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January 21
    It was another beautiful morning, with just a few clouds dappling the sunrise. I rode in front beside Gee again as we set out for our last full game-driving day. The dew on the grass shone silver in the sunlight, almost like snow - why had we not noticed this before, I wondered? Oh, yes, that’s right - because this was only the second morning we’d had sunshine. After eleven straight days of rain, the sunny skies of these last several days were very welcome. Gee said that the amount of precipitation we had gotten on this trip was very unusual even for the rainy season.

     A comb duck was perched high in a dead tree. At first glance he appeared black, grey and white, but in the bright sunshine his darker feathers gleamed with shimmering hues of deep blue and green. Also known as knob-billed ducks, these birds are quite unique. The males have a large round disc attached to the top of their bills; it looks ridiculous and seems like it would block their vision, but apparently the female comb ducks find it irresistible. I was surprised to see this duck high in a tree, but there he was, with his webbed feet clutching the branch and the huge disc on his bill silhouetted against the cobalt blue sky.

     Gee pointed out a snake track across the road, he said it was made by a cobra or a mamba. I would have loved to have seen the snake, but not everyone in the vehicle agreed.  
     Gee found leopard tracks in the dewy grass; he could tell from the disturbed water droplets that the tracks were very recent. We heard alarm calls from both squirrels and birds, and then saw a jackal that also was sounding the alarm. Gee knew for sure there was a leopard in a very specific area, but we were not able to find it. These cats are very elusive and can hide easily under any bush; if they don’t want to be found, they aren't. We wondered how many leopards we might have passed within feet of on this trip and never seen.

      A Burchell's starling sat on a branch, brilliant in the sunlight. We had seen a lot of these spectacular birds on rainy days; now finally there was sunshine to show off the starling’s brilliant iridescent blue and purple plumage. Shortly thereafter we drove very close to a marabou stork; it was quite a contrast on the bird beauty scale.

     “There is a big lizard,” Gee said, pointing to a bent-over dead tree that looked like a velociraptor crouching by the road. 
     We stopped to speak with a self-driver; he was by himself, a very nice guy, and unlike most we had met, he lived in Africa and knew his way around the bush. He said he was going to fish for tilapia for his breakfast.

     Just before 8:30 we had a very lucky sighting; a Meyer’s parrot flew into a tree. He was grey and turquoise green with some yellow markings, and very charismatic-looking. Gee also pointed out some red sparrows and a dwarf bittern deep in the brush.

      We saw a flash of motion in a tree near a waterhole; a martial eagle was sitting on a high branch eating a baby goose. Very fierce looking, the eagle was dark brown with a speckled white chest and unsympathetic orange eyes. We watched in fascination as he tore into his prey, partially spreading his wings and looking around possessively.

     Gee pointed out some terminalia trees, which are the elephants’ favorite. These trees fight for territory, he told us; the terminalia secretes a chemical to keep the mopane trees from growing near them. The elephants don’t like the apple leaf trees all that much, and while they do eat mopane, it is not their favorite. When they come across something they really like such as terminalia, they tend to wipe it out. Elephants are famously poor conservationists! Gee also pointed out a red star apple, also called blue bush; this is known as the toothbrush tree, because people chew the roots to clean their teeth.

     We followed the river as it meandered through the wetlands. Lilypads grew along the edge, and birds were everywhere. We watched a group of four water thick-knees as they waded in the shallow water; these oddly-named birds tilted their heads and rolled their huge eyes up to watch the sky, no doubt looking for sky-borne predators. A fish eagle flew overhead as they watched.

     Hippos lounged in the river, occasionally honking and chortling humorously. As we paused to watch them, one of the big bulls raised his head up out of the water and opened his mouth wide to threaten us, showing off his impressive fangs – apparently he was taking no chances that we might encroach on his territory.

     We passed another safari vehicle with six local guys and a canoe in the back; they were going fishing. Several of them appeared to be quite drunk. 
     As we returned to camp we stopped to observe a red-billed hornbill that was posing for us on a branch; the sunshine had made this an excellent morning for bird photography.

     We took a group photo by the land cruiser before going out for the afternoon drive; I put my phone camera on timer mode and wedged it in a camp chair so we could all get in the shot. Then we were on the road about four o'clock.

     We looped through the woods and had a quick look at an enormous hippo out of the water, watching his round backside as it disappeared into the trees. We passed some shy kudus, more baby wildebeests, and the ever-present impalas.

     We sat for a long time watching a troop of baboons. The dominant male sat high on a tree branch in a quiet dignified manner while some of the youngsters played boisterously. They ran up and down the tree trunk, swinging from the branches like Tarzan, hanging upside-down from a vine by one hand, letting go and tumbling to the ground, and then running up the trunk to do the whole thing over again. They were hilarious to watch.

     We spent some quality time with four giraffes. We watched them up close while they browsed near the road, their long tongues and mobile lips delicately separating tasty leaves from the thorns. A fish eagle surveyed us from a tree, and we saw several more Meyer’s parrots.

     The guys in the safari truck with the canoe drove back past us. They’d had a successful day of fishing; one of them proudly held up a string of about twenty-five tilapia. They would be eating well tonight!

    A huge warthog was grazing right beside the road. To our delight he was not at all shy, unlike most of his kind, and he took no notice of us being very close. He was enormous, and looked really old. He grazed on his knees, as warthogs’ necks are too short to reach the ground while standing. He had a long stringy mane, sparse wiry body hair, lethal-looking curved tusks, and truly impressive knob-like protuberances on the side of his face. Gee told us that warthog meat is delicious, much better than pork.

     We went back down to the river and drove along its shore. We came to a particularly beautiful spot where the river widened out and the water was very still; the trees and clouds were reflected on the glassy surface. A fish eagle called out, a high-pitched mournful cry. Suddenly we realized this had been our camping spot on a previous trip; it was very remote, and had probably been our favorite campsite of all time. A pair of fish eagles had nested in a tree, and we had called it the Fish Eagle Camp. One morning we had watched thirty elephants as they crossed the water right by our tents.

     Gee heard a call from a giant eagle owl, and while we were looking for it he found more leopard tracks. We went searching for both but found neither; we didn’t care - we were enjoying the hunt.

     We drove back to Lechwe Plain to watch the sunset. A few hippos waddled about, and white-faced ducks flew in for a landing. A herd of lechwe stood looking at us, then loped across the floodplain through the shimmering silvery grass, backlit against the sunset. The sky, accented with bands of clouds, glowed in shades of orange, red and magenta. Several egrets gleamed white against the darkening plain. The last rays of the sun reflected on the winding river. It was peaceful and beautiful. We were sad that this was our last night out on safari.

     Our plan had been to go back to the hyena den again, but Gee received a radio call from another guide who told him that the hyenas were not out this evening. We lingered on the plain for a while, watching the three-quarter moon come out as the light faded. Driving back to the edge of the plain just as the sun slipped below the horizon, we passed a large tree beside the river, silhouetted against the darkening sky. A pair of giant eagle owls sat on a branch; we could just barely see them in the dim light.

     It was very dark as we drove the road back to camp. Suddenly we saw a vague shape crossing the road ahead of us, and Gee saw its eyes in the dark - it was a lion. We went off road briefly looking for him, shining a high-power flashlight, and found him under the bushes by his glittering eyes. He was very shy. Gee said a shy lion is an aggressive lion, so we left him be. But wow, lion number forty!

     We enjoyed our usual comradery around the fire and the dinner table. We were very sad it was our last night; I think we all would have loved to stay longer. About the only thing we missed were our soft beds at home.

     I took a shot at composing a couple of limericks that would sum up our feelings; I think the result was one of my better efforts, and it came from the heart. I recited them at the dinner table:

Gee’s bushcraft is second to none
There’s nothing he’s not seen or done
For animals and birds
He finds the right words
To make learning about Africa fun.

Our Journey with Gee’s near the end
The days, they went by like the wind
We are sorry to be going
But we go home knowing
That in Botswana we have a friend.   

     We heard lions, hyenas, hippos and frogs all calling in the night. A hippo was grazing very close to Natalie’s tent. When I went out to the bathroom at about three in the morning, bright stars filled the dark velvet sky; not as brilliant as the stars of an African winter, but still amazing.  

 
January 22
     It was our last moving day; we headed out just after six on the road back to Maun. The silver dew lay on the grass, transforming the bush into a crystal paradise. Gee spotted honey badger tracks in the road; he said they were made after the dew was on the grass, so in the last hour. A large hippo hurried through the trees, on his way back to the water after a night of grazing on land.

     A tawny eagle perched high on a branch, silhouetted against the brilliant blue sky. We stopped to watch an elephant that was eating wild cucumbers by the road. We marveled at how the tip of his trunk was like prehensile fingers, with which he would grasp the vines delicately. The area was carpeted with yellow flowers like buttercups; Gee told us they are called Devil’s Thorn, and when they dry out they have sharp thorns that are hard on the animals’ feet.

     All good things come to an end, and presently we left the bush and came back to the buffalo fence, and then on to the main road to Maun. When we’d left camp that morning Gee had told us there would be no lunch on the road because they were out of supplies; so instead he took us to his island for lunch.

     Gee owns a camping site on an island not far from Maun; at this time of year we were able to drive to it, but when the Okavango Delta floods the only access is by boat. When we arrived we met up with Gee’s fiancé and one of his daughters, Thembi, as well as his brother Sam, who some of us knew from a previous trip.  It was great to see them all.

     Gee had arranged a surprise for us.  A group of dancers from the Bambukusu tribe were there on the island to perform their traditional dance and music for us.  There were 17 dancers, and they were fabulous. They did four numbers for us, energetic dances accompanied by music from drums, percussion instruments and whistles, as well as chanting and singing. Their performance was authentic and delightful.

     The dancers’ costumes were impressive. They wore thick bushy skirts that reminded one of ostrich plumes, but made from bamboo beads. Several of the featured dancers had zebra manes on their shoulders, and they were able to move their shoulders in a way that made them swing back and forth wildly.  It was an amazing experience, and a great end to our trip.

January 23
     Gee and his brother Sam picked us up in the morning and drove us to the Maun airport. I was sad to say goodbye; though part of me was ready to get back to my farm and business, another part of me halfway wanted to run away from home and just live in Africa forever. But the good news was we were already planning our next trip with Gee and Makomkom Safaris. I can’t wait to go back!

              ~ The End ~

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