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  • VoyageurSafari South-Africa & Botswana

    Day 5 - Off to Botswana

    16 juillet 2019, Botswana ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    On Tuesday it was finally time to make our dreams about the lions and elephants come true! We would start our day with a short morning walk to bring back the horses to Horizon, followed by a 4h drive towards Botswana. Owen advised us to keep on our riding gear, as we would go directly for horse riding in Botswana upon arrival. That made us feel happy, because after that long drive the horses would be waiting for us again.

    To be fair: time was passing by so quickly that I didn’t even realize it was 4 hours. Abraham was such a nice driver, stopping for several snacks and toilet breaks. One of the stops was a butcher, just like we would have a supermarket attached to the petrol station. Very strange to bump into this random butcher with zebra skins outside and seeing all these types of different animal meat. Laura the manager bought some dried meat for us to try, but personally I didn’t like it very much. It felt unethical to eat these beautiful wild animals such as Kudu and Impala.

    Upon arrival in Botswana, we were hosted by Lindy and served by a fresh grapefruit juice. We had a lunch together and discussed the horses. Based on our horse riding experience, Lindy had given us a horse that would suit our needs. To ride inside the game reserve with wild animals such as lions and elephants, you must be an advanced rider. This means you must be able to control your horse at all times during the journeys.

    All horses are gallons (castrated males) so that they couldn’t interbreed with the wild zebras and dilute the original gene pool. Animals normally never interbreed unless humans force them to do so, but in this wild environment no risk could be taken.

    After lunch, Lindy made us do a small test by horse to see if our horses were matching. The test was quite simple: ride a triangle in canter, starting the first lane controlled and steady, followed by the second lane in a speeding gallop, ending with a steady canter heading back to the group. At all times we had to be seated in upright position in the saddle (jumping position), so that we didn’t harm the back of the animals too much. Also, when mounting the horse, we always needed to step up from a big laying branch or rock, so that we didn’t twist the back of the horse too much.

    Tip: Keep your passport with you at all times in the car, because you need to stop two times at the border. Once when leaving South-Africa and Pontdrift, and once in Botswana after just 2min drive to fill in the visa. You don’t need to pay extra money, so no need to exchange money.    En savoir plus

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  • VoyageurSafari South-Africa & Botswana

    Evening ride - crossing river banks

    16 juillet 2019, Botswana ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    We all passed the test with our horses, so time for our first ride in the Mashatu Game Reserve towards our lodges (1,5h ride). My horse was called “Hitari” and it was this stunning appaloosa horse that used to be a leading horse. My horse liked it upfront and preferred a good speed. Luckily, I was able to manage it and had pleasant journeys with it!

    Our front guides were called “Mpho” and the back guide “Mmushi”. Mpho was joking that he was the guide leading us towards the danger, and Mmushi leading us away from it if needed. This meant that we had to start at all times in between these two guides to be safe as a herd of horses (remember horses are still a prey for predators such as lions, cheetahs and leopards).

    You wouldn’t believe, but just after take-off from the main camp, we already encountered several giraffes! In South-Africa we had to search for several hours to find them, and here we simply bumped into them after 300 meters. We saw 3 giraffes, with various height and ages. Sometime later, we also saw some ostriches, bush pigs, impalas, kudus and wildebeests. Welcome Botswana!

    Next, some nature obstacles had to be “trained” to the riders, such as crossing river banks. As it was dry winter, all banks were empty and no water to be found. This made it easier to swop between areas and climb down the banks, using them as efficient “high ways” inside the complex bush.

    The horses must always walk downwards at walking pace, because otherwise the horses behind them might get too excited and the riders will lose control on these steep walls. When going back up, the horse is allowed to trot or canter upwards because it’s easier to use the energy of motion. The horses seemed quite used to it, with some exception of younger horses that still had to learn it from the others. We felt safe with our horses and trusted the herd, and that was the most important first lesson learned.

    When arriving in the river bank, you kind of felt vulnerable walking on the bottom of this empty river with all animals higher up watching you. But it was an amazing experience. I remember saying how clean these rivers are, with only shells and little amount of plants to spot.

    Once in a while we could notice big holes into the ground, made by elephants to search for water. These incredible animals have a very good smell, hearing and ground vibration feeling. So, they can smell and sense the water holes in the ground and smash the sandy soil away with their slurves. That’s how I started to understand how clever animals must be to survive the dry winter in this arid environment.

    Finally, we arrived right in time at the camp with the sun setting down. The sky was colouring beautifully red and temperatures started to drop. It was as if a new world was opening up. Welcome to the bush at night!    En savoir plus

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  • VoyageurSafari South-Africa & Botswana

    Mashatu Lodges in the bush

    16 juillet 2019, Botswana ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    The camp was - just like in South-Africa camp Davidson - glamping luxury. We had a beautiful fireplace with comfortable seats, a cosy dining area and these amazing tents. All tents had lights working on solar energy and warm water, thanks to these cute stoves behind each tent. Every morning the staff would burn some fire in each stove to wash your faces and in evenings bigger ones to shower. The toilet was running with a flush and fresh water from the water whole beneath the jungle. It was amazing to see how comfortable and efficient you can camp in the middle of the jungle, with few resources and human waste.

    We got some ruled for the camp to “survive” our 3 nights in the bush:

    1) No walking around after 8pm in the camp, only from dinner to your tent and that was accompanied by one of the guides. At 6.30pm it already gets dark, so at 8pm I can tell you the bush is truly dark and ready for the night. Lions walk around, elephants search for comfort and leopards might be curious. So, you need guidance of an experienced staff member and you can never wander around by yourself. If you need a bathroom stop at night, luckily the bathroom was attached to the bedroom and fenced, so no animal could disturb you in your bedroom and bathroom.

    2) Never leave human belongings on your terrace outside at night, because hyenas are keen to grasp them. Hyenas like anything that smells like humans or meat, so never leave out your riding boots, socks, wet towels etc. Once the hyenas run away with your riding gear, it might be hard to get new ones in the bush.

    3) Never leave human belongings in your bathroom during the day for the baboons. At night the monkeys sleep inside the trees, so hyenas will take it away, but during the day the baboons are curious and will take away anything that seems new for them. Some stuff of the bathroom they’re already used to (e.g. Hand soap and shower gel tubes), but they’re always looking for new things. So, during the day, we had to leave our toothbrush and toiletries inside the room and leave our towels to dry at night.

    4) Keep your tent closed at all times during day and night. As referred to in above points, during the day the baboons are keen to find new things and even enter your room, during night, the night animals (lion, hyena, leopard etc) are curious to smell our human activity and might try to enter. According to the staff, you were absolutely safe in your tent because the animals respect the tent, however you might always want to close it to avoid curious animals sneaking in. Once we had roaring lions at night, just right next to our heads with only the tent wall dividing the two of us. It was really scary, but once you realise you’re absolutely safe inside your tent, you continue to sleep and capture this moment as one of the best experiences of the bush.

    5) Always shut down your lights when not needed during night and day, because they run on (limited) solar energy.

    6) Always clean up the dining room area of human belongings, because just like with the tents, the baboons are curious animals that will steal all belongings if it’s laying around. This means or breakfast, dinner and lunch was always served when we were around, and quickly cleaned up afterwards, in order to avoid the baboons stealing. The baboons are even keen to steal your iPhone, so you will never see again your pictures and memories.

    They also gave us some tips, which can be useful when preparing for your trip:

    Tip: Keep a flashlight with you in your back pack, because in winter it gets dark quite soon (sunrise at 6.30am and sunset at 6.30pm approximately). To save your phone’s battery, you might want to have a good flashlight to find your way to your tent.

    Tip: My sister and I each bought a battery charging unit (80k W), because there was limited electricity available at camp. This way we could charge our phones at night inside our tents. But no worries, there are still charging possibilities, just a bit more robust: you need to give your phone to the staff during the day and they will charge in the kitchen.    En savoir plus

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  • VoyageurSafari South-Africa & Botswana

    Sleeping with lions

    16 juillet 2019, Botswana ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    So, we understood the lions are sneaking inside the tent camp at night, and we as humans could protect ourselves with our tents as natural fencing. They would never come in, because they respect the tent and will rather eat other animal than having to do the effort of biting or ripping apart the tent and catch the humans. This made is feel comfortable, but we were wondering what about our horses?

    Similar to our tents, at night to horses sleep in an enclosed stable with high fences and closed gates. Two staff members sleep inside the stables to survey the horses and prevent them from panicking when a lion is around. Apparently, all horses do feel safe in the stable, but they might get nervous when smelling that a lion or other predator is around.

    After first night experience with the roaring lions around our tent, we heard that explicitly our tent (Tent 4) had been the “busiest” spot for lion to wander around. Apparently, our tent was the deeper inside the bush and closest to the bank river. When we woke up, we couldn’t resist examining the trails around our tent, and indeed we could confirm the lion steps we noticed. We even saw smaller paws as well from the leopard (lions have bigger paws). So scary, but at the same time very exciting!

    At night it can get really chilly (10 degrees), so you better dress up warm as well. It’s slightly warmer than South-Africa but still quite cold. Just like in the South-African lodge, we received every evening a “bush baby” or a warm water reservoir to keep inside your bed blankets and night. You wouldn’t believe how happy we were to get our fresh warm bush baby every night.    En savoir plus

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  • VoyageurSafari South-Africa & Botswana

    Day 6 – Jackals

    17 juillet 2019, Botswana ⋅ 🌙 8 °C

    Good morning Botswana! Lara and I didn’t have the best sleep because of the roaring lions, but we couldn’t wait to get up and tell our story to the others at breakfast.

    At 6am, Mpho was waking us up with some fresh tea. We were excited to put on our riding gear and start a new adventure in between the wild animals. At 6.30am breakfast was served, so that we could already jump unto our horses at 7-7.15am. As the sun sets early at 6.15am, we had already a good chance to see many animals waking up as well.

    All horses were nicely prepared for us, waiting next to their big ball of hay in between the trees. We could notice that the horses were slightly bigger here in Botswana as compared to the Horizon camp in South-Africa. Probably because they need to be more fierce and stronger in this robust environment, with long canters in case animals are chasing us. So off we went with the first morning sunlight.

    For the morning ride, de bumped into a dead carcass leftover from the night. An unfortunate impala had to give away his life to the wilderness, as part of the life cycle. The head and neck were still intact, but the rest of the body was eating and ripped apart. A bit lurid to see, but that also confirmed this wilderness was the real deal.

    According to Mpho the kill was made by cheetahs in the early evening and finished by other predators. Cheetahs tend to make the most kills because of their efficiency and agile body speed, but they don’t consume the whole carcass because that’s simply too much for them. So other carnivores benefit from these kills, such as small jackals. These animals are too small to make a kill themselves on the bigger antelopes, but they love to gather as a herd and “steal” away the meat once it’s killed. It’s interesting to know that these animals are solitaire and usually by themselves, but when the need calls to feed themselves and a dead (or nearly dead) pray has been found, the jackals call each other for support.

    Indeed, it didn’t take us long to notice that the pray was being surveyed by a small group of jackals. They were scared of our impressive herd of horses, so they were hiding. But as soon as we walked away from the pray, they started to gather again and fight over the meat.

    Funny fact: Jackals move the tails just like dogs, but not for happiness or joy. In fact, it’s the opposite: they do that when they feel endanger and turn into angry mode. Indeed, we noticed the group of jackals was doing these movements to each other to win over the meat from the others. We were so close by to watch this. Amazing!

    Finally, we ended the ride with a nice view on the African bush eagle on top of a tree. Its head is brown, as contrary to the African fish eagle that can also be found in the area. The wings can reach up a width of 2 meters, very impressive.    En savoir plus

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  • VoyageurSafari South-Africa & Botswana

    Lunch time and swimming pool

    17 juillet 2019, Botswana ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    At 12am our Lunch was served with many vegetables and meat. Often, they offer a selection of African meat types from the bush, such as Impala stew, Kudu beef and Guinea Fowls. We had 2 vegetarians in our group, so there were definitely some delicious non- meat options as well.

    After lunch, we always have an « African siesta » because the heat is getting too much. That’s why the days start very early, with morning rides from 7am and afternoon ride after 3pm. The siesta time was perfect for a little nap, or for relaxing by the pool. It was so lovely so sit there and watch the impalas pass by or hear the baboons chill in their tree as well. The guides told us the antelopes seek comfort with the humans in the bush, because in some way they feel safe and know we won’t hurt them (Well at least not in this area).

    Meanwhile the horses have a relaxing time under the trees with fresh water, hay and oats. Lara her horse was rolling with the rope when she wanted to tight it, was a big surprise for us because we didn’t think the horses would be so comfortable with the ropes.

    Funny enough we saw the bush pigs trying to steal the food of the horses. A mum bush pig came by every day with her 3 cubs. The horses didn’t allow this of course and kicked with front- or hind legs to scare them away. As a human ourselves we have to be careful of these bush pigs. The mum has some nasty horns that she won’t be reluctant to use in case she feels threatened, especially when we’d stand in between her babies. Personally, I almost had a tricky situation when the cubs where walking around and I suddenly found myself standing in between the mum and her cubs. Luckily the mum didn’t move a thing, so I could bring myself in safety again.    En savoir plus

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  • VoyageurSafari South-Africa & Botswana

    Afternoon ride: Elephants

    17 juillet 2019, Botswana ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    After lunch we went for our afternoon ride. The focus was elephants. Here in South Africa, they're simply called African elephants living in the savanna. The African elephant is the largest land animal, weighing up to 7 ton. Their large ears function as heat radiators so that warmth can escape from close to the brain on hot summer days. Just some last safety rules by Mpho and we were good to go: no talking or moving when around elephants. This means as soon as Mpho would spot an elephant, the group has to stop talking and stop the horses. The reason is quite simple: elephants will always indicate when they'd potentially want to charge by sending out signals. All guides get trained to read those signals, so must keep our voices down for them to concentrate. Mpho would then indicate if the situation is safe enough to continue and maybe even take pictures. Exciting, here we go!

    Mpho was reaching out to his colleagues by walkie talkie to get know the closest location of the elephants. It was so nice to canter with the upcoming sun, scouting for elephants. Isn't this a dream? It didn't take long to spot our first elephant. Very often we encountered young teenager elephants (about 16-year old), because these "young boys" (as Mpho loves to call them) usually walk in front to play and to go on discovery. It's very unlikely they would charge, because they're scared themselves of us. However, the danger is adults at the back, potentially charging if we come to close, especially when there's mum's with baby elephants in the herd.

    So, there we were standing as one group, admiring the herd of elephants in front of us. We truly felt like an army, staring at the enemy from a good distance with our leader Mpho in front of the group. Several times we saw big herds passing by, doing their own thing in nature. We truly felt blending in. We saw them eat, play and cuddle, almost like you felt a part of humanity in them. Mpho was allowing us to take several pictures and even pose with our horse on the picture. Some of our horses couldn't stand in front of the group, because they were too young and new to elephants, or because some horses where white and not blending in the savanna colours.

    As we were in winter time, you could notice how scarce the grass was. It was incredible to see elephants eat whole bush branches with big spikes on them. They have very strong and thick mouth and intestine system, so that spikes don't harm the elephants internally and just come along with their faeces at the end of the day. Can you imagine these huge animals are just feeding just on plants? No wonder they have to eat up to 300kg of food per day.

    We had two exciting events, with the "young boys" trying to run at us as if they would charge. Mpho was of course not scared at all, and was standing ground with his horse. He always asked the group not to move and to stay close together, as one pack. When the young boys would come to close, he would smash his hands on the lap, so that the cute elephants were already scared and ran away. The first time it was two young boys running at us, the second time just one young boy but a naughtier one. The young boy tried to "charge" several times, but Mpho taught us never to run away because these young elephants cannot be learned to scare away humans. They must learn that it's not OK to charge, and that we can be a danger for them as well. So Mpho had to yell and clap the hands harder, almost even grabbing his whip to scare him away. That situation was quite scary, because in the back we saw the whole group of elephants coming at us, because they felt like the young boy was in trouble. Then it was time for us to walk away slowly, to show we were not scared but still wanted to respect their space.

    I would truly say this was one of the best and most exciting experiences of my life! We come so close to elephants, we truly felt the tension and excitement of mother earth's nature and we have been enjoying it every moment. Thank you, beautiful elephants!    En savoir plus

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  • VoyageurSafari South-Africa & Botswana

    Day 7 - Wildlife nature

    18 juillet 2019, Botswana ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    "Good morning twins" - said Mpho when waking us up at 6am in our tent with fresh tea. The night had been again very cold, but the blankets of the bed kept us warm, as well as our "bush baby". This night we actually had a very good sleep, because we got more and more used to the sound of wildlife around our tent and didn't hear any roaring lion next to our heads. Both Lara and I are morning persons, so we didn't have much trouble jumping out of the bed. Especially not when you know another exciting horse riding trip is waiting for us. We got dressed, put on the boots and off we went for a lovely breakfast at 6.30am with the whole group.

    Today we would do only a morning ride, because the afternoon we're having an amazing jeep safari. The focus would be more on the nature of Mashatu's Game Reserve, such as the trees and river systems.

    One of the most incredible trees of this area is the Mashatu tree, or also known as the Nyala-berry tree. The trees vary ages from 300 to 600 years old (!) and reach a height of 30 metres. Quite impressive trees with beautiful canopies and thick trunks create the perfect home to many animals. The Mashatu trees are mostly found close to river banks, creating even higher chance to spot animals when searching for these trees.

    We also saw some Baobab trees, also known as "the upside-down tree “, because their canopies look like roots spread out towards the sky. The trees can also age up to several 100 years.

    Very often we were asking Mpho how animals could survive in this dry arid area, but he explained us it's just for several months in dry winter. As soon as spring comes up, just in one night the river banks can be filled up and the whole area starts to flood with water. Even during our rides in winter time, we saw some left-over mud baths, so clearly still some water was still left in this area.    En savoir plus

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  • VoyageurSafari South-Africa & Botswana

    Afternoon - Jeep Safari

    18 juillet 2019, Botswana ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Time for an amazing afternoon Jeep Safari with the guide of Kenosi and Edward. We had a good laugh about Kenosi his name - aka "Can not see", so the energy levels were perfect to start the tour.

    We took off by jeep all together with 10 in total (including the guides), and boy I couldn't believe how strong this car was. This jeep was the absolute definition of a 4-wheel driving jeep, driving through bushes, climbing up river banks and crunching down big bushes when we needed to come extra close.

    The afternoon started perfect with already close view on the elephants just 200meters outside the camp. We were able to come so close with the jeep, it was unbelievable! Kenosi explained the animals fear the jeep less than moving horses with humans, because the jeep is one static piece. Kenosi turned off the engine so we could take beautiful pictures but mainly enjoy the moment. We saw both the young elephants, but also mums with their tiny babies. It was absolutely adorable!

    Next it was time to search for trails of the cats. It wasn't that easy to spot Lions, Leopards of Cheetahs just like that in this 23k ha area of Mashatu Game Park. Luckily Kenosi was very experienced and had good contact with the other guides by Walkie Talkie. After a one-hour drive, we had a masterpiece moment by encountering sleeping lions. We saw 2 females and one male peacefully sleeping in the grass. Lions are night animals, so during the day they sleep (Sources say they even sleep up to 22h per day). The jeep was able to come at a distance of just 3 meters of them and they even continued sleeping. Kenosi told us the lions are familiar with the jeeps, but as soon as someone would step out of the car, we might be endangered. We took amazing pictures to proof this amazing moment, because even for our own minds it was unreal. So special.

    Next, Kenosi got a call from one of the other guide spotting cheetahs. Kenosi drove us to the place and indeed we noticed a mum cheetah with 4 cubs. It very rare to see a mum raise so many babies at her own, especially since this area doesn't have a lot of nutrition these winter months. Cheetahs are day animals in contrary to lions, so they do chase during the day for prey. Kenosi told us most kills are made by cheetahs, because of their agility and speed: they can run up to 120km/h. Sometimes other predators enjoy the kill, such as lions or hyena packs scaring away the cheetahs. 2 days ago, we noticed a left-over kill from cheetahs that Jackals were enjoying, so cheetahs are very important in this area.

    Moving on, Kenosi got news about a spotted Leopards. Quickly we drove to the river banks and there we experienced one the most beautiful moments of the trip: a mum leopard with 2 cubs. Again, we could come really closely to get glimpse of the family. The 2 baby cubs where learning how to climb trees and the mum was observing them. It truly felt like being in a National Geographic Channel episode about wildlife front row. We all got really quiet and truly enjoyed the moment. It was so perfect. We feel so blessed !    En savoir plus

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  • VoyageurSafari South-Africa & Botswana

    Sunset in Botswana

    18 juillet 2019, Botswana ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    Before returning back to the camp, Kenosi and Edward drove us to the top of a hill to enjoy a beautiful sunset with the whole group. Kenosi was spotting the environment before we could dismount the jeep and freely walk around. They prepared a lovely table with drinks and snacks for us and we all had a lovely cheer together. We made some group pictures and had a good laugh. It was amazing.

    Finally, time to drive back home. We even spotted a wild cat and even crested porcupines in the darkness thanks to the flashlight of Edward. These animals were very rare to spot, so again we were very blessed to see them!

    Finally, the day ended with our lovely dinner back in the camp, exchanging the stories we had experienced of today. We still cannot believe this amazing journey and we're so blessed. Time to dream now and enjoy the sounds of the jungle enriching them. Goodnight Botswana!    En savoir plus

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