2005 Botswana Safari
January 2005
After dropping the dogs off at the kennels we started the next part of our holiday which was a Safari in Botswana. After a few stops for leg stretching and lunch, we arrived at Pont Drift. We were met by Jakes (our ranger) who transferred us to Mashatu Game Reserve, a 45-minute drive away. When we arrived at the Limpopo River there was a cage to take people across when the river was in full flow. That must have been an amazing experience but as the river was dry we just drove across. There was great excitement when Federika saw the first elephants crossing the river in the distance. 
I was struggling with the heat so it was a great relief to arrive at the camp and be shown to our luxury tent. Five seconds later I had changed into my swimming trunks and was wallowing in the small pool. 
At 4 pm they served tea and cakes and then we were off on our first safari in a Toyota Landcruiser. This was a large, open 4×4 built to drive over the most rugged terrain. In 1971 I was standing on the street after a gig and someone pointed to a car saying “Look. That’s a Japanese car.” We all looked in disbelief and were sure they would never catch on but there I was 35 years later, driving in deepest Africa in a Japanese Landcruiser.
Because of the heat during the day, our safaris would be early mornings and evenings. Safaris could often be disappointing as animals didn’t show up on demand so some people come away without seeing much at all. On a lot of safaris, vehicles were limited to roads, so if animals were not near the roads there was nothing to see. David and Laura had been on a few safaris so took us to Mashatu which they said was by far the best. Not only was it well run, with an abundance of animals but the 4×4 vehicles went off road and the rangers knew exactly where to go. It was still not guaranteed that we would see anything but we were not disappointed. In the first few hours, we saw Cheetahs, a Leopard, and some Lions. We were particularly lucky to see a punch-up between a young male lion and its mother as they came running towards us roaring loudly before stopping just a few feet away. It was a bit scary for a moment as our vehicle was open so in theory the lions could have jumped on board and had us for lunch but although they had no idea what vehicles were, they did know they were too big to mess with and so left them alone. The rangers carried guns as a precaution but they had never had to use them. We were instructed not to stand up in the vehicle as lions knew exactly what a bite-sized human looked like and were more likely to attack if they saw one. Apart from the main attractions, we saw countless exotic animals and birds and couldn’t have hoped for a more thrilling first day.
Just before sunset, we stopped on a hill and Jakes dropped a flap at the back of the vehicle to reveal a fully stocked bar including plenty of ice. It must have been one of the best places in the world to have a sundowner as we watched the stars appearing one by one. Even on the drive home in the dark, the ranger managed to find us a few things to look at including a chameleon which was glowing green. I would have thought that green would be a good disguise in the daytime but black would be better in the dark but I expect chameleons knew what they were doing. 
Dinner was served on a long table in the open with several other guests telling animated stories of what they had seen. It was strange to be sitting in a tiny area in the middle of Africa with everything being so well organised. Although we slept in a tent, it had floorboards, a four-poster bed and cupboards. We had our own shower and toilet but they were in the open so heaven knew how we were supposed to relieve ourselves in the pouring rain although I didn’t think they had much rain at that time of year. 
It was a long and exciting first day so we fell into bed exhausted with a mixture of horror at having to wake up so early and excitement at the prospect of another day of seeing such spectacular sights.
Next morning we left the camp at 5.45 am with everything looking quite different to the pitch black of the previous night. We saw hyenas, jackals, and a leopard munching away on an impala it had just killed. During the morning we saw animals being hunted and killed by other animals and although it was quite distressing to watch, Jakes told us they never interfered and had to let nature take its course.
At one watering hole, we saw a mummy elephant with its babies washing themselves. 
Nearby the daddy looked like it was trying to uproot a tree. It let go and started chewing so I expect he was just having lunch.
During the morning we saw so many different animals including a herd of giraffes majestically strolling along with their heads towering over the trees.
Even without the animals it would have been worth going just to see so many exotic birds. 
After lunch and a long sleep, we went to a hut built on long poles where we looked out for birds. Laura, being a keen bird watcher had her binoculars with her which she shared with us whenever she saw anything interesting. We were lucky to see a family of Warthogs with Mum, Dad and three babies wallowing in a mud bath looking so happy and contented. On safari that evening, apart from the animals we had already seen, we saw a genet cat although I had to take Jake’s word for as I had never of it and to be honest all cats look the same to me. We also saw zebras, ostriches, and a very angry-looking alligator.
For our sundowner we were taken to the magnificent Cheetah Koppie where Mashatu was laid out before us with Impala and Wildebeest grazing on the plain below. It was so perfect that we resented the darkness falling which brought an end to our safari day. 
On the way to dinner that night we were walking along a path when right in the middle was the most horrible creature I had ever seen. It was the size of a large hand and looked like someone had cut a hairy spider in two and stuck it to a scorpion. I never liked spiders but was nowhere in the same league as Federika who got hysterical at the sight of them, even when they are so small it required a magnifying glass to see them. It was a variety of solifuge which was in the spider family and so horrible that I didn’t want to walk past it as it was obviously waiting there to crawl up my leg. 
Strangely enough, Federika was no more scared of it than a flea-sized spider but still made me go first. I eventually plucked up the courage and ran past it but having seen something so horrible it was not possible to unsee it. During dinner I kept looking around for the rest of its family and worst still, our outside toilet and shower took on a new face as I had to keep a constant lookout for creepy crawlies. 
Next morning our first stop was a huge Baobab tree. Federika did a sketch of it and I took some photos for her to work on later. 
In the afternoon drive, we saw a lioness fast asleep in the dry riverbank in the funniest position lying on her side with her paws up the riverbank. It looked so cute it was all I could do to stop myself from walking over and giving it a big hug but I thought our ranger might disapprove. 
We also saw one very angry Leopard strutting around and another asleep on the branch of a tree with its legs hanging over the branch like nature had designed them for that purpose. 
For our sundowner that evening we stopped at Disappointment Koppie with another stunning view. There was a pile of stones put there by visitors who hoped to return and we all joined in the tradition and placed our stones. No one seemed to know why it was called Disappointment Koppie (koppie being a small hill) so I guessed it was for the people who will be disappointed when they can’t return. We sat and reviewed what had been a wonderful three days before climbing back into the vehicle for the last half an hour of our safari.
After dinner that night, Federika and I were lying on our beds and when she went to get up she felt a sharp pain in her hand. She didn’t think much about it at first but started to get worried when the pain got stronger. It was obvious that she had been stung by something. We didn’t know what to do so Federika went to speak to David and Laura who were in the next tent. Instead of using the path at the front she took a shortcut at the back and ended up falling into a bush full of thorns so then she had to contend with a lot of scratches on her arms. I suppose she was lucky there weren’t any nasty creatures in the bush to add to her troubles. Laura went to get the camp manager, Sean. He agreed something must have stung her but after 15 minutes of searching he found nothing so he proclaimed whatever it was had gone so, it was safe to go back to bed. I was not happy and stated the obvious that it wouldn’t have just disappeared. As no one was doing anything I grabbed the sheets and pulled them off the bed and out jumped a small red scorpion. Sean covered it with a glass and placed some paper on top so it was safely caged. Scorpion stings range from unpleasant to life-threatening but Sean assured us that it was a baby so was very unlikely to be dangerous. He didn’t know what variety of scorpion it was but would research it in the morning. If a red line started moving up Federika’s arm we had to call him straight away but otherwise not to worry. After a while the pain did reduce so we went to bed, although unsurprisingly, Federika didn’t sleep well.
Next morning Federika’s hand was much better. We saw Sean at breakfast and asked about the scorpion but he pointed to an empty glass and told us that someone must have removed the cover so it had got away. We had a very interesting chat with him over breakfast. He had studied toxicology in university and was so fascinated by the subject that he had often allowed himself to be stung and as perverse as it may sound, he appeared to enjoy the experience. Most of the time he had been ok but he was so ill from one scorpion bite that he had to be airlifted to the hospital but even then, it sounded like he enjoyed the experience.
2005 South Africa
