MORNING

6.19 am.

Daybreak at Ngepi Camp on the banks of the Okavango River. I’m not sure what woke me: A honking hippo? The smell of coffee?

8.23 am.

After a quick breakfast of coffee and rusks, we drive to Mahango Game Reserve.

It’s the most accessible part of the much bigger Bwabwata National Park, which is slotted between the Okavango and Kwando rivers. It’s also affordable (R30 per person for South Africans, plus R10 per vehicle) and you’re guaranteed animal sightings.

We see red lechwe, warthog,