Last night the milky way was a broad hazy river against the inky black sky. Emily and I climbed up into the tent platform above the car. I wondered how this simple precaution could possibly protect us. Thankfully it seems lions and leopards have not learned how to operate zippers.

From our beds, Emily and I were able to stare up and the stars through the screen and chat. It was a moment to cherish. The moon rose slowly, like a false dawn. The tall grass was silhouetted against the marsh near our campsite. During the night I woke several time to lions roaring in the background. I also heard an occasional grunt. I don’t think warthogs, which we saw earlier in the day are nocturnal, so I have no idea what it could have been.

After an oatmeal breakfast and some instant coffee we fired up the Toyota LandCruiser and headed northeast, toward the area where lions had been spotted. We saw none, but did see more giraffes and zebra. We stopped for a break near a small lake where some hippos were grazing underwater, only an occasional ear or head popping up to look around. The morning air was still cool, and the shade provided by the tall trees near the pond made the spot perfect for a picnic. We munched on dried fruit while a troop of very small monkeys passed. The baby was still occasionally nursing, and would then scamper off on its own. Em kept repeating, “ohhhhh! he is so cute!”. Indeed he was adorable.

We proceeded toward the northeast we passed some wildebeests. Cool. I was getting more adept at making my way through 2 ft water and mud, only needing to drop into 4L and then locking the differential to get unstuck a couple of times. Em laughed at me as my heart raced and my clutch-foot got jittery when we got more seriously wedged a couple times.

While driving near some swampy area we saw a vulture circling. As we neared, a hyena scampered away. We never got a glimpse of the kill, but kept twisting our heads around, looking for lions. A bit later, as we drove on, I thought I saw a rhino. As we approached, we realized it was a hippo. It was out of the water walking around. He was shy, but we snapped some pics as he wiggled his ears at us.

We continued on, running into a pack of 30 to 40 elephants. They were on the move, and we stopped the car as they passed. The baby elephants were indeed cute and adorable. The larger elephants stayed close as they ambled by. We were naturally both excited and scared, since only an elephant could really hurt the car and bother us. We snapped dozens and dozens of photos. digital is great.

On the way back to camp, we asked people if they has seen an lions. Folks told us they had been on the move, a pride of about 12, near Third Bridge, our campsite. Emily and I quickly headed toward our campsite. At 2:00, we found the lions laying in the shade, trying to stay cool. They were not going to budge. We proceeded to camp and showered. By 3:45, it was beginning to cool off, so we went in search of the giant cats. We found a film crew parked by a grassy field. We pulled up. They told us the lions were moving, and they were hoping to catch them. We turned off our truck and checked and double checked our cameras.

A group of small grouse-like birds started hooting wildly, and we knew the predators were approaching. Slowly a female emerged from the tan grass. Then the rest of the magnificent family. There were 2 males, 3 adolescents, and 7 females. One had blood up its fore-paw from a previous kill. They slowly walked by, within 8 feet of our truck. I snapped pictures out the open window. When they had passed, we both looked at each other, our hearts were pounding, and we were both grinning and revealing that look of “oh my gosh, did that really just happen?”.

We followed the pride slowly with our truck as they passed withing about 30 feet of our campground bathroom. Em and discussed how we would have reacted if we had strolled out of the bathroom to see a pack of lions. We kept telling ourselves that the key would be to NOT run, it triggers their chase reflex.

We returned to camp after some photos of the sun going down over the savanna. Chandra Masala for dinner, with appetizer of olives and cheese. What an amazing day. Tomorrow, our last full day in Botswana can’t possibly compare.