I’m dreaming of a… Christmas in the bush

No need to dream. That’s what we did for Christmas – no internet, no electricity, no cell phone, no wifi…no problem. We rented a little cottage up near the Khwai community (about a 2.5 hour drive from Maun) for five nights to celebrate Christmas in the bush. While the weather has been extremely hot and dry in Botswana (think high 90s and 100s and no rain, despite the fact that it’s the “rainy” season…what I like to refer to as “hotter than Africa”), we actually had a couple of relatively cool nights which made sleeping possible. And, despite the fact that the skies kept threatening to rain and we saw some spectacular lightening off in the distance, we didn’t get much rain…just a few sprinkles here and there.

 

Even though Maun looks a bit like a dust bowl and cow ribcages are visible, the Khwai River, while the narrowest I’ve ever seen it, was still vibrant enough to sustain wildlife and we saw a good amount. There were zebras, lechwe, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, and bird life a plenty. We saw saddle billed storks and “thick knees”. We were even able to see some things we don’t normally see, like reed bok who are often concealed by the tall reeds which were nonexistent.

Zebras

Lechwe

Giraffe

Hippo and egrets

Crocodile

Saddle-billed Stork

Thick Knees

Reed bok

It seemed like all creatures were trying to find some relief from the heat and we spent many a hot afternoon under the shade of a tree watching herds of elephants play in the deepest part of the river. At a popular watering hole elephants would come down and drink and drink, sucking in 4-5 gallons in a slurp. Once satiated they would venture from the edge of the water to what must have been a steep drop off where they would sink themselves, sometimes head down first and butt sticking up, other times, butt down and head up. It is hard not to personify them as they dunk each other using their trunks to push their “herdmates” under. Some of the younger ones only left reluctantly after their entire herd had made their way off into the mopane trees disappearing beyond our sight (it still amazes me how something so large can completely disappear in silence just a few steps into the bush). 

Our days are spent game driving, reading, trying to stay cool in the cottage (which, while hot, was still cooler than the outside in the heat of the day), and "binge listening" to “Serial” in the air conditioned safari vehicle. We had downloaded, what we thought was, the entire season only to realize we were missing the last episode so… we listened to the first 11 episodes…twice. We got a little obsessive about it waking in the morning with new ideas of pieces of information that were missing or inconsistent that might make one party look innocent or guilty, depending… (it’s a great podcast about a real life case of a 17 year old guy sent to prison for life 15 years ago for killing his ex-girlfriend on very little “evidence”). 

We have some unexpected encounters as well including this incredibly creepy looking spider with an extremely long “arm” that lived in the bathtub of the cottage (he would use this extra “arm” to pull in his prey to eat). As if that wasn’t creepy enough, the second night he was joined by a scorpion...both of them trolling the bathtub for dinner. The third night there were two scorpions and the creepy spider. The fourth night…I couldn’t bear to look..but, of course, I did. When we couldn’t find them (after I had convinced myself that they couldn’t get out of the deep tub) we used Paul’s scorpion light to peer down the drain only to see their glowing bodies down there (the UV light makes their bodies glow). If I had ever had an idea of cooling off in the big tub mid-day, that was gone forever.

We are also visited by a mouse (perhaps the same one who visited when we were there in May with Paul’s son and his family). I refer to him as “Sponge Bob” because he has a real thing for sponges. One night coming in from the outside deck, where we ate our meals, to check on dinner we were cooking I notice the sponge is gone…completely. What the heck? We stir the pots a bit and go back outside where it is a bit cooler. When we come back in, the sponge is back on the counter but with a few bites out of it. At least he returned it…

Paul opening his Christmas gifts

On Christmas day we open our presents (many of which have been ferried over on the plane from the States), cook a gammon for our mid-day meal and then head off as the sun starts to set to visit the baby hyenas and their clan that we have been visiting every night since we arrived. After calling our families on the satellite phone (or trying to) to wish them a Merry Christmas, we head off toward the hyena den. Not far from where we’ve made the calls, we are trundling by when, sitting in a field not 15 feet from the road is a young male lion. He and another one just 50 yards down the road are particularly blonde. In silence they rise simultaneously and retreat into the mopane forest not giving us a second glance. Their silence suggests they are on the hunt.

They hyena clan has taken up residence in a den that has been used for several years now (Kelley, Nikki and Becca, do you remember seeing the hyena cubs in July 2010? That was the first year we learned of the den). During the day, it simply looks like a series of holes in the ground with no sign of the life but at sunset the entire clan emerges: three small cubs, one curious adolescent and at least five adults. One is clearly the mother and you can see the cubs climbing on her and suckling. She looks exhausted. 

 

 

 

 

 

On Christmas night the den is eerily silent. The night before, around the same time there appears to be one of the adults in charge of watching the youngest ones and, even as the adults sleep, the babysitter keeps popping her head out of the hole to check us out. On Christmas night, there is no movement. No sign of life. In back of the vehicle I hear what sounds like something stepping on sticks. When we finally make out what it is, we realize it is actually three adult hyenas (and the adolescent) chomping on the ribs of whatever their Christmas meal was (we can’t quite make it out). When we get out the night vision binoculars we can see that their bellies are full full. They have certainly enjoyed their Christmas feast. I hope you and yours enjoyed your holiday as well. We certainly did!

Paul checking out his new digital microscope