Day 142. Deep Sand and Leopards.

Day 142.     Deep Sand and Leopards.

 Packing up this morning to head south to Savuti, one of Africa's best known big game reserves, which is still part of Chobe National Park, but the Park is not continuous so you have to exit the river section and re-enter 80km further south. Savuti is described as a place of enchantment, of beauty and boasts one of the greatest concentrations of animals in Southern Africa.
The Land Rover is nearly packed when Jo starts to get breakfast prepared, putting food on the table ..... but suddenly, as our backs are turned for no more than a second, a large Baboon appears from nowhere, snatches our whole loaf of bread from the table, still in the packet and scarpers, as quick as it arrived! Thieving Rotten Baboons! - The boys and I quickly set up chase, as this was the only bread we had, but soon realise we have very little chance of catching him! Baboons have an exceptional eye site and have colour vision in the same way we do, they need it to source ripened fruit and the pink colour of the rump of a female who is ready to mate. They will carefully sit there considering their plan of attack in detail and will move extremely quickly, as bold as can be, when the opportunity arises to make their strike. ......... Well whilst the baboons were having our breakfast we sat down and made do with what was left!  The children were quite shocked at how quickly and boldly the Baboons took the bread!   New security measures were required!


 Exiting Chobe National Park through the Ngoma Gate, we head out for a game drive and it is not long before we notice a Impala carcass high up in a tree, suspecting breakfast for a leopard who would probably be back later for seconds.









We also see plenty of Common Water Buck, with the tell tale white target on their back sides, looking as though they have just sat down on a freshly white painted toilet seat! Classified as the 'least threatened' species as a conservation status, with an estimated 200,000 in existence, they tend to live for about 18 years and emit a smelly, oily secretion from their shaggy brown -grey coats, thought to be their waterproofing, but it is so strong that it even deters predators!  A very sedate looking and gracious animal with widely spaced and gracefully curved back and up horns.  Harry found the 'toilet seat' bottom highly amusing.


 We also see plenty of African birds, Kudu and Elephants along the way. We continue down various tracks and decide to take an inland loop where we see more elephants and are heading back toward the exit gate, but signage is limited. We find a straight piece of track, quite wide that should take us back and we follow this for some time, only realising the reverse side of a sign as we drive passed it towards the end of the track, which reads; 'No Entry' - Police and Botswana Defence Force Vehicles Only!!  Bugger! we have done it again! 




With a little more acceleration and no obvious sounds of gun fire, the children breath a sigh of relief, as do I and we get through to the end of the track that brings us back on the National Park tarmac road, so it is an easy drive back to the Ngoma Gate.
 The drive from Ngoma gate to Ghoha gate is approximately 78km and is a very scenic drive on what starts out as a very smooth tarmac road, so unusually smooth and unexpected, that we even consider a stop for a coffee break, as we will make Ghoha in easy time. Thankfully we didn't, as the smooth tarmac road stopped at Kachikau ...... very suddenly! and immediately changes to deep sand for the next 41km! Driving that far through deep sand is exhausting as you need to concentrate on every yard! not matter what you do to the steering wheel, the tyres are going to follow the deep sand tracks that the wheels are currently in; it is like an unpredictable form of automated driving and the steering wheel is constantly slipping through your hands as the wheels find their own path! The last thing you want to do is stop as you might never get going again in the sand, so any pee stop needed to be at the top of a hill! ....... so plenty of; ...  'hold on kids we will stop soon!'



 Eventually, in one piece, we reach the Ghoha Gate and complete the necessary paperwork to enter and continue the next 29km down to Savuti, again we have deep sand tracks and the boys take it in turns to practice their 'off road' driving skills! - not bad for an 8 and 9 year old! - with me controlling the pedals of course (and the sand controlling the wheels!). The temperature is rising and it is beginning to get very hot and as most wildlife seems to be sheltering from the sun on the way through, we head out to Harvey's Pan, a large salt pan that comprises a number of waterholes that keep their rainwater for months. This is the area where Dereck and Beverley Joubert shot their DVD, 'Ultimate Enemies', capturing the rivalry between Elephant and Lion, driven together for their desperate need for water. It is also known as a great area for birding because of the shallow water at the edges of the pans and we have our hopes up for some animal sitings, but with the temperature rising we only see a lone Elephant and a few Giraffe, so soon head quickly across to Camp Savuti, a couple of kilometres further on. Our stay at Camp Savuti is in a tented lodge, which was originally going to be for two nights, but with a tight budget we only stayed for one night, so we arrive at about 1.30pm, in plenty of time to enjoy our stay, with a good wash and brush up from camping. We were greeted by the staff and shown to two tents where they were fairly insistent that a parent had to sleep in each tent, just in case unwanted visitors arrive in the night! and they provide us with plates to have our lunch and ask us to be ready for tea and cake at 3.00pm and a game drive at 3.30pm. ............. Great, we had no idea a game drive was included, as they we thought this was only part of the full board option, so happy to take a break from driving and be chauffeured to some wonderful sites. 'KG' is our guide for the drive and we are joined by a very nice Swiss couple form the camp. We had some great encounters on the game drive, seeing a large heard of about 700 Buffalo,



Elephants, Antelope and then much to everyones delight we spotted a Leopard, high up on a rocky outcrop, looking as though she was making her way down the rock face. We all sat and watched with eyes fixed on the rocks, but we lost her for a while and then suddenly she appeared in right front of the vehicle on the track. It was a fantastic siting, we watched her for as long as we could, but KG had to get back us back to camp fairly swiftly before the gate closed, so we watched and then headed off at speed.  The children were very excited about seeing the Leopard.

Leopards are such amazing creatures. Although they appear fairly sleek and lethargic, they are one of the most fearsome animals.   ..................  Some 7 years previous to this trip, I had been working in a rehabilitation clinic for injured animals in South Africa and I had been asked to go into the food pen to collect some dead chicks to feed to the injured Vultures. As I walked into the fenced pen, there was an enclosed holding pen within it, like a walled cell, with a large door, within which was a viewing hole with bars in, about 16 inches square. ........ In the holding pen was a 'wild' Leopard (in more ways than one!) who had just been captured as she had been spotted by locals on their farmland and was going to be shot unless the team picked her up within half an hour and rescued her, to move her to another area. She had literally just been captured and put in the holding pen before being moved.  I looked through the bars of the door as I could hear the Leopard painting loudly and anxiously from her frightening ordeal. She was sitting at the door, her face no more than 18 inches from mine, looking straight at me.  It was absolutely amazing. Knowing I had the protection of the door and bars, I stared through the opening and couldn't believe she was so close, not moving, staring right at me and panting heavily. I stood there in awe and looked right into her eyes and could feel her breath on my face.  Her head seemed huge and she was no longer the sleek almost lethargic wanderer, she was the strongest and most fearsome face I had ever seen, yet amazingly beautiful.
They say you should never stare into the eyes of a leopard and I can see why. I stared for what appeared to be ages, hearing the loud and fast panting of her breath ................ suddenly she jumped at the opening with such speed and power and let out a huge growl, frightening the living daylights out of me. The energy and strength that she showed in that split second was unreal and the Leopard is certainly an animal who's strength should never be underestimated. She would have torn me to shreds in seconds had there been no door! ........ her face is an image I will never forget and an animal I will always respect!

An animal not to be misjudged