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Moremi Magic Part Two
From Chobe we returned south to Savuti we had the pleasure of watching two cheetahs at sunset. Whilst watching the cheetahs we chatted to Ann and Tim from Alaska, who in our various encounters since Savuti (it is a very small world as you all go to the same camps) have rashly offered to host us in Alaska and their Yukon holiday home (the bags are packed!)
We managed to return to Moremi through North Gate without getting stuck in sand, despite passing loads of safari vehicles bogged down on the way. We decided not to stop and help. They all had 8 to 10 passengers so unlike us there was manpower to shovel sand all day, and some of the guests looked as though they needed the exercise!
At North Gate we crossed the famous bridge over the River Kwai (no, not that one). This one, like all bridges in Moremi, is constructed of moving logs wedged in place by uprights. The logs are at water level and sometimes below it so you get the uneasy feeling that you are about to get a very fast and possibly damaging car wash!
North Gate campsite has the worst ablutions of any we visited and that is saying something! What it lacks in ablutes it makes up for in wildlife, with antelope, hippo and elephant in abundance. Isaac and Liesel were up early enough (5.30am) to watch wild dog trot through camp past our tent. By the time I'd woken from a deep dream about spit roasted baboons the dogs had gone. However, we haven't spent 15 months in the bush without picking up a modicum of tracking skills (that's one for my next CV) so we drove out and followed them for 3 or 4 kilometres until the tracks went off in to a wood.
At the other side of the wood we met a safari truck also tracking the dogs and suddenly 6 appeared, dismembering an impala between them as they trotted along. As usual the rarity, thrill and speed of the event (they ate the impala in less than 5 minutes) meant that all my photos were auto focussed, sadly on the grass rather than the dogs!
Xakanaxa camp, further west in the Moremi Reserve, is memorable for it's unpronounceable name (X is K in Swana except it also involves a slight click sound so it is more like a T, I'll just call it Kaka from now on!) Kaka will always hold fond memories for us for a fantastic leopard sighting.
Thanks to a tip off from a safari vehicle Isaac & Liesel found a beautiful female leopard in a tree then came to get us. We watched her pose in the tree for an hour before she got up and descended for a spot of hunting in the mid afternoon and in the heat. We lost her twice in the vegetation before spotting her edging closer to some male impala. Just when we were thinking we had a ringside seat to a kill, the impala heard the leopard in the very dry grass and barked in alarm, prompting the leopard to give up.
Our hearts were pumping; I can't imagine what the impala felt like! In Kaka we also saw loads of lion, attracted to the carcass of an elephant shot by game wardens as it was getting aggressive to humans. These lions did what lions are not supposed to do, they climbed trees. The sight of four lionesses in a tree is unusual; remind me not to run up trees if I get chased by lions.
Kaka was also the start point of an hour long speedboat trip out in the lagoon for sundowners and a visit to a heronry, a seriously overcrowded bird breeding colony full of squabbling avians fussing over nests encroaching in each others' limited space.
Third Bridge, the most westerly campsite in Moremi, was memorable for the wrong reason; the game had completely disappeared apart from elephant in camp and nightly visits from hyaena. It was also the place where we picked up 6 punctures in 3 tyres (we repaired 3 with plugs, thanks for the lesson Isaac!) and discovered 3 more when we got back to Maun. We said a sad farewell to Isaac & Liesel at Third Bridge as we all stopped to admire two large male lions, about the only wildlife in the vicinity.
For our final 2 nights we returned to Kaka, after getting stuck in sand for the 4th, 5th and 6th times. Getting stuck was now an irritant, especially with the temperature hovering near 40C and no shade. We met up with Tim and Ann at Kaka, and after another lovely boat trip, had our closest elephant encounter in camp to date.
A large bull elephant paused 20 feet from our fire as we nervously shone a torch at his feet (understandably they don't take kindly to spotlights in their eyes. Luckily he decided that trees were tastier than the last of Isaac and Liesel's fillet steak cooking on the braai.
The trip was over all too soon and we headed back on some dreadful roads outside the park to Maun and "civilisation" The Landrover clearly felt sorry the trip was ending and decided to liven things up by illuminating amber warning lights on the dashboard for Traction Control, Hill Descent, and the ABS. Who cares, this trip has been a real African adventure, 1600kms of off road pleasure and pain and a magical encounter with animals.
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