We had time for an early game drive as our flight wasn’t until 12.20. We set off to see the lions with what remained of the buffalo but found only the buffalo. Evidently guides with the temporary camp people heard the lions roaring at night and the consensus was that the boys were warned to get out by the older male we saw on the first day. He and the lionesses will probably come for the buffalo later. There are no vultures in Savute and therefore it takes longer for the hyenas to become aware of food. 

The guides then heard about a pride of lionesses on the ‘elephant highway’ which turns out to be a wide grass area completely devoid of trees. 

On the way we saw impala and some Kudus which are a type of antelope.
When we got to the lion, first we just saw one close by and another one a wee way off, lying down. The wagons circled and several lions got up and started walking around us. Then they got the scent of either Impala or Eland in the distance and they set off across the grassland. That was impressive as there were 8 of them in total. We wanted to stay watching but Metal took off to see the Eland, which are rare there. Not so rare for us or the others as Eland are common in South Africa and east Africa. In any event, the lions just went into the grassland and lay down so no one saw them again. Metal knew that would happen. He explained that unlike cheetahs, lions and leopards have to stalk their prey and pounce from 15 to 20m away. They had no cover to creep up on something so use a strategy of lying in the grass having a snooze and taking the opportunity if something comes wandering towards them. 

On the way back to camp we got a closer look at the 2 cheetahs which were preparing to hunt. 

We had brunch watching elephants at the waterhole and then headed to the airfield, which is a 10 minute drive away.

We had to chase an ostrich off the runway when we arrived. 

There was a woman pilot this time. When they pick up and drop off they don’t turn off the engine so it’s quite hard to hear the safety briefing – which is basically: “there is drinking water behind the pilot and there are 4 exit doors in an emergency”. 

We were the second stop after Moremi. The geography changed dramatically during the journey, from very arid scrubland to more green grassland with waterholes, to marshland. There were loads of elephants and hippos visible in and around the waterholes. 

Camp Okavango has its own airstrip and is a 10 minute flight from Moremi (which was a 20 minute flight from Savute). It is on an island in the middle of the world’s only inland freshwater delta. The water from rivers north and west flow here and they are stopped by a geological fault line. During the winter the area is vastly greater and even in the dry it is enormous. Ninety six percent of the water evaporates, 2% sinks into the Kalahari sands below and 2% is absorbed or drunk by plant and animal life. 

When the plane has gone it is very quiet except for birds and squirrels and monkeys (the squirrels are fatter here). The camp itself is within walking distance of the airstrip and its buildings are connected by elevated teak walkways. The lodge main areas are a collection of recently renovated thatched buildings all connected by the walkways and all beautifully furnished. The walkways go to a boat ramp in one direction, to a decked infinity pool in another and to the cottages in others. 

We are in cottage 9 again and it is lovely. It is similar to Savute, with a lovely deck that overlooks the marsh (marsh sounds nicer than swamp and it is full of reeds, pampas and papyrus so not a wetland in the NZ sense). There is an enormous bed, a double tiled shower, double basins and separate loo. It has a wooden frame and sides but the windows are more like tents with a strong mesh material. At night they zip down canvas covers and the room cools right down, which makes it easy to sleep. It is also quite noisy as the hippos come out of the water to graze and they make a big racket. 

We had a short break when we arrived and then it was high tea at 3pm. More food torture. (This lodge is part of the same group with Savute and Moremi so they operate the same way). We avoided the food. Then it was off on a mokoro ride through the marsh. A mokoro is a boat a bit like a Canadian canoe but operated like a punt in Venice. The guides stand and use poles to move us along. Each mokoro takes 2 people and they took us through these little channels made by elephants and hippos then out into a wider channel. It was quite lovely. Very quiet and the water was crystal clear.  There are heaps of water lilies and other cute flowers and we saw this tiny painted reed frog sitting on a reed (strangely enough).  Even as an adult it was no bigger than a moth and very well camouflaged. It feeds on mosquitoes. 

We saw heaps of birds including Marabou Storks (Marabou not Malibu) and this gorgeous saddle billed stork sitting on a nest at the top of a tree. We could only see its head and beak which were stunning colours. The yellow eye rings tell you it’s a female as the males have brown eye rings. The rest of it is just a drab white and black.
On the way back, Gee, our boatman had made me a really cute necklace from a water lily bud. So special ? We also saw otters diving through the water. 

On return to the Mokoro dock we had our sun downer, which was set up on the airstrip. We had all put in our orders at high tea. G and T for some, red and white wine for others, beer, cokes etc. There were also olives and this biltong stuff, which is dried meat they have in South Africa. The African version of salami I guess. The olives were divine. 

Time for a shower before dinner. Again you have to be escorted from your room to dinner and back as the wild animals come out after dark. You tell the guides what time you want to be collected before dinner, depending on how much bar time you want. 

We sat with our companions for the next day. Sophia and Rita are young Portuguese bankers who live in Angola and Niels and Helena are a retired couple from Denmark. We also sit with an English family from London. The teenage daughter and mother are vegans and the younger brother and father seem to eat everything. The parents are property lawyers according to Mike. ( We have met some fascinating people from varied occupations. Andrew (from Surrey) has a company that makes electronic components.  Another couple at Savute were an Opthalmologist and his wife does medical research with 3D imaging technology to map the brain. Not suggesting that property lawyers aren’t fascinating though – lest I offend anyone). 

The staff choir was even better than at Savute. There were about 20 of them and they danced and sang and it was excellent. Then they introduced the staff involved in cooking and serving the meal and also the menu and drinks. Evidently the stew was Eland so maybe that’s why Metal hadn’t seen many. There was also fish and loads of salad and hot vegetable dishes. The starter was a blue cheese and cranberry tart. We passed on dessert. 

We were escorted back to our room without joining people around the fire as it was a long day. The hippos were noisy in the night but otherwise a very good start.