This Lodge is right up our alley!
It is simple
and simply lovely
with such attention to detail
down to the toilet paper
the bedding
the wooden walk ways connecting the tents that are raised both because of the water and the ellies that are potentially destructive;
our tent feels as though we're up in a tree house.
The food has been the best so far
The furniture and colors of the decor remind me of Casa Azul and Viewpoint Drive
and we are settled and relaxed
"we" being one of two couples sharing this amazing retreat...
another free upgrade
due to Covid and the lack of bookings which makes us feel sad for the employers and employees alike.
This is our last stop in Botswana and we're here for three wonderful nights.
Hoping to see a leopard like this one photographed and hanging on the wall next to our mosquito - netted comfy bed!
Hold thumbs!
This is also our first internet connection in over a week so please forgive the slew of posts!!!
And thank you everyone for all the wonderful birthday wishes that greeted me when I logged on...
so sweet to speak to my kids and my mum, sister and only niece too! ♥️♥️

We found little on our first game drive out of Kwetsani with our guide, Gora...
it's like fishing
catching is not a guarantee!
We stopped in an open grassland for evening cocktails to watch yet another magnificent orangey - red African sunset...
nearby was a full skeleton of a hippo that we walked over to and examined...
and then became creative with,
much to the delight of Gora who is just beginning to dabble in photography...
it was a fun hour we spent here together...
how I would've loved one of those teeth as a take home trophy!

We flew from Maun to Kwetsani Lodge in the Jao Concession of the Delta on a Cessna 208, watching the land below us change from dry and brown to water and green as we approached our destination, dotted with many airstrips serving all the lodges in this area.
As Dennis, our driver, headed to the Lodge he filled us in on this dynamic Delta. I think I finally have a grip on it.
The water originates in the Angola Highlands where the average annual rainfall is about 2250mm. In comparison, the Delta receives about 625mm per annum, enough to fill the grasslands but not flood them.
The rainfall in Angola fills the Quito River and the Cubango River. These rivers join up in Andara Place in Namibia to become the Kovango River, which flows into Mohembo in Botswana and becomes the Okavango River.
Dennis explained it like your arm (the Okavango River) flowing blood into your hand and fingers (the Delta) - that was a great visualization for me!
The water generally reaches here from Angola around March, when the zebras, impala, elephants and giraffe will move to higher, dry ground, while the lions and red lechwe antelope remain, having fully adapted to this environment and it's waters.
There was a 6.3 magnitude earthquake here in the Delta in 2017 which was not felt due to the 200-300m deep layer of sand that covers this land and cushioned it;
however, it did create a tilt to the East in the Delta causing more water to flow to the east, leaving the west dry, a big change that animals and humans alike have adapted to.
This dynamic Delta
Ever changing
We're thrilled to be in the middle of it!

We said our goodbyes to the staff and Jack's beautiful camp, headed back to Maun, a three and a half hour drive along that same tarred, potholed road lined with donkeys, cattle and buck, as well as charming little settlements.
First stop: the airport for a COVID Test
Next: some souvenir shopping
Followed by a trip to the bank and the liquor store for money, wine and ice
Then a quick beer at Okavango Craft Beer owned by one of the guests we'd met at Jack's Camp
before finally checking back in at our initial river lodge.
We gave an ice chest loaded with leftover food and water no longer needed by us to three little kids who excitedly carried it back to their village
And then unloaded the truck before handing her safely back to Bushlore, having completed 1400 kms.
It was an evening of hand washing of our laundry, reshuffling and repacking our suitcases, as the next two legs of our journey restrict us to 20kgs of luggage in soft sided bags; that includes our hand luggage!!
Finally we sat down and enjoyed a yummy dinner of red wine and smoked oysters on provitas as we watched the sun settle over the river as the hippos happily grunted away.
It's all going to have been worth this shuffle, for sure!

Gola Sentle!!!
Happy birthday!!!
The staff sang to me at every opportunity through this day, reminding me they were celebrating my 60th since this trip was originally planned for last year, their gift to me: a bonus year!!
We were spoiled with fantastic massages on our verandah after brunch,
and then I spent the afternoon reading at the pool over looking a waterhole filled with zebra and wildebeest whilst Nev napped.
We spent the early evening out on an ATV ride in one of the endless salt pans, heads covered in kikoi's to protect our hair from wind and dust, watching the sun set.
And when we arrived back at camp the staff surprised us with dinner, champagne on ice, a birthday cake and more singing, all set up in the privacy of our verandah!
Nev gave me the gift of a baobab seed and a half a dung beetle ball cracked open and hollowed out by the meerkats, both of which I hope to sneak home!
I have been loved completely this day!
Thank YOU!
And thank you, my love, for the gift of this incredible trip together ♥️♥️♥️

My birthday morning wish was to see the lion cubs, four of them, born on the concession 3 months ago.
The sun was settled over Stephen just as it was rising over me on our birthday this morning, as we celebrate on two different continents! I gave thanks for the 35 years of his sweet soul in my life, asking myself: "I have walked a path in his life, but have I left an imprint?"
as I left the tent in search of the lions footprints along the dusty tracks.
We found the lioness and her cubs resting in the shade of a low growing palm bush so we sat still enjoying their little faces popping up in the grass from time to time, mama ever on alert, checking us out and anything else she could smell on the chilly winds blowing by which we are thoroughly enjoying after the heat of the past two weeks!
Suddenly she stood up,
walked around the bush,
began digging and scratching
sending dust into the air about her.
Then we watched her dragging something,
which, to our delight, was the carcass
of the zebra she had killed the night before!
In no time at all, the 4 cubs were all over the carcass, eating their fill from the ripped open hind quarter.
Three of the cubs sauntered back to their mama who licked and cleaned them up
while the fourth feasted on...
he was a joy to watch and we decided he would be the strongest of this litter, as he was also the most curious during the preamble.
Truth is cubs at this age are difficult to sex but we liked our story.
Just wished Stephen had been here to enjoy this magnificent spectacle ♥️