1. July 5, 2009
Game Time in Botswana
At safari camps, signs of peace
and peril
By Jenny Hontz
At Duba Plains safari camp in Botswana’s
Okavango Delta, there was fighting within
the pride. A rogue lioness had killed four
newborns, and their mother, breasts still
engorged with milk, cried out over and
over for her cubs.
I tried to hide the tears welling in
my eyes, feeling it was silly to humanize
a lion. But I knew how she felt. Just a few
months earlier, I had lost a pregnancy at the
midpoint, my first attempt at having a baby
ending abruptly in despair.
With the worst of the agony behind
me but the wounds still raw, this trip with
Wilderness Safaris was an effort to restore
my spirits. I had always dreamed of visiting
Africa, and I knew a safari would be tough to Lions get frisky on the roadside near Xigera camp in Botswana’s lush Okavango Delta.
pull off once a baby arrived. Though I never
would have asked for it, now was my chance. mating. I was tempted to shout, “Get a room!” you will feel as if you’ve just dug up hidden
My husband couldn’t get away, so my The lions at Xigera were also getting treasure.
former college roommate, Heather, joined busy. Or so we heard. It took us three days On our last morning at Xigera, we went
me on the journey. We decided to visit three to find them. We’d spotted a huge dazzle of on a wild ride in search of big game. It felt
safari camps: the brand-new, solar-powered zebras and elephants that tried but failed like a hunt, our goal to shoot them with
Kalahari Plains Camp and two spots in the to hide their girth in the bush. We’d taken a cameras rather than bullets. We drove into
lush Okavango Delta, Xigera and finally Duba traditional mokoro canoe ride through water the wind to follow a scent and studied paw
Plains, where the lion and the buffalo go lilies and papyrus reeds, passing giraffes prints in the dirt.
head to head. munching along the shore. But where were Our guide had grown up in the area and
It was summer in Botswana, hot and the lions? Where were the buffaloes? was a skilled tracker. He took us way, way
wet. Signs of life -- and death -- were every- Game drives can be an exercise in off-road, hacking through the bush with a ma-
where. The day before we arrived at Duba patience, hardly my strongest quality. It’s not chete and driving over logs once he picked
Plains, a pride of 10 lions had downed a like a zoo. You can tool around for hours and up the trail. We eventually gave up and
buffalo, and vultures had already picked the spot nothing more than some fancy ante- found our way back to the main road, where
carcass clean. Nature’s cruel efficiency. I was lopes and a few warthogs. The good news the buffaloes waited for us, laughing, I’m
happy to have missed the kill. is, you won’t see any sign of human beings, sure. (I chuckled myself later that day when
As luck would have it, we witnessed either. For days, our view was never marred we flew to Duba, where 1,000 buffaloes roam
lots of life being created instead. At Xigera, by buildings, cars or trash. Nothing but in the open.)
a tropical oasis on Paradise Island overlook- miles and miles of pristine wilderness and We had given up on finding lions, too,
ing a river, it was hard not to blush at all the elephant dung. and started heading back to camp. That’s
activity. One afternoon, on the raised wooden I eventually learned that if I just relaxed when we rounded the bend and stumbled
walkway leading to my tent, an entire baboon and took it all in, things would work out. on a couple right next to the road. “Lions!”
family confronted me. I backed up as they ad- There wasn’t a single day we didn’t experi- I screamed, as we veered to avoid running
vanced, but I finally froze, holding my ground ence something new and invigorating. And them over. The male lion climbed on top of
a few feet from the babies. Then they all in those rare moments when you’re the one the female, biting her on the ear, and she
hopped to the ground, and the parents started to identify some distant movement in grass, swatted him with her paw. You would, too,

2. I’m sure, if you had been mating every 20
minutes for four straight days without sleep- Where to Go,
What to Do
ing or eating.
It’s amazing how close we could get
to lions in love without causing them any
upset. Apparently, as long as you’re in the
safari truck (which has neither windows
on Botswana’s
nor guns), they don’t view you as a threat.
Step out of the vehicle, and all bets are Wildlife Safaris
off. Puts things in perspective, envisioning By Jenny Hontz
yourself as lion lunch.
The Kalahari Plains Camp near Decep- GETTING THERE: To get to Botswana,
tion Valley was the most remote stop on our you first have to fly to Johannesburg, then
trip. During the three-hour drive from the catch Air Botswana to Maun. South African
dirt airport runway to camp, we passed a Airways is the only airline that flies directly
snake so poisonous that if we’d been bitten, from Washington Dulles to Johannesburg;
we probably would have died before reach- round-trip flights start at $1,125, lower in
ing help. the off-season. The flight requires an over-
Much more pleasant were the herds of night stay before connecting to Botswana
odd-looking oryx. These antelopes, which the next day (flights start at $550). Or you Near Xigera camp, a giraffe’s hide gets a
appeared to be part horse, part cow, are can take an early morning flight to New once-over from small birds searching for
thought by some to have been the inspira- York’s JFK, then fly nonstop to Johannes- insects.
tion for the mythical unicorn. So many of burg (flights start at $1,125), connecting
them populated the desert that a jaded Ger- to Botswana the same day. From Maun, a oryxes, ostriches, mongooses, bat-eared
man tourist started calling out, “Just another charter company will connect you to various foxes, springbok and jackals are some of the
oryx.” The sturdy herbivores finally earned safari camps. Those flights are generally species we spotted. Rates start at $480.
his respect after we watched a group of arranged by the safari company or tour Wilderness Safaris is running a special:
them chase off a cheetah, turning toward the operator. Stay seven nights at any camp and get the
spotted cat and bravely advancing en masse. WILDERNESS SAFARIS: Xigera has 10 eighth night free. For more information, go
The Kalahari Desert is so barren and tented rooms, furnished and with private to http://www.wilderness-safaris.com. Or to
dry most of the year, it’s hard to believe that bathrooms, built on wooden decks in a book a trip, contact Travel Beyond at 800-
anything or anyone can survive there. But forest on the edge of a river. Located in the 823-6063 or visit www.travelbeyond.com.
life is possible even in the most unlikely Moremi Game Reserve in the Okavango OTHER SAFARI OPTIONS: Orient-Ex-
places. The indigenous Basarwa people, also Delta, one of the world’s largest inland del- press owns three luxury lodges in Botswana
known as San and Bushmen, traditionally tas, the camp allows for mokoro canoe trips meant to be experienced as part of a safari
endured the relentless sunshine by digging and motorboat outings year-round. We saw circuit. The Khwai River Lodge borders the
for roots filled with water. zebras, elephants, giraffes, lions, buffaloes, Moremi Game Reserve. Rates start at $530.
And the harsh desert landscape always antelopes, baboons and more. Rates, includ- The Savute Elephant Camp is in the heart of
springs to life again after the rains. Grasses ing all meals, lodging, outings and guides, Chobe National Park, sometimes referred to
sprout, flowers bloom and butterflies flit start at $600. as the elephant capital of the world. Rates
across vast open spaces. Ducks swim in the Duba Plains, one of the remotest camps start at $530. Eagle Island Camp is on an
puddles of the dirt road. We even saw a giant in the Okavango Delta, is on the 116-square- island in the Okavango Delta. Rates start at
bullfrog dive into the water beneath our sa- mile Kwedi Reserve. Six furnished tents $805. http://www.orient-express.com/web/
fari truck. So strange to encounter a frog in feature private bathrooms and verandas luxury/vacations_holidays/safaris.jsp. To
the desert. They hide underground for many overlooking the flood plain. The location for book, call 800-237-1236.
months, emerging only when the sky opens the film “Relentless Enemies,” Duba Plains A more affordable option is Desert &
and the birds start to sing. is famous for clashes between its lion prides Delta Safaris, which also operates camps in
Back at camp, the Basarwa tribe and its giant herd of buffaloes. Rates start the Moremi Game Reserve and the Okavan-
members on the staff also sang in praise at $770. go Delta, among other regions. Its camps
of the rain, stomping the earth around our Kalahari Plains Camp is a new solar- and lodges are situated in slightly more
campfire. I sang, too, imagining the rain powered camp in the 12-million-acre Central populated areas and typically house more
washing away my grief, determined to carry Kalahari Game Reserve, the country’s guests. Rates start at $396 per night. Stay
this moment forward. On parched nights largest conservation area. Six furnished more than five nights and get a 10 percent
pregnant with longing, such memories can tents sit on raised platforms, allowing air discount. http://www.desertdelta.com. E-
give one hope. to circulate. Cheetahs, lions, wildebeests, mail: reservations@desertdelta.com.