You have lost the trail that you were banking on to get you back to camp before dark. The prospect of spending a night alone in the bush is not a rosy one. What is the next step…? You decide that you need to choose a direction and stick to it. You think that when…
Imagine, for one horrible moment, that you are lost in a featureless wilderness, immersed in the domain of animals who can kill you and some who would very much like to snack on you. You don’t know which way to go. There is no phone signal, so calling for help is not an option. You…
“We have finally come up with your ultimate challenge.” Philippe’s laconic French Swiss accented voice, which always held the undertone of an unbridled sense of humour, drifted over the phone. “This is not just a simple task like conquering Kilimanjaro or anticipating the exact timing of the wildebeest migration in Serengeti or finding Bushmen in…
Situated on the banks of the Thamalakane River, our barn was a curiously large edifice because its original purpose was to treat and store elephant hides. Its walls were made of chicken wire that had once seen a splash of cement – to reduce, but not quite eliminate, transparency – and this makeshift structure was…
We live in far north-eastern Botswana on a heavily wooded property that overlooks the Chobe / Zambezi River confluence. We have a constant parade of wild animals around our boundaries. Elephants, buffalo, hyaena, hippo and leopards are regulars as are bushbuck and an assortment of other herbivores and small predators. We have, rather scaringly also…
When he heard news of the three missing young men, Haydn Willans, the manager of Muchenje Campsite, was in Ireland. He took immediate action and briefed the Kasane WhatsApp group in Botswana in the following post on 8 April 2024 at 12.23pm. Good morning, Help is urgently needed. 3 guests travelling under the name of…
While wilderness recharges souls made weary by modern lifestyles, the bush can be fatally uncompromising for the unwary. My friends John and Lorraine Bullen, who had done several overland safaris with me in Botswana as well as a fishing trip in the Okavango, went on safari on their own in Botswana in a remote area…
One of life’s ultimate treats is to spend a day out in the Okavango Delta in Botswana, travelling the waterways in a traditional dug-out mokoro with a private guide who will pole you in gentle solitude and then take you for a game walk on the animal-rich islands while pointing out signs of the wild.…
Who washes their lettuce in dishwashing liquid? Orthodox Jews, I learnt to my surprise when I set up camp for a family from New York in Moremi Game Reserve in Botswana over the Sabath. Rabi Barry had booked to spend a Sabath in a mobile camp with a Jewish American family, so that they could,…