Africa: How we did it

First, I must say that we could not have gone on an African wilderness adventure like this without the experience, expertise and equipment provided by Bess and Chip, and for that I am very grateful. I have done lots of canoeing and camping in the wilds of Ontario, but this was different. We were prepared for 2 weeks of being in the bush, with the exception of a few stops for fresh produce, and of course those wonderful South African wines! A well stocked first aid kit, a winch on the front of one of the 2 landrovers and sand tracks in case we got stuck, extra batteries, a 45 gallon barrel of water for showers and many containers of drinking water, etc etc. It seemed to me we were ready for anything.

The rooftop tent is an amazing invention, and totally suited to the situation. We were taking turns in it, otherwise in ground tents, until my Great Night of Terror. It seemed to me that we were surrounded by lots of very loud lions, and after still being alive in the morning, I expressed my extreme agitation to my fellow campers. From then on, Dan and I were generously granted the rooftop, and I felt totally secure.

We cooked over an open fire, showered outdoors and had afternoon naps every day when it was too hot to be out, and all the animals were doing the same thing. We had a 12 volt freezer with it's own battery wired into the vehicle's charging system and Bessie had filled it with delicious frozen entres...so there we were, far from civilization, eating tai chicken curry and watching the zillion stars of the Southern Hemisphere, serenaded by hippos and hyenas. It was tough.

We travelled 4000 km on roads of various descriptions. At one point I could not believe these tracks were even considered passable, and so it often took hours to get from one game reserve to another. I think we moved 10 times. Some camps were extremely scenic and some were rough and unmaintained. We pulled into one reserve entrance, and were greeted with a huge grin from the warden...we were the first campers to arrive in more than 3 months! No wonder, we barely found the place, and had navigated all day on roads that almost defied travel. It was worth it though...it was a beautiful camp site on a river. We watched hippos and crocodiles all day, and then 2 elephants swam across and frolicked in the water.

Sometimes, if we saw spoor, or tracks, we followed them. That's how we saw the 4 lions. They had walked very close to our campsite, so we went in that direction, and in a couple of hours we saw them. In general, we went out on early morning, and late afternoon game drives armed with binoculars and cameras to see whatever we could find. Often, there was plentiful game in herds, or in singles, sometimes in mixed varieties, grazing and just generally hanging out. It was always exciting and thrilling.