We have arrived at the last day of this challenge to self – wander travel memory lane all through April 2020. A way of travelling virtually while in my lockdown bubble. Dreams of travelling again when this too has passed. An exercise in gratitude for all I have been given in this life already.
Going to finish with Kruger memories part two.
No more stories…. Just some Johnny Clegg wisdom… from the Johnny Clegg & Savuka song Great Heart
There’s a highway of stars across the heavens There’s a whispering song of the wind in the grass There’s the rolling thunder across the savanna A hope and dream at the edge of the sky And your life is a story like the wind Your life is a story like the wind I’m searching for the spirit of the great heart To hold and stand me by I’m searching for the spirit of the great heart Under African sky
Last virtual wander through the Okavango Delta and surrounds.
Today I am thinking of magical wildlife moments. I got to experience so many during my years there. I still have to pinch myself this time really happened.
There’s the time I had to sleep on the pool lounger as a family of hippo were grazing all round my little housie that night.
Or the 5am deep breath and tiptoe past three sleeping bull elephant (all round the house) to make sure I got to the main area of camp to get ready for guest arrival.
Then there’s a moment with a young she leopard making her way across our island in the Delta. It was twilight and there she was sat on the path ahead of me. Too close before I realised she was there. But she paused before moving off, just long enough for us to acknowledge each other.
Then there’s the time our resident bull elephant stuck his whole head through the office door to get at a couple of marula fruit that had found their way onto the floor inside. Yes, I was in this little camp office at the time.
A lone spotted hyena would make the rounds with me most evenings on lock up after guests had retired for the night…. trotting along after me along the boardwalks…. not too close…. after the first few times of feeling insecure, I actually found him quite companionable.
The Pel’s Fishing Owl family nesting in the tree above my house.
The big python who lived under my house. I never had a rodent problem.
And many more…. that’s breathtaking Botswana! Best place to experience real, wild Africa (just my opinion).
But this kind of magic has a life span. Too much of a good thing and all that… still, I am left with incredible memories and oodles of gratitude for this chapter in my story.
In the wise words of Prime Circle from their song Breathing…
“Here’s to the good times The bad times The times that could have been To the wrong times The right times I know we’ll breathe again…”
Another set of pics remembering my time in beautiful Botswana.
Today I am thinking about the Botswana rhythm. There is a wonderful rhythm to the seasons and natural cycles. The flooding then drying of the Okavango Delta. The migration of the zebra and the elephant.
A time for marula trees to bear fruit which brings the elephants.
September is amazing…. a deep breath before the rains arrive. Unexpected flowers bloom. Babies abound – impala, lechwe, zebra.
January is prickly hot. But some afternoons turn black on the horizon and then the lightening and thunder and rain arrive. The cuckoos and Woodland Kingfisher call continuously. A good time to venture into the reeds in a mokoro hoping for a glimpse of the elusive sitatunga. At Xigera Lagoon the African Skimmers are nesting.
The people of Botswana have a rhythm too. A time to plant. A time to harvest. A time to move the cattle. A time to gather from the wild.
There is a beautiful kinship that weaves the Ba-Tswana together as a people but also connects them to this land. It was so easy to fall into this rhythm and be mesmerised by its beat.
I highly recommend the evening banquet tour. You enjoy a wander through Hobbiton at sun down including a visit to Bag End, Bagshot Row and the Party Tree. Then arrive at the Green Dragon for a fabulous feast fit for Hobbits and finish with a lantern tour back through Hobbiton.
Professor Tolkien’s descriptions of Hobbiton and surrounds leap off the page and you are magically transported to the Shire for a little while.
Edinburgh skyline from Calton HillAbbey at the Palace of Holyroodhouse
I remember my first visit to Scotland so vividly. It was a “travels with mom” adventure circa 2003. We drove up from London to Glasgow. Overnight in Glasgow and then on the train up to Mallaig, overnight in Fort William and the next morning more train to Edinburgh. Then a couple of days taking in the sights and sounds of Edinburgh. It was April but it was freezing!! A deep fried Mars bar was an experience, as was trying to understand a Glaswegian accent! Ben Nevis was jaw dropping to behold. But most overwhelming for me was how at home I felt, instantly on arrival. Me and Scotland – love at first sight.
Entrance to Edinburgh Castle
I have been back a couple of times now – solo traveller. Still love it. Could live there if the opportunity presented.
Area around Glencoe, a January day in the Highlands
Dream of going north to John o’ Groats and the Hebrides.
A whiskey hot chocolate on Loch Ness
Today’s virtual wanderings take in a winter wander – Edinburgh and the Highlands including Loch Ness. And then another set of pics of a summer stay – Edinburgh, Stirling and Loch Lomond.
A July day wandering Edinburgh – the view from the Castle, looking up towards Arthur’s Seat and tea and scones at the Elephant House of J K Rowling fame
