Day 19 - In the Jungle, the Mighty Jungle...

14:30
My alarm wakes me at 05:00. I can’t remember the last time on this trip my alarm woke me up, other than from a nap. I leap out of bed, and nearly come a cropper on my rucksack. Some coffee, a bit of journalling, and I’m out side to meet my game drive transport just before 06:00. What turns up is a nine seater - the common mode of public transport across Africa. I worry briefly that this is the vehicle that will take us into the park, but my fears are quickly quashed when we arrive at Sedudu gate, and we’re advised to jump into a waiting, open-sided safari vehicle.

Our driver is Joy, and she is a joy. Bubbly, knowledgeable, and a cracking pair of eyes. The first hour of our drive consists largely of antelope and some birds. Oh, and some hippo. As we push further into the park, we come across a herd of elephant, including a tiny but really not tiny little baby. We see a streak of several trucks heading further West, and take off in, if not hot, then mildly warm pursuit. I ask Joy where we’re headed, and she says a pride of Lion have been spotted near Ihaha. We cruise for maybe 20 minutes, until we find 5-6 safari trucks parked up at the side of the track. The lions are perhaps 60m from us, and it’s a big pride. There are a couple of 3-4 year old males, their manes just starting to show at that age. There are I think 4 or maybe 5 adult females, and 3 cubs. Joy reckons around 8 months old. We spend 20 minutes with these beautiful cats. They’ve recently fed, and are snoozy. Occasionally, one gets up to pad around looking for somewhere cooler, not realising that one bit of shade is gonna feel much like another bit of shade. Stunning.

We stop for a cup of tea at a nearby picnic site. I check my photos on my camera. I’d feared that 60m might just be a *bit* too much for my camera to cope with, but on the small screen on the back of the camera, they look pretty good. Will have a better look on my MacBook later.

The rest of the drive is a little tame by comparison. Some more elephant, a giraffe and some birds. Just as we’re heading back towards the gate, I spy a spotted hyena. Heartbreakingly, it is running on only 3 legs, while the 4th flaps around - clearly broken. I ask Joy if the broken leg is a death warrant, and she says that it almost certainly will be She reckons it’ll have been a clash with lions that caused the injury. I ask if safari trucks ever hit animals, but she says incredibly rarely. Some of my colleagues on the game drive ask Joy to drive off after the hyena, but I’d much prefer the poor thing to be left alone. I ask her (I’m sat up the front, nearest to her) whether we can head off in the other direction, and she solemnly nods.

I’m not particularly hungry when we arrive back at Rustiek, so head out to run some errands. It’s feeling crazy hot today. The forecast is for much the same, but it *feels* hotter than at midday on previous days. I stop in for some lunch at Coffee Buzz, where I had a great breakfast yesterday. I’m still on the hunt for something traditionally Botswanan, but have a sneaking suspicion I’ll fail. What I have at Coffee Buzz is straight out of the European playbook - chicken schnitzel. It’s a very good chicken schnitzel, but it’s not exactly immersing myself into local cuisine. My early start + a couple of Savanna + some carby food = nap time. I grab a wonderful 60 minutes on the sofa, and wake up feeling delightful.

20:45
Around 15:30, I head out for my final game drive of this trip. I wanted to have a self-drive as my last expedition, partly to be selfish about what I wanted to see and do, and partly to say goodbye to this amazing vehicle that has been my constant companion for the past few weeks. It feels appropriate that, during the game drive, I click through 5,000km for the trip. I’ve only got about 10km tomorrow to the rental depot, so in my mind, this is the last trip I’m making in it. I have a yoghurt coated date to celebrate.

I see lots of hippo, TONS of elephant, some vervet monkeys, some baboons, many birds and some giraffe. It’s a wonderful way to sign off the most intense and rewarding safari experience of my life.
As I’m heading towards the gate, 3 trucks tear past me in the other direction, clearly following a radio tip-off about a predator sighting. I briefly consider turning and following, but reason that there’ll always be another sighting. I’ve had incredible luck over the past 10 days, and I’m happy to sign off with the experiences I’ve had.

I head back to Di Kubu for some dinner. I ask, no - I DEMAND that my server points me to something local and traditional. He says they don’t really do that - no one locally does, as:

1) International tourists don’t wanna eat it, and
2) It’s not very tasty

I reason that there must be something that will give me a clue, and he points me to Seswaa balls. Don’t panic - Seswaa isn’t the name of some obscure beasty from these parts, and I’m not eating its, well - parts. Seswaa is the name of a Botswanan beef casserole dish. Tough cuts of meat are braised in water and spices until tender. They’re then pounded to a smooth (ish) texture. Think Birria beef, and you’re not a million miles away. At Di Kubu, the pounded beef is then wrapped in pap (African version of polenta) which has been flavoured with butter and cheese, then crumbed and deep fried. The resulting dish is served with a white truffle (oil) sauce. It is AMAZING. The beef is a tender and tasty, and the balls are uber-crunchy. Banging in all directions.

The ‘Greek’ salad I have alongside my balls is not really a Greek salad. It’s some feta crumbled on it, but that’s pretty where much the overlap ends. It’s tasty enough, but Greek - it is not.

Back at Rustiek, the lodge is shrouded in darkness. Power cut I reckon. Must have happened after sunset, as my room has stayed cool. Temperature topped out at 43C today. AYE CARUMBA.Read more