9/4- it was a cold morning. A storm came through last night with rain, lightening and thunder and really dropped the temperature. We were quite cold by the time our flight left for Botswana. When we arrived in Maun, Botswana we had the longest wait we have ever experienced to go through passport control. We got our bags and then were greeted by our pilot for the flight to Jao camp. He had a complicated African name that was Bat?????? but said to just call him Batman. We first flew about 25 minutes to Abu camp to drop off 4 people and then took off again for a 5 minute flight to Jao camp. From the air we saw elephants, buffalo and zebra. We were met at the airstrip by our guide, MD who drove us the quick 5 minutes to the camp. He will be our own personal guide for theft 3 days. On the way there we saw 5 lions! One of them was laying on the road right in front of us. We stopped and watched them for quite some time. It's crazy to be that close to lions in the wild. We arrived at the camp greeted by about 10 members of the staff who were singing and dancing. We were given an introduction and brought to our room which is just beautiful. We quickly changed and went on our first game drive, a "sundowner". On our way out the lions were still there just laying in the grass. We saw antelope, red lechwe, tsebbee, and a few other animals I don't know the name of. We stopped about an hour into the drive and MD pulled out snacks and a bottle of wine and we sat and watched the sun go down. It was a beautiful, bright red color. The landscape here is just spectacular. We got back just in time to change for dinner. Dinner was served in the Boma which is a tribe meeting place. They had a big fire going and while we had cocktails the entire staff of about 25 people entertained us for about an hour with singing and dancing. It was a very special experience. Then we had a barbecue dinner of meat, chicken, sausage, vegetables, salad, and soup. They really feed you a lot here and the food is quite good. Our guide and the pilot and co-pilot joined us for dinner. Our guide walked us back to our room after dinner and told us he would be by our room to wake us up at 6:00 am. Whenever it is dark out, the guide has to escort you from your room to the main areas of the camp because it is all open and there are wild animals around. The whole front of our room is open to the outside with only screen covering the opening to keep the bugs out. But you can hear all of the sounds of nature. And boy did I find out about all the sounds there are in the wild all throughout the night. All of the rooms at the camp are raised on stilts so that the wildlife can roam around through the camp and under the rooms. The hippos apparently love it here and are foraging throughout the whole night. There are a lot of them and they can be very loud grunting and snorting and at one point making a very loud splash into the water in front of our room. I heard many other sounds too but don't know what they were. So I didn't get much sleep at all because I was really enjoying all of the sounds and then MD was knocking on our door. 

9/5- We all met for breakfast and then went out on our morning game drive. It was pretty chilly out and a little windy too. The sun was just coming up and it was also a beautiful red just like the moon was last night. On the way out we once again saw the lions, this time 6 of them. Two mothers and four babies. They were sprawled out in the grass just trying to warm themselves in the sun. We were only about 10-15 feet away from them. It's hard not to be a bit nervous especially when they are just staring back at you and then they yawn showing their very sharp teeth. We left that spot in search of elephant. We saw lots of tracks and poop so we knew they were around. In the meantime we saw hundreds of red lechwe, lots of antelope, springbok, tsebbee, Impala, baboons, monkeys, and some of the most amazing colorful birds I have ever seen. Then we finally spotted an elephant, a lone male. He was in the shallow water eating the grass. We pulled up close and just watched. I was in awe of this massive creature and seeing it so close in the wild was incredible. I think it was even more amazing than seeing the lions. We watched for quite a long time and then it started walking towards us. It was pretty intimidating and I was getting a little nervous. It stared right at us as it came closer and then walked right by into the bushes. Wow! Then we got a flat tire. Poor MD had to change a tire while we stood and watched a herd of red lechwe graze. Then back to the camp for a yummy lunch. After lunch we came back to our room to relax until our afternoon activity. We sat on our patio and watched red lechwe and baboons then took a rest. On our way to the main camp to meet our guide we saw a bunch of monkeys in the trees. Our afternoon activity was a boat ride to try to find hippos. No luck finding hippos but we did see 5 or 6 more elephants. Also saw plenty of antelope and red lechwe and many more interesting birds. Saw another beautiful red sunset as we were coming back. Dinner was so good. The food here is excellent. The only complaint is that they try to feed us way too much. There's a huge breakfast, then a snack on the morning game drive, then a huge lunch, then tea and appetizers at 4:00 before the afternoon game drive, then a snack on the game drive, then appetizers before dinner, then a huge dinner and dessert. And they want to give you wine with all of the meals and snacks other than breakfast. We graciously decline most of the snacks and drinks until afternoon. We had dinner listening to the red lechwe splashing through the water, lions grunting, and hyenas doing whatever it is that hyenas do. It was quite the dinner background music. 

9/6- we were all ready to see the hippos last night....we left out our slippers, a robe and a flashlight so we could go out on our patio when we heard the hippos. That must have been the curse...no hippos last night. The good news about no hippos is that I got a better night of sleep without them waking me up all night. So MD woke us up at 6:00 am and we met him for breakfast at 6:30. We took about an hour long boat ride to Hunda island. The boat ride was quite the adventure. The water is very shallow most of the way and the canal that we were in was only about 2 feet wide most of the way with tall grasses lining each side. The boat is about 6 feet wide so it's amazing that it can even make its way through the channel. We did get stuck several times but MD got us out and on our way each time. He was driving like a race car driver through this twisty, curvy narrow channel. I was a bit concerned but had to trust that he knew what he was doing. About halfway there he stopped quickly as we saw 2 huge elephants in the water in front of us completely blocking our way. We just had to sit there and watch them until they decided to leave. It was amazing to watch them eating the grasses from the water. We saw a hippo in the water just as we were arriving. Once we got to the island we got in a jeep to drive the island. We immediately saw several kudu, then an elephant, Impala, red lechwe, and baboon. Then we got to see our first leopard. We have learned that most people never get to see leopard when they come to Africa because they are incredibly hard to spot, they are very shy and solitary. We got very lucky. There was one sleeping under a tree that woke up when we approached it. It was beautiful. We watched for quite awhile and then moved on. Next we came upon a large herd of zebra (70 or 80 of them), along with wildebeest and antelope. It was a spectacular sight. We followed them around for awhile and then drove until we found about 14-16 giraffe. They were grazing on the treetops with the zebra all around them. I think I could have watched them all day. MD then drove us to a clearing where we had some coffee and cookies that he brought with us while we stopped to see a couple warthogs along the way. We decided to stop and check on the leopard on the way back to the boat. He was still there sleeping and in the tree above him was a dead warthog that he had killed and was storing for later. It was crazy to see this Luckily I have pictures because I don't think anyone would believe this story. On the way back to the boat we stopped to watch another elephant eating some tree bark and then saw more Impala and lots of baboons. The kudu were still near the boat. On the boat ride back we saw a group of Cape buffalo. There were also a couple red lechwe that jumped across the water right in front of our boat and we were hoping that there wasn't a third one that tried to jump as we came by and ended up in our boat! The boat ride was really one of the most unique experiences we have ever had. So now we have seen 4 out of the big 5... Lion, leopard, buffalo, and elephant. The only one we are missing is the rhino. This afternoon we went on a makoro which is a hollowed out canoe that is navigated through shallow water by a poler. We drove about half an hour to the water and then got on the makoro with our poler and MD was in a makoro by himself in front of us watching for hippo, crocodile, or any other threatening animals. ( we actually saw a crocodile on our way to the makoro site). They say that it is fairly safe from hippos because you are in shallow water. It turns out hippos kill more people than other other animal in Africa. They are seriously scary animals and can be very aggressive. So I was a bit apprehensive as you are in this canoe only inches off the waters surface surrounded by tall grass and you are just hoping that there are no hippos (or crocodiles or elephants). About 45 minutes into the adventure, for lack of a better term, I heard a sound and asked MD what it was. He says "hippo". Great! Then he says it is quite far away. He then quickly gets both of our canoes turned around the other direction to head back. He says we turned around because the grass was getting too thick....I'm not sure if I believe him, I think he just didn't want me to be scared. Too late, I was already scared. It was a very nice experience, very peaceful and quiet but I didn't like the idea that there could be deadly animals only inches away from me. On the drive back we stopped about 10 minutes from camp and the staff was there with a celebration set up for us because it is our last night. They had a big fire going, a bunch of torches burning, a full bar set up, appetizers and they were grilling shrimp. Just for the two of us. We ate and drank watching the sun set and visiting with the staff. On the way to dinner with MD we saw a cervel, a type of African cat. We had dinner with MD, 2 pilots that were staying the night at the camp and a new guest that happened to be from Scottsdale. It will be sad to leave tomorrow. Jao Camp has set a very high standard for the rest of our trip. 

***things to remember: the guy from France that disliked the French. Has lived in Botswana since the 1970's and now trains the kitchen staff at all 6 lodges owned by the owners of Jao. 

** the safari schedule:

5:30 am wake up call

6:00 am breakfast

6:30 - 11:00ish game drive

12:00 lunch

1:00 - 3:30 siesta

3:30 tea and snacks

4:00 - 7:00 game drive

7:30 cocktails

8:00 - 10:00 dinner

Pass out!

Whenever it is dark we have to be escorted to and from our room. We are not allowed to walk around after dark without an escort/guide. There are wild animals all throughout the camp and all of the rooms are individual units with walkways connecting them and the main areas.