Howlands' African Adventures: Botswana

Our two days spent in the Selinda Spillway in Northern Botswana at the Selinda Camp were so special. It took some doing getting to - involving two airplane rides in two 6 seater planes (and that includes the pilot), a drive in a safari truck, then a boat ride in a very small boat with all our gear to the camp. We were warmly welcomed into the camp by one of the managers and were treated like we were the only people at the camp for those days. We were also welcomed by Scarface, the loner old male hippo that is seen around the camp. On the first night the girls heard him by their tent... thank goodness hippos can't climb steps. The camp was another beautiful safari camp on a private game reserve with access to tons of land - and animals. I think that perhaps even my sister Beth, who hates any form of camping, would enjoy 'camping' in these luxury 'tents'. Our guide's name was Mots and this time there weren't any other people on the game drives with us. Mots surprised us more than a few times with his driving skills... through and in water that came up to the hood of the truck. It was funny to see the headlights buried under the water during our night drives. The routine was similar from the last camp: up at 5:30am for the first game drive for 3-4 hours, back for lunch, relax for a couple of hours before tea time, leave on the second drive by 4pm for another 3 hours then dinner and bed. There was a coffee break during the morning drive and the 'sundowner' break during the afternoon drive where the guide would find a safe place to stop the truck in the middle of no where to have a snack and a drink. The food was spectacular - and so much of it. And did we see animals... see the pics below. We and the other guests were surprised by an outdoor dinner set up about two miles from camp in open field with our full gourmet meal being cooked on grates over multiple fires. They had set up tons of lanterns for lights, even all throughout one of the trees. It was a magical evening and one of the highlights of the trip for me. It was sad leaving Selinda after our two day stay but at least we had one more camp to look forward to visiting before heading back to Red Hook and the real world.