Slept great, but since we’d gone to sleep at 8 pm we were awake at 4 am. When we went down for breakfast around 6:30 the hostess said very earnestly that we could sit and eat but they were still serving dinner. I asked when breakfast started and she said, 10. It’s not like we have a lot of options, so we said “sure, we’ll eat dinner”. Then she broke and started laughing reassuring us she was just joking. Sick burn.

We checked out and met our minder at 9 am in the lobby. She led us across the street, up the escalator and to the check-in desk for AirLink. Our tickets for this flight are economy, but she marched us straight to the Business Class check-in and said over her shoulder to Derek, who was closest to her, “just say business if they ask”. She then proceeded to talk her way through the different line stewards, got us to the front, and checked in, successfully bypassing a sizable backlog of customers in the economy queue. Next she marched us towards the security check point. Instead of putting us in the long line there, she went left down a another wing, turned right where a man opened a rope gate to let us pass, between several check-in counters, down a long narrow hall, and finally to a security check point where she scanned her badge allowing us access to a secret staff security check. There was no wait, so we got through quickly. Following that we walked straight to an immigration desk, got our exit visas stamped, and were in the international terminal. Wow! That was so much faster than it would have been on our own. Now our biggest problem is burning 2 hours in the Johannesburg airport.

2 hour flight to Kasane is uneventful. Immigration into Botswana requires everyone to fill out a very short form at a counter before handing it to the immigration officer and getting an entry stamp. Exiting into the terminal, there isn’t anyone holding a sign with our name. We check our itinerary and confirm we are flying Safari Air, so we start looking for the desk. A fellow notices us and, realizing we are his customers and he’s miscalculated how long it would take for us to get through immigration from landing, he pulls out a sign with Diane’s last name and apologetically greets us. He tags our bags, hands us boarding passes that we will use for the remainder of our in-country flights, and sends us through the security checkpoint. We meet on the other side and after about 10 minutes we are marching across the tarmac and climbing on our plane headed for Savute Lodge in Chobe National Park.

It is a short 30 minute flight to the dirt Savute airstrip. Our guide, Isaac, is there to greet us with lemonade, sweet tea, fritters, and muffins. We are pretty hungry as it is 3 pm and none of us had consumed much of the questionable food on the AirLink flight. As we eat, Isaac explains a bit about the area. The Chobe area consists of 4 parts, Chobe, ?, ?, and Savute. Savute is the driest part of the area. Savute is renowned for its lion prides and has had several famous documentaries made about it including how the Lions in this area are unique for their tradition of taking down and kill elephants. The Savute River is another famous aspect of the area, which since the 19th century has flowed, then dried up, in alternating successions each state lasting 5-20 years in duration. It is currently dry and has been so since 2018. No one really knows exactly why, but it is probably a geological phenomenon related to fault plate positioning and sediment shifts. The area is so dry that the only water, when the river isn’t running, is provided by man-made bore holes. These were originally created by the government to help spread out the population of elephants and animals from the delta into other areas to reduce overall congestion and resulting habitat damage. It works out well for the lodge and eco-tourism as well.

Isaac seems like a fun character, declaring “we were going on an Eating Safari, the more you eat, the more animals you will see” and then playfully challenging us eat all the snacks they’d provided.

After more jokes and idle chit-chat we climb into the Land Cruiser to start our afternoon drive. Isaac is immediately a bit apologetic telling us he is going to driving quickly and not stop to tell us anything because he wants to show us something before it is too late. Two minutes later, we pull off the road, up to a bush and ta-da, our first leopard of the trip is just sitting under a bush! Tom and Angela are floored, what spectacular first sighting for the trip.

After the leopard, we traverse around and run across a lone male cape buffalo trotting across the savanna. It is a great spot, and a good sized bull, and the only buffalo we see the rest of the day. 25 minutes in and already 2 of the big five crossed off the list. The buffalo is moving pretty quickly, Isaac thinks it is running away from the lion pride that is in the area. We briefly look for them before returning to observe the leopard which is starting to hunt. We spend a while going back and forth between watching a small group of impalas and birds that are right in its path, and driving back to find the leopard and watch him slowly move from shade to shade, stalking forward. There are several other trucks also around, each vehicle trying to predict where the leopard is going to go and position their clients for the perfect photo. After 30 minutes or so of waiting, Isaac decides there are better things for us to see tonight, so we push on.

Turns out he knows exactly where the lions are, so 3 minutes later we are staring out 8 lions laying on their backs panting trying to stay cool in the final 2 hours before sunset. We watch them for a while, then go over to the site of a large elephant carcass (died of natural causes) where there is a large and very healthy looking male lion lounging, and probably guarding the body from other scavengers. Next we go to a large watering hole where there is a herd of elephants, giraffes, and a male and female lion breeding couple. 4 out of the big 5 sighted (and we will not see the last, the rhino, in this area). As the sun sets with great golden light we watch the elephants drinking and playing in the water and the two lions attempt to mate 3 times. Each attempt is very fast but they are dedicated to doing it a lot. Apparently this goes on at this rate for days. Once the female is finally pregnant the gestation period is 90-100 days.

Because the animal activity has been so spectacular, we’ve skipped the traditional sun-downer cocktail. It is almost 6:30, which is when the National Park closes, so we head straight for the lodge. We’d seen it as we flew in, including a herd of elephants drinking from the watering hole just yards from the dinning structure. It is gorgeous as expected. After a quick orientation from the camp host, we are shown to our rooms (1 and 2). We do a quick change, and then are picked up at 7:15 from our room by an escort to return to the dinner area for a quick gin and tonic before dinner.

Dinner is delicious and includes a customary brief song and dance by the staff. While we eat dozens of elephants are coming and going into the watering hole a hundred feet away, trumpeting and splashing around. We get a brief hyena sighting as one streaks across the near side of the water and then into the bushes as the elephants trumpet to scare him away. Pretty great first day of safari on this trip.