On safari
Beautiful Botswana is where Prince Harry wooed Meghan Markle. For Laura Millar it was love at first sight of the wonderful wildlife
The romance of Botswana’s Chobe National Park
Most of us, if we’re lucky, get taken out for dinner, drinks or a movie by the time we get to the third date. But royals do things differently. After meeting Suits actress Meghan Markle in London in the summer of 2016, two “conventional” nights out weren’t enough for Prince Harry. So date number three took place in the beautiful African country of Botswana; somewhere the Prince first visited shortly after his mother’s death in 1997, and the place he refers to as his second home. And after spending a few days here on safari, I can see why Ms Markle succumbed to its romance, and subsequently agreed to be Harry’s bride…
Chobe National Park is the third biggest in Botswana (after the Kalahari Game Reserve and Gemsbok National Park), situated in the northeast of the country and covering over 4,500 square miles. It
We pass many crocs lazing on the baked earth under the fierce African sun
has one of the biggest concentrations of game in the continent, including around 450 species of birdlife. If you’re looking to tick off the Big Five – lion, cheetah, elephant, buffalo, and rhino – they can all be found here. But whether you have come on your first safari, or your 21st, you can’t fail to be seduced by the sheer magic of observing animals in the wild.
I’m staying at the Ngoma Safari Lodge, located just outside the Park. Its eight, charming little huts look out over a vast floodplain; on the far side is Namibia. I’m visiting during ‘high water’ season, when the rains from January and February have left rivers full to bursting, and the floodplain saturated, but in dry season (May to October), you could, theoretically, simply walk the 500 metres or so across to the country where the royal couple are rumoured to spend their honeymoon. My hut, decorated plainly but elegantly in dark wood with cream-coloured walls, has voluminous white mosquito nets draped over the bed and an outdoor shower, giving it an atmospheric, Out of Africa feel. On the terrace is a small plunge pool, referred to jokingly by jovial South African manager Jarryd as a “cuddle puddle”; it’s just big enough for two people to dip in, but it also acts as a drinking fountain for any passing elephant. I’m not lucky enough to spot one in the act, but my neighbour does, one evening, as she’s looking out of her window, which startles her more than she cares to admit.
However, I get the chance to see some at close quarters on our second day, when we start the morning with a boat trip along a small stretch of the Zambezi river. The skiff is flatbottomed and our guide, Bevan, manoeuvres it expertly around thick clumps of rushes, putting what is clearly his laser-sharp vision to work immediately spotting various hippos, crocodiles, and exotic birdlife. Hippos are deceptively adorable-looking; they sit almost entirely under the surface of the water, only their snouts showing, as well as their cute little ears, which twitch occasionally. Alas, these children’s-storybook creatures are far more vicious than they look: “they’re the biggest killers of humans, in the water,” warns Bevan. Like most creatures, they’re protective of their brood, and they move in packs, banding together by day, and, when they come out of the river to look for food, by night. Crocs, on the other hand, are solitary creatures; we pass many, lazing on the baked earth by the riverbanks under the fierce
African sun. The occupants of the boat all shy away as we pass them, but Bevan assures us we have little to fear. “If they have a big enough meal – a whole kudu, say – they don’t need to eat again for six months to a year,” he says. Which is faintly reassuring.
Then we come upon a whole group of elephants. One of them, a female, is submerged in the water, dipping her trunk continuously under the surface as she scoops up great, well, trunkfuls of vegetation into her mouth. Her little one splashes about in the shallows, while several others roam along the riverbank. Some are sucking up muddy river water to spray over their backs to cool themselves down, while others pick at leaves from the surrounding acacia trees, or have adorable playfights. After the mother eats her fill, she walks out of the water, straight past our boat; she’s so close we could almost touch her, blinking steadily from eyes lined with lashes so long, you’d swear they were fake. The boat is silent as everyone holds their breath, taking in the encounter.
After a couple of hours, we transfer to a four-by-four to explore overland. During the afternoon, we regularly catch flashes of electric blue, as lilac-breasted rollers or kingfishers take to the skies, while Bevan often has to brake to avoid running over the funny, plump little guineafowl, distinctive due to their black bodies covered in white dots, with a blue head and red beak, as they scuttle ahead of the vehicle without realising they could just turn left or right to get out of its way. But it’s the four legged creatures which elicit the most “oohs” and “aahs”; elegant, horse-like zebra, trotting slowly through the bush accompanied by stumpy-legged, hairy little warthogs; lumbering giraffes, their uneven gait taking them from tree to tree, where they stand, chewing, before getting bored and moving to the next one; glossycoated impala, the females twitching their shiny black Bambi noses in the air as we pass by; or hulking big buffalo, their hook-shaped horns sitting on top of their heads, attached by a mass of bone which looks like a barrister’s wig.
Apart from the animals, part of Botswana’s appeal is that it lies so close to three other countries; as well as Namibia, it’s also neighbour to Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The backpacker town of Victoria Falls, in Zimbabwe, is just a two-hour drive away, and is well worth combining with a stay in Botswana. Why? For the waterfalls it’s named after, of course. They’re one of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World, a thundering rush of water around 1,700m wide, and 108m at their highest point. Brought to global recognition by Scottish missionary and explorer, David Livingstone, in the mid-19th century, he learned that the local tribespeople called it Mosi-oa-tunya – or “The Smoke That Thunders”.
The name is perfectly apt; as we approach it by car from our stylish resort, the Victoria Falls Safari Club, what looks like a vast, thick cloud is rising up from the ground to join the others in the sky above. You can see them one of two ways; both are thrilling. There’s a walking route that skirts along the opposite side, with 15 or so different viewpoints to stop at and take in their magnificence. Of course, part of the fun is getting soaked; even though we’re standing several hundred metres away, the spray, blown by the direction of the wind, acts like a sudden rain shower, drenching us all to screams of glee. For a different perspective, see them from the air; helicopter tours are popular, and wing you over what looks like a great gash in the earth, where you really get a sense of the scale and the ferocity of the gushing water. Moments like these took my breath away the whole time I was in Africa; and it’s no wonder that, after being presented with a beautiful diamond sourced from Botswana itself, Meghan said, simply, “yes”.
A suite at the Ngoma Safari Lodge starts from £404pp per night, including all meals, game drives, and activities. To book, visit africaalbidatourism.com A club room at Victoria Falls Safari Club starts from £177pp per night, including breakfast, afternoon tea and sundowners. Ethiopian Airways (ethiopianairlines.com) flies to Victoria Falls from London via Addis Abbaba from £611 return.