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| One of the six lions we were fortunate enough to see in Chobe |
The first movie I can remember seeing in the cinema (during which, I believe my Grandmother had to take me out mid-way because I was crying) was The Lion King. It painted this picture of Africa being a wild continent where lions, monkeys, warthogs and hyenas roam free on vast open grasslands.
Until our trip to Chobe National Park in Botswana this week, I had been the one feeling a bit like the animal being scrutinised here, so it made for a refreshing role reversal! Of course there are times where I find myself squawking at Zambians too. Like when the ten-seater mini-bus, crammed with maybe twenty people, which Amy and I were in on Tuesday was pulled over by traffic police and they merely checked the tax and waved us on, ignoring the lack of seatbelts and excess of occupants.
Or, when Patrick Kayawe came to visit us on Wednesday, having come to expect that he wouldn’t be on time. When we received a call from him 2 hours after we were supposed to meet, saying he was at the police station where they were seizing his car because his insurance was a day overdue, he remained completely calm and controlled, assuring us that it was going to be fine. He would simply walk to us. Just another time I found myself laughing in bemusement at the differences between African attitudes to the often pessimistic outlooks of people at home.
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| One of many giraffes we saw, we even watched as a two ran away from three lions |
I had to go into school a few times this week to carry out my final interviews and questionnaires for my dissertation, and on Monday when I went in, the kids were all outside for break time. The young grade 1 and 2 children spotted me the second I walked through the gates and all scampered towards me, proceeding to grab onto me, literally pulling me to the ground. As children pulled at my hair and hands, I couldn’t help but feel like they thought of muzungus (white people) as some sort of exotic different species. Even at the orphanage on Tuesday, some of the little ones stood poking at Amy’s sunburnt skin for ages, seriously concentrating on it as it changed back from red to white.
The 2 days and one night Safari in Chobe was absolutely incredible and we really got to see an alternative, more inherent side of African life! With the only stalking I’ve ever done involving Facebook, it was quite the change to trail a lion on the hunt, watch warthogs tremble as a leopard jumped out of the bush at them and peer over hundreds of buffalo as they journeyed towards a borehole.
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| Impala and hippos by the river |
I feel like if I were to try and go into detail about the river safari and game drives I would be accused of some serious exaggeration. It’s hard to believe that wild lions were within a meter of us; that we saw numerous hippos, baboons, elephants, giraffes, antelope, monitor Lizards and crocs (over thirty different types of animals in total and dozens of beautiful birds); and that we (and by ‘we’ I mean everybody but Amy who slept soundly beside me) woke up in the middle of the night to hear a herd of elephants stomping through the campsite.
The campsite we stayed in was literally right in the middle of the unfenced wildernesses and the night-time sky was phenomenal. I have never before seen so many stars and milky ways! So much so that Amy had to ask someone what all the white fuzzy stuff was, to which they, of course, replied “stars”. We even got to wish upon a few shooting ones.
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| two of the dozens of elephants we saw |
When we were all sitting around the campfire, roasting marshmallows in the dark, we heard a rustling in the bushes. When we went to shine torches in that direction, we were met by various pairs of elephant’s eyes mere meters away. When I was holding the torch over Amy as she went to the toilet in the sheltered hole, I heard more noises so flicked the torch to my right for a minute to be met by the stare of an elephant there! Let’s just say it was quite a sleepless night listening to all the elephants! The lion roars didn’t help too much either!
During the week, the highlight of our detection work was figuring out what we were going to do for dinner when Amy dropped all our eggs in the market. So, looking for prints in the sand, driving towards vultures that were circling an area and listening for a roar or a rumble in the bushes was quite the experience! Our guide, Leonard, had the most impeccable senses and was able to drive through the dips and dents while still spotting members of the ‘Big Five’ from a distance for us to encounter.
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| Us with our guide Leonard by our safari truck |
The excursion was more than we could have hoped for. Never before have I been able to sing Cartoon tunes (The Lion King; the Rescuers; Bambi; the Jungle Book- they all came up) in front of real life Simbas, Rafikis, Pumbas and Zazus.
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