Unforgettable Botswana

It’s not every day you open your front door to see a warthog munching on grass. And if that’s the case, what do you do? Scream? Run? Burst into song from a long-running musical?These and many other questions are answered soon after your arrival at the Chobe Game Lodge, in northern Botswana. Owned by Desert & Delta, which is currently celebrating its 50th year, this is the only Botswanan lodge situated in the middle of a national park. Famously, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were married and spent their second honeymoon here in 1975, proving that the Cleopatra star had as good a taste in holidays as she had in diamonds.A safari is not your usual getaway. Yes, there’s fine dining, cocktails and dips in the pool but the stunning wildlife is the main focus. The chance to see an elephant, giraffe or lion in such intimate proximity is simply unmatched. Up close, you realise how important it is that we fight to save these wonderful creatures.Desert & Delta own nine lodges and succeed in making this experience as luxurious as it is adventurous. I visited three in total; the Chobe Game Lodge, Camp Okavango and Leroo La Tau, and they all had different attributes.My party travelled with a private guide, called Metal, who met us at the tiny airport at Kasane (after a 11-hour flight from Heathrow to Johannesburg). His spectacular knowledge, patience and easy-going personality took the trip to an entirely new level. Through his eyes, it was easy to absorb the culture and unique flavours of Botswana.At Chobe, we were also looked after by Elly, a member of their all-female guiding team – the only one in Africa – who are also known as the ‘Chobe Angels’. She drove our Jeep and was at the helm on our river cruises.This unique touch is part of the Desert & Delta ethos of ‘empowering the people of Botswana through tourism’. All employees are given extensive training and are encouraged to advance their careers. This adds to the feeling of being amongst family. The company also places a strong emphasis on being eco-conscious. Their fleet of vehicles are electric and their boats are powered by solar.A game drive through the 4,500 square mile park starts with a 5am wake-up call. When it’s dark you’re escorted to and from your room by a ranger. This is the real deal; there are wild animals roaming the grounds and while the lodge is protected by electric fences, they only keep out elephants. A few days later at Camp Okavango, two elephants breached the fence; I looked on in bewilderment from behind the mesh of my bathroom window as an elephant pulled at the leaves on a tree just ten feet away from me.Clambering bleary-eyed into the Jeep to catch the sunrise we set off for a three-hour game drive. Water, sunscreen and a camera are essentials. Before I’d been in the park 24 hours I’d seen zebras, giraffes, lions, hippos, crocodiles, jackals and a myriad of birds including tawny eagles, parrots and vultures waiting for the lions to give up their prey. The lodge provides an animal check list booklet which I ticked diligently under Metal’s supervision.This is followed by a spectacular buffet breakfast under a riverside canopy, then a cruise to watch the elephants hydrate, the alligators sunbathe and the hippos wallow.Late afternoon brings another game drive. It’s both wonderful and terrifying to sit six feet from a lion. I can still hear the ‘thrup’ of their giant paws landing purposefully on the sand. The roar of a male lion vibrates through your body like you’re sitting in a massage chair.So how come they don’t, well, eat you? Metal explained that we’re part of the furniture as long as we stay inside the vehicle. Venture outside and you become a threat. So stay put.The day ends with a well-deserved sundowner and then it’s back to the lodge for dinner. Sometimes you change and sometimes you don’t. This isn’t a stand-on-ceremony kind of vacation. You’re here to see the animals. But the food is delicious and announced by the most uplifting singing from the chefs, sommeliers, waiting staff and anyone else who happens to be in the vicinity.I tried kudu stew (think deer), spicy curries (meat and pulse-based), barbecues, and enjoyed a hot battered doughnut called a magwinya. A tot of Amarula cream liqueur, made from the fruit of their sacred Marula tree, hit the spot before bed.Hopping from one lodge to another is by small aircraft. We left Chobe for Camp Okavango in a Cessna. Camp O, on the world’s largest inland delta, has a different flavour to Chobe owing to the fact that it’s more of an expansive tree house with wooden walkways winding over marshland. Again, you need to be accompanied by rangers and yes, I was startled by a baboon who left a very nice ‘gift’ on my doorstep.Our softly spoken guide, Onks, narrated our boat trip along the Boteti river. He pointed out Angolan reed frogs, a Malakite kingfisher and the papyrus that Egyptians used to make paper. We slid along the water in a traditional mokoro canoe, which were originally carved from wood by the Bayei tribe, in 1750.The next day we hiked through nearby Buffalo Island, led by our armed ranger, King. This was the first time I’d seen a shotgun and there were strict instructions on hike etiquette. Single file and low voices. We didn’t see lions but got close to impalas, baboons and elephants.In bed later, shrouded by a mosquito net, I fell asleep to the sound of a grunting hippo.You think you’ve seen it all but after a quick Cessna hop we arrived at the newly refurbished Laroo Le Tau lodge, which means ‘lion’s paw’. This is an equally intimate property on the outskirts of the Makgadikgadi national park, and I was blown away to see a vast dry riverbed below my deck teeming with zebras, wildebeest and elephants.I opted to spend one night under the stars, on the Makgadikgadi Salt Pan, the world’s largest salt pan, in the Kalahari Desert. A crackling fire, a sky full of stars – and later, thunder and lightning – were the entertainment.Over a hearty meal cooked on site I enjoyed laughs with my fellow camp mates as we sipped Okavango gin and tonics. Later, I zipped myself snugly into my bedroll and marvelled at the big sky, and the absolute wonder of the entire experience.And as for that warthog. Well, he was far too busy eating to worry about me.