Wet, wild safari at Khwai
Thalefang Charles | Friday December 18, 2020 08:36
Safari is different in the wet season. Now there is an explosion of colour. It is not like the dull brown of the popular dry season where fashionistas don the trendy Safari-chic wear of earth colours to blend in with the wilderness. In the wet season, the safari backdrop is lush green. The Okavango Delta almost feels like a rainforest jungle. It is wet and wild. The mophane trees that withstood the elephant herds’ assaults are now all green. The colours are popping and contrasts are more defined.
The drive from Maun through the Shorobe road heading to Khwai, north of Moremi Game Reserve with Belmond Safari guide Richard Sepopo, feels more thrilling, especially after ending the tarred road at Shorobe. The road is still bumpy in some spots with corrugation that could shake your brain to a headache. There are puddles of water on the road that splash our vehicle with mud so that it looks the part.
After passing Mababe village and turning off to Chobe National Park, the game starts showing up. There are plenty of impalas with their cute babies. Impalas drop their little ones just after the first rains. Normally this is in October if the rainy season began on time in September. That is why the Setswana name for October is Diphalane literally meaning baby impalas. The herds of impalas with their beautiful calves, grazing cautiously on the open spaces, stand out against the backdrop of the green.
As we enter Khwai, we see more antelopes and zebras. Warthogs running away with antenna-like tails pointed upwards. A dazzle of zebras, startled by the warthogs make a beautiful image against the bright green of the emerging season.
As we drive along the Khwai River there are a couple of Wattled Cranes walking elegantly along the riverbank looking for insects. Another couple of Saddle-Bill Storks makes the scene look like a best couple contest with the cranes. And if it is indeed a contest, the storks take the crown.
A family of Egyptian Geese with small chicks glides on shallow waters. There are more ducks on the other side. It is the White-Faced and Knob-Billed ducks. A Hamerkop standing still like a deadlock is waiting to hammer onto some prey – fish or frog by the riverbank. In the air above the water, the Pied Kingfisher is hovering, looking for fish in the water below. It spears down deep into the river for catch. Unsuccessful. It flies further down the river for another try.
Through the Dead Camel Thorn Forest is a bachelor herd of nine elephants foraging on some green grass. Above the dead Camel Thorn trees, there are two African Fish Eagles calling. It is the distinctive soundtrack of the African wilderness.
In the nearby bush, the Helmeted Guineafowls make alarm calls. Our guide Sepopo abruptly stops the vehicle and switches off the engine completely. “Did you hear that?” he asks. “These alarm calls could mean there are predators around,” he explains. Lions or leopards? We engage all the senses. Searching. We spot an African Hawk-Eagle on tree nearby. Sepopo says it is the reason why the Guineafowls are making alarm calls because the hawk hunts them.
The sky is dramatic. Low hanging dark rainclouds are approaching from the east. The sun is glistening from the west. It makes great landscape photographs. The storm chaser in me is thrilled.
We continue the drive to Belmond Khwai River Lodge. At the gate, the skeletal staff led by the charming managing couple, Justin Soopu and spouse Vero, are doing a welcome reception song. It is that heartwarming safari welcome that comes with a toast from a dash of Amarula. But immediately as we step off from the vehicle there are coronavirus (COVID-19) protocols to observe. Sanitisers are sprayed on our hands and laser thermometers check our temperature.
Soopu does the hotel orientation before escorting us to our suites. The rooms are big and beautiful. They are all overlooking the river, with a balcony and a hammock. Inside the room, the bed is huge. It is going to be a waste sleeping here alone. It is the morning after the last night of our two-day stay at the lodge, I am up early to photograph the sunrise. There is some cloud cover diffusing the light perfectly for fine photography. Down below in the Khwai River, hippos are burping and snorting. Birds are chirping. I hear lions in the night and hope that we can see them later.
On our way out, heading to Savuti, it turns out that Khwai left its best for last as we come across a pride of 14 lions together with their small photogenic cubs. As we snap away at the cubs joyfully playing with their mothers and cousins, one lioness comes with a kill. The lioness made a small kill of a calf. It is not enough for the entire pride. And as it walks with its success hunt towards her pride it is both a charming and brutal view.
*Thalefang Charles was a guest of Belmond Safaris and stayed at Belmond Khwai River Lodge.