September 9
On the morning game drive, we saw Crowned Lapwing, a female Leopard,
and we came across 5 Lions. 1 Lioness with 4 young. (2 female and 2 male) The young were nearly grown and almost as big as the Lioness. Tabo explained that that once one of the males makes a kill the males will be forced out
of the Pride. Since the males will need to be powerful, they get the largest portion of the kills she makes. The females remain as part of the Pride. One male will emerge as dominate but until then they will go off as brothers and hunt together.
We had a quick bathroom break back at the camp and then drove out to the airstrip for the flight to Kwara Camp in the Okavango Delta with Moremi Air. Kir was our pilot and it was a short scenic 25-minute flight. We were greeted by Kim with “Arnold Palmers”, and they had brunch waiting for us. Since we had filled out all the waivers at the last camp it was good for here as well. (same company) They said we would follow the same schedule for the game drives as Lebala. While it was still called brunch here, they had much hardier lunch options and the food was much better. The managers Pro & Neo greeted us, and we were introduced to Onks & Eddie. Our guide for our 3 days goes by KB and the tracker goes by TS. They wanted to know what we had seen at Lebala, and what we hoped to see here. This and the last camp were known to frequently see Painted Dogs (Wild Dogs) and we hadn’t seen a kill yet. Of course, seeing a kill is pretty much luck of the draw and I did get to see one at great distance in East Africa (watching a pride of lions take down a zebra through binocs).
We were shown to our tents, and they blew us away with all
the space. There was also a large patio. We had free time until the afternoon
game drive.
Kwara Camp is located in the remote northern part of the
Okavango Delta within the private Kwara Concession. The 656-square-mile
concession borders the Moremi Reserve and offers a diverse game viewing
experience, from clear Delta waters to open grasslands, mopane woodlands to
palm-fringed islands.
There were nine luxury tents built on raised decks. Four were
located on Kwara South and five were on Kwara North (plus 1 pilot tent) with
the main lodge in the middle. They also had a gift shop at this one.
We were also told that there was a large bull Elephant that
they have named Big Kwara that hangs around and we were not to approach him.
They said just ignore him and he shouldn’t cause any trouble. They also said
that if he threatens to get one of them to handle it.
We settled in a bit and then we went to get some cold drinks
at the lodge. Upon our return, Big Kwara appeared. Greg was part way up the
stairs and every time he took a step Big Kwara kicked dirt and used his trunk
to fling dirt at him taking a step towards him in a fake charge move. I was
taking photos and was lagging behind and figured if I calmly and slowly walked
towards the steps I could join Greg. Nope. Big Kwara threw dirt at me. I walked
behind the tent where he couldn’t see me and Greg went to the deck on the side
out of sight. Big Kwara wouldn’t leave. After about 30 minutes I went to get
help. More guests were arriving and everyone was there and I said Big Kwara won’t
let us in the tent and Greg is trapped on the deck. (Big Kwara wouldn’t let him
in the door to the tent as his tusks were now right on the railing of the
landing) I was met with I don’t know what you are saying. I found someone who
understood, and the answer was “Can it wait? We are greeting new guests.”
Seriously?!? I said Greg is trapped on the deck, and I don’t know what is going on
now. It’s a long walk to get back to the lodge and maybe the elephant had left,
and all was fine, but I wasn’t leaving him alone out there. I turned and left
and they shouted at me to wait until someone could come with me. I repeated, I
wasn’t leaving Greg out there alone. When I got back to the tent, Greg was
still outside and Big Kwara was still there. Finally, someone came and picked
up some large branches and banged them on the steps and Big Kwara left. So,
after an hour we both finally got into the tent.
While we liked the camp better than the last one (tent & food) some of the staff "tried too hard". They must have asked 10 times "how is everything in your tent?" When trying to relate I was displeased with how the Big Kwara situation was handled I was interrupted with "but how is everything in your tent?" Throughout the stay we were met with questions on how we were doing and about the condition of the tent. The best service is just providing it, not asking constantly if they are doing well. (at meals the staff was much more friendly)
We went for the afternoon tea which had some great food and
snacks. Afterwards, our game drive began. It soon became apparent that KB
talked way too much and while he found the wildlife he was miserable at telling
us where it was. Often, it would be “in a tree” (uh, which tree?) Followed by
“just follow the tail and the leopard is above it” (uh, we haven’t even figured
out which tree and if we did was it left or right of the trunk. As the days
went on, he oftentimes would just say a single word like “hippo”, and we were
looking every which-way to find it. He also was not great at parking the jeep
where anyone could see. He’d drive past it and stop forcing us all to look back
at it. He also had an annoying habit of asking us all questions by calling us
out by name. He also wasn’t at all helpful when we were getting in or out of
the vehicle. TS, however, was always there to assist with a smile.
Dinners here were also much better than the last camp. (not that anything was bad at the last camp, just different styles of food) Like all the other camps they bring out the chef to tell us the menu and a wine "steward" that presents the choices of wine to go with the food being served. Of course, you could order whatever you wanted from the bar if neither of those appealed to you. Once that is done then they serve an appetizer or two and the bread and then you serve yourself at the buffet. (some camps served meals to the table)
Before one dinner, after we were seated, Greg got up and someone came up and told him that the buffet wasn't open yet and he had to wait until the chef came out and explained the menu. He explained he was just going to the restroom to wash his hands.
KB met with us to let us know what things we wanted to experience of the things they offered. (Game drives, mokoro, walking safari & morning or evening boat safari) We ruled out the walking safari as it was a nature walk not a game walk. We have done both before and unless it was a game walk, we didn't need to do that again. He explained that they share the equipment with Splash Camp (nearby camp) and they needed to coordinate it, so everyone gets to do what they want. He'd coordinate with the other guides and let us know which days we would be doing each thing.
Tomorrow, we are doing a morning game drive, and in the afternoon, we will game drive until it's time for the evening boat safari.
Compared to the "dry camps" the Okavango Delta had lots of water to drive through. Also, lots of sand which made the drives more like dune bashing bouncing side to side. Water sometimes flowed onto the floor of the first row of the jeep. (not bad just enough to soak the bottom of the blanket in the mornings)
Online photos & videos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/zsS15J4wysNCFTPYA
