The 2025 Botswana Journals, Ch. 20: The Five Star Overnight Hide

     Armed with toothbrushes and cameras, we climb into the Toyota Land Cruisers for a journey back toward the airstrip where we landed a few hours ago.  No, we aren't leaving Mashatu Game Reserve already.

Alison, left, daughter Erin, and Laura, waiting to start their game drive.   They will be going to the hide tomorrow, as the hide can accommodate only five photographers at a time.

        We are heading to the Lala Limpopo overnight hide at a man-made waterhole.   I've been in an overnight hide before, and while it supplied all our needs for an 18-hour stay, it did not compare in luxurious accommodations to the Lala hide.

    As soon as we pull up, I see this is far beyond anything I envisioned.

The Lala Limpopo hide entrance is down this gently sloping walkway.

    Our host, Aubry, greets us and shows us around.   It's mid-afternoon-ish, so there's plenty of time to get settled and get the cameras set up.

My camera on a beanbag, "locked and loaded."   The mounting foot is turned to the side so the camera will rest lower on the beanbag.

    With the all-important cameras on the firing line and at the ready, we settle into the accommodations for the night.    Behind the cameras are two bedrooms. one on either side of the hide, with two twin beds, a small lamp,  and electric outlets.

Cory and Randy are manning their cameras on the firing line.  One bedroom is seen beyond the screen.   A nice seating area is in the middle of the room, with a fifth bed located at the far right.

The bedroom where Virginia and I stayed.   My bed is at left.  The green lines in the windows appeared during editing and I can't get rid of them.

The dining area is behind overlapping curtains from the photo room.

The other side of the dining/kitchen.   Later, Aubry sets out our dinner supplied by Tuli Lodge.   We eat while he keeps a lookout over the waterhole, to warn us if anything approaches.

The smaller of the two bathrooms.  The larger bathroom has shower facilities.

Outside in the courtyard is a semi-protected coffee spot.

To the left of the table ( above photo) is the exit from the hide.

        And now the wait for wildlife begins.  

The firing line:   Virginia has her camera and a GoPro set up at left.   My chair near the center is empty because I am taking this picture.   Cory and Randy are at the far right.

       

 Our perspective is almost at eye-level to the waterline outside.   Perfect.

African mourning dove.

Laughing dove

Namaqua dove.

Namaqua dove

  

  

    Once again, I can photograph as many doves as I want.   I don't do this on game drives because I get ribbed for wanting to shoot those abundant birds.   We don't really have them in Alaska, so they are equally as fascinating to me as any other birds.  

    So, I take advantage of the opportunity and try to get shots of all the different varieties that appear at the waterhole.

    A  zebra appears stage right, and I hold my breath, hoping he will come to the water and drink.   He watches for a long time, then decides against it.    Lone zebras are very skittish.    

   

        So, it's back to the doves.

I admire the beautiful, pastel colors of the laughing doves.

    Now, it's dusk.   Aubrey goes out to set up the lights that will illuminate any animals that come to the waterhole.

The waterhole at dusk.

    Darkness rises from the earth.   Aubrey checks our camera settings and makes suggestions for optimal exposure.  I take a few practice shots, aiming at a small bush.

    We wait some more.

Heads on swivels, we wait as we look out over the waterhole.

    I strain my eyes looking for something to appear out of the blackness.   

    Wait.   What is that?   Did something move near those little twigs at the edge of the water?   Was that there before?

    I take a couple shots, enlarge the image on the camera's monitor.

        YES!!    It's something, all right, but I can't identify it.

NEXT POST:   The Night Visitors.

All the Joy in Mudville and the Botswana Journals.

With apologies to Babe Ruth and Mudville,  I should call it Iceville, as there is wet ice all around.  Despite yesterday being a completely and utterly awful day with wind and rain, there was a lot to rejoice about in this house.

While doing my daily allotment of housework, I dusted off an electronic photo frame--the kind that displays  photos in rotation--and thought that since I hadn't turned it on in quite a while, I should do so.   I went upstairs to find the USB memory sticks that had photos on them.

While looking for the plastic box that I kept them in, I picked up this little plastic box:

The plastic box where the missing card was.   Can you see the tiny black line at left?   Next to an open, clear SD case?

This is where I keep the memory cards while I'm working with them.   

Incredibly, there was an SD Card alongside an empty case for an SD card.   When I took the card out, I discovered, to my everlasting joy, that it was a memory card from my trip to Botswana.   Not just any card, but the very one I've been trying to find since my return.

I've been heartsick about that missing card and have tried everything I could think of to locate it.   

I've searched every piece of luggage at least six times, emailed the camp where we stayed in case I left it there, asked my roommate to check her cards, and so on.   Even Marg Wood assisted in the search long-distance.

I can only guess at what happened:   Once home, I took the cards one at a time and inserted them into a card reader to make sure they were downloaded into a Botswana catalogue on my computer, then put them in the pink box.   I must have overlooked THE SD CARD that was hidden by the empty card case.

On it are once-in-a-lifetime photos.  I was sick to think they were gone forever.   Close-ups of bat-eared foxes!    Skittish little critters that run when they see you.   These were at their den and allowed us to get close enough for multiple photos with our long lens.

Bat-eared foxes.

Also, and perhaps my most loved photos, were of the rarely-seen African black stork.   Not only the stork, but the stork is actively fishing!   These, too, are skittish critters that leave immediately when they spot humans.   We'd tried earlier in the day, and it disappeared before we could get our 500mm lenses on it.

African black stork!!!

Overjoyed, I should say.   Let it rain and melt our snow.   Icouldn;e care less.   I had the missing SD card.  There were more than 2700 photos on this SD card, and I spent the day looking through them and editing a few.

As for the Botswana Journals, finding the card came at a most propitious time because the card contained photos that will be included in the next couple of posts.

Now, if I can just get my notes straightened out--the notes that tell what we saw on what day.

The pages were in chronological order up until Nov. 8, and then they were scattered throughout the notebook when, in a hurry, I turned to the wrong page and started a new day.   Now, with the missing photos downloaded, I can get the notes in order for more stories.

By the way, does that bat-eared fox remind you of anything?   

Perhaps, something like this?

The 2025 Botswana Journals, Ch. 19: Here Comes Murphy's Law, Slowly but Surely

            We leave the town of Maun, in Botswana, and flew to Johannesburg in South Africa.   As soon as all the formalities of arriving in a different country were finished, we walk down a long hallway that is adjacent to the parking garage.   Then, we take the elevator up to the floor where City Lodge has its reception desk, and check in for one night.

            The next morning, at the appointed time, we gather in the parking garage to meet the shuttle service that will take us to a smaller airport about an hour away, where our charter flight back to Botswana awaits.

            The shuttle van arrives, but there’s a problem.  There are ten of us with baggage and heavy camera bags.   The van is a ten-passenger van, but the driver needs one of those ten seats.  Then ensues some long telephone discussions, assurances to the poor driver that we know it isn’t his fault.

            Eventually, a taxi arrives and Randy gets in it while the rest of us go in the van.

Giraffe at Mashatu.

            Man, in hindsight, I should have realized what was happening.   I’d already had some clues.   Murphy’s Law was ever so slowly sneaking up on me and inveigling its way into my trip.

            We’d already dealt with a 24-hour delay just getting to Amsterdam because the KLM flight to Edmonton was late.  Then, the substitute flight from Amsterdam to Johannesburg had to go through Switzerland.

            Already, I’d lost my visor and had to buy another in Maun.   The neck pillow I’d purchased at the Anchorage airport because I neglected to bring one from home?  Lost that, too.  I will have to buy another before the long eight and ten-hour flights home.

            Now the 10-passenger van that needed to carry 11 people.

            Yep.   Should have recognized the clues.

            However, we get to the smaller airport and are greeted with friendly and efficient personnel who lead us through the terminal and out to the waiting charter.   On each seat are box lunches.   

            In addition, there is a large basket with wrapped snacks—chips, candy bars, etc.   And all the cold water we want.

In what seems like no time at all, we land.   The sign on the terminal reads Limpopo Valley Airfield.   This is the Mashatu Game Reserve, a 90,000 privately-held area of savannah, open plains, marshland, riverine forests, and scenic sandstone cliffs.   It also has, we soon learn, the majestic mashatu trees, hence the reserve's name, and the very impressive baobab trees.

We prefer to handle the precious camera bags ourselves.   Shelly is handing a bag to Laura as Cory and Sylvia look on.

The terminal.   Inside are passport control and customs, where our bags are searched thoroughly.  I ask what they're looking for and the response is "maybe making sure we don't have poaching stuff."   Speculation, though.   I think the agents take their jobs seriously because they don't have many visitors passing through, like at international airports.

Our safari vehicles await.

 

And, it’s ours to explore for the next seven days!!!

The first animals we see are giraffes.   Lots of giraffes.   Here are a few:

 

 

Three juveniles.

A very young giraffe in an acacia bush.   Giraffes love acacia, thorns and all.   They have thick, sticky saliva that acts as a lubricant that coats the thorns.   The saliva also has antiseptic properties. 

        Oh, my word.   We aren't even to Tuli Camp yet, and we see a leopard lying high on the rich red sandstone rocks.   These are cell phone shots.

Some scenery as seen from inside the vehicle.

Tulki Lodge, a tented camp.   Tented camps are my favorite, though they continue to get too fancy for me.

Side view of our tent.   The steps are at far right.

The main entrance to the tent.   Note the yellow flowers on the boardwalk and steps.

Better than a red carpet.

Every day we see this bushbuck bedded down just feet from our tent.   The smaller antelope feel safe from predators in most camps.

These twin beds can be moved together to form a king-sized bed, or separated, as the need arises.

Sylvia's side.,   Note the side room that is seen in the center of the photo.

Note the table.   It holds the makings for hot beverages.

Another view.   This is so nice, but we rarely have time to use it.

The side room on the other side of the tent.

        These are located immediately behind the beds.   You are looking straight at the tent entrance.

The shower.   The circle must be 5 to 6 feet in diameter.   There is a canvas pull-down for privacy.

A desk for computers.

The grounds.

Camp grounds

The deck where we often meet before game drives.

Bashi, Marg's long-time friend.   He will become our favorite guide.

               

 This is where our group splits into two groups of five.    My group  haven't much time to settle in.   We are off to a hide where we will spend the night, hoping for animals to come to the waterhole.

NOTE:   I took a poll after the trip  , and everyone who responded agreed that Tuli Lodge was the best camp for accommodations, followed by Dinaka Lodge.

Mashatu Game Reserve is on the far eastern side, bordered in the south by South Africa and the east by Zimbabwe.  Previously, we were in Maun and on the northern edge of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve at Dinaka.   Our trip began at the far top of the map at Pangolin Photo Safaris in Kasane, and the Chobe National Park in green.