Truckin’ Along Part 1 of 3 – July 2019

We left Maun with Leabo, our guide & driver, and six new friends for a six-night overland safari put together by The Old Bridge Tours & Safaris, the same company who organized our mokoro camping adventure. Our fellow travelers were two Americans, two newlywed Belgians, and a young couple from Great Britain. We rode many, many kilometers in the Toyota Land Cruiser on dirt and deep sand roads as we travelled through Moremi, Khwai, and Savuti areas, with our final destination in Kasane, Botswana.

Our camp setup was very similar to the mokoro camping trip, with the added plus of a private shower and toilet for each tent. And we were very well fed with MG’s delicious cuisine. What a treat to have him again as our chef! This time he was assisted by two young men, OV and System.

Home Sweet Home
Leabo (left) and MG (right) in the kitchen.
Dining area
Dinner is almost ready!

The campsites in the Moremi Game Reserve are identified by their proximity to the wooden bridges. We crossed over several squeaky bridges to reach our campsite at 3rd Bridge, where we stayed the first two nights.

Entrance to Moremi Game Reserve
One of the few flooded areas that we visited in the game reserve
Road leading up to the old first bridge
Crossing third bridge

At first we were the only tourists in our group who wanted Leabo to stop to photograph and briefly observe birds. But soon the rest of our new friends discovered the color and beauty of Botswana winged creatures. And they started identifying birds and taking many photos too.

Wattled cranes near a lechwe
Great white pelican
Coppery-tailed coucal
Lesser striped swallow
African jacana
White faced duck
Red billed spurfowl
Marabou stork

As we travelled along the roads, Leabo had the double duty of driving and spotting the hidden and elusive cats, wild dogs, honey badgers, and other rare or endangered animals that we all wanted to see. He said we were very fortunate to come across roan and sable because he almost never sees them. Leabo shared many facts and stories with us when we spotted critters and also in the evenings around the dinner table or campfire.