On the subject of safari locations, Botswana is one in all my high locations on the African continent to go to for each prolific wildlife and luxurious lodging. With the journey being nearly as vital because the vacation spot, I board my Airlink flight from Cape City Worldwide Airport to Maun Worldwide Airport with the great prospect of staying at Ker & Downey Botswana’s Kanana within the Okavango Delta.
Arriving at Maun Worldwide Airport, the pleasant Martha from Ker & Downey’s meet and greet is at hand to make sure that I’m checked in for my inner flight on Safari Air. Captain Letso is on the controls and has clearly mastered the artwork of flying the GA8 Airvan and lands it seamlessly on the gravel floor. The Kanana airstrip is barely a three-minute drive to camp, relying on what you see alongside the best way. I’m collected by Wizzy, who drives me to Kanana, the place tune and dance from the workers paves the best way to a hospitable welcome and a tremendous expertise.
I make it in time for Excessive Tea, which is a choice of delicious freshly baked goodies and iced espresso, do-it-yourself lemonade, and the rest you may wish to drink from the open bar or concoct from the espresso machine. Friends are excited concerning the looming sport drive, and those that have spent a couple of days in camp discuss animatedly about what they’ve noticed, and which animals they’re hoping to see. With Kanana located in a non-public concession, off-roading is allowed to get nearer to the wildlife, including one other aspect of enthusiasm for each guides and friends!
One of the requested sightings by safarigoers is to come across a leopard within the wild. An elusive animal at finest due to their shy nature and camouflaged coats, it’s by no means a straightforward activity for a information to seek out these sought-after rosette large cats. Setting off on our very first sport drive at Kanana, Discipline Information Ona approaches a jackalberry tree, stops the sport drive car, and nonchalantly proclaims that there’s a leopard proper there. She is quick asleep within the tree, perched over the branches and content material as solely a leopard will be. A spotlight for me is setting eyes on a tiny leopard cub on my final morning, the place their mother had stashed them safely within the hollowed-out stump of a lifeless leadwood tree.
Again at camp, it’s lastly time to see my luxurious tented suite! I’m completely delighted to be staying within the Household Suite for the following three nights, which is correct on the finish of a tree-lined path the place an imposing sausage tree creates a shady refuge on scorching summer season days. The tree doubles up for birds and any creatures that may wish to have the sting on their elevated vantage level, equivalent to vervet monkeys or tree squirrels.
Opening the sliding doorways of my magnificent suite, it’s clear {that a} snug haven has been tailormade for friends having fun with the finer issues in life, even whereas on safari. With a view over the plains, which transforms right into a spectacular floodplain when the Okavango Delta’s annual water arrives from the Angola highlands, this pure phenomenon causes an inflow of aquatic wildlife, and friends can embark on water-based actions when the water ranges enable for it, equivalent to gliding down the Delta’s channels in a mokoro (a dug-out canoe) or boating alongside the waterways the place friends will grow to be avid birdwatchers.
It’s time for dinner, and being in a sport reserve with a fence that retains solely the elephants out, wildlife can meander at their whim, as we uncover one night time when a leopard strolls proper by the camp, and comes bolting from my suite’s deck simply to vanish into the darkish night time. Ought to friends wish to clean up earlier than dinner, their information will gather them at their suite and stroll them to the primary eating space as strolling by your self after sundown and earlier than dawn isn’t permitted for security functions. Dinner is served at a protracted desk with everybody eating collectively, making for a beautiful return to the age-old custom of conversing with fellow friends.
The title Kanana means ‘land of milk and honey’ in Botswana’s native Tswana language, and Kanana is that and a lot extra. Other than the heat of the workers and the unimaginable wildlife, Kanana is genuine luxurious at its best.
Learn how to Ebook with The Luxurious Safari Firm | Heléne’s worldwide flights have been generously sponsored by The Luxurious Safari Firm. Based by Rose Hipwood in 2010, her ardour for Africa is evident within the seamless association of bespoke, luxurious safaris throughout Africa which can be made particular by the individuals concerned, the distinctive places of the lodges, and the meticulously executed nature of every journey. Purchasers of The Luxurious Safari Firm can count on private 24-hour service safaris which take them into new territory with the best individuals on the proper time, and imaginative itineraries. To ebook, contact data@theluxurysafaricompany.com or name +44 1666 880 111.
