Submitted by SafariADV on Tue, 2019-11-19
Also this morning we woke up before dawn in our mobile camp located in the area of Savuti, at the Chobe National Park in Botswana; after breakfast we leave.
This morning we will take a safari of a few hours here in the area of Savuti and then we will move to the Chobe area along the homonymous river: the Chobe Riverfront.
At 6.15 am we are ready to go but, as soon as we start the car, it sinks into the sand, damn it!
We try to accelerate but the situation does not improve, on the contrary!
It is official: we are silted!
The sand reaches us at half wheel, in these conditions there is only one thing to do: take the shovel and start shoveling the sand, then one has to place branches under the wheels, so that they catch ground and one can get out from the hole that has formed.
The theory is easy, the practice is a bit more difficult, we also try to get ourselves towed by the support car, that carries all the material to build the camp, but, trying to remove us from the sand, it also gets silted, only for a moment though, then it manages to break free.
Eventually we manage to free ourselves but have had to shovel and shovel and shovel the sand for quite a while.
Finally we leave and we decide to try again to look for the North Pride, we want to see them, we hope to be lucky.
After traveling a few hundred meters we see footprints on the track, they are unmistakable, they are lion's footprints and, with sharp edges, they are fresh; we try to follow them and see if they take us to where the herd is.
Shortly after we see in the distance a male lion standing in the middle of the track, here they are!
We found some specimens of the North Pride!
We see that it stares at the grassy plain of the pan on our right, we follow its gaze and we see two lionesses coming in its direction, but they are not alone, with them there are 6 beautiful lion cubs that have less than one month.
The lionesses come in our direction under the watchful eye of the male lion, the cubs are wonderful, at times they find it hard to walk and stumble in the ground, they are really too cute.
We observe them as they approach and pass a few meters from our car, this was one of the most beautiful sightings of this journey to date, it is also nice to see that there are so many puppies, they are a hope for the survival of the species.
With this wonderful scene still in our eyes, we set off again, take another tour and then head towards the Ghoha Gate, from here we drive an endless road into nothingness, this is only a transfer from an area like the Savuti and the Chobe Riverfront.
Bye bye Savuti! We look forward to arriving at the Chobe Riverfront!
