None of us ever visited Botswana before, and we were all eager to start our safari. Bob planned the trip and was excited to see the Okavango Delta. He read that they offer game drives from dugout canoes, but when we arrived we realized that the rains haven’t come yet and the water level was still too low for canoe rides.
Bob loved these tiny planes, and because they flew so low, I was able to take pictures of Africa from the sky.
This time the airport was just an airstrip at Sanctuary Stanley Camp, and we knew we were there when we looked down and saw the Stanley sign made from corrugated steel placed on the ground.
When we arrived at the Camp we were met by a welcoming committee!
Once again we were housed in tents, and look at our tent and view! I wasn’t quite as worried about quarantining if we caught Covid as I was before. These tents are fantastic.
Max, our guide, is explaining a termite mound. The mounds are very cement like, and some of them are very large. Max said his mother collects termites, fries them and eats them. He said the eyes are very hard and you have to chew them. He doesn’t like them and said they taste like dirt, but his mum loves to eat them and she thinks they’re delicious.
Antelope are as fast as they are beautiful.
Max pointed out this baobab tree and told us a story about the hole in the trunk. He told us about a huge baobab tree in his home town, Maun. The tree in Maun is located next to the jail and they use the hollow tree to punish youthful offenders. He said spending a few days in the tree where you can only stand teaches the offender a lesson and they never repeat their crime. I asked what they do to deserve spending time in the tree and he said things like disobeying your parents. Yikes! He said the tree doesn’t smell very good inside either!
We saw so many beautiful animals. It was very difficult to choose which pictures to post.
I almost forgot to post a picture of a crocodile! We see alligators all the time in Florida, but here in Botswana they have crocodiles.
This is a Tsessebe which is one of the fastest antelopes in Africa.
With over 130,000 elephants living within its boundaries, Botswana is the home of the world’s largest elephant population.
Baby elephants are so cute!
We were invited to tour the kitchen and OT, our waiter, showed Jess and Doris the chart they use to keep track of their guests, staff, and work schedules.
Everbody at Sanctuary Stanley seemed to be very happy and proud of their jobs and everything was well organized and very clean. It looks like they plan four days of meals and repeat these meals, but the selection was very good and all of our meals were delicious.
After touring the kitchen they lead us back to the laundry. We talked to this lady and she proudly showed us around her area.
They did have a huge washer, but no dryer. No matter! They just hung everything out to dry, and they did have a roof over their drying area.
After the tour we went on another game drive and saw this beautiful giraffe that Max said was pregnant.
She seemed to be as curious about us as we were about her.
Of course the flowers were beautiful, and Max show us some herbs they dry and use as medication. They kept the monkeys pretty well under control here, but Jess saw one come down to the bar and take a bottle of booze back into the trees with him. Max said they can’t unscrew the lids, so they just drop the bottles and hope to open them that way!
We did have a wildebeest come to the savanna in front of our tent, and a herd of elephants passed by the common area one evening.
This is a short video of the giraffe gracefully crossing the road in front of our vehicle.
A jackal! Max told us that it’s unusual to see a jackal, so we were happy with this spotting.
OT set up our last sundowner near the hippo pond, and Doris talked to this maid carting the vacuum back to the tents on her head. She must have have a strong neck! Lastly we have Loretta, the manager, Max, our guide, and Lucy, who I thought was so sweet. Lucy managed the gift shop.
We had a Boma the last evening we where there, with a lot of food which was excellent as usual, and the Sanctuary Stanley choir serenaded us. What a great way to top off our trip!
Our trip was fantastic! Bob and I both took hundreds of pictures, and I know Jess and Doris did too. I posted some of my favorites, but if you would like to see more just let us know and we’ll gladly share them with you.
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