Moremi Game Reserve

We had the rest of our time in Botswana planned out and reserved.  The road led us back to Maun and after a few days trying to view animals from only one side of the binoculars, we wanted to buy new ones.  In a conversation with the owner of Old Bridge Backpackers about binoculars we were invited for an overnight trip to Chief’s Island in Moremi on his tab.  He had a Polish couple, Jacek and Dominika of Szpilki na mapie, filming a promo video for him and he needed extras.  We thought it through and weighed the options before deciding to push everything back one day, including the car rental.  The appealing thing was to be in the heart of Moremi, which is really only accessible by boat or plane.

Chief’s Island

The first several hours were spent getting to the island.  They needed drone footage of the boat as well as time in a mokoro.  Thankfully, they had planned ahead and had lunch ready for us on the boat so we only needed to slow down to eat.  En route to the island, we passed red lechwe, an elephant and several hippos.

 

 

Once we arrived, we helped set up camp before going for a walk.  We could already tell that the evening was going to exceed our expectations due to the details that were already going into the camp.  As sunset drew nearer, we got in the boat to move to the other side of the island.

 

 

We got off the boat and immediately spotted dwarf mongooses on a termite mound.  While being distracted by them, we continued walking until Tico pointed out that there was a giraffe directly in our path.  We stood still as she watched us as well.  She eventually ran off although we could still see her hidden behind some trees.  The group continued to the clearing in hopes of seeing more animals.  After walking and scanning the area, we were only able to find impala that startled and ran away and a herd of wildebeest that let us get somewhat close to them.

 

 

We made it back to the boat just after sunset, but the sky was still full of color.  The camp was well-lit by laterns and the table was already set.  Dinner was almost ready and we waited around the fire for it to finish cooking.  Then, we moved to the table to enjoy the chicken potjie that was prepared.  They’d also provided us with bottomless drinks and dessert.

 

 

The next morning we woke up before the sun came up and went back around the island.  We managed to walk from one side to the other and through water at times.  There were prints left behind by various animals, but the only ones that we saw were impala.

 

 

Back at camp, we had a relaxing breakfast while continuing to share stories of our travels and experiences.  We loaded up the boats and began our 3 hour boat journey back to Maun.  The jacanas flew off of the lily pads as we passed and with the help of the drone we saw a large herd of red lechwes running through the delta.

 

 

While we had to rearrange our plans, the trip was definitely worth it.  We got insights of places to see in Eastern Africa as well as a glimpse of what the backpacker’s safari is like.

Check out the awesome promo video by Szpilki na mapie below:

South Gate

Once back in Maun, we had a chance to clean up and eat lunch before heading towards our camp for the night.  We’d be staying at South Gate camp in Moremi as most of the other camps were still closed from the rain.  It was 82 kms (51 miles) so we felt like 2 hours was plenty of time.

We reached the turnoff around 6 pm and had 31 kms (19 miles) to go before the gate closed at 7.  That’s when we started seeing animals. There was an elephant eating meters from the road as the sun was setting behind him.  He let us watch him for a bit, but we needed to move.  We carried on and saw zebras, several Cape buffalo, giraffes, and a honey badger, which we actually mistook for a skunk at first.  Tico drove as fast as he could, considering the road conditions.  We were moving about a kilometer per minute and there was no way we were going to make it.

 

At 7:08 pm we pulled up to the gate, but it was locked shut.  We evaluated our options and decided it would be better to walk to the staff housing instead of pitching our tent at the gate.  With our headlamps, we followed the path in the bush to their homes.  A door shut as we were approaching so we knocked on it.  The man inside yelled something in Setswana and then appeared.  He was not happy that we arrived when we did, but after explaining our story he finally gave in and told us he’d let us in.

We all walked back to the gate while he repeated how many predators are around and how dangerous the area is.  When we reached our campsite, it was empty with the exception of a heard of impala.  This was the first time we had seen any animals in our camp and seeing their eyes reflect in the light made them appear even more wild.  As we made dinner, we continued to see eyes on the other side of camp.  One was smaller and closer to the ground and Tico could make out a bushy tail, which we later determined was a genet.

As we climbed into the tent, we heard a grunt and not long after a baboon screeching.  We still don’t know what was happening, but we were glad we were in the safety of our tent.  Throughout the night we heard hyenas and at one point it sounded as if they were somewhere in our camp.

The next morning we went back to the gate to pay our fees and found out which roads were drivable.  The man from the night before was there and was in a much better mood.  We took their advice to drive towards Third Bridge camp a bit to see if we could find any animals, but the bush was too dense.

 

As we reached the North Gate, we decided to take a detour towards the Hippo Pool.  We weren’t sure of the conditions of the road, but we had time so figured we would see what we could find.  We passed impala and were carrying on when Tico slammed on the brakes.  He immediately asked for the GoPro, rolled up the windows and put the truck in reverse.

He stopped next to 3 male lions relaxing in the shade.  One looked up at us while the others slept.  We were on edge as we didn’t know how they’d react to our being there although they didn’t seem to mind.  The one that watched us got up to move more into the shade and the next in line sat up to see what was happening.

 

We left to see what else we could find, but only found the road flooded not too far away.  After turning around, we stopped by the place where we’d seen the lions only to find an empty patch of grass.  We searched the area, but they had already moved on.  It reminded us again of how much luck goes into game viewing.

Helpful tips:

• The road from Maun to South Gate takes time even though it is not that far.
• Along this road, there is a campsite by the name of Kaziikini.  It is significantly cheaper than staying in the park and where we saw the bulk of the animals due to flooding in Moremi.