Jacana

If I were to describe Chitabe as a roller coaster ride filled with excitement due to all the predator sightings then I would have to describe Jacana, our second camp located in the Jao concession in the Okavango Delta, as a lazy river boat cruise. Not that Jacana was boring. It wasn't. But it was the opposite of Chitabe in practically every way.

The flight to Jacana was 30 minutes and Mr. Deep and I were the only passengers on the small plane. When we arrived we were picked up at the airstrip by Bee our guide. How funny that his name was Bee and our guide at Chitabe was named BB. Anyway, Bee picked us up and we drove for 30 minutes in an open air safari vehicle. We then came to a boat launch and took a boat an additional 30 minutes to Jacana. 

I can't take credit for this photo but here is an aerial view of the Jacana camp that I borrowed from the Wilderness Safari website. 

It is hard to imagine that some of the areas where we were boating dry up completely during the year. At certain times the safari vehicles can be driven on roads right to Jacana. At this time of year though Jacana is completely surrounded by water and the roads turn to rivers. 

red lechwe

Close up of a hippo's head

Based on the various modes of transportation that it took to get there, you can imagine that Jacana is quite remote. There are no phones, TVs, cell phone service or internet at Jacana. The staff get their updates about what is happening in the world when one of them has a few days off and leaves the camp for a time.  There must be some kind of radio communication because somehow the staff know when to pick people up and drop them off at the airstrip but that is all. Like Chitabe, the electricity is solar meaning that at night everything runs on batteries that have been charged by the sun throughout the day. 

To add to the feeling of being completely off the grid, as we were driving to the boat Bee told us that we would be the only guests at Jacana for the entire three days. At first, I was a little sorry to hear that as we had met some nice people at Chitabe but I very quickly (15 seconds) got over it and decided that having the place and the staff to ourselves would be fabulous. If we were late to dinner or a game drive no one would care. If we were loud and obnoxious no one would care. We were THE guests. 

Jacana reminded me of Gilligan's Island. I don't know why but a lot of things I see in life remind me of TV shows that I watched as a kid often in reruns after school. Luckily Mr.Deep has the same point of reference and any time we see a monkey one of us will sing the Monkees theme song. But back to Jacana I could imagine being shipwrecked on an island surrounded by a lagoon and having to build huts out of the materials available. Also I could imagine living there with no knowledge of what was happening in the world and lying in bed at night listening to the sounds of wildlife...hippos are loud.  But Jacana also had a pool, a full bar and fabulous food so it wasn't really like life as a stranded castaway.

Gilligan's Island right?

If the professor on Gilligan's Island had built a bar it might have looked like this.

The Okavango Delta has salt islands meaning that when the floods come the water contains salt and minerals and then when the water evaporates the salt and minerals remain. 

The papyrus grows in the water but is not rooted to the ground so the hippos and crocs can easily walk/swim right through. Hippos don't swim. 

Banded mongoose

Driving through the flood

View from our room

Even More Chitabe

Chitabe was not all fun and games. Look at the huge spider we found in our tent. Guess who got to hold the phone next to it for scale. Me aka the brave one. 

I thought that this post would cover our final days at Chitabe and the start of our time at Jacana, the second camp we visited in Botswana. However as I looked through the photos and my notes (yes, I take notes. I take this blog very seriously) I realized that there were still many more Chitabe adventures and photos to share. So here is the last of Chitabe. 

Friday morning was quite cold but we set out with BB looking for wild dogs. Wild dogs are tough to spot and we were not successful. BB then heard from another guide that there was a leopard relaxing after chowing down on a big kill so we headed over to check it out. The leopard had clearly just finished eating and her kill was hanging in the tree. The kill was hidden so I couldn't get a photo of that but I was able to get some pictures of the leopard relaxing and digesting. 

This is how I look after a big meal

During the last few drives there were some additional amazing animal sightings.

Monkeys are what South African people would call "naughty" as they often steal food and area a nuisance. But how can you not love their faces? 

Black backed jackal

At Chitabe we saw many predators and a total of five different leopards. On Saturday morning there was lots of excitement during our final game drive. Mr. Deep spotted leopard (number five) and was busy taking photos when an elephant standing to the side of our vehicle started getting upset. You can tell elephants are upset when they stomp a foot, wave their ears or hold their trunk up above their head. Mr. Deep knows all of this as you will remember he's been watching nature shows on TV since the 70s. He quietly and calmly began mentioning to BB "um elephant, he's getting upset." BB was not too concerned though. His advice to Mr. Deep was to "die quietly."

Following the angry elephant we spotted a lioness alone and drinking from a small pond. 

And if all of this was not enough of a thrill, as the drive was wrapping up BB spotted a lion family. Mom, dad and cubs! The dad was relaxing a few yards away (sleeping) while the mom was handling the kids. The kids were crying and BB said they wanted to nurse. Near the den lay the carcass of a kudu that the family had been munching on. 

Only later when I got home and reviewed the photos did I recognize the mother as the same lioness we saw earlier in the week. The one with the unusual eyes.

The dad. He was busy resting a few feet away while the mother was dealing with the cubs. 

The cubs!

Hi dad! 

Me standing in front of what is known as a sausage tree.

My favorite photo from the entire trip even if Mr. Deep is wearing his 20 year old flannel. 

When it was time to leave Chitabe we headed for the airstrip for our flight to Jao another airstrip in the Okavango Delta. While we were waiting we walked around on the runway until the call came over the radio that the plane was coming. At which point Mr. Deep and I laughed about "de plane, de plane" in our best Tattoo voices. Mr. Deep and I were the only two people on the plane except for the pilot and co-pilot. As we flew toward Jao the landscape changed a lot. More water. Our adventures at our second camp, Jacana, coming in my next post.

On the airstrip waiting for the plane. Also I should stop poking fun at the flannel because I am wearing this same old hat in every photo.

De plane de plane!

More Chitabe

A few more interesting pieces of information about Chitabe Camp and then I'll get into the details of the incredible wildlife sightings we enjoyed there.

First, when we arrived at the camp a group of the staff were waiting to greet us and they were singing. I don't know what the song meant because it was in Tswana but I am guessing it was some kind of a welcome song. The staff also sang to us before dinner and the songs included what I later found out is called a chortle which is a sound that is a cross between a yodel and a yee haw that a cowboy might yell. It is meant as a sound of joy. Very cool!

For our first morning game drive we were woken up before dawn. The method of wake up used was the guide walking up to the tent and yelling, "knock knock." He also delivered hot water for us to make tea and coffee and then came back and collected us to walk together to breakfast at the lodge. You will remember that we were not allowed to walk on our own in the dark. There was a full breakfast. The game drives at Chitabe are longer than what I am used to. At other lodges we have visited a morning drive takes place from about 6:00 or 6:30 until 9:00 or 9:30 and then you eat a full breakfast when you return. At Chitabe the drives started at 6:30 when the sun was just rising and and continued until 11:00. Brunch was served at 11:30, high tea at 3:30 and then dinner at 7:00. Each game drive also included a stop for coffee in the morning a sundowner (meaning adult beverage) in the afternoon with a snack. So there is little chance of starving. 

For the morning drive we were again teamed up with the other two American couples and the six of us headed out with BB. Within five minutes of leaving camp we saw two male lions walking on the road. We were so close to them! BB followed them and as guys will do they led us right to a pack of females. Female lions are the ones who do the hunting and it soon became clear that at least one of the lionesses had spotted a lone buffalo. We watched her stalk him for a while and it was quite intense. The couple from New York sitting behind us were so excited. This was the last day of their trip and they were ready to see a kill. The wife was whispering things like, "oh my God the lion is going to kill that buffalo" and the husband was whispering things back to her such as "please be quiet" and "stop talking."

The females

You will notice this one has two different color eyes. I didn't see it until we returned home and I examined the photos. I was excited as I thought I captured a rare trait. But then someone suggested that maybe something was wrong with her blue eye. I am not not sure, but it does look cool. 

Female stalking and a photo below of the hunted.

The chase

Lots of buffalo nearby and some yawning.

Going after a warthog

The lioness made a half assed attempt to run at the buffalo but for some reason her heart wasn't in it. Although lions are the kings and queens of the jungle it turns out they are not always the greatest hunters. Sometimes they lose patience too quickly and their kill success rate is actually not as high as you would think. When the buffalo ran off we followed and were led right to a giant herd of buffalo. It's a good thing the lioness didn't try to see her efforts through or within seconds the predator would have been surrounded and would have become the hunted. Later, we saw another lioness make a run at a warthog but she was also not successful. 

We dropped the New York couple off on the side of the road where they were picked up by another vehicle and taken to their plane and then we remaining Americans continued on. We thought we were going back to the lodge but instead we stopped in the bush and were treated to a gorgeous lunch right there in the wild. The staff had come out and set up a full bar and buffet complete with table cloths. It was really beautiful and a wonderful surprise. These kind of special moments continued throughout the trip. Wilderness Safaris really outdid themselves with these touches of creativity.

Note the first documented appearance of the green flannel

Who doesn't want to stumble upon this when out in the bush? 

Our afternoon game drive was kind of quiet. Or maybe it just felt quiet after leopard sightings the night before and lion sightings and failed kills in the morning.  More Chitabe fun and our travels to our second camp coming in my next post.