as navigational landmarks.The first face to greet me on the ground was my guide, and soon to become fast friend, Barden. I have never seen a smile so big to greet a stranger! The hour from the airstrip to the lodge was peppered with questions, as I was eager to learn and experience all this new habitat had in store for me, all the while wondering if Barden was already sick of my enthusiasm.
After arriving at my new home, andBeyond Xaranna, and meeting the colony of people that would become my support system, I unpacked quickly. It was time to get out and explore. Barden must have read me like a book, as he had already packed soft drinks and snacks, and off we set into the unknown – for me at least.
The herbaceous smell of sage was the first thing to register. It hit me like a cloud of smoke, except, in a much more pleasant manner. It was to become the signature smell that would fill my lungs and cling to my clothes, day in and day out, until it was a part of my very being. The next thing was the Meves’s Starlings. A choir made up of thousands of birds, singing joyously in the tops of the jackalberry trees, scouring for the fruit that was about to arrive. It was mesmerizing to watch the flocks swarm around us, showering us in leaves, as though in celebration of something only they were privy to.
Every spin of the tyres churned up the cracked earth, leaving plumes of dust in our wake, as we set our sights on finding a leopard. Barden had got word of a male that had been spotted in the early morning with an impala kill in a sycamore fig and thought that would be the best place to start, but I couldn’t help but stop him for everything on the way! From banded mongoose to elephants, although I had seen them many times before, it felt peculiar to witness them foraging in the barren floodplains. It was as though I had jumped into one of the documentaries I had played on repeat as a child.
Once we arrived at the spot, it was clear we need not go far, as there was a young spotted hyena folded neatly below the sycamore fig in anticipation of some scraps being dropped. The leopard, however, was nowhere to be found. That was until Barden revealed his keen eyesight and spotted the large male panting away in the shade next to the hyena, hidden in the vegetation. He seemed not to care about his neighbour intruding on his space as his eyes were focused on something a few meters away… another leopard! There was a female here as well. Barden explained to me that these two characters were residents of the area, well known by the guides, and he was sure we’d find them again during our adventures to come. The leopardess lounged patiently in the shade, scanning from the male to the hyena, and finally to the impala stashed high in the tree. She seemed to be pondering her options of getting a meal. We watched silently, enjoying the bird song and waiting to see if the herd of elephants that had arrived would add any adrenaline to the peaceful scene. But the leopards remained in the shade and the hyena gave up on his stake out. So, we decided to make way for some other vehicles to enjoy the spotted cats and see if we could catch up with a nearby lion pride that had just been called in on the radio.
When we came across the sighting, we found the lions doing what lions tend to do best, sleep. Being in no rush we decided to sit with them for the rest of the afternoon, watching the youngsters groom each other while the adults began to prepare for their night time activities. With my camera on my lap, watching the sun set behind the pride nestled atop a termite mound, I found myself innately at home. My Botswana adventure had begun!