5th and 6th May,2017. Chief 's Island , Sanctuary Chiefs Resort, Botswana
/We departed Bain's Camp with a sense of excitement and yet disappointment as this had been an amazing 2 days. The staff all said there goodbyes, and there was no singing. We departed following our unbelievable "Walk with the Elephants and we were quickly transported to the air strip, where there were 2 planes, waiting for passengers to go to Chief's in our case and another party returning to Chobe.
There were several jeeps overlooking the runway to prevent wart hogs and Impala from straying onto the runway as the planes departed. There was also a lone bull elephant and 2 Giraffes beside a bush area, next to the runway.
We entered the plane and sat in the back seats of the 12 seater plane and enjoyed a very short flight of 12 minutes duration to Chief's island where we were met by several jeeps again patrolling the airstrip. We had a 25 minute drive from the airstrip to the resort and we saw several different types of animals including elephants, Giraffes, zebras, , water buffalo, wildebeest before we came to a large clearing. There were 6 of us checking in from the flight, but another group had earlier checked in. There are 2 different resorts on Chief's, being our 5 star resort and the tented camp of some 4 stars some 5 km from our resort.
The staff and managers meet and greet us as we arrive in the reception forecourt. We are then inducted into the resort and received detailed briefings. Quite simply this is a beautiful stunning resort with contemporary eating and drinking lounges and superb outdoor restaurant, overlooking the broad savannah grasses and the wetlands of the vast delta river system.
Our villa is#7 and it is some 50-70 metres from the the central lodge area, but you are not permitted to walk from our villa to the main lodge apart from morning through to dusk and certainly not after dark. This is an open park and animals are known to regularly come up to the lounge area, passing through the sleeping villas. The villa is outstanding with a large bedroom with king bed, separate lounge and small office area, independent full ensuite and separate toilet. There is also separate shower room and outdoors shower area. Outside there is a platform with seating overlooking the savannah, then a plunge pool and full day bed. It is one of the very best setups that we have observed in any country and on any of our holidays.
We have 90 minutes before high tea and then the afternoon game drive/ safari.
Our jeep has 6 people with a younger couple from Honolulu in the back seats, Another American couple from near New York City being Annie and Mike, who are celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary and we sit in the middle.
Departure from our Camp occurs at 4.00pm and we drive for some 70 minutes without seeing more than Impala and zebra together with Wildebeest and a couple of Giraffe, but that changes at5.15pm as we race toward an open grassland area, where there is a sighting of a Cheetah. We arrive at 5.25pm and watch in amazement as the Cheetah initially relaxes, but then awakes and begins to prowl looking for impala or similar. It is an amazing experience. We forego the planned "sundowner" drink and snacks at sunset to watch this whole wonderful experience.
On our return we see a herd of elephants as we approach the Camp. Then suddenly we see several Giraffes.
We have time to shower and change for dinner, before returning to the lounge and restaurant area, where we sit around a blazing bonfire with per dinner drinks. On this our first evening we share a romantic dinner of 4 courses and good wines under the stars. Before turning in after a brilliant day we are again warned that animals do venture into the Camp at night.
Come 1030pm, we are back in our Villa listening to various noises from the animals. We both drift off and sleep well until Ken arises at 4.15pm and hears a lion in the Camp area and there are several "roars" ,but he didn't wake Jeanette . She was disappointed in the morning because this was the subject of much discussion over the breakfast and queries as to whether we will see them.
Another perfect morning and much discussion as to the roars and there were also several elephants in the camp. Following a superb breakfast we load up into the jeeps with a sense of expectation, given our guide is also aware of the lions in the Camp, but is confident that if we find the kill, then we will be able to likely track the females.
After driving around the Camp perimeter for some 15 minutes our driver then locates the carcass of the Kano, which has been completely cleaned by the lions, but there are also hyenas in close proximity as a well as vultures in the air all wanting to participate. But there is no sign of the lions. So we drive , see a herd of elephants and many impala and zebras. Finally some 20 minutes after the locating of the carcass, we receive notification that another jeep has found 2 lion brothers, walking back along the savannah grass areas toward a stream, but whilst we hurry to watch these young male lions, our guide doesn't believe they killed the animal although they also feasted. He wants to find the females.
So for the next 45 minutes we watch and follow these two brothers as they slowly walk away from the area of the kill toward a stream where they can drink water and then relax and sleep. They walk by extremely close to our vehicle, then turn slowly to take in the whole environment before reaching a stream and then drinking for almost 10 minutes. They then source a small mound of grass with some small trees, where they lay down stretch out and chill out before falling asleep obviously well sated.
We also now move on taking a wide circle from the 2 males back in the direction of the the kill area. This is like finding a needle in a hay stack, but after another 20 minutes, we come to a partially shaded clearing where there are 2 female lions, still consuming meat from another kill, being a warthog, and we watch the amazing scenes as they tear the meat off the carcass. Our guide is finally satisfied that we have identified the lions responsible for the earlier"kill" which was subsequently cleaned up by the 2 brothers. The females had obviously moved on and found another potential kill with the warthog but this time, the food was totally,consumed by the "girls".
We waited and watched this whole process, simply stunning and amazing to watch nature at work. They were aware of our 3 jeeps in close proximity, but showed no concern. They were fully engaged in eating, then sleeping and from our viewpoint it was all amazing
Finally, we departed that scene to return to the lodge for lunch. This has been a once in a lifetime morning seeing all of the animals, but emphatically the time watching the boys in the grasslands then the female lions will forever remain in my most prized moments.
Close to our Camp we come across elephants, Giraffes, the ever present impalas and zebras. We are all excited and emotional as to watching these events. We do shower and change for lunch and then come back to the lounge and dining areas for a superb luncheon. The conversation over lunch is excitable and emotional. It is apparent that we have experienced a special moment.
Mid afternoon comes quickly after lunch and a brief period of rest, we come back where "high tea" is being served, but we like several other guests are excited as to going out. At 4.00pm we depart for the last of our drives here at Sanctuary Chief's Camp, chief's Island, Botswana. We again skirt the immediate area and then drive passed the Rhino storage areas, hoping that the rhinos may be in close proximity. They are not but after 45 minutes, we hear news across the radio network, that one of the Jeeps has found a cheetah with a kill of an impala. We drive for 20 minutes to get to the area and initially cannot spot the Cheetah which is hidden in the bushes and expertly camouflaged. But we wait and then suddenly, we see the Cheetah come out of the bushes to an area of low bushes where it has stored the carcass of the impala. Again a simply amazing spectacle to watch the Cheetah protect its kill and slowly tear it apart.
Our viewing lasts almost 35 minutes. We depart and drive back from where we had watched the female lions. They had moved on after sleeping but we soon found the lions still sleeping and relaxing after the busy evening period. They are totally exhausted.
We drive 20 minutes to a large waterhole, where we stop for our evening sundowner drinks and snacks with the perfect background of the waterhole and the superb sunset. This is again a surreal experience and we talk as to the amazing sightings of the morning and afternoon.
The drive back from the sundowners and sunset is again exciting. Tonight we have a dinner where we sit with our jeep group and also have a celebration as to our wonderful experiences in Botswana. The meal is superb, the evening mild with no wind and stars sparkling.
The Camp and villas have been wonderful. This has been a stunning memorable experience for each of our group.
