The star of the hippopotamus family is a baby hippo looking like a bright pink Michelin Man. Photo / Carol Atkinson
The star of the hippopotamus family is a baby hippo looking like a bright pink Michelin Man. Photo / Carol Atkinson
A hyaena tug of war and hippopotamus on the lawn, continuing with his worldwide wildlife series, Brett Atkinson comes to expect the unexpected on safari in Botswana's Okavango Delta.
Wildlife guide Rex Batsholelwang is a legend around the Okavango Delta. He's flown in a Cessna with actor Harrison Ford, drivena Toyota 4WD for Oprah Winfrey and been on safari with Prince Harry. When he promises, "Hold on, I'm going to find some action", we know we're in good hands.
Guide Rex and tracker Joel in Botswana's Okavango Delta. Photo / Carol Atkinson
It's definitely no false boast, and following a rollicking 15-minute drive through fragrant wild sage bushes, we're suddenly being eyeballed by a pack of hyaenas. Less than 30 minutes after finishing breakfast at andBeyond's Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge, we're centre stage in a visceral and thrilling scene playing out right in front of our open-sided Land Cruiser.
Soundtracked by keening barks and squeals, six hyaenas are devouring a fresh kudu carcass, the dead antelope killed overnight by a lioness crouching behind a nearby shrub with her two cubs. It's a numbers game though - six plays three - and when the lioness roars and boldly leaps out of the undergrowth to confront the hyaenas, reinforcements soon arrive. Now it's nine hyaenas versus three lions, and the lions can do nothing as the spidery spine of the kudu is dragged away in a hyaena tug of war. With the lions now subdued, a few of the hyaenas curiously sniff our Land Cruiser, forcing Batsholelwang to rap firmly on the side with his walking stick.
An intense contrast in experiences is what makes Sandibe such a compelling destination for an Okavango Delta safari. South African craft gins, wood-fired pizza and buffet breakfasts combine with standalone villas and private plunge pools, while morning and afternoon game drives, helicopter flights, and excursions in traditional mokoro dugout canoes continually reinforce the luxury lodge is at the heart of southern African wilderness. When a family of elephants wanders through Sandibe's riverside barbecue area, and a grazing hippopotamus hijacks the lodge's makeshift soccer pitch, there's definitely no illusion.
Elephants wandering through Sandibe's riverside barbecue area. Photo / andBeyond
With exclusive rights to a private wildlife concession covering almost 23,000ha, Sandibe is also adjacent to the Moremi Game Reserve covering an additional 5,000sq km on the eastern edge of the Okavango Delta. Animals have unfettered access across this huge expanse, transformed from palm-studded bushland into a labyrinth of lagoons, channels and islands during the annual flood season. Around June, the delta's waters are at their peak, but during April's "Green Season" there's still wildlife-aplenty and lots of juvenile animals to discover on off-road 4WD excursions.
"Tracking is like reading a newspaper," Batsholelwang says over gin and tonic-fuelled sundowner snacks of spicy samosas and biltong, and most of Okavango's cast of players is sighted across multiple game drives.
Sundowner snacks are fuelled by gin and tonic. Photo / Carol Atkinson
A tower of giraffes sprints away from behind a stand of spiky acacia trees, the sudden movement amending the appropriate collective noun to a journey of giraffes, while the star of a waterborne hippopotamus family is a baby hippo looking like a bright pink Michelin Man. Cute maybe, but it will grow up to be a member of the most dangerous species in Africa. Wisely, Batsholelwang and our wildlife tracker Joel Oneilwe maintain a very prudent distance between both the hippos and a nearby crocodile that's easily 5m long.
Surprisingly more approachable on our last day, and only discovered by Oneilwe's keen discernment of a tawny smudge on the near horizon is another big cat experience to rank with the big-match thrills of hyaenas v lions.
Mid-morning around 10.30am is prime snacking time, and three lionesses and eight cubs are all tucking into a freshly-killed red lechwe, a semi-aquatic antelope bountiful in the delta. This time there are no hyaena interlopers to interfere and, from just 5m away, the game-viewing action is equally fierce and real. There's more animal eye contact as one of the lionesses stares right down the barrels of our cameras, while the lechwe's mauled head is pulled to and fro by lion cubs that now look anything but cute. Beyond the occasional tell-tale click and whirr of SLR cameras – and even that is subdued as most of us are now content to simply watch the absorbing scene unfolding – the only noise on an Okavango morning is the staccato crack of jaws on bone.
CHECKLIST
When to go:
The spectacular waters of the Okavango Delta are at their peak around June, but April is also a good time to visit. Rates in the "Green Season" are often affordable for Kiwi travellers, and there are usually plenty of recently-born animals to see.
Planning ahead:
For tailor-made safaris with andBeyond and small group escorted tours in Africa, contact the Africa experts at World Journeys. worldjourneys.co.nz/destinations/africa
