What a thought? If overland camps could talk, I think their stories would be enough to put hairs on your chest and make your toes curl up.
There’s one camp site in particular though that if capable of putting pen to paper could sell a million bestsellers: Elephant sands! An amazing place tucked into the bush around 50 Km’s north of the Makgadikgadi Pan, Botswana. This place is brimming with wildlife tales from wild dogs chasing a male kudu right through the camp site, baby elephants falling into the pool and even one night as we were watching a film on loud speaker in the bar a pride of lions just the other side of the water hole answering the call of a lion on the film. My favorite though is the leopard.
TJ and I were running the 6 days trip for a month last October. Anyone who’s been to Botswana at this time of year knows that the locals don’t call it suicide month for nothing, it’s just before the rain and the heat and humidity are unbearable with temperatures soaring to 53 during the day and late 30’s into the 40’s at night with 90% humidity. The waterhole and the pool at camp had been drunk dry by the elephants and in desperation they had next turned on every tree possible, knocking it down in futile efforts to gather the barks moisture. Next was the water pipes, they dug them up and even knocked down a shower block….there was no running water. The night was so warm, too hot to sleep and having spent the afternoon sat willing the rolling black storm clouds to empty their rain on us (which they didn’t) we settled in around the waterhole with Oom Ben and Jacko. It was late and the generator had been turned off so we were sat in darkness listening to the sounds of thirsty animals all around us. All of a sudden we heard this “slurp slurp slurp”…..”Slurp slurp slurp”. It was coming from the birdbath which had been filled up with bottled water earlier in the day for the birds. “Slurp slurp slurp”. We were trying to see through the black net of the hot night to check out what was large enough to get its paws onto the birdbath which was only 10 meters away from where we were sat. “Slurp slurp”. Oom Ben eventually turned on his torch, and there stood, balanced on her hind legs was a leopard. She looked up at us for what seemed a life time then carried on with her manner less slurping!
Needless to say, TJ and I decided not to walk through the bush to our chalet that night and decided instead to brave the elephants and humidity of a tent.
By Lauren Lees – Acacia Africa crew/operations
