Pure wild magic.

My turn to Blog, my take on the last seven days of dust, dirt and sand tracks, long hauls of straight tar road stretching into the heat haze, wonderful dreamtime camp sites sitting under the stars by a dying camp fire.

The next destination after our epic adventure on the Okavango River was up to Chobe River Lodge, on the equally mighty Chobe River. everyone got their experience of driving soft sand tracks in the National Park, and some memorable sightings of animals were made, including a great river trip with a knowledgeable guide. The evening of that day we all donned our best attire to take a Dinner Cruise on the river and raise our glasses to an ever young birthday girl Lindsay.

Next day Lindsay and I drove down to our much loved Elephant Sands with Pru and Keith, for their last night with us, and the camp did us proud with about thirty elephants crowding the water hole just beyond the the bar terrace.

Then, as Lynn and Ellen have so eloquently described, we set off the six of us plus Roan our Guide and Kabo our Chef,  who produced some amazing camp meals, and taught me how to make camp bread and cook it on the fire. With much merriment we agreed that I must try it out on the rest on our next 'wild camp'' , and send pictures to her to prove that I am an able enough pupil (Hmm...don't be sure you will see those pics on the Blog!! ).

For Lindsay and I returning again to Hwange National Park, being back in Zimbabwe after a long absence, was quite powerful. Sad to see the Parks decline over these hard years for Zim, but wonderful to talk to the smiling stoical staff there, who apart from one rather officious customs person, were as we remembered, a delight.

I can't fully describe the awesome wonder of sleeping out under the stars, in a wild place, hearing the sounds of lion and elephant, and who knows what else. Sitting at the camp fire as the baboons squabbled noisily over night perches high above us in the jackleberry tree. And the kill so well described by the others.

Driving in the Park at dawn, we saw little game, but the experience of our four vehicles tussling with cratered tracks, and heaving up rocky inclines in a rising cloud of dust was terrific. We even did our good turn to a couple of guys whose vehicle had hit electrical fault problems, and a joint  heaving and hitching got them fixed to a tow rope and out of the soft sand of the camp, whence Roan towed them to Robins Camp some 30 k away to get sorted out.

Then, sadly, it was back through the Park to the Pandamatenga Border Post, and down again to Elephant Sands, for a well deserved few cold beers and more elephant watching.

And now, Saturday the 31st, we are at Nata Lodge on the edge of the great Makgadikgadi Salt Pans. Some pool dipping, a good bit of cleaning out of  accumulated dust, and then we set out to enter the Pan and head again into some remote camping under the stars.

All going spiffingly!!