Botswana

Every morning you‘ll be woken up by hippos breaking wind. Welcome to Baines Camp. You‘ll love it.

The journey from London to Baines Camp in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, proves that getting there is half the fun. Okay, so leaving Heathrow is traumatic, but things get easier the further you go. From Johannesburg you take a dear little Air Botswana craft to Maun, then it’s ten-minutes in a two-to-four person Cessna to get to a tiny airstrip near the camp, which may be occupied by a family of baboons as you approach (who will grudgingly move to one side so you can land).

Article continues

The effect of this journey is dramatic, your stress levels declining as the airline staff become increasingly relaxed and the weather steadily improves. On your arrival at the airstrip one of the Baines Camp guides will meet you in a Landcruiser. Their knowledge of the local fauna and flora is extraordinary; as ours drove us to check in, he suddenly veered off, having spotted vultures landing at the top of a tree, an indication of something going on below. So five minutes after getting off the plane we’re watching a leopard feasting on an impala just 20 metres away. Although we’re in an open-walled, windowless vehicle, he’s thankfully indifferent to us, so gorged on impala that he just lies in the grass, panting.

Baines Camp is one of only two safari camps in a 1,225 square kilometre area, so you know there won’t be a dozen jeeps surrounding any animals you come across. The camp is made of recycled drinks cans. Don’t worry, it doesn’t look like some down-at-heel spaceship – the cans are covered in a plaster made partly of elephant dung (much nicer than it sounds). It’s a discreet, simple and beautiful place, consisting of five huts raised up, out of the way of the great African wildlife, with roped walkways slung between them. Each hut has a balcony and, as the four-poster beds have wheels, you can sleep under the stars (under a mosquito net, of course). It’s a wonderful way to sleep, being awoken by the dawn, or the gentle sound of hippos flatulating in the water or gobbling grass at what sounds like the foot of your bed.

And you’ll want to be up early – a quick breakfast and our guide, Kot, takes us out to spot animals before the day gets too hot. He points out the swirls on the dirt road 30 metres from the camp where hyenas had slept the previous night, before guiding us to all the plants and birds we could want for, and the animals we’ve really come to see: elephants, zebras, wildebeests, warthogs, even a trio of lions. Most beautiful are the giraffes, staring back inquisitively as the cameras snap, before deciding we’re close enough and elegantly trotting away in slow-motion. You’ll see most wildlife in the dry season (May to October in the Okavango) so that’s when it’s best to visit. Then, animals tend to congregate around the watering hole so they’re easier to see; in the wet season they’re more widespread. On the other hand, a good guide like Kot won’t miss a thing.

After your morning drive, it’s back to camp for lunch before a mid-afternoon jaunt that culminates with sipping Sundowners while watching the spectacular sunset. Food is supplied in the camp pretty much whenever you’d like it (prices are fully inclusive), and is delicious. Dinner is usually under the stars, the camp’s host at the head of the table offering suggestions for what to do tomorrow – Baines Camp is one of the few camps to let you explore on foot with your (armed) guide as well as in a Landcruiser. Some nights, if you’re lucky, the staff will serenade you with a deeply touching rendition of ‘Oh Beautiful Botswana’ before you eat.

Highly recommended is a visit to Doug and Sandi Groves’ wonderful Living with Elephants charity (www.livingwithelephants.org), a short drive from Baines Camp. The organisation aims to promote harmonious relations between people and elephants. The site’s home to three semi-habituated elephants – Jabu, Thembi and Morula – whom Doug rescued 17 years ago from the culls that left them orphans and provides an amazing and unique opportunity to spend a morning with this amazing trio. Learn about how they live, what their eyelashes feel like, and how Thembi learnt to do an impression of a helicopter. After lunch with the elephants, it’s back to camp.

Before you’re ready, long before you’re ready, it’s time to leave. The last drive in the Landcruiser takes you back to the airstrip to begin the flights home. This time, the baboons have gone, but a small, tight-buttocked warthog is standing at the edge of the strip and, as we take off, he follows the plane so intently with his stare that I have to stop myself from waving at him as the Cessna gains height.
Abercrombie & Kent (0845 0700 611/ www.abercrombiekent.co.uk) offers four nights at Baines Camp, fully inclusive, and including British Airways flights to Johannesburg and all internal light-aircraft flights from £1,769 per person. The Living with Elephants tour costs £150 per person.

David Phelan
Time Out London Issue 1819: June 29-July 6 2005

Time Out London magazine (Issue 1819) Live 8 R.E.M. Rock the park. Micael Stipe: fear, fame and our biggest ever gig. Get out and dance! 20 essential alfresco club nights. Shopping heaven! Summer sales spectacular. [Buy Now ] Availiable in bookshops and direct from timeout.com/shop