Day 17 Botswana - Mankwe and the Lions

The wind blew all night long but I stayed warm under the nice duvet. It was soooo cold in the room however, and it was hard to leave the warmth and comfort of the bed. I was looking forward to a nice hot shower, but the water was only warm so it was a short one. The alarm went off at 5:30 AM, brekie at 6, and on the road by 6:30.

We didn’t see a lot of animals so I decided to shut my eyes. When we did see some, our guides didn’t stop, or if they did, it wasn’t long enough to get a decent photo. Today’s roads were just as bad as yesterday, maybe even more so. Our agenda said it would be a 6 hour drive but it turned into 8 hours. Rest breaks were few and far between, and toilets were behind a rock or a tree. It’s important to stay hydrated because of the heat and dry conditions here, but when you can’t just ‘go’ anywhere, you tend to limit your water intake.

The highlight of the day was when we noticed a bunch of vehicles parked in a small group. When we got there, we couldn’t believe our eyes. A pride of lions was feeding on a recently killed buffalo! We could see 4 of them chewing on the meat and bones. Occasionally we could hear a growl or two.

One lion seemed to have fallen asleep after feeding as we didn’t see her move at all. Another was sitting a bit of a distance away from the group. Then she got up and walked towards us! We were so close. She lay down in a patch of shade and began licking her paws.

I video-recorded lots of the action and took many, many photos. What an absolute thrill! Of course I could have stayed there for much longer but we had many more kilometers to cover.

We had our picnic lunch under the shade of a huge tree in a clearing. That is the safest place to stop, where you can see what’s coming from a distance and nothing can sneak up on you.

There were nests in a tree above us, all on the west side. Locals use the nest location as a directional clue, much like we do with the moss growing on the north side of a tree.

By the time we arrived at our home for the next 2 nights, Mankwe Lodge, my back was in real pain. I took some Ibuprophen and tried to sleep but there was no breeze and it was sweltering hot. I think I did sleep for a bit after the pain killers kicked in.

This is a very small camp and our group of 11, including the 2 guides, are the only guests. Our tents are comfortable, but not the luxury we had yesterday. We must be escorted to and fro when it is dark out.

As I was lying down, I could hear lots of different types of birds. After I got up, I could see elephants in the distance from the front deck. When  I came to the dining tent for supper, an elephant was feeding in the trees quite close by.

Supper was wonderful – butternut squash soup again, chicken, rice, salad and veggies. We even had the same dessert as the other camp, some type of delicious pudding. The group went out on a night game drive after supper, but my body just couldn’t handle one more minute in that vehicle tonight. I am sitting here with a cup of rooibus tea very much enjoying myself.