The Travelling Teacher: Botswana - Where (most of) The Wild Things Are

December 26-28

I mentioned in my first Botswana post that it isn’t a country of great renown (well, until it was connected with Omicron). What you may associate it with, however, is being the focal point of many wildlife documentaries. Time to channel my inner Attenborough!

Lions are known as the only cats that live in groups

An elephant's pregnancy lasts 22 months

The geography can be a little bit confusing so bear with me here. I have moved from the western side of the Okavango Delta, where I spent Christmas learning to be a mokoro driver, and gone over to the eastern side. This involved leaving the Delta, driving around the southern edge of it and overnighting near the town of Maun, before heading north and entering the eastern section. You can go straight across…but not in a Land Cruiser…

Moremi is on the eastern side of the Delta

Beautiful reflection in the water

We had two of these: one for people, one for supplies

Being quite large, the west and east of the Okavango Delta are quite different. Goodbye water lilies and papyrus plants, hello this…

The area became a World Heritage Site in 2016

Sunrise and sunset are spectacular

Welcome to Moremi Game Reserve. Unless you have squillions of dollars at your disposal, camping is the order of the day here. We were actually wild camping. Build-your-own toilet and shower, that sort of thing.

Our home for two days

The shower was purposely weak as getting
water for it would be...tricky...

It meant we were far away from anyone else (not that it seemed as if there were many other people in the park anyway). Just us and nature. And boy, was nature nearby…

Some giraffes can stand half an hour after being born

Jackals have a top speed of 30 km/h

We were warned extensively about the dangers of leaving the tent at night. Hippos, lions, leopards…So when I desperately needed the toilet on the first night, I was filled with mild trepidation. This magnified when I shone my light through the mesh of my tent, as instructed, to see the shape of a hippo waddling along. I held it in. Unlike the monkeys who decided to have a screeching battle at 3:30am on the second night. Very inconsiderate.

Our fire was less for warmth, more for safety and cooking

Hippos are actually weak swimmers - they walk on the river bed

Moremi Game Reserve was established in 1963 by the wife of Chief Moremi of the Batawana people living in the area, because of concern about cattle encroachment and loss of wildlife. Before getting to the gate, there is a fence which separates domestic animals from their wild cousins. So no mingling between goats and elephants. Unless elephants break the fence, which they’re liable to do. In this ‘no man’s land’ between the fence and the gate, you actually see tons of animals. A free game drive if you live here!

Lilac-breasted rollers are carnivorous, hunting insects and lizards

Male elephants only reach full size after their 35th birthday

Part of a journey of giraffe

Moremi covers 5000 sq km, one third of the Okavango Delta, and is home to some of the densest concentrations of wildlife in Africa. There were times when I questioned this, particularly on our marathon eight-hour game drive the first morning. Most drives are between three and four hours, and you would see more in those than we saw in the first six hours.

Every zebra pattern is unique

A baboon troop can have up to 300 members

But then we found these two, and harmony was restored to the Land Cruiser.

Lions spend a lot of time sleeping

A single leopard can have a territory
stretching dozens of square kilometres

Bird life is incredible in the Okavango, the Delta offering all a little flyer needs in life. I had zero interest in birds before moving to Africa; it’s hard to stay apathetic when you see the colour and hear the songs of birds such as the lilac-breasted roller and the carmine bee-eater. I think the Burchell's starling is now my favourite, its feathers changing colour in the sunlight like a two-tone convertible.

The starling also has a fun calling sound

The kori bustard is the largest bird which can fly

The southern carmine bee-eater moves across Africa during the year

A new animal here for me as well. Moremi has the biggest African population of red lechwe, an antelope which seems like an impala which has taken growth hormones and spent too long under the sunbed. No honey badger here, in spite of whispers that they may visit our campsite.

This is a tsessebe, a large antelope simiar to a topi

The red lechwe can reach speeds of 60 km/h
in wetland environments

The diversity of the habitats in Moremi often make you feel as if you have travelled to a different part of the world within the reserve’s space. From flood plains to dry savannah, there are a multitude of different backgrounds in which the animals can express themselves.

Scary even when still

Warthogs are vegetarians. Pumbaa,
from the Lion King, was not.

Getting from one area to another involves long drives on sandy tracks or through enormous puddles of water. We saw a white Chinese saloon car enter the park - I dread to think how that fared as it rolled through the puddles.

Quite often diversions around puddles had been established

Muddy tracks are more dangerous

My favourite area, and where I had my favourite Moremi moments, was the small lagoons which seemed to pop up indiscriminately. The hippo yawning session was hilarious (and slightly menacing considering they could end up visiting our camp), and the spotting of the greater flamingo was apparently so rare that it got our 64-year-old guide quite excited.

The 'yawn' doesn't necessarily mean tiredness -
it can also be a reminder of who owns territory

Hilariously, a group of hippos can be called a bloat

Moremi Game Reserve is another lovely spot in Botswana. Certainly a place where Attenborough would be at home. At other times of the year, I would have hoped to see more animals such as rhino and cheetah. Whenever I start to get greedy about animal sightings, however, I have to pinch myself to remind me of how lucky I am to be here, and how lucky we are to have such incredible nature on our planet.