We are in Botswana, this morning we left Maun at 4:30 am and arrived at the South Gate entrance of the Moremi Game Reserve at 7:00 am; after drinking a coffee, that we prepared there at the gate, it's time to get serious, we get over the gate and our safari began.

Today's safari takes us to the exploration of Moremi from the South Gate to the North Gate via Xakanaxa, in practice we drive around the perimeter of this little paradise at the Okavango Delta.

First we go to an area of ​​Moremi where in recent days they have spotted a white rhino with a puppy; we look for them so much and everywhere but we cannot find them, what a pity, but we find where they spent the night, there is a depression in the ground and not far away there are some fresh excrements, not far away another hole and older excrements, probably they love to sleep in this area, too bad to have missed them.

We continue our safari and shortly after we found three young lions that still have a little face like foolish; despite the time they are very active: they look around and, at a certain point, one at a time, they got up and started walking.

This was a beautiful sighting and we would not have seen them if we had not come to this area to look for rhinos.

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It is very difficult to spot rhinos at Moremi, there are very few as they were reintroduced to the Chief Island a few decades ago after they died out; recently, some Chief Island specimens have moved to the Mopane Tongue.

Our safari continues and it reserves a series of beautiful sightings: giraffes, kudus, tsessebes, impalas, wild steenboks, wildebeests and various birds including the Southern ground hornbill, the lilac breasted roller, several African fish eagles, and two beautiful coucals.

The first part of the Mopane Tongue that we see is really dry, we see that this year, during the rainy season, it did not rain on the Angola plateau and, consequently, now there is no seasonal flood in the Okavango Delta.

In particular we met some herds of elephants, where there were several puppies, that were very nervous and the reason is precisely the scarcity of water; the concern of the females of the pack is that of not being able to find sufficient water for the survival of the herd, in particular for the smaller puppies that are also the most vulnerable in situations of this kind since they tire easily to cover long distances and are more fragile .

Seeing these wonderful animals so worried and nervous on the one hand we are very sorry because it means that their instinct makes them fear for the survival of their species, but on the other hand it makes us a little worried also for the safety of those who do safari in this area, especially for those who do self drive and do not know the behavior of animals.

As I do these thoughts we pass where there is a herd of elephants, they are cows with puppies; one of these mothers is very stressed, it is understood by looking at its behavior and also by the liquid that runs down its cheeks.

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At some point it begins to swell its ears, looking in our direction, we are proceeding slowly by our car so as not to make it even more nervous, but it seems more and more tense, always with swollen ears, it trumpets at us and shakes its head, raising a cloud of powder; it is very clear what it is saying "go away!", but the passage is obligatory and we cannot change course, also because there are mopane bushes everywhere and we could not pass even if we wanted to.

It does not seem seriously intent on charging us but it is threatening us, the best thing to do in situations like this is to proceed slowly, or always recede slowly, and avoid making any kind of noise that could frighten or disturb it further.

In the end we manage to pass without any problems and we continued our safari.

At lunchtime we looked for an ideal place to stop and we used our table to set up a mini buffet with cold cuts and cheeses, that don't have much in common with Italian cured meats and cheeses, but they are still good; we make sandwiches or we eat them like this.

We really like to have lunch like this in the middle of nowhere, of course we constantly look around, especially the two of us and our guide, we don't want to have quadrupeds and "unwanted" guests for lunch!

While we have lunch we chat and laugh, we have fun; we are really a nice group, we are sure that in these days we will have fun besides making wonderful safaris.

We get back on our safari car and leave, we venture into an area of ​​the Moremi Game Reserve where there is more water, we are near Xakanaxa, this is actually the part of the Mopane Tongue that juts out into the Okavango Delta.

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Here, thanks to the presence of water, there are several red litchwes, this antelope prefers marshy areas and spends its days in shallow and stagnant waters; the hind legs of this herbivore are very developed and have a powerful musculature that allows them to jump easily even in the water.

Also in this area of ​​Moremi we have encountered herds of elephants, but these are much quieter than those of this morning, probably because there is more water here.

We reach the Gate of Xakanaxa, we enter, we make a brief stop and then we resume our journey; tonight our camp will be in the Khwai area, so we drive the whole track that runs parallel to the Khwai riverthat this year, in some places, is little more than a trickle, but it is a permanent water source, so along its banks different species of animals are concentrated.

Here we see several hippos, both in the water and on land, several water birds, including the African fish eagles, the kingfishers, herons and storks; we also see some crocodiles lying in the sun.

We also find some groups of giraffes in the most wooded areas, while in the more open areas we see wildebeests and zebras.

As we continue towards the entrance of Khwai the sun begins to descend towards the horizon and is reflected in the waters of the Khwai river; the sky is tinged with orange and then red, this is one of the most beautiful sunsets we have seen during this trip.

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We arrive at our tented camp at dusk, it is the first evening that we are at the camp and we are curious to see how it is: on one side there are our three tents, in the middle there is a fire lit with all the chairs positioned in circle and, on the opposite side with respect to the tents, is the table that was placed under a canvass roof.

The warm light of lanterns and candles illuminates the camp, the atmosphere is spectacular, almost romantic; in no time there is no more natural light and all around the camp there is darkness and nothing can be seen; right now we have the feeling of being in a mysterious place and out of the world.

Impossible not to think how far we seem from far away Milan with its lights, its noise, the confusion, the crowd ... here we are in total silence and without connection ... a true paradise.

Titti, our chef, cooked pap with stewed and slightly spicy vegetables and meat; he is truly an exceptional chef!

After dinner we sat around the fire chatting and, even though we woke up early this morning, we are not tired and we would be here all night laughing and joking.

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Data di inserimento: 
Friday, November 15, 2019