WITHOUT DISGUISE

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INTRODUCTION
When I was doing my high school at Maun Senior Secondary School in 1994 I was at
loggerheads whether I should be a nurse or journalist. My last days at school, I decided to
become a conservationist. One year after finishing school I started using government library,
reading about nature and wildlife. I was very passionate about it.
I grew up in a village of Chobe Enclave by the name of Kavimba. As a young boy I used to
herd cattle for grazing in the wilderness. Dangerous animals like lions, buffalos, leopards and
elephants were often encountered. Due to all the education I got from my parents about
dangerous animals, I survived the wilderness.
On 5th November 1995, I received a call from my cousin Charles Paul, telling me that Chobe
Game Lodge was in need of waiters. I went in to a state of dilemma; I wanted to become a
game ranger but I did not have the right qualifications nor any experience. I accepted the
invitation and the following morning a truck from the hotel picked me up in Kasane and we
travelled 10km to the lodge. We used the old park entrance and on our way to the lodge we
saw lots of game. Of all the animals I saw, the most memorable to me was the Puku
antelope (Kobus Vardoni). My father used to tell me a lot about this rare antelope, that is of
the same family with the lechwe, waterbuck and Reedbuck. From the first glance at this
antelope I knew that it was the one, because of all the description from my father. The story
of a most passionate ranger is born.

Chobe Game Lodge

I was employed as a waiter at Chobe Game Lodge, which is located inside the chobe national
park. The people I met there introduced me to my job. Very friendly staff and they taught
me all the basics of being a waiter. Jones, Morris Shapiro, and Mofiya taught me with
passion and did their best to make me feel welcome in the world of tourism.
I was amazed at how one person can carry five plates without breaking any of them. I use to
tell myself that I was not capable of one day being able to hold five glasses like they did. The
restaurant was beautiful, with a lovely setting. Every waiter served two to three tables. The
people I found doing the job were really productive and they had a great passion for it. Their
attitude made it easier for me to fit in though the biggest challenge was getting orders. It
was really confusing and complex for me at the start to get used to getting the orders and
know by memory all the different foods served in the lodge.
The waiters worked on a weekly shift. I was proud of being a waiter. But it was not the kind
of profession I was looking for. When I knocked off I spent time with professional guides
asking nature. They told me stories about their game drives and boat cruises. Each week that
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I was off duty I spent it in Kasane with my brother and sister. I am the youngest in a family of
seven. We loved talking about my new job with my siblings though they knew that I was not
content with being a waiter, they knew I was passionate about being a ranger by profession.
The third week I went back to the lodge, I told the manager that I was no longer interested in
being a waiter anymore. I was immediately transferred to another department. I became a
wine steward barman. Being a wine steward still did not make me content; my love for
nature was undying. I clearly remember one incidence when I was cleaning wine glasses at
the glass washer machine. After cleaning about thirty glasses, I put them inside the tray to
take them to the counter. I somehow missed my step and tragically all thirty glasses fell. The
noise was loud and annoying. Knelt down and began picking up the broken glasses,
fortunately I was alone and there was no one present who saw what happened. Until today
it remained my secret, known by only one person on earth. From that day I quickly learnt
how to use the cock screw, even though at times I was not able to use it properly. During my
break time and lunch hour, I dashed off to chat with the guides. O I loved their profession,
there was a new story they told me whenever we met. I often fantasized of being a captain,
since I did not have a drivers license then.
The off days for the barmen and the waiters were the same, we did weekly shifts. One of the
weeks when I resumed my weekly shift I decided to see the manager again. I want to
become a guide, I said the words with a broad smile. Well, she told me that she was going
to give me an oral interview on the spot. I was prepared for whatever question she was
going to ask.
Tell me the scientific names of the following; African Fish Eagle, African Elephant, Lion,
Osprey and Leopard. That was her question.
There was nothing difficult with answering her question because even before I went to her
office I always studied about nature. I told her even scientific names of the species she did
not mention, so as to prove to her that I knew them. She was certainly impressed with my
knowledge. The following day I joined the team of boatmen, other people at the lodge
normally referred to them as Rongi man, rongi meaning boat in the subiya language.

Boatman
The first trip I accompanied Libuku, commonly known as Lex. It was the most amazing boat
cruise ever. I learnt a lot and I kept asking questions. Lex did trick me when he saw a desert
cisticola. He asked whether I knew what it was, and I said I did not know. He told me that it
was a desert flanked tawny cisticola. That really confused me, It was the first time I heard of
such a name. I knew of a tawny flanked prinia not the one he had mentioned. I asked him to
differentiate between the two and he said that he was joking.

He was really nice man. He taught me how to drive the boat. The first time I drove the boat I
had a great challenge because the boat did not have a steering wheel but a controlling
column that was like a handle on the side of the boat engine.
Thomas was another friendly man and almost each day I learnt a new thing from him. Water
birds, flowers, fish and land animals, my knowledge deepened by the day.
Chobe River forms an international boundary between Botswana and Namibia. All boat
cruises were conducted on the Chobe River. The river has over five hundred species of birds,
and it has hippos and crocodile. The smallest boats we used were the four sitter, followed by
the ten sitter and then the large ones. Engine capacity ranged from 15 horse power to 60
horse power at the time, I know they have bigger engines now. Stanley, our head guide,
always drove the 60 horse power boats. Since I was new in the profession, I always drove the
4 sitter.
Another incidence I remember involves a pride of three lions. They killed an elephant calf by
the water edge at Kalwizi Viewpoint. The next morning at 0600hrs I with Lex and Sam went
there to see lions feeding on the carcass. Sam drove the boat while Lex and myself occupied
the front seats. Upon arrival at the scene we found three lions sleeping about ten meters
from the kill, the carcass was barely two meters from the river bank. Crocodiles were all over
the place but didnt have the chance of eating since lions were there. When we approached
the kill, Lex and I decided to stand up to have a close look. The male lion came fully charging,
we found ourselves running from the front to the back of the boat with the intension of
jumping into the water. Crocodiles were the last things in our minds. Sam shouted beware
of crocodiles in the water. It was the toughest decision to make, we halted in our steps. We
thought of the lions only while we were going to give ourselves away to the crocodiles to
have a big feast.
One early morning around 0500hrs, I went for an early boat cruise, since the guests were
keen bird watchers. Mornings are the best times to watch birds because it is cool before
they start hiding from the heat of the day. On my way from the staff housing to the main
lodge, I walked into two male lions. One of them was known as Sekoti, meaning his tail was a
stump. They were barely ten meters away and didnt show any aggression at me. I stood
there motionless for some time and finally I backed off and ran to the reception. The game
drive vehicles were ready to leave and I called Jackson, hurry to the service station right
away, two male lions on the road.

My First Hippo Charge

This guiding profession is very broad and most of the things you learn them as you go; it is
basics only and more challenges and obstacles are always waiting. Being new in the industry,
I had the advantage of going out with people who have been in the field 2 years before me.
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They taught me 50% and the other half I had to learn by myself; but how was I to do it being
charged by wild animals and I had to learn very quickly?
I had only a week in the industry and was very passionate about it, I loved it. One afternoon I
had a boat cruise; we were using small boats it was a 4 sitter with a 15 horse power
engine. It was very slow especially if you had heavy people on board. The cruise was good,
there were lots of game; about 500 metres away from the lodge I saw a hippo feeding
outside the water. I approached the hippo to get a close look at it; at first it didnt take note
of us and it was busy grazing along the river bank. At times it would stop grazing and stare at
the boat; that meant nothing to me since no one told me about hippos on land and I never
read about them charging the boats from the shore. It kept staring and going back to
grazing; I didnt have any escape route since the boat was facing the river bank.
The space between the river bank and my boat was about ten metres, I only saw the water
splash at the front of the boat. It had jumped into the water and it lunged forward with its
mouth open. It was the scariest moment and I was worried about my guests, they all lay flat
on the boat floor. I quickly started the boat and moved forward toward the hippo to destruct
the charge; it panicked and I managed to move away by a few metres, I then had the chance
to reverse but I had a problem with the boat. It was an old manual boat with no trim or
hydraulic; when you reverse fast, the engine flits off the water, you rather do it slowly but
the hippo was charging; it was more complex. The hippo kept coming and I decided to move
towards it fast, it backed off and that was when I had my chance and I turned around. It
charged me from behind and its head was almost on top of the boat engine. While moving
forward I kept looking back at the hippo, it kept lunging; my back was wet from the water
that came from the hippos mouth. If the river wasnt as wide as the Chobe River, I would
have crashed into other side of the river bank.

Safari South
April 1996, I left Chobe Game Lodge and was home for a couple of months. One day I
decided to visit my elder brother in Maun, Godfrey Mbeha. He was a well-known
professional guide in the country. He received military training for the Anti Poaching Unit
which was formed in 1988. There are two Anti Poaching Units, one with Department of
Wildlife and National Parks, the other with the Botswana Defence Force. As a result of his
training he became passionate about nature since they used to spend six months in the wild.
He left the department in the mid-90s and joined Safari companies. He first worked with
Game Trackers at the Xaxaba Camp, where he did mokoro ,walking safaris and boat cruises.
There were no vehicles at the time for game drives. The guests loved him a lot because he
was really good at his job.

He eventually left Game Trackers and joined Safari South. One early morning I decided to
check him at their offices so that he could tell me when his day offs were going to be. I knew
the receptionist, Ruth Rakaru, we were both from Kavimba. She assisted me so well and I
finally managed to talk to my elder brother. We lost track of time catching up and talking of
the developments in our village since he had been away for more than eight months. My
main purpose of going to Maun was to look for a job since it is located next to Africas only
inland Delta, the Okavango Delta. I hoped to land a job with one of the safari lodges in the
area.
Ruth finally asked me, What is inside the khakhi envelope you are holding? before I could
speak, she snatched the envelope and she saw the contents. I was looking for a job, without
even consulting me she took hold of the phone and I heard her say here is the professional
guide you were looking for. It did not take long before a white lady appeared and spoke
with me. Are you a guide? and I said Yes I am a guide with six months experience. I was
finally employed by Safari South and I doubted if I could perform really well working in the
same company with my elder brother. I am what I am today because of what Godfrey taught
me. He was taught by the best and he was the best.
The ride from the offices of my new employer to Xudum where I was going to be stationed
was about 8hours. Though I was anxious I did not want to reach camp earlier. Along the way
I was able to see giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, impalas and some lechwe. What makes the
delta to stand out from all the other places I have been is its vegetation in general. There are
vast flood plains and pure white sand which makes the water to be clear. Okavango delta is a
remarkable place, in which the water flows from its source all the way from Angola ends in
the Kalahari sands. Only a small portion of the delta is part of the Moremi Game Reserve and
the rest is part of Private Concessions.
The first camp we arrived at was Makolwane. It was a hunting camp. We spent the night
there. Interestingly I found the skinners in the camp skinning a male leopard killed the
previous night. I was a little uneasy seeing a leopard in that state as it is one of my favorite
animals. Early in the morning we set off for Xudum. We passed through two of camps;
Motshebi and Pom Pom before finally arriving at our destination. My sleep that night was
crowned by all kinds of wild calls.

Elephant Ride
I woke up early the following morning to prepare myself for work. Timex, our head guide
gave me a ride to the main lodge and we saw three elephants with people walking in front of
them.
Doug and Sandie had trained the elephants to be rode upon on Safari in association with
Safari South. At a certain time during the day guests embarked a full day trip on elephant
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back. The experience was amazing and everyone loved it. The elephants were taught how to
communicate with people. When you want to ask them how do you do? the elephants will
waive their trunk in response. If they wanted to drink water they knocked over the water
container, showing that they were thirsty. When you want them to lie down, they follow the
command and they lie down. Even when asked to jump they follow the instruction and
jump.
Timex asked me to be quiet and be still when the elephants got closer. I was very scared. It
was the first time I was so close with elephants in my life. They passed on my side of the
open jeep and they were about two meters from where I was. We drove to the main lodge
after allowing them to walk past us. I met the general manager Brad Horn. I was then
introduced to other staff members as a trainee guide. I didnt get to do much that day apart
from socializing with other staff members. The most friendly men in the whole group were
Mathews Matsaudi and Dimbo Thindere. They are all Hambukushu who originate from the
Okavango Delta. The three of us became good friends. Dimbo was a camp hand, responsible
for ground clearing and making fire at the main lodge for guests to warm themselves and sit
around at night. By sitting around the fire they get to experience the feeling of the African
night and enjoy star gazing in the open skies.
Mathews Matsuadi was a polar at the camp. Every morning he had to prepare himself for a
mokoro ride. By a mokoro one gets to see lechwe, giraffe, Impalas and at times lions too.
Using a mokoro is an excellent way of approaching game, especially if the polar is sitting
down. For many years he has been doing this work and he shared good stories about his
work with me. Though he was four years older than me, I liked him despite being a talkative
man. We really enjoyed our friendship.
It was a cool morning and is my second day being at Xudum. They introduced me to a guy
named Mist Setaung a guide without a drivers license. He was responsible for walking in
front of the tamed elephants, with a 3.57 caliber rifle. I accompanied Mist and together we
walked in front of those elephants at a distance of 50 meters. The main reason for walking in
front of them was to prevent them from mixing with wild elephants, if they do they were
never going to come back. If we see any wild elephant, I will shoot warning shots to scare
them, Mist told me. He has been doing this for one year and he didnt like it either as there
were a lot of risks associated with and it was a dangerous job.

River Crossing
I did this same procedure seven days a week and one day he said to me, You are now okay
to do this alone. I was nervous and alone with guest riding the elephants. It was the month
of June, the coldest month on the Okavango Delta; the water level was increasing too. There
was a deep crossing before the picnic spot, where we often spent the whole day with
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elephants. Here the trainer Doug and Sandie got to educate the guest, how they came about
to start the Elephant Back Safari, eventually taming wild elephants.
There is a scary moment that I will never forget; that was when the river was very full. We
left picnic site very late that evening to camp from a full day safari. Doug and Sandie decided
to take a short cut to the river. We couldnt believe what we saw at the crossing. It was
overflowing. Since I had the rifle and being the lead, I was forced to cross the river to check
how deep it was. I lifted the rifle and started walking across. Everyone waited by the shore
line. I was the bait. The water got deeper and deeper, eventually reaching shoulder height
until I was out at the other end. I was praying to the Almighty God, God please help me
survive this crocodile infested waters. When they realised that I was safely on the other
shore, thats when they crossed on elephants backs. I only lasted for only a month with them
and quit the job. My brother advised that I look for greener pastures which were not as risky
as this job.

Xaxaba-June 1996
From Safari South, I was employed by a company named Game Trackers/ Orient Express
Hotels. Everyone at the office was asking me the very same question, are you Godfrey or
are you the younger brother? I would simply answer I am the younger brother. There is a
big resemblance among us, more often that people get confused a lot. Godfrey is much taller
than me and nine years older.
My first flight ever in history was on A2-FMD, operated by Mack Air. People told me stories
that if you eat too much in the plane you are likely to vomit. I did exactly as I was told and
was fine. It was a Cessna 206 model and it got bumpy especially when there were strong
gusts of wind. Every time it happened, I felt like I am thrown out of the plane, coming to
crash on the ground. Maun to Xaxaba was 30 minutes flight. There were two guests with us
to Xaxaba and a manageress by the name of Tshidi (may her soul rest in peace); upon arrival
at the airstrip, we were picked up by a guy named Tuelo in the tractor. Airstrip to main camp
was just 5minutes and I fell in love with the camp. Friendly staff welcomed us and still the
question of whether or not I am Godfrey was being asked again and again.
We arrived late morning, managed to have lunch with guests who were at the camp. After
my lunch, Craig, the manager showed me around. He took me to the fish Eagle Bar, where all
the mekoro were packed. Do you know how to pole the mokoro? Craig asked me. I
answered I grew up in Kavimba village and I know very well how to do it. He tested me and
found out I knew what I was doing. Now you have proven me wrong, Craig said.
Tomorrow morning you are joining Phillip on the walking Safari.
I met interesting staff members and was told stories of my brother and hoped I was good
like him. Tuelo was friendly and showed me around the camp. Remember, when I was
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employed by Game Trackers I was inexperienced in walking or being exposed much to

nature on foot. Other guides were Philemon, the head guide, Matsharo Matsharo,
Maitumelo (Mighty) and Ngande. Tuelo was a very funny gentleman as he had his pet
baboon. He would start feeding this baboon with food and got used to him that it could get
in his room. When I approached him, the baboon would back off and run away. The
relationship went on for months and he could almost touch it. Tuelo was from one of the
villages in the Okavango region, so do most of the people working at Xaxaba.

Walking Safari
Second day at Xaxaba around 0500hrs Phillip woke me up to get prepared for something I
had never done before. After the guests had their tea the journey started off from the fish
Eagle Bar. I hadnt poled for many years and I had a little problem with stamina the first few
days. I started building up quickly and could catch up with them easily.
Xaxaba and Moremi Game Reserve are divided by a small river called Boro. It could take only
10 minutes and you are at the edge of the park. Four mekoro embarked on the journey
across on my new experience. Phillip briefed all the guests on the Dos and Dontts in the
wilderness. I walked with him at the front, so he can educate me more on this expedition. He
could stop and talk about tracks, insects, termites mounds, trees, grasses, etc. theoretically, I
was very good but with zero experience, hahaha!!! We could leave camp at 0600hrs and be
back at 1000hrs. Brunch was served at 1100hrs. I was shown the area where walking safaris
was conducted and how to do it the proper way.
Day 3
I joined Tuelo and he showed me another different area. The most common animals seen on
a walking safari were zebras, wild dogs, wild beest, elephants, lions and warthogs. Both
these guides were knowledgeable and knew what they were doing. Thanks to all of them for
the education they gave me and their expertise that they showed whole heartedly.

Elephant Encounter
Day 4
It was decided that I am confident; I can do it on my own. I had two guests with me, a father
and a 10 years old son. My new world started, always trying to avoid big game like buffalos
and elephants. The first one hour everything seemed okay. All of a sudden I saw three big
male elephants and they pushed down a palm tree. We watched them cautiously from a safe
distance. I was very speechless when one bull pushed the second palm tree and fell right on
the back of the other bull and broke it in half. What a strong spine, the father said.

It was around 0715hrs, we spent more than 20 minutes watching them. Then I had the shock
of my life. Hey! Presley, look behind us! the young boy said. I got hold of the father and
the kid by the hand and instructed them whatever happens, dont run, I said. The biggest
bull elephant I have never seen in my entire life approached us. He was within a range of 15
metres. Before we knew it, he came charging, trumpeting, kicking the ground and the head
shaking. There was too much dust; we couldnt see where the elephant was. When dust
settled he was just 7 metres away. It made atleast five charges and I maintained our ground.
As this was happening what I felt was butterflies in my stomach. It was too much for me but
at the end the elephant gave up and joined the rest of the bachelor head. This young man is
very brave, he saved our lives, the father told the manager when we got back to camp.
After the heart pounding experience I slowly started building the heart of a stone. I knew it
was not far from over, sooner more charges were to follow. Within two months on the line I
used the speed boat to explore our different walking trails. This time I was not far from Delta
Camp. It was a small camp at the edge of Moremi Game Reserve, reachable only by air,
communicated with the outside world by radio, and was built of reeds and canvas. During
the construction of the Xaxaba airstrip, we would pick our guests at Delta Camp airstrip. This
morning I had two guests, accompanied by Judge he was a waiter and wanted to become a
Professional Guide too. He was a fast learner and that day he was my tracker. The routine
was always a single file formation with the guide walking in front and the tracker protecting
guests from behind.
Boro River has lots of palm trees which were encroached and you wouldnt see an animal 20
metres away. We followed the trail which leads from the river to open grassland, only a
stretch of 200 metres. As we were on this trail, I saw fresh buffalo dung. I instructed
everyone to stop by my hand signal. I inserted my finger in the buffalo dung; this is the
easiest way to tell how far or close they are. The dung was very warm and I knew danger was
within us. We walked slowly and quietly looking around for any sign of buffalos. We reached
the plains safely and had a lovely walk from there on.

XXX
It was on the 25th July 1997, around 1100hrs as we were coming back to the boat, before
reaching the thick palm trees, we saw four buffaloes on our trail. I had no choice but to take
a short cut as one of the buffaloes was closing in. I took a different route so we cut buffaloes
before they block our way. We increased the pace and right on the edge of the bushes when
we approached the tree line I heard crashing and a heavy animal approaching. I couldnt see
what it was, Its an Impala, I said. Its not an Impala, its a buffalo, my guest said. Before I
could figure out what it was, this fearsome figure of a fearless beast appeared. The buffalo
stopped 7metres away from me and I could barely look at this dangerous member of The Big
5. It took me about 3minutes to decide what to do. I said to Judge turn around and be the
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lead. He did exactly as I told him. Walking Safaris inside Game Reserves are allowed but no
rifles allowed and my weapon was instead a walking stick. Can you imagine it, if I had a rifle
the buffalo would have been dead in a few seconds.

Aardvark Hole
As Judge becomes the lead, the guest started backing off. I told them to be aware of the
Aardvark hole behind us. First the wife fell in the hole and Judge had to pick her up to her
feet. I was standing there, facing the fearsome beast. The buffalo didnt move an inch, I was
scared. The husband fell in the same hole; I think they were in panic. Judge managed to take
them to a safe place. I was still facing the buffalo for 10 minutes and slowly started backing
off. He charged twice and I stood my ground. I managed to join the crew and the beast was
standing in the exact same spot. My adrenaline started working and I couldnt control my
shivering, even the binoculars were too heavy to lift with my hands. I never had brunch that
day, I was scared and shivering but I was okay for the afternoon mokoro ride.
When I was young, my father said to me, the buffalo is the most dangerous of them all. I
doubted what he told me because I always said it looks like cattle and seemed docile.
Anyway, one day you will cross its path and you will remember my words, my father said.
From that day I respected his words since he knew better.
It was on the 3rd April 1997 as usual main activities in the afternoon was mekoro excursions
or power boats. This afternoon me, Seagal, Matsaro and Mighty decided to head up stream
boro river in the direction of Baboon camp. Seagal and Mighty had the same group so was
me and Matsaro.
The flight was delayed, guest who were to join me came later. I asked Matsaro to wait for
them then conducted a short mokoro activity. I left him behind and joined these two guys
for our afternoon activity. When we left the camp, I was on the lead for the next kilometre.
My body mechanism told me something was not right ,Seagal, can you become the lead? I
asked, he did exactly that and I was between him and Mighty. Still the body mechanism was
refusing again. I instructed him to pass me too.
Now I was the last on the queue. It was a slow and educative trip for the next kilometre
again I was behind them. At first I thought I am dreaming or just imagining things. A hippo
overturned Seagals mokoro right in front of me about 20 metres away. It was Seagal who
fell into the water right on the back of the hippo then disappeared for minutes. The mokoro
got back into position with the guests still sitting there with the shock of their life. For more
than a minute Seagal was no more seen then finally he came to grasp for air, what a relief
we had, we thought the hippo killed him when we pulled out of water he had scary bruises
all over his body.

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When all of this happens, Seagals guests were still inside the mokoro speechless and
confused, why are you guys still doing inside that mokoro, cant you see the hippo is in
rampage?Matsaro said. The guests in panic they jumped into water again and luckily the
water wasnt very deep where they were. There was lot of crying, shouting and heartache.
We pulled them out safely to the bank. No one was hurt and all survived it. The hippo since it
went down was never seen again, what really happened here is this: Mighty at the front
accidentally pricked the sleeping hippo in water with his polling stick. He didnt realise this
and he passed on. The hippo woke up at the same time Seagal was passing above it and hit
the mokoro from underneath.
It was the end of the activities, guest were taken to the camp for reassurance, comfort and
were calmed down. The situation was so sad as if people were on the funeral but of all
people Seagal was in great pain. I remember he once told me Presley, that impact was like
head collision of car travelling at 100km/hour.

Hippo Overturn A Mokoro

The previous night, a hippo came to the front of the lodge. I could hear it all night long,
grunts, roaring, and exhaling explosively above the water. I said to my colleagues, I dont
think we will do any mokoro ride tomorrow. It was before we even reached the main camp
and headed down to Fish Eagle Bar. Guess what! The hippo was waiting for us. IT WAS WAR!
It was showing threat display, dumping-showering on madness and exhaling water
explosively toward us on the jetty.
It came out of the water charging. We ran in all directions and it gave chase till we climbed
the deck of Fish Eagle bar. It went back to the water and our daily routine of preparing
guests for the activities continued. The hippo didnt let anybody that day to cruise or even
ride the mokoro. From 5a.m to 8a.m, the show was on they radioed wildlife scouts within
the area to come and help. Mr Zambo from wildlife was left with no option but to shoot it
dead. Inspection was made and it was found out that he had bad scars, showing that it had
engaged in a fight for territory with another bull, thats why the strange behaviour.

Crocodile Wrestler
Phillip was the oldest guide at Xaxaba, being employed there since the early 80s. In one of
his expeditions, he found himself a crocodile wrestler. For activities in the afternoon, we
usually left camp around 3p.m. As a normal day, Phillip had cruised and bird watched easily.
Approaching from the sedge grass in the opening, a huge crocodile awaited us. Three
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mekoro parallel to each other had stopped to watch the crocodiles swim from a distance. It
was only for less than 10mins, it sub-merged. Everyone started asking where the crocodile
was. While searching for the crocodile, the nkashis were on our laps. Phillip was the first one
to put the pulling stick inside the water, not knowing the crocodile was next to him. The
crocodile got hold of the nkashi and he lost balance, fell in the water and started wrestling.
You could hardly see whether the crocodile got him or not. Finally Phillip appeared out on
the other side of the mokoro and the crocodile appeared on the other side. He jumped into
the mokoro, lost balance and back into the water. The crocodile tried to catch him and he
sub-merged again and somehow lost each other. They kept on appearing on the different
sides of the mokoro. We were scared since there was no way could we have helped. Phillip
came back to his senses and jumped right inside the mokoro and sat there in panic.
After missing Phillip, (thank God he was alive); the crocodile thought he disappeared off and
it finally showed up above the water; head raised and swam very fast to the other stream
looking for him. On arrival at the camp, everyone was staring at Phillip and they asked what
had happened to him. The guests told the manager, Phillip was wrestling with a crocodile.
The manager said to them, the guy was battling for his life not wrestling like you are
saying. To the guests, this was some kind of a joke. Phillip survived for another day.

Mating Lion
As usual, we headed to Moremi Game Reserve and that morning had two groups; split them
up because the maximum is 8 guests on a walking safari so that you can control them in case
of an emergency with wild animals. After walking for some time, I came across a pair of
mating lions. From a distance, they saw us and ran off toward the second group. Tuelo, do
you copy? Over I radioed.Roger Roger, go ahead, over, Tuelo answered. Mating pair of
lions heading your way, I said.
Before Tuelo could do much, they came right at him. When the lion saw the crew, they
thought it was our group and they came fully charging. Everyone froze and some of Tuelos
guests fell on the ground while others fainted. The lion got 5 metres in front of Tuelo with all
sorts of grunts, growling and charging. The guide stood his ground. The other problem
besides his guests fainting was the walky talky on his waist. When I was calling him, it made
the lion even more aggressive. I didnt know he was in that much trouble; only after the
female started walking away and calling the male. The male followed and thats how they
survived. First aid was applied to fainted guests and everything went back to normal.

12

Lion In Camp
Dinner was always served on the outside area, under the big jackal berry which has a big
canopy. Only if it rained thats when we could use the inside dining under the roof. We had a
decent dinner that evening. There was a sound of thunderous hooves and something was
panting very hard trying to jump over the railing of the dinning but it was higher than the
animal. I took the torch, shinning in the direction of the sound was a wild beast struggling to
cross over the railing; it was in serious panic and behind it was a pride of 15 lions; they were
distracted by the movement of people with cameras flashing. The wilderbeest managed to
escape through the other side of dinning and lions remained within the camp for another
two hours.
After dinner we sat around the fire. All other staff members and managers went to sleep. I
remained behind as it was my duty that night to walk guests to their rooms. Tshidi, the
manageress was also with me. You could hear the lions roaring within the camp. Some of the
guests started deciding to be taken to their rooms and I started doing that. As I was walking
them back and picking the rest at main camp with the torch and stick only, I could see them
(lions) on the other side of pathway with penetrating eyes; danger was within and guests
were scared to death. Why cant you carry a gun? a guest asked me since walking was
inside the camp, and there was no rifle. I walked the last guest at 2300hrs and this time they
were roaring louder, I couldnt tell where exactly they were. They were scattered around the
camp; with the torch, all their eyes were shinning. I could see the green glow very close
indeed.

XXX
After dropping the last guest, I went straight back to the restaurant and found Tshidi having
locked herself in the office. The challenge now was to switch off the generator and walk in
total darkness. Pathway lights were off. As me and Tshidi were walking to the staff
compound, she jumped and grabbed me by the clothes and started crying out loud, Oh my
God, am I going to get killed by lions? she screamed. She was in a panic. Calm down, we
will be fine, I assured her. Walking among the lions with a dim torch, Tshidi shouting,
holding my clothes so hard, I found myself in a panic as well. 50 metres before her room, she
shot off like a bullet, running like crazy; I found myself running after her too. The next
morning I couldnt control laughing at her and she said, at least you saved my life last night,
are you a cave man? hahaha. From the camp to the staff compound was about 200 metres.
Sadly on the 1st September 1997, I left Game Trackers but not because of work related
problems. All this time I was working for the company, I was a boat man. I was only left with
a road test to get my drivers license and my human resource manager, couldnt let me go
off duty for only two days in Maun. I was always told that I will do it on my off days. The
13

problem was everytime I had to take some days off, the driving test dates would have
already passed over and I was on the losing side. Immediately I left Game Trackers, 4 weeks
on the line I was a game drive guide.

Go Wild Indeed
I joined a company called GO WILD lucky us, Mbala, Reggie, Stance and Rambo to work for a
company dominated by white South African guides. It wasnt simple and as time went on,
we dominated over them. The company used old land rovers (forward control) somehow
they were used in the army, it was 1972 models. We were facing problems of cutting off the
accelerator cable every now and then. The small vehicles were still land rover 110, still old
models of early 80s. At first there were no radios for communicating with the office if you
had a break down. You had to hitch hike or ask some company with radios to communicate
with theirs and then they had to phone our office. It was crazy!!!

Starter Motor Jermed

It was the first week of December 1998, had the afternoon drive. I had three guests who
were all ladies and 1 trainee guide- Rambo. We saw lots of animals since it was inside the
Chobe national park. On our way back it started raining heavily, with thunder and lightning.
The time was around 1830hrs and I was the last car. The land rover starter gave me
problems- starter motor didnt turn on the engine. I kept trying and managed. I drove hardly
for a kilometer and the engine stopped running. We sat there for an hour in total darkness,
with no other vehicle passing. It was still heavily raining, thought we would sleep there. It
was the time of the year they introduced cellphones to Botswana; not everyone had one yet.
We were stuck in the middle of the bush. The other problem was my guests, there was no
dinner, no blanket and drinks were finished. I worked for this company for one year.
There are two options, I said to them. Its either all of us walk in total darkness (since
there is no torch) to Chobe game lodge 3km in the opposite direction or I leave you ladies in
the car and walk with Rambo. Never, we will not walk anyway; one lady said. Ok, fine, let
me walk with the trainee guide, I said. You will never leave us alone in the car, they said.
It was a tough decision for me since they didnt buy either option. I am walking to Chobe
game lodge to ask for help and its 3km away, if I am not back in one hour it means I am
dead. Before leaving, I gave them a speech on staying in the car where they are safer. Off I
went into the darkness, all alone. It was very dark, couldnt see my own fingers. Only if there
was lightning would I see if I was still walking on the road. I was cautious even in total
darkness; walk, stop and listen to the sounds of the wild. I was praying in my heart, Oh God,
help me reach this place, I said. Chobe region receives the highest amount of rainfall in the
14

country, 690mm per annum. After 45mins of winds, thunder storm and lightning, I was
delighted to arrive at the Chobe Game Lodge reception. A friendly smile welcomed me and
she called the mechanic for me. We went together with the mechanic to fix the car . GO
WILD was doing game drives for Chobe Safari Lodge; it was a contract.

Wrong Spare Wheel

Why did you give the client the wrong spare wheel? Patricia asked. This is very
unprofessional and the guest was stranded at Savuti for 8hours, she continued. The guest
was very angry and couldnt listen to anybody at Chobe Safari reception.
I used to do Victoria Falls, Maun, Francistown and wherever they wanted to hire a car. I was
to do game drives too if I didnt have long distances of dropping cars to Maun branch. The
headquarters were based in Francistown; with offices in Kasane (Chobe Safari Lodge). Most
of the guests who hired 4X4 cars didnt know how to engage them on four wheels. First you
had to show them how to lock hubs then the four wheel leaver inside. Cases of cooking
clutch plate were common.
A guest hired a 4X4 Hilux to drive through Savuti to Maun. Somewhere in the middle of the
forest, 15km before Ghoha hill, he got a puncture and didnt know how to fix the wheel or
taking out the spare wheel from underneath. He waited for 8 hours before he could get a
ride back to Kasane. In the mid to late 90s, tourism wasnt famous at all. Driving through the
Savuti was risky and guests were informed of this since many cars didnt use this sandy road.
You could only drive at first or second gear for 5km of this sandy road. The very next
morning, I and the guest drove to Savuti together to see how I gave him the wrong spare
wheel. I also took along my nephew Leonard to assist me if it was a big problem. We left
Chobe safari lodge at 0600hrs and arrived there at 1030hrs.

Surprise
We kept driving toward Ghoha hills and we couldnt find the car. When this guest got a
puncture he decided to drive 50 metres deep in the bush on the flat tyre and you hardly see
the car. After a long and a hard search, we found the car. The behavior of this guy suddenly
changed when we located the abandoned car. He wanted the rescue car I was driving
instead of the previous. I got out with Leonard to inspect the car and see if I gave him the
wrong spare. It was exactly the same like I thought. Hilux had six holes and he told Patricia I
gave him with five holes. I started the car and it responded but exhaust was damaged by
stumps, as if it was a Boeng 747 taking off.
The guy jumped off the other Hilux 4X4 to drive off but was parked into the woods. How
dare you want to leave me in the bush before the other car can move? I said. We started
15

fighting off for the keys and he wanted to take the key from ignition he couldnt because the
older version of Hilux it was only possible if you press the release key lock button. He was
forcefully pulling out the key and it was impossible. He realized his mistake, left the key for
the lock button; immediately he pressed it, I quickly pulled the key out and put them in my
pocket. Mister, give me the keys my wife is landing in Maun at 3p.m, he said. Very
impossible because you cant leave me stranded in the wilderness, I said. He kept saying
that for some time and I was underneath the car trying to fix the exhaust and get out the
spare wheel. The other problem was all the hydraulic jack, in the rescue vehicle didnt work
and I was forced to place the jack under the car; then started digging with hand under the
tyre until there was a big hole to take it out. It took more than an hour and only when I was
safe could make my way back to Kasane, I let him go. Imagine being stranded in the
wilderness, no food and no shelter. He had the right spare wheel. It was him who didnt
know how to change it.

Vumbura Camp
June 1999, Okavango Wilderness at Maun employed me. After passing the interview with
flying colors, I was told to come back the next day so that I am told which camp I am going to
be based at. Okavango Wilderness is the biggest company in the delta with 23 different
camps. The best wilderness camp by that time was Mombo and little Mombo, right in the
center of the Okavango delta, situated at Chiefs Island 50km long and 15km wide. Graham
Johnson conducted the exam. I knew him from Game Trackers because he was the one who
employed me there. Here we met again. The only camp I wanted was Vumbura camp and I
wished they could send me there. The next morning at the office I was told that I was going
to Vumbura camp. I was very happy.
The main reason I wanted Vumbura, is that I liked the buffalo on the camps logo. The other
reason Graham took me there, he knew me from Game Trackers. I was polling at Xaxaba
camp. When I arrived at Vumbura camp, to my surprise I met Matthews Matsaudi as one of
my colleagues. He was an old friend from Xudum camp. It made my stay more easy going
and enjoyable. He never lasted long with me and he was transferred somewhere else within
a month. The problem with Vumbura that time was lots of Tsetse fly. Oh my gosh I was
always forced to wear a heavy jacket at 30oC. The Peaceful Sleep and mosquito repellent we
carried didnt work. We would always cut a small brunch to help get rid of them. They really
bothered a lot.
There was a deep crossing from the camp to the airstrip or heading on the game drive. At
first I was amazed as to how these guides could see the road in the water. If you are new you
would never know the road until you learn from the experts of the delta. There was a
wooden bridge too. I remember the car wheels went between the logs. Every time you try to

16

move out, the logs split up creating more open space. Using a high lift jack was the best
solution.

Kwetsani Camp
In 8 weeks I was transferred to a new camp called Kwetsani. Not too far from the pan handle
of the delta. From Vumbura, I flew back to Maun to catch a plane to my new destination. It
was me, Clinton (guides trainer) and Taboka; she was going to be a manageress at Kwetsani
camp.
We didnt have a straight flight, landed at Xigera camp for two nights. What I liked most
about it was the little bridge across the river to the main camp. The water was clear and you
could see fish swimming. The third day we got into the power boat and headed to Jacana
camp. After a couple of hours we arrived and met Mr Jost Kabozu, I knew him very well, he is
from Chobe. Jacana was a very small camp; by the time we were there, they had no guests in
the camp. One night was spent in it and proceeded to Jao camp. Jao camp was the largest in
the concession with a maximum carrying capacity of 24. It took me three days to reach
Kwetsani.

Construction
Kwetsani was still under construction and was supposed to be open to business in a months
time. When I got out of the boat, everyone was busy carrying gum poles, pushing 210 litres
full of diesel. I went to the main lodge and met the managers; Quinton and Hellen. They
were not a couple. Quinton was South African and Hellen British.
Everything about Kwetsani was beautiful. All the rooms, swimming pools is on the deck and
the walkway is two or more meters above the ground. The only time you touch the ground is
when you get on the game drive jeep or for mokoro ride. The plains in front of the lodge
were amazing. At times you could see elephants and Lechwe in front of the lodge. Kwetsani
was a small island surrounded by water.
As Matthews kept on appearing and disappearing we met again at Kwetsani. We were based
here together. It was a small camp with four rooms. Maximum of 8 guests was full camp.
When camp opened, I did the first game drive here. Guests were flown in the helicopter
since there was no airstrip. For the next two/three months, helicopters were the only way to
reach Kwetsani.
Game drives were a challenge indeed. It was that time of the year (July), when the water
level was high. Always driving in the water, deep crossing, and any single mistake you were
stuck for good. It was an experience and it was my first time to drive in the mud. The land
17

rovers we were using were made for this terrain. If deep crossing, the bonnet could get
submerged, and advantage was the Safari snorkel (for air intake), from the air filter.

Seven Hours Walking Safari

While Kwetsani was still under construction, the camp opened for guests. Tomorrow you
are going on early morning walking safari, stay there as long as possible, Quinton said. We
want construction guys to finish, he continued. I left the camp at six in the morning and
headed to a new area never been to. Jackson was my tracker. We used a mokoro ride to
cross the flood plains to this island. The area was encroached with palm trees you could
easily walk into a buffalo. We kept seeing new and old buffalo tracks and no rifle, just
walking stick. This was the longest walking safari I have ever done. Off we went, had lots of
water in my back packer. In the morning it was cooler and around lunch it was cooking hot. If
I walked for long, my older problem always crept me down. I had this back problem, my back
couldnt allow me to walk anymore. I needed lots of rest.
I decided Jackson has to be the lead since he knew the area so well. I was now at the back of
the line. It was around 1300 hours now heading to the mekoro. Everyone was exhausted
from the heat of the sun and they all asked when are we going to have lunch? As we were
walking through this encroached area, a coppery tailed coucal gave us a fright as it was
struggling to take off from this thick short palm tree. The tracker, Jackson and the guests
thought it was a lion coming for them. Before I knew what was going on, everybody had
scattered in all directions, running for their lives. They were in panic. I saw the coucal in
flight. I was the last person at the end of the line. Its not a lion, come back, I said. They
stopped and came back. I told them what it was but couldnt keep myself from laughing. It
was like watching a funny movie. Upon arriving at the mekoro we had our lunch and finally
headed back to camp.

Lion Kill And Construction Workers

During the construction of the lodge, there were about 40 workers and one morning a
lioness killed a zebra not too far from the camp. We saw vultures circling over. I, including
the workers decided to walk out there and see what was happening there. All the 40+ guys
walked and came across this lioness with a dead zebra. As we were approaching, she started
growling, charging since she was protecting the kill. We couldnt back off, kept coming and
she finally retreated, ran off into the bushes and the construction guys got their shares as
well, left the rest for the lion. We had the courage because we were many.

18

Handa Island
It is the biggest island leading to Gumare village. It had lots of game, on this place I saw 50
giraffes in one family. The island was also rich in different prides of lions, tsessebe,
wildebeest, ostrich, and zebra. It is the same like Chobe Park in quantity and diversity of
animals. From Kwetsani to Handa Island using the jeep was an hour drive and with a mokoro
it was 30 mins. A game drive car was always left at Handa for making things easy.
These concessions were famous for hunting from 1960s until 1999. They were changed to
photographic. It was difficult to get close up pictures as the animals were running away from
the car. It took a long time for them to get used. The famous trackers were Shorty and
Jackson. They worked with a certain hunting company for more than 20 years. They had
amazing tracking skills, which I learnt a lot from. At Handa Island there were no game drive
roads. Jackson and Shorty would take a stick and point out for me where to go. Many times I
went into aardvark holes since grasses were higher.
In a months time, it was clear where the roads are at Handa island. It was so easy and
animals were slowly getting used to the jeeps. I earlier mentioned the water level was higher
but flood plains were drying out slowly. One morning with Shorty as my tracker and another
trainee tracker, so that he can familiarise himself with the area. We saw lions, elephants,
giraffe, tsessebe etc. On our way back Shorty decided to take a short cut since time was not
on our side. When we reached the deep crossing, we stopped and got out to see whether we
could cross. We decided that we can do it, not knowing elephants had made big holes about
waste deep in the middle of the crossing. Slowly the jeep got into the water and got stuck
right in the middle. The water was waste deep plus the deep holes. We struggled for 30
minutes. Shorty and the trainee tracker tried pushing and after some time the jeep got out.
The problem now was to drive back 5km to another junction to join the old road back to
camp. We arrived very late at the camp around 12:00p.m.

Face To Face With The Lion

Kwetsani had lots of island and this time I decided to visit Zirinidi (island of monkeys). There
were about three deep crossings before you could reach there. It was sunset and we
stopped for drinks and snacks. This island wasnt big at all. The male lion was roaring from a
distance. The roar was getting closer and closer toward us, for the next 20 minutes we never
heard him and my guests enjoyed their gin and tonic. We walked around the small island
and we could see every part of it.
While still there, we found the tsama melon. They are eaten by the Bushman of the Kalahari
Desert. I have tried eating them but they have a bitter taste. I explained to my guests and
there were many of them here. We were about a 100 metres from the car, the male lion
never roared since he stopped about 20 minutes ago. We were so relaxed here and some of
19

my guests decided to get into the jeep. I said its fine. I was left with one and we talked about
his country of origin. He decided to join others and I was left there enjoying the beauty of
the island. The vehicle was a bit closer, about 50 metres now. Suddendly the male lion was
between me and the jeep, instead of one of my guests to come to my rescue, they were all
busy taking pictures of the lion and me. It was close to me, hardly 15 metres. I stood my
ground face to face with the beast. For atleast 6 minutes he faced me and here I was on eye
contact with it. After some time it decided to walk away. While this was happening, my
guests loved it. It never came to their minds that it was possible for me to be killed by the
lion. The car keys were inside the ignition and no one bothered to drive to the rescue. When
the lion was gone I joined them and jokingly said they dont eat skinny guys, I said. These
guests taught me a lesson, even today when I get out of the jeep at stretch point I always
have the car keys in case I get killed, everyone must get stranded too. When I arrived at the
camp, it was the joke of the day.

GNU/Wildebeest
Early morning, game drives were always conducted at Handa Island, then afternoon was
either a mokoro or short drive within Kwetsani area. I had a morning walking safari but
decided to drive a kilometer from the camp and start here. I had two ladies with me but
before we could start the walking we saw wildebeest from a distance of another kilometer. I
drove there on the road leading to Jao camp. When I was opposite them, about 300 metres;
I stopped the jeep and got out. Okay ladies, this is where we are going to start our walking
safari, I said. I was standing 2 metres from the car. One of the ladies said, Are you crazy?
No am not, I said. Do you see the lions behind you? she asked. I turned around and two
male lions, barely 10 metres behind me. All this time I got out talking to my guests they
watched. They were purely matured male with black mane. I quickly walked to the car,
opened the door and got in. They were still there for another hour. This was the end of the
walking safari.
They were surely interested in hunting the wildebeest. Male lions can also hunt provided
they dont have a female pride to rely on. I have seen many times male lions hunt and being
successful too. The biggest mistake I made here was not checking my surroundings before I
got out of the car.

Transfer To Kingspool Camp

On 01 September 1999, I was transferred to Kingspool in Linyanti concession. The camp was
right on the edge of Linyanti River, formerly known as Kwando River from Angola. Kingspool
camp was named after the Swedish King Gustav and Queen Silvia who came hunting here in
the late 70s. Linyanti is part of western Chobe, having the largest population of zebras,
20

wildebeests, elephants and giraffes. The area also has lots of lions and I have a record of
seeing seven leopards in three hours game drive. The other place that holds the same record
is the Mombo camp, from airstrip to camp.
There were resident hippos at the front of the lodge, laying there like big rocks. The
manageress, Alexandra, half British and half South African, she would say, this is one of
nosiest camp in Africa; I guess at night, you need ear plugs. To me and the guest, we took it
as a joke. That very night I never had sleep, Alex was right. The hippos calling (grunts) for
territorial advertising, as if its inside tour tent. At around 0500hours the baboons would
start jumping on top of tents and making all noises, screaming and serious confrontation.
This camp was entertaining indeed.
My tent was under the big acacia erioloba tree and it was permanently based there. When I
was first told I would be staying there, I knew there would be problems; especially at night
when elephants come around the camp. One night a huge elephant came around, feeding
on the pods of the acacia. When they feed, they make lots of noise; they even shake the tree
for the pods to fall down. I couldnt sleep that night too; it seemed like an everyday thing
and soon got used to it. Whether the elephants were there or not, I had peaceful nights.
Emmanuel used to call me commando because he was an ex-military. He was a very active
man, even the way he walks, can tell he has skills of the former. He was an excellent guide,
acquired his tracking skills from anti-poaching; we worked together for two years in the
same camp. The reason why he called me commando, he worked with my brother,
Godfrey. Both ex-commandos had lots of knowledge and were interesting people too.
Walking safaris in Linyanti concession were a serious challenge. Elephants were a problem
and lions too. Hunting from late 70s only stopped in 1993 when the area was officially
photographic. Elephants had sharp memories and still remember the carnage savage of their
own member slaughtered to death. On the Namibian side, Linyanti river was the boundary
between Botswana and Namibia. In Mamili Park across in Namibia hunting took place every
year. The animals from Namibia could cross the river to this side; since they are from hunting
to photographing, they behaved differently with caution exercised. We were always told to
be careful of a male lion that had a collar. He was extremely aggressive, if you came across
him, you had to keep your distance if cornered, he always charged. I remember an incident
where he jumped on the bonnet of the jeep of the other guide.
The longest game drive I had in history is 20.5hours, from 0600hrs to 0230hrs. I had
photographers from National Geographic that badly wanted to see a lion kill. When I picked
them from the airstrip, they asked me, is there any lion kill in the area? I said, No, but the
previous weeks off course there was a lion kill just 10 minutes drive from the camp. I wanted
to surprise them indeed. That afternoon I drove there and found a lonesome male lion
feeding on the buffalo, we spent all afternoon, all evening there until 2200hrs.

21

After the sunset it got very interesting as the hyena come around to scavenge. They had
amazing videos and still photos, but the lion didnt let the hyenas any closer. Hyenas are the
greatest challenge to lions, especially to the lioness; no matter how many they are; hyenas
always drive them from their kill, with the male lion its different all together. They never
mess around and very often they kill hyenas in combat. Even if one male lion to a hundred
hyenas, they will respect him.
While still at the kill, the leopard showed up on the nearby tree. I had two spot lights. My
tracker was Lesedi, who we once schooled together at Chobe community junior secondary
school in 1990. We knew each other well and our villages were only 15km apart, Kavimba
and Kachikau. The head lights of the jeep were on the feeding lion; Lesedi had a spotlight on
the hyenas and had one on the leopard. I never had an amazing sight like this before; three
in one. The National Geographic photographer never had time for supper as this is a one in a
million opportunity. I radioed the camp to reserve the dinner. Around 2200hrs, they decided
to head back and the very next morning at 0530hrs we were there again; the lion and hyenas
were still there.

Relentless War Buffalo And Lions

In this concession were three other camps; Dumatau, Linyanti Tented Camp and Savuti
Camp. Savuti camp was on the edge of Savuti channel, which is a channel from Selinda spill
way also known as magwegana. Dumatau Camp is next to Zibalianja lagoon (where Selinda
spill way and Savuti channel separate). Linyanti Tented Camp is based along the Linyanti
River. Each camp is 25km from each other. The area had amazing wild dog sights which were
more towards Dumatau and Savuti channel.
One afternoon, I drove toward Chobe One (the name of the airstrip) for Dumatau. We
stopped for our sundowner and it was a great area. Elephants were swimming across from
Botswana to Namibia. I heard the bellows of a dying animal. Listen folks, something is being
killed, I think its a buffalo, I said. Thats a hippo calling, Lesedi said. We had this argument
for 5minutes and I decided, lets go, otherwise we will miss the kill, I said. We hadnt even
had the time for seeing the sun setting and off we went. I kept driving and this was along the
river edge. We could hear the sound getting closer and closer.
On arrival, a pride of six lions was trying to kill this buffalo. A young male was on the back of
the buffalo trying to dislocate the spinal cord. It was war. The buffalo at times becomes the
hunter, chasing the lions too. It went on for an hour and in the end lions overpowered the
buffalo, finally it was done.
We had parked next to this kill, barely 40 metres away, we saw the whole kill and once the
buffalo was down, one lioness bit the buffalos throat to block the air. Once the buffalo was
finally dead, the young male lion was the first to start feeding, females too joined. We
22

stopped there until 2300hrs. These guests told me, we dont need dinner, we came to
Africa to see this. I had dinner around 2330hrs so did Lesedi.

Lost While Leopard Tracking

Night drives were often combined with afternoon game drives. We always saw small animals
like, genets, spring hares, nocturnal mongooses, serval and caracal. Lesedi saw eyes glow
from a distance and said to me, go to your right, I think its a spring hare. When I arrived
there, Lesedi starred at me amazed, what kind of animal is this? he asked. It was the first
time for him to see the caracal. Not too long from there, he spotted the leopard and
followed it for 30 minutes in the middle of the bushes. The leopard was going back and forth
in different directions. We were happy to see it and didnt pay attention to see where we
were. It was already at night around 2000hrs and we followed it but somewhere we lost
track of it since it went into deeper woods where it was unreachable by vehicle.
Our challenge now was getting back to Kingspool camp; the airstrip road across to the main
road leading to Dumatau was only 2km apart. We were in between the two roads and it took
us two hours to get out of the bush. We finally got to the road, no sense of direction at all. I
had a bit of an idea that I told Lesedi, lets go east. He insisted we go west. The guest had no
single clue and I decided to satisfy Lesedi . We drove back going to Dumatau, still arguing he
was right. Ten minutes on the road, he said Presley, you are right. Lets go back.

Difficult Polish Guest

A couple of guests arrived at Savuti camp for six nights. They were all Polish. Their next
destination was Kingspool for another six nights. When you have guests for that long, you
venture into different places, for them not to get bored. For these nights, they did game
drives all over the entire concession, they were familiar with the area. Before they got to
Kingspool, we heard about them, difficult guests. The nature in Kingspool was to brief you
about your guests before their arrival, especially difficult ones. I knew this was going to be
tougher.
I did the first game drive within our area. They did not pay attention to anything I said to
them. They kept telling me where to go; instructing me as well. We saw lots of elephants in
Savuti. They said why did you come here knowing we still have elephants, I said. If I tried
to stop for something they told me just keep driving.One day I decided to drive towards
the end of Chobe One airstrip. Then one of them snapped dont even go that side, I have
been there before. They were getting into my nerves.
They always insisted on doing the walking experience, which they did from the previous
camp. I told them about the dangers in the area that results from hunting at Mamili Park
23

across the river in Namibia. Wild animals in the concession are very unpredictable. The
manager offered them the walk theyve long wanted the following morning. Rule no. 1; you
always listen to your guide, I said. No. 2; whatever you do, dont run.
It was a good walk. Enjoying the morning breeze, saw lots of creepers, lots of animal tracks.
Kingspool is different in a way, you carry the rifle while walking; either a 357 Holland &
Holland or 458 Winchester magnum. These are strong and powerful caliber rifles a single
shot to the brain can stop one of the big five instantly. I carry six bullets, all hard monolithic
that can break through the animal bones.
As the leader I walked in front of the queue on single file so as to approach game at close
range. Male lion in front, a lady said. There was a male lion in front of us. He was around
six years old, his mane was fully developed. He just stopped next to a termite mound,
growling and grunting. I calculated the distance between us and him and it was 15 metres. I
told my guest, stand still dont move. I gave him eye contact. Shoot the lion, he is coming
after us, the difficult guest said. I will never shoot the poor lion, I said. He stayed there for
some time, and then he disappeared into the thicker bushes. It would often stop and look
back. We stopped at the mound and it had a big foot print. As we passed, still on our walking
and now the guest knew the lion was behind. Instead of looking where we were going, they
thought he would come from behind us. I stopped on the way to look at the tenebrionid
beetle all I got was this guy walking into me. I nearly fell down. Cant you see where you
going? I said to him. No, I was walking and looking back for the lion, I didnt know you
stopped, he said.
We kept walking for another two hours, by now had forgotten about the lion. I went down
to the river and suddendly we walked into two lionesses. They were so close, almost 30
metres. They kept swinging their tails, grunting, growling and I knew that there was a
problem. Elephant devastation was too much on the edges of the river, so we had to walk
along towards the lioness and when we found space, we dashed off into the woods. This was
serious. It was the end of the guests being difficult. They behaved like normal people after
that. The vehicle wasnt far, about 400 metres away; we got into the jeep and drove to the
lioness and found them exactly on the edges of the bushes we dashed off at. They tried to
follow us. The two ladies started crying and I smiled to myself.

Lion Attack The Water Affairs Crew

Lesedi and I never separated, especially if we had guests. We had an 11:30a.m pickup from
Kingspool airstrip. We were always 30 minutes earlier to clear airstrip from any animals
within it; so that the Cessina could have a safe landing. While waiting for the plane, we
realized a car was stuck in the mud. It went on and on. We decided to go out and help.

24

Upon arrival we noticed it was a government vehicle from the Department of Water Affairs.
Their main job was to get rid of the Salivinia molester/Kariba weed in the area. They claim
its a South American plant and had no idea how it came to Botswana or Africa at large.
During the floods, it comes with water from Angola and its a problem plant that blocks
sunlight for other water plants. It can cover the whole water, not even knowing there is a
river there. They imported weevil insects from South America, which feeds on the Salivinia
molester, they do a great job indeed.
There wasnt much help we could do here. They didnt have a tow rope or chain, we tried
with small ropes they had but kept breaking. For half an hour there was no improvement. I
heard the plane coming and rushed off to the airstrip. I promised them after picking my
guest will check them again. After picking the six guests I went back to check the Water
Affairs guys. The vehicle was still stuck. There were five guys, most of them it was their first
time in the wilderness. Our guests stayed in the car, as we tried getting logs to put
underneath, after hard work we gave up. I parked my car parallel to the stuck vehicle that
was in long grass. Not knowing a pride of seven lionesses were watching us all this time. I got
into the jeep and only drove 5 metres, went straight into the pride of lions. I saw the lioness,
jumping off the way, growling and attacking the driver of the stationary car. Everyone saw
this and five guys reacted at once. The lioness charged at the guys; interestingly, all the five
guys squeezed themselves at the front of the pick-up; which can sit only three people. How
they did fit in the car, I got no idea.
The last guy to get in had trouble putting his leg inside since they were squeezed, but he
managed to put it in. My guests were in panic, shouting and crying. They thought one of
them was killed and thank God they survived it. I dropped the guest at the lodge and went
back for the guys. Found them off the car and were still struggling, Hey boys, your problem
is now over, I said. I took out the chain and pulled them out; the lionesses were gone. One
of the younger men was crying and telling me, This is my last trip in the bush, he said. I
dont want to get killed by these lions, he continued. I couldnt control myself laughing at
this guys, it was another day in Linyantis paradise.

Rob With Cessina 206

Rob was a qualified pilot, was in the profession for more than 15 years. I knew him when I
joined Chobe Game Lodge in 1995. Since 1996, I never saw him and thought he left
Botswana. He used to pilot for Game Lodge. I was due for my days off and was booked for a
freight plane coming to deliver at Kingspool then to kasane.
I reached the airstrip at the same time with Rob. It was good seeing him. I got in the plane
and told me the entire Dos and Donts. I sat on the co-pilot seat. Before I take off, Presley,
I have to check the plane for engine failure, he said. When in flight, I will switch it off and
25

then on, Rob said. Half way the airstrip the cessina 206 was in mid-air. Like he told me
before, he switched off the engine, the plane came down so fast, I thought its crashing
down. The wheels nearly touching the ground, he switched on and flew directly to Kasane.
I just felt it was the end of me and Rob he continued telling how good he was. I was scared
to death when the plane was going down; my internal organs were going up as if I can vomit
them. Its a bad feeling at all. Everything was fine for the next 45 minutes, until we reached
Kasane. He said, Get ready for another engine failure. This time was half dead with shock.
Instead of landing the right way, he flew above Chobe game lodge, across Chobe River into
Namibia then came across the airport, flew cut across it and started the unthinkable;
acrobating, manoeuvrability could see my feet up and head down. He enjoyed doing this for
almost 5 minutes, guess was dead by then. The main reason I was scared, inside the cessina
it was written DO NOT MANOEUVRE OR ACROBAT WITH THIS PLANE. I just thought
accident might happen at any time. He landed short distance, stopped the plane and he left
me inside. As he was walking away he was saying, I am a good pilot and Presley that was
your gift, so many years havent seen you. I took another 10 minutes still seated inside the
plane, was so scared to death-experience I will never forget.

Okavango Wilderness Training Course

When I was employed by Okavango Wilderness, I did my first training course at Kwetsani
with Clinton Phillips. It was a two weeks course. What I liked about the courses is that they
open up the mind to accommodate new things, even advanced walking safaris.
The next course was conducted at Vumbura camp, December 1999. Those representing
Linyanti concession was me, Peace from Dumatau, Relax (Relemogeng) from Chitabe, James
from Duba Plains, Allison from Kwetsani, Moses from Mombo and other guides from within
Vumbura camp. It was a one month training course. Alex the manageress and said to me,
Presley, you are going for a training course, mind you we have the best wilderness guides I
will never settle for second best, keep your ears open, I said. She told me I dont have a
chance at all. I knew I was at the top since I was trained by the best. When the course was
over, I went back and said to Alex, have you heard the good news, I told you, I knew what I
was talking about.
In Okavango wilderness, guides were classified in categories-old guides, new guides and
salary differed a lot. After the course I was placed into new guide and given 9/10. Since I was
new in the company I could have got a ten.

OKAVANGO WILDERNESS TRAINING COURSE

STYLE OF GUIDE-definitely new aged, he has a good education and more than five years
26

experience. His knowledge is very much specialised on factual basis and he has good guest
relations. He came to the company very highly recommended and I feel he will one day
become one of our top guides.
OVERALL ABILITY- I rated his ability at 90%- this is very high due to his knowledge,
experience, education and recommendations. I believe he has had great evaluation from
guests.
OVERALL RATING- nine out of ten this is very high in theory; he should not get any poor
evaluations from the guests.
JOB CARD- specialised his knowledge further, he also needs training in walking which should
come later in the year.
THEORY TEST 75%

Walking Into Lions

Relax told me his story as he was conducting the walking safari. He had guests. He was based
at Chitabe, on the edge of the Okavango Delta. Its only 15mins flight from Maun. He was
walking in the tall grass and all of a sudden, had this body mechanism where they are,
something is here. Trying to see what was happening - a pride of fifteen lions jumped from
the grasses in front of him. One lioness saw them but the rest of the lions were confused.
Upon waking up, they scattered all over. Relax, found himself facing the big cat; charging at
him and grunting and growling. He was within the comfort zone. Its not his problem
because he didnt know they were there; accidentally walked into them. Luckily he had a
rifle but he didnt use it, it happened so fast that he found himself speaking Setswana to the
lion, kante e batla go dira eng?he said. Meaning what does it want to do? He was shaking
inside, didnt show his guests he was scared too.
After the lioness ran off, one of his guest asked him, do you think you could have shot that
lioness? he asked Relax. Yes, I could have done it, I was ready and prepared, Relax
answered. When I asked him, he personally told me, Presley, I was half dead and couldnt
have managed to shoot it, he said. Hahaha, he was building the heart of a stone.

Stranded Between Two Giants

He told me his second story. He was on the walking safari as usual; coming across the family
of elephants, a young sub-adult bull started performing at them. He had guests with him.
They were in open plains with thick bushes about 100 metres away. The young male
elephant kept on mock charging them but the rest of the family was at rest and they didnt
show any aggression at all. Young elephant at times have serious attitude problems. It
charged more than 5 times and when the elephant went back to the rest of the family, he
said to the guests, go into that bush and hide while I am getting ready to shoot that
elephant if it comes back. The main reason he decided that was for the safety of the guests.
The guests ran off into the nearby bush-100 metres away; upon arrival they found more than
27

10 lionesses sleeping there. They immediately ran back to Relax. Why are you coming
back? he asked them. There are more than 10 lions in that bush, they answered him.
They were all stranded in the middle of the mock challenging elephant and ten lions in the
bush; it was one of those days.

Lion-Leopard Fight ; War Of The Giants

While still on the Vumbura course James, who was a cop in South Africa from 80s and 90s;
left South Africa and became one of the best rangers in the Okavango Delta.
I left for a game drive one afternoon and came across the hunting leopard, James said. He
followed this big male leopard for some time and finally saw it stalking. There were warthogs
in the distance and the leopard closed in and managed to get this warthog. The pigs can fight
back at times and the leopard never had a good grip of the throat, it was screaming like
crazy. It took the leopard about 5minutes to kill it. The leopard lay next to this warthog,
licking its paw and getting ready to enjoy its meal.
Then the unexpected happened. James saw the mating pair of lions approaching. They were
attracted by the bellows of the dying victim. Lions at times can be scavengers as well,
something they get with less effort and risk (being opportunistic). James told himself that
leopards always retreat from lions; its going to be an easy one, he said. He even told the
guests that the leopard had already lost its prey. As the lions got closer, the male leopard
started grunting and growling and charged the male lion. James was speechless as the two
beasts engaged in the war of a lifetime. He has never seen anything like this before.
At first glance, leopard attacked first and got the male lion by the neck. Hanging there with
lion massive strength, the lion managed to throw the leopard on the ground. The lion
showed the upper hand and the leopard kept on coming. Before the end of the fight, the lion
was maneless, had scars all over too. Leopard gut content was hanging out and it kept
fighting back. At last, the lion over powered the leopard and it died on the spot. The lion was
badly injured with difficulty in walking, got into a nearby bush. When the fight was on, the
lioness watched from a distance. After the fight, the lioness came by and enjoyed the
warthog meal. The male lion could barely walk an inch with blood all over the body. The very
next morning, James went to check the playground, the male lion was also dead and the
female was gone. In the wilderness, strange things happen and many have never been
recorded.

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A fight Between A Leopard And A Martial Eagle

Martial eagles are Africas most powerful and strongest eagles. The female weighs about
7.5kg while the male weighs about 6.5kg. I have seen them carrying young impalas in flight,
even young baboons.
I was conducting an afternoon game drive inside the Chobe National Park way back in the
late 90s. It happened along the Water Cart Loop road, which is one of the river front roads. I
was still with Go Wild Safaris before I went to Wilderness Safaris. I came across the sub-adult
leopard drinking water on the water edge, we watched it for only 5 minutes since it was
nervous, shy and elusive. It started running from the open area toward the tree line. The
martial eagle came from nowhere and attacked the leopard. It was indeed the thunder bolt
attack and leopard rolled twice and eagle came for the second time. It attacked again and
again, all this time trying to fight back, running for its life. In the fourth attack, the leopard
was close to the bushes and it got under the wolly capper bush. The eagle perched on top of
the tree where the leopard went underneath. We waited for half an hour, leopard was still
at large. I was very much lucky to have seen that, and dont ever think I will see it again in
another life.

Self Driver Surrounded By Lions

I was always the first to enter the National Park. I wanted all my tracking skills from the delta
not to die out. Being the first gives you the privilege to see all the tracks since there are
many vehicles here. One morning I had a game drive and a self-drive car, Nissan X-trail was
in front of me. There are certain places you can get stuck but it is easy going. I knew this car,
somewhere, he will get stuck. When at the river front, self-driver used the main road, then I
went down along the river.
As I was down there I saw a lioness by the road edge. The Nissan X-trail was stuck in the
sand. I drove back to take the road leading to the main road. I could see this gentleman off
the car, picking up the logs to put underneath the car. The wife was seated in the car, not
knowing they are surrounded by lions. Every time this guy moves some metres from the car,
the lionesses close in. I drove in and when close I shouted at the gentleman, dont you see
the lioness close to you, I said. He told me there are no lions and when he saw them, he ran
to the car. I had a good morning, guests were happy about lion sighting too. I parked my car
right next to them and said next time you get out of your car, check your surroundings.
I will always remember this as it happened to me in the delta. Learn from your mistakes. The
pride of eleven stayed here for more than an hour with self-drives sitting in their car. I said
to the wife, you didnt see the ten lions next to you. They were very close to the car, about
7metres and one behind it. I managed to drive past him, reversed at his car and pulled him
out of the sand.
29

Digging Of Crocodile Eggs

At times, guides can push the envelope to impress the guest. It shows how someone is
committed and job loving. I was free lancing for a company called Safari Excellency, based in
Kasane. The company was famous for day trippers from Zimbabwe and Zambia. Its either
they start with the boat cruise or game drive and later on dropped back at the borders
around 1700hrs.
There was another company from Zimbabwe called Ultimate Africa; they could use Safari
Excellency to do their activities. I was driving the boat that morning with Clinton, also a guide
on board. He knew it all. As we cruised on mother Chobe, saw lots of game and bird life, it
was amazing. The area has a record of 290 species in 24hours. Its the hottest birding spot in
Southern Africa.
I knew a crocodile was nesting somewhere. I told Clinton about it and he thought otherwise.
Unfortunately, the crocodile was away and I parked the boat there. I was telling them about
the egg incubation, how long they nest and had to use the same nest every year. Folks, I
want to show you the crocodile eggs, he said. I told him not to do it but he insisted to dig
the eggs. He told me to be the guard but still standing in the boat. We looked around, no
sign of the crocodile. He jumped off the boat, started digging out for the eggs. He kept
digging and digging on the soft sand. I never knew the crocodile was beside me on the edge
of the boat aiming at him. Before I could say a word, he saw the crocodile before it attacked
him. He jumped into the boat like a bullet out of the blue and he was scared to death.
Immediately, the crocodile got out of the water, rushed to its nest on guard for any intruder.
It was the biggest mistake he made and was nearly on the bridge of extinction.

Snake In The Bathroom

Xaxaba Camp had a public toilet for guests, used when within main area or when guests are
getting ready for their activities. This toilet was made of ordinary reeds, there was no door.
Only the chain with engaged sign to show that someone is inside. A certain lady got inside
this toilet and immediately she sat on the seat; a huge snorted cobra appeared between her
legs. When she got in, she didnt realise the snake was coiled there. Before she could react,
the snake was hissing at her with hood raised. Snorted cobra can grow up to maximum of
2.5metres long. The overall colour is black. They have neurotoxic venom which can kill a
human being in hours.
30

She had the shock of her life and jumped on the toilet seat. She was screaming like crazy and
we all ran there for the rescue. We shouted, what is the problem?" Snake in the toilet,
she said. Just calm down, take your time dont make too much movement, the manager
said. We opened the chain in case she comes running from inside. A snake retreated a bit
and she came out like a bullet, we had to scatter to give her space. Then the unexpected
happened since she was in shock, she forgot to pull up her pants and standing there in front
of all the people-with pants down. One of the guests said, Mum, can you pull up your
pants. She was ashamed of herself and the day she will never forget.

Poachers Killing A Giraffe

As earlier mentioned about how amazing Handa Island is with a huge amount of game. As
usual, I sat with Johnny he was a trainee tracker, but now qualified to do his duties. We
were deep in the bushes, watching Impalas. Johnny kept saying to me, I can see people
riding horses, coming this way, I thought he was joking. We were speaking Setswana
language so our guests didnt understand. Immediately he said, I knew these guys must be
poachers.
Our game drive vehicles were dark green with no roof at all. Johnny, since he was sitting at
the tracker seat, he could clearly see them. My angle was a bit difficult and also didnt want
to move the vehicle to be seen. The thundering hooves or more like a stampede sounded
closer and closer. Two riders were chasing this giraffe and they were carrying rifles with
them.
You could tell the giraffe was very tired, exhausted and was even slowing down, with mouth
open to accommodate more room for oxygen. They passed very close 50 metres and the
poachers didnt even see us. Within a few minutes, we heard the gun shot, it was the end of
the giraffe. All the guests were very upset and mad at the poachers. Is there anything you
can do? they asked. I said to them, well make a plan when at camp. When we arrived at
camp, the manager welcomed us back and asked them, How was your game drive? It was
not good at all because the poachers killed the giraffe, they said. Before wasting more time,
he radioed Maun at head office. The Maun officer contacted the anti-poaching unit. I knew
the location and directed them. In an hours time, we saw a military helicopter from Maun
passing toward Handa Island. They finally caught up with them and the poachers had to face
more than 10 years imprisonment. Giraffes were the first conserved animals in Botswana
since 1925. They were not so many by then, and now the number has come back
dramatically.

31

The Faked Sexually Transmitted Disease

I was on days off, same time with Peace from Dumatau. It was the time when Chobe
Chilwero was taken over by a new company Sanctuary and lodges. They renovated,
refurbished it and we were told when they are opening. Peace and I wanted to come back to
town instead. A month before it could open I told the manager that I am going to see the
dentist at Kasane. But she told me it is busy and thus impossible. I started coming with plans
and kept them to myself.
Peace from Dumatau had a different plan. One afternoon, three days before Chilwero
opened its doors for the public, they were playing soccer, Peace didnt like soccer but he was
on a plan of going to Kasane. The first half he played well, then he fell down while running
after the ball. His plan was working, upon getting up he was telling the referee he got a
broken arm. He stuck to this plan and didnt let anybody touch it since he showed he was in
great pain. He frowned his face and the manager at Dumatau camp did the arm sling for
Peace and immediately he was flown to Maun to see the doctor. Even at the doctors office,
he showed great pain but he faked it. X-ray was done, but no broken bones. Doctors told
him the pain is from the muscles. The next day he was on the bus to Kasane and I was still in
the bush.
The biggest mistake Alex made was to tell me Peace had an injury and flown to Maun. I
knew he was in for the interview and this was our deal. The very next morning I went to Alex
and said to her, I have an STD. I have not been urinating for the past eight hours. I made it
look real as I was talking to her; I bent down and rested my hands on my knees. I told her my
bladder was bursting and I have to get help. I was mimicking in uncontrollable pain and she
felt pity for me. She went to the office and booked an emergency flight to Kasane. I have
been through that, I know how it feels, she told me. Happy I was, off to the airstrip and that
afternoon I was with Peace in town and we laughed at how we came up with the plans.

Fly In The Wind Pipe

Kingspool always had lovely sunsets over the Linyanti River with beautiful palm trees across
in Namibia, giving it the most spectacular sunsets ever. I had a family of five on the
afternoon game drive it was the mother, daughter and three sons. We stopped for a
sundowner at the boat station. At Kingspool I was known as the joker, I was always full of
jokes and that impressed my guests a lot. I remember one time all the guests in the camp
wanted me to guide all of them; but I only drive a 10 seater jeep, I said.
I was jokingly saying; today I have a surprise dinner for you; you have to choose between
elephant steak, three legged guinea fowl, civet monkey and sneaky puff adder. The mother
laughed her lungs out and a fly flew straight into her mouth, then into her wind pipe. She
was coughing, coughing and grasping for air as well. The children were in panic mood, we
32

offered her water but it didnt work at all. We tried all we could do but up to no degree. I
immediately called the main base, telling them what happened. They got hold of Alison
Brown, a nurse by profession and she was always there for wilderness rescue. She told Alex
what to do next, we got in the car quickly and drove straight back. The way I was driving, it
was like a desert race, I was driving as if it is an ambulance. In that sandy and curvy road was
driving at 90km/hour, the camp was five kilometres away and in five minutes we were at the
office. The mother kept coughing all the way and had difficulty breathing.
Upon arriving at the camp, they started doing what the nurse told them to do. She was
placed in the back position, some of the children were crying, thinking that their mother was
dying. We calmed down, reassured them that everything was fine. After half an hour, she
was okay. While having dinner, that was when the children started saying, we were not
worried about our mother but about our own lives as well and the way Presley was driving
was too much, they said. You could see the joy, laughter and love in their eyes. I told them I
was doing that for their mothers life.

Lost In The Morning Game Drive

That morning, Lesedi and I decided to venture into new areas. After passing Linyanti Tented
Camp, Lesedi said to me, weve never been here before just keep driving, there should be
another road branching off somewhere. Of course it was a good game drive and we saw
seven statungas a very shy antelope which is semi-aquatic. Its a family of bushbucks
kudu, eland, nyala and bongo. I havent seen them in two years.
The road we were driving showed that it hasnt been used for ages, there were lots of fallen
trees on the road and big foot was here (elephant). For the next two hours we kept driving
toward the east. I didnt want to go back, it seemed longer where we came from, and I
thought it was better to proceed, there could be a road nearby. Before we knew it, we
arrived at a very big, wide and straight road.It was about 100 metres wide. I found my mind
blank as to where we were and Lesedi asked, Where are we? We had no idea and we
stopped for morning coffee. I then realised I had a flat tyre, quickly I started changing it
while the guests were enjoying the meal, Lesedi and I were busy thinking as of where we
were.
Something then flashed in my mind it was the boundary of Chobe National Park. Now the
problem was that we couldnt tell our guests that we were lost and it was a secret between
the two of us. We started driving along the boundary toward the north, wishing we could
see the road toward the west. We kept driving and driving. I started getting impatient too
going back using the same road was impossible and could take more hours.
Before time, were at the cross road. I just felt light in my heart and I remembered the road;
the main road in the concession was also leading to Kasane. I turned right and headed back.
33

The problem now was that we didnt know how many kilometres it was from boundary to
Linyanti Tented Camp. 15km elapsed and then I saw a big baobab tree which is ten
kilometres from Linyanti camp. I now had the sense of direction.

Honey Badger In A Rampage

As a normal routine at Xaxaba camp I, Matsaro and Mighty set out for the morning mekoro
across the Boro River to Moremi Game Reserve. I had six guests, two in each mokoro. The
time was about 7a.m and we came around this thick bush. I saw the honey badger foraging
and digging for insects, rodents, etc.
I told my guests to either keep quiet or lower their voices in case the badger sees us. I know
the honey badger can be a problem ferocious little thing and can be mean too. We
watched it for some time as we tried to move away, an elderly lady then stepped on a twig.
The badger stopped what it was doing and looked back. Badgers have poor eye sight and has
a good sense of smell. It finally saw us and came charging. We scattered in all directions and
the badger chased us all over. The aggression is defensive threat: crouching, gaping, bristling
and attack with aggressive calls. It ran toward the elderly lady. Matshwaro and I acted by
running toward the badger, shouting to distract it off. It was not easy for it to back off but
finally it retreated. We charged this badger at about 100metres and it got inside the
aardvark hole. As we were chasing it, it kept stopping and charging back but we never gave
up. When it was safe in the burrow, we joined our guests.

Young Male Lion Dies Of Starvation

Lions reach sexual maturity at around 3.5years, but still the mane wont be fully developed
like that of a mature male. At Kingspool there was a big pride of 15 lions. There was one
male among this pride. The first year at Kingspool, the young lion had a good time with the
rest of the pride and since there were so many females in the pride, they were always
successful indeed. There was a variety of game ranging from warthogs, giraffe to young
elephant.
Things fell apart when the male was kicked out by two rivals, so do the young male. He was
always alone and being rejected and inexperienced at hunting, it suffered a lot. At times he
was always around the camp. He survived the first two months of hunger and he got skinner
and weaker every day. On a game drive, I came across him roaring from a distance and you
would think he was a healthy strong lion but when you arrived there.you could count all
the ribs, he was very skinny. Only the head showed he was a lion, my guests felt pity and sad
for him, nature was taking its cause.

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Efforts were made many times, contacted the Kasane Wildlife office to come over and feed
him, or relocated somewhere in the concession. During its last dying days, it frequently came
around the camp. The day the wildlife official arrived, it disappeared and was never seen for
the next three days. When they left that night, it came back. More than five attempts were
made by wildlife and finally it died just behind our staff compound. Very sad indeed!!!

Leopard Under My Game Drive Jeep

Summer months from September to November, before rains are the best months to visit
Chobe. The pick season for tourists starts from April to November. The very same spot
where I saw the martial eagle attacking the leopard years ago it happened again on
afternoon game drive around 18:00 hours and on my way back to the lodge. I came across
this young female leopard walking beside my car and it went and sat on the mound and we
watched it for some time. It got up and started walking deep into the woods I started driving
off to the gate since time wasnt on my side.
At about 50 metres, the guest at the back said, It is back on the road. I reversed back there
and stopped as she was around the bushes hunting. I saw it coming toward my vehicle very
fast and I thought it was coming to attack us. I said to my guests, sit still and dont stand up
and dont take pictures, I dont know what it is in for. Approaching my car from my side, it
stopped by the drivers door and then it went under my car and sat for more than 10
minutes it didnt come out and I was getting worried and we kept looking out but no sign of
the leopard.
The vehicle which was behind kept signalling me that it is underneath. Finally the head
popped out on the other side and it just sat there looking toward the river. It stalked toward
the river, then ran off and got a guinea fowl. It was only when it killed a guinea fowl that it is
when we realised it was using the vehicle as a cover, very intelligent creatures. One week on
the line I saw it at a different location. I stopped my car as it was coming from the bush I
thought it will go around the car instead it went under and out on the other end, it
disappeared into the thick woods.

Snake Inside The Safari Jeep

At times, Chobe can be congested with traffic, especially if its a predator sighting. It was an
early morning game drive around February when the grass was higher and greener. There
was a pride of ten lions at Sedudu Pan. The Sedudu Pan is natural and during the rainy
35

season it holds water till around May. It normally dries out around June and that is when the
concentration of game is at the Chobe River. The pan wasnt full this time around because
we didnt have enough rain previous year. The lions were sleeping on the side of the pan
they always ambush animals when they come to drink here.
While watching the lions, an unusual thing happened as the safari jeeps were in a single file.
A snorted cobra came from the other side of the road crossing toward the pan. The guide
said to his guests, dont worry, the snake will go under the jeep and out to the other end.
The concentration of the guests now was on the snake, they were worried. The snake got
closer and when it was supposed to go underneath, it got up and straight into the car and it
was like a nightmare and every guest saw the snakes intention and they all jumped out of
the car. We had to shout, dont forget there are lions here! They realised the mistake and
got back into the car. The snake got into the second car and this time it was aggressive, we
could see the hood. Again people jumped out and the guide was in panic and was reversing
back and forth and accidentally killed the snake. It can be difficult at times to decide within
the split of a second.

Snake Inside The Boat

Rambo had four guests in his boat called skimmers. It is not enclosed like small boats. Their
railing is more of thick metal with lots of openings around it. I was also doing the river cruise
immediately after passing the anti-poaching camp, I realised his guests were on the one side
of the boat. Before I could ask, there is a snake in the boat, one lady said.
They were watching birds and they parked in the tall grasses (hippo grass) and the snake
found its way inside. In the Chobe River, you wouldnt dare to jump into the water since the
river is infested with crocodiles. Rambo threw the life jacket toward the snake and it coiled
itself under it. When told about the snake I looked at the life jacket and thought it wasnt a
big snake. I asked the guide its colour and length, it is very green and about 45cm long,
Rambo replied. I knew it was the green water snake, very harmless. I tied my boat to his and
jumped into his boat and his guests were in panic and I told them not to even think of
jumping out. They said to me, for more than half an hour, we had this snake on board. I
walked toward the snake, picked up the life jacket and threw the snake in the grass.

The Aggressive Male Lion Relocated From Pandamatenga

Pandamatenga (normally abbreviated as Panda) is a village in eastern Chobe and about an
hour drive to Kasane. The place is famous for the farming of sunflower, cotton and sorghum;
it is the main producer in the country. The local people there are farmers, they keep

36

livestock as well. The main challenge with the rearing of cattle is the lions that come around
the cattle posts and kill them.
When lions become too much of a problem, the Problem Animal Control (PAC) from wildlife
come around and sets cages to trap the lions. Once caught inside the trap, it is then
relocated somewhere very far from the villages ideal places are inside the Chobe National
Park. These males stayed more on the western side of the park (Ngoma area) and are often
seen along the main tarred road across the park.
I had a pick up from Kasane Airport as I approached the Ihaha junction on the main tarred
road, I saw a young dead elephant, it was about 4 years old. It was half eaten especially the
hind quarters, only bones were left. I passed it but caught it with the corner of my eye. I
stopped and reversed when I arrived there I tried to assess the situation. I didnt know
whether it was a road kill but the hyenas had their share. I left the engine running in case I
might come back running it will be easy to get away quickly.
I got out of the car to inspect the sight, first I looked for tracks but the grasses were a
challenge. I started walking toward the kill, only ten metres from the car I saw three big
heads appearing from the bushes nearby. It was three male lions, all black maned. Before
their reaction was back in the jeep, I proceeded to Kasane Airport and picked the guests
right away. I told them the story upon arrival where the kill was, all the three male lions
were in the open. I slowed the vehicle so my guests could take pictures. One of the lions
came charging, could see the lions head inside the car. The guests were laying flat on the
floor of the jeep. I stopped the car it came again growling and grunting. It went back and sat
not too far from us.
As part of the aggression head-low threats; the lion keeps its head low, forelegs wide apart,
shoulders higher than normal, gazing steadily at the opponent with eyes and mouth as
typical offensive threat or while snarling - more defensive: ears twisted so that black marks
face forward. The tail is lashed up and down during display of aggression and the lion growls
or coughs, a charge is imminent.
Still at the vicinity of this aggressive male lions, a private vehicle passed by. They saw the
lions and stopped behind me. It was a pick up andit was full of stock order for the shop at
Parakarungu. There were three people seated at the back of this car, immediately the driver
reversed to have a good viewing it charged at the car, the people at the back lay flat on top
of the goods the head was inside the car. I guess these people were wearing brown pants
afterwards..
End of 2012, they dominated the pride of ten and they were still aggressive but with the
advantage of docile females around, they have now really calmed down. The last time,
couple of weeks back, he passed few metre from my car, he didnt even charge at all.

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Whatever The Situation, Dont Run

This is the tale of a guide from Okavango Delta on a walking safari expedition. He came
across a dead buffalo, dead lioness and a dead cub. It showed there was a great war here,
the ground and nearby trees were devastated. He investigated the situation to find answers
to his questions, what happened here? he wondered.
He said to his guests, whatever the situation here, dont run. Of course there was panic,
nervousness and they were scared too. The guide came with an answer.I think the buffalo
killed the cub first before they killed it. It shows there were two lions or more of them
nearby. The buffalo could have killed this lioness before the second lioness killed the buffalo;
and she must be badly injured and hiding nearby. Nothing had fed on the buffalo, there
were signs showing that this was a small pride of two lionesses with a cub or less.
The guide decided to track the injured lioness, it was a bad idea because when the lions are
in this state, they are extremely aggressive and dangerous. They didnt track far and they
heard growls and coughs in the nearby bush. It came charging, the guide was at the front
and he had forgotten what he told the guests, whatever the situation, dont run. The guide
was the first to start running and he fell in front of his guests. The lioness was on top of him,
he was screaming and shouting. There was nothing the guests could do but stand back and
watch. The lioness got the guide by the neck, but it was abounded and very weak, thus not
much harm was done to the guide. He was helped by the anti-poaching guys who heard a
person screaming and lion growls from a distance. They came to the rescue and shot the
lioness on top of the guide. The guide was very ashamed of himself, he didnt abide by what
he told his guests. The first mistake he made was to follow an injured lion in a situation like
this, you move away quickly. He was hospitalised for shock and later released.

James Surrenders To Anti-Poaching In Patrol

In private concession, you can stop anywhere and have your sun downer. I was still based at
Kingspool camp in 2000. We stopped somewhere to have drinks and snacks after everyone
had taken something to drink, we relaxed and walked about. James decided to use the bush
toilet. He moved about 50 metres away from us after easing himself, he concentrated on the
little bee-eater nearby.
While James was there, we rest of the crew saw the anti-poaching guys walking toward us in
full combat. They were seven of them and they passed between us and James. Someone
shouted to John, look behind you! upon looking back he saw this heavily armed soldiers
and he raised his arms in surrender until all the seven guys passed him. The other guests
laughed their lungs out but the problem was, he forgot to pull up his zippers and his private
parts were hanging there. After the anti-poaching guys had gone, we had to tell him your
zippers, sir.
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Hyenas Rips Down Tent At Savuti

I was freelancing for CC Africa, now known as & Beyond Company. It is operated under
canvas expedition, spending maximum of 4 nights under one spot. Every fifth night you have
to move to another camping ground. They were controlled by the wildlife department
through the booking office.
I camped with Morgan, KD,David, Silly, OT and Senior. Senior was the chef during our stay
here. When you go to sleep, all the food staffs are locked in the truck at night. Having
camped for long, Senior decided that the big cooler box can be left in the big tent. This will
create a problem since hyenas can smell the food, I said to him. Everyone went to sleep and
my tent was next to the kitchen tent. I was awakened by a huge noise of broken glasses and
side plates. I woke up, got my torch and I found the hyena ripped down the tent it was a
mess in the kitchen. When the hyenas saw me coming, they all ran out of the tent. I woke up
all the other guys to see this mess. We put everything back in boxes but when we went back
to sleep, they came back for the second time. They messed up everything rice, corn flakes,
sugar, maize-meal and the next morning we had to send a guy to Kasane to buy food.

Nesting Crocodile
Crocodiles breed during winter months May to July. With changes of water temperature
around September crocodiles lay between 15 and 80 eggs with three months incubation.
They often use the same nest yearly unless disturbed somehow sexual maturity is reached at
15 years and the length is between 2 and 3 metres.
There was this place called blue bush and a crocodile was using this nest yearly and we never
had a problem with it and you could park your boat 20 metres from it but it never bothered.
The eggs were about to hatch when I approached it that afternoon it quickly got into the
water. My boat was floating and I thought it will re-surface somewhere but it never did. I
told my guests no part of their body should protrude out other people listened but there will
always be one person who will make it difficult. Everyone did as I said but one gentleman
didnt take my advice I dont know what happened. The gentlemans hand was on the boat
railing, as he put it out, the crocodile jumped out of the water and bit the railing where the
arm was. It started pulling the boat and I started the engine, the crocodile let go but that
was not the end. It disappeared and I heard the impact behind me at the engine of the boat.
The power cut off and it attacked for the second time but I was in a position to drive off. You
could see it whole body above the water in anger.

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Lioness At Serondela Picnic Site

During our morning game drives, safari vehicles often stop here for clients to stretch and use
the ablutions. It was busy that morning and I stopped here to have drinks. That morning
there were about 50 impalas within the site and not too far from us. The impalas are used to
seeing people around here. Then the impalas started snorting and looked in the same
direction and they started moving toward whatever was there. I said to my guests, get in
the car, I think theres either a lion or leopard here. I quickly packed everything back in the
basket but still my guests didnt believe me. As the last guest got into the car, I lioness
appeared from the nearby bush. This is what I told you before, I said to them. Lions are
frequent in this place, even leopards can be seen hanging on the trees I dont know why they
favour this place.

Namibian Farmer Shooting Lioness

When prey is scares in the Chobe National Park, lions become opportunists and swim across
into the Caprivi Strip to kill cows. They never spend long hours as they know the farmers
often shoot and kill them. A pride of three lionesses swam across the river around October
and killed a cow. They didnt feed much on the cow since the farmers caught up with them.
The lions ran for their safety with farmers chasing after them they had a rifle and tourists in
the boats were watching this.
The lioness managed to get into the water and was trying to swim back to Botswana. The
farmer stopped at the river bank and started shooting at the lions but he kept missing. He
shot five bullets but all missed and I thanked God. We tried to shout at this guy and he never
listened he was too angry and pointed a gun at one guide and said, I will shoot you too.
Everyone kept quiet, you could see the anger in his eyes and luckily he didnt shoot him.
Now the lions were back in Chobe. He told us that he doesnt care about tourists all he
wanted was his cow. Its tough when facing that barrel.

Mating Lions Jump Over Camping Fire

Its a custom in many African cultures that after dinner you always seat around the fire with
talks of African tales. I was still based in Kwetsani camp. On this particular night, I didnt have
guests and I stayed at the staff compound. It was Matthews turn to seat at dinner and
entertain the guests. I was with July, a trainee guide.
We had fire in front of his tent with three other guys and we had a good chat. As we were
seated, we could hear screams of mating lions in the vicinity they sounded not too far and
we ignored it since we knew they wont come near us. We continued with our conversation
40

and the lions sounded very close. At night when I sit around the fire, I make sure I am close
to the door in case something happens even if it wasnt my tent I would still do it. In no time
a lioness jumped over our fire. Still wondering what was going on, the male lion followed the
female and jumped over our fire too. As the rest of the guys were shocked, I ran into the
tent and locked myself inside, forgetting the other guys outside. After 30 seconds of
struggling outside, they got inside and they were so crossed with me. I couldnt control
myself laughing at them; next time sit next to your tent door, I said to them.

XXX
The similar incident happened when I was at Kingspool. In the morning game drive, the
mating lions were close to the staff compound. My guests left that afternoon and I was lazy
doing nothing. I told the other guys around the camp where the lions were. That evening as
usual, we were seating around the camp fire. I was with Lesedi and Ntsiang. I know myself
when it comes to safety at night I sat next to the door. At Kingspool it was tent and wooden
houses with proper doors.
The lions didnt show any signs of whether they were around or not I knew they were
around and closer. We were chatting and we heard this loud roar ten metres away, lion ran
in all directions and I dont know how I got inside the wooden house and I locked myself
inside. The shouting of Lesedi and Ntsiang was too much, all this time they were banging on
the door and trying to open it. I came back to my senses and finally opened for them. They
got in as if they were pushed at the back by a very powerful machine with great force. They
were angry with me and I laughed out loud, I did the same thing at Kwetsani camp, I said.

Anti-Poaching Guys With The Lion Kill

Anti-poaching in Botswana started in 1988 since most of the rhinos were killed for their
horns. They introduced anti-poaching in wildlife department and the army got involved as
well.
I have a very good friend of mine in the army. We became friends in 1991 when I was doing
my final year in junior school. He told me that one day they were on a trip to Linyanti and he
was with another soldier going to pick up something there. As they were going back to the
camp, they decided to use a different road. On their way back they came across a lion kill
just 50 metres from the road. It wasnt eaten too much, only the gut contents and the
buffalo was still full. His colleague decided to go out of the car and he started walking
toward the kill. The kill was in the open and were lazy, they were sleeping in the far shades
41

and they even lay on their backs. They didnt take notice at all. Dont even think of doing it,
my friend warned his colleague.
The guy didnt listen he took out his bayonet to cut a piece from the kill. My friend was
watching and waiting for his colleague to start cutting. He started cutting off the hind legs
and he didnt finish what he was doing and all the lions came charging at him. He started
running toward the car but they closed in and my friend had to shout at him because he
wanted to run wild forgetting the car was parked there. He managed to get inside with a bit
of luck they then drove off quickly. Upon arrival at the camp, the guy was still in panic, he
still wanted to run wild again. They had to guard him for few hours to make sure he had
calmed down.

Land Rover Breaks Down From Chilwero

GO WILD SAFARIS was the first company in Kasane to give their guides a utility car it was
mainly used when having an early morning drive-it was our transport even during the day.
Before the introduction of cell phones in the country, the company decided that every
employee must be installed with a land line phone in case there was an emergency at work
or schedule, just been amended.
The utility vehicle was a Land Rover 110 R6 and there was always a break down. The main
problem with it was the fuel system at times the electric pumps jammed and the fuel is cut
off. One morning back in 1998, Peace and I had to go check my brother Godfrey at Chilwero.
We arrived there just fine and spent few hours. As we were coming back toward the Sedudu
gate, the Land Rover stopped. The engine went dead, we tried restarting it but we gave up at
the end. It was around 2200hrs. The problem was the electric pump, it was dormant. We had
no torch or matches and we got underneath the car and started cutting off pipes to do it
manually but our plan didnt work.
At around 12 midnight, Peace and I came up with an idea of walking back to Chilwero it
was three kilometres away. This lodge is on the boundary of the Chobe Park and there is a
lot of animal movement there. We started walking back in total darkness we could barely
see our fingers. We reached there safely and Godfrey couldnt help much at workshop since
it was late. We were worried because we were supposed to pick other guides for an early
drive that morning.
All three of us started walking toward the land rover luckily Godfrey had a torch with him.
Just 300 metres away from the lodge, we noticed buffalo tracks on top of our earlier tracks.
The buffalo tracks were still very clear since we didnt spend too much time at Godfreys
house about 5mins. There was confusion among us and we walked on the road for the
next kilometre, the buffalo was ahead of us. I think when Peace and I passed earlier, the
buffalo might have been next to the road when we passed him, and it walked on the
opposite direction. As we were walking I was looking for a tree in case it charges any time.
42

After a kilometre, the buffalo tracks went off the road, we were so relieved. It was like a
miracle when we reached the car, put the key on, the electric pump started working and
quickly we fixed the loose pipes we had loosened earlier and drove back to Chilwero to drop
Godfrey we finally arrived safely at Kasane.

Ramoroto Elephant In Musth

Very often and particularly during the rainy season, is the pick season for elephant mating.
From September to April is their time to mate and you will never see them mating during the
winter season. This time of the year, bull elephants are in musth signs are very obvious
with temporal gland secretion between the eyes and ears both sexes. Males will dribble
urine called green syndrome and its very smelly and if you are down wind, you can smell it
a couple of hundred metres away.
These males are a problem when it comes to searching for oestrus females. They are very
aggressive and walk in very high status; head held up, swing trunks from side to side and flap
their ears in a scary manner. I have encountered them many times and have always been
forced to drive off the road if you have radio communications, whoever encounters this bull
warn others.
At Kingspool, I encountered it around the corner and it looked so huge and it didnt back off.
They also like walking on the road and walk only to the directions they are getting signals
from the receptive females. The bull didnt back off, I had no escape route at all. Linyanti had
lots of dead trees and most have been pushed over by elephants, it is mopane woodland or
certain place with few acacia trees. I tried reversing but it didnt work for me. There was too
much concentration on the charging elephant, mirrors and I was worried will reverse into
the tree. You have to reverse like crazy since he doesnt give you much chance.
It looked so monstrous and it came forward trumpeting, shaking its head and kicking the
ground. I realised it will crash the car and I put it on first gear and challenged it. I came
forward like a maniac, reefing the car, it panicked a bit and gave me little space and I passed
it like a bullet. It chased me for about a hundred metres but I escaped.

Presley Taught How To Pole A Mokoro (Dug Out Canoe)

The main purpose of Wilderness Safaris, taking me to Kwetsani and Jao was for me to do
mekoro rides just like other tour guides within the concession. You need to learn how to
pole the mokoro, Quinton said. Yes, I will learn as soon as possible, I replied him. For the
first two months I was only driving boats while other guides were doing mekoro. My main
activity was game drives and walking safaris, all the guides and managers knew that I didnt
know how to pole a mokoro.
43

One day Quinton decided and told me that he was going to teach me how to pole a mokoro;
I was very much prepared for it. The polling station was just behind the staff compound. I
put on strops, short pants and off we went. Other trackers also went there to watch me and
I did the unthinkable. The mokoro polers started showing me how to do it, one after
another. I didnt want to pole because I did it before the distance of travelling from camp to
Handa Island was always too far. I thought I will have an excuse when it was my turn to do it,
I kept falling into the water purposely and pretending I didnt know what I was doing. I kept
falling mokoro was going round and round. They tried to encourage me but it was all the
same the manager gave up and said, I dont think this guy has done it before.
Immediately I knew my plan was working he left for the office and I remained with the boys.
Do you know that I am the best poller ever? I asked them. Never! they replied back.
When the manager was out of sight I got into the mokoro and everyone was speechless I
showed them three different ways of poling you can either do it seating down or standing
up. They were shocked and amazed. So you know how to pole? they asked me. Guys, I
grew up at Kavimba village and we have permanent rivers, I said to them. I was even better
than most of the professional polers. I told them I just wanted to give the manager a wrong
impression about my canoe training. I always had my own poler Mr Shorty, I liked him very
much.

Setswabo And The Lion On The Bonnet

All the new guides at Kingspool were always informed of the collared male lion within our
area and this male lion was based in Namibia and it was collared there. Across Kingspool
was Mamili National Park and it was a combination of hunting and photographic on the
other half of the park. Linyanti River was very narrow, animals used to cross back and forth.
This male lion was aggressive due to the fact that he was from the hunting side and he
always charged at vehicles.
Setswabo was a guide at Kingspool and we were based there together. On one of his
expeditions, we came across the pride of ten lions and the collared male was one of them. I
kept my distance and Setswabo closed in, it was a problem if you found him laying down it
wouldnt show you any aggression or charging. After 15minutes of being there, the male lion
got up and started walking across our vehicles toward the bush. Since it was straight with
Setswabo, it walked toward the car from the front. It didnt show any signs of like grunting,
growling or coughing. Suddenly it charged toward the car and jumped on the bonnet, this
time it was grunting and growling. Setswabos wind shield was down and he faced this beast
less than a metre away. Most of his guests were down except one gentleman at the back
who was taking a video during all this, Setswabo was in panic. He started the engine though
it was already running. He forgot and kept starting and reviving the engine too loud. It was a
diesel engine and you couldnt see the lion clearly due to the smoke. He was shivering,
couldnt even put the car in first gear. The male lion decided to jump off the bonnet and it
took Setswabo about 5mins to leave since he didnt know what to do.
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When back at the lodge, we watched the video as we wanted to see the lion in the video
camera but all we could see was smoke and the lion was not much visible. Setswabo was
the joke of the day.

Attempting Suicide By Running Toward Breeding Herd Of Elephants

Jacks was managing a safari camp with a girlfriend in a private concession. The camp is based
in Western Chobe and the edge of the Okavango delta. Jacks was the manager but most of
the time he was out of the office in a private concession you dont need to have a
professional guiding licence since the wildlife officials dont often go there. He liked guiding
more than the office and the girlfriend was managing instead.
There was a private affair between the girlfriend and the pilot and in any occasions pilots can
spend a night over in the camp if they dropped off late or when having an early morning pick
up. The affair between the two had been going on for a long time. Jacks didnt notice a thing
but all the staff knew about the love affair. The pilot spent the night at the camp with
intentions of going with his girlfriend to Europe and Jack as usual went on the morning drive
with the guests. On his absence, the pilot and the girlfriend left for Maun and that morning
they both flew to South Africa and that was the last day Jacks saw his girlfriend.
When Jacks came back from the drive and ready for brunch, he found the office empty. He
started looking for her all over and he looked at their house and she wasnt even there. He
asked other staff on duty and he was told the girlfriend went with the pilot. He found the
letter in the office notifying him that by the time he will be reading the letter, she will be
inside aBoeing 747 on her way back to Europe with her lovely pilot boyfriend. Immediately
stress, frustrations and disappointments started building up in him. He didnt have his lunch
that day and as usual he went on an afternoon game drive he wanted nature to heal him.
On the game drive he approached a breeding herd of elephants. The guests saw Jack crying
out loud and he got out of the car and ran toward the elephants saying, Elephants kill me,
kill me, kill me, I dont want to live! When the elephants saw him coming, they got a fright
and ran away trumpeting. He got in the middle of them and they all scattered, he was left in
the middle alone. Jack was still crying out loud and shouting you could see him running
behind the elephants. They didnt kill him, they disappeared into the bush. He came back to
the car crying and he was still alive and the guests thought it was a game, but he really
wanted to commit suicide. When back at the camp the other guides said to him, If you want
to kill yourself just get in this pool that is full of crocodiles. He was too scared to do it and he
became the laughing stock at the camp. How dare you want to commit suicide over a girl
other staff members teased him.

Close Encounter With My Favourite Animal

0430hours was the time to wake up if you had early morning activities. At 0500hrs you are
supposed to be in the kitchen preparing tea, coffee, egg and juices. The chefs didnt come
this early, so did waiters. It was professional guides duties, chefs and waiters would come in
45

at 0600hrs when you are leaving for the drives. The guests were woken up at 0530hrs to get
prepared for the 0600hrs departure and we would be back at the lodge at 1000hrs brunch
was served at 1100hrs.
That morning I walked up to the last room, it was still dark. As I was walking there I saw two
of my favourite animals coming toward me, cheetahs. Of all the animals, cheetah is my
number one favourite in the list. They were two males and they used to frequently come
around the vicinity of the lodge. Cheetahs are normally very shy and they always avoid
people and I stood still as if I was a dead tree. All I wanted to achieve here was to get very
close to them. They saw me, then they stopped and stared at me, I didnt move and they got
closer and closer. They stood a metre away from me and they started sniffing me. Ooh my
God! I enjoyed and liked the company of these two cheetahs. They got relaxed for five
minutes we had a bond. Time for me to wake the guest was running out and I sadly had to
leave them. When I made a sudden move, they ran off and stopped a few metres away and
looked at me. What beautiful cats they are. I watched them move away and it was a sad
goodbye on foot I had never ever got a metre closer to a wild cheetah.

Wasp Inside My Shirt And Stung Seven Times

Chobe airstrip was for Dumatau camp within Linyanti concession. At times if there were no
planes going to Kingspool for pick up / drop off, the staff members would be booked for any
available airstrip within the concession. This particular afternoon I had free time and the
manager asked me to pick three staff members from the Chobe airstrip it was about 23km
from Kingspool.
The plane landed on time and I picked these guys and they were coming back from their
days off. We worked three months and had 28 days off. We were always happy to go on
days off to meet our families and friends. If there was no available flight to Kasane, we
would then go via Maun and catch a bus to Kasane. I was more than happy to be told what
was happening around the world. The managers had a tendency of throwing away
newspapers after reading them. The Maun office was always sending them but we never had
access to them unless picked from the garbage bin. We were cut off from the rest of the
world and I was always asking my guests to update me.
The wind shield was always down even when picking the staff, I would never put the wind
shield up it was always down. I was driving, maximum speed of 60km/h a wasp flew straight
at me. It hit the base of my neck and fell inside my shirt and the two top buttons were
unbuttoned and thats how it managed to fall in. Suddenly I knew that I was in deep trouble.
The wasp started biting me and injecting neurotoxin and my belly was on fire and I lost
concentration on the car, nearly hit a mopane tree and all staff shouted at me to get back on
the road. I was trying to unbutton my shirt so that the wasp can fly away and it was
46

impossible since the car was moving I was being controlled at the back as if they were the
ones driving, go straight, no you are outside the road, go to your left! they said. I got stung
seven times and my belly was on fire the pain was becoming worse every second. I reduced
the speed, jumped out of the moving car, untucked my shirt and the wasp flew away by the
time the car stopped, I was left a long way back.
On arrival at the lodge, the staff told the manager and she was so worried about me, should
we book a plane for you? she asked. Dont worry about me, am ok, I replied her. I grew
up at the village and have been stung many times, I pretended to be strong. I got painkillers
but the neurotoxin pain was still there. I never went to the clinic and within 2 hours the pain
was gone. I was stung seven times but I survived it.

Two Thousand Buffaloes Versus Five Bullets

Chobe area is mainly characterised by the plateau area with a nice view of the Chobe River
which is overlooking the Caprivi Strip in Namibia. I was based at Muchenje lodge and being
the only guide who undertook training courses, I was the only one doing walking safaris
then. The lodge is on the edge of the park in a private concession walking was allowed and
so were night game drives.
We had a group of Americans with a South African tour leader and she was bossy and she
thought she knew everything. The first two nights they did game drives, boat cruises and
night safaris. The tour leader decided that the third day her guests were to do an afternoon
walking safari. I have never heard of anyone doing an afternoon walk, I said to her. She
insisted but it was very hot and that is why it is done in the morning. The other disadvantage
was that animals come to drink in the afternoon, but she never listened to me. She just said,
We will do it.
The lodge is on the edge of a rocky plateau area, 400 metres away from the river bank. At
1545hours I started the walk from the lodge and walked down to the river. We had good
bird viewing but few antelopes and no elephants. We were going back to the lodge and
while nearly at the base of the plateau, buffalos started coming down. It was a big herd of
about 2000 buffaloes and they came straight to where we stood. The old people were forced
to run for their lives and quickly got out of the way. Because the buffaloes in front were
already down the hill, there was no way they could go back since there were more buffaloes
coming from behind them and they were pushing those in front down. I had five bullets with
me and with two thousand buffalos it was impossible to shoot. It was like in military training,
going up the hill and guests were so exhausted but I had no choice at all. I couldnt shoot
them because that would have caused more confusion among the buffaloes. We werent far
from the lodge and we sat by the deck and for the next one hour the buffalos were going
down. You could see their single file as they were heading to the water. I approached the
47

tour leader and said to her, this is what I hate about afternoon walking safaris, now you
understand where I am coming from. She just nodded and apologised to me too.

Early Morning Wake Up Call By A Crested Barbet

When I was based in Muchenje, I had a pet crested barbet but it was still wild. I have bird
ring tones in my phone and every morning I always played the crested barbet tone. At first
when I played the ring tones, the bird would get angry, hostile and look around for any
intruders in its territory. The bird would raise its crest and start calling as well; it wouldnt
stay in one place and always flew away.
I was always playing the tone every morning at 0700hrs. What was interesting was this
barbet waking me up every morning and it would come and sit by the window pan and start
knocking with its beak at the window until I woke up. The relationship got very close and I
didnt set an alarm to wake up. It happened daily for two years i.e. the crested barbet woke
me daily for two years. Sadly I left the lodge and I miss my calls every morning and I do hope
that my barbet also misses me.

Tourist Jumps Off The Safari Jeep When Elephant Charged

Hippo pools inside Chobe National Park is a very good place to watch elephants drinking and
wallowing in the mud. There was a family of elephants drinking at the shore line and they
were not many. After drinking, the matriarch started going back into the wilderness; they all
followed her. I had six guests with me in the jeep. From the river, the elephants walked
behind the car, barely five metres away. There was another vehicle in front of me, about 20
metres away and they were watching the same breeding herd.
The last in the queue was a young bull and it started showing aggression signs by spreading
its ears and walked toward the car from behind. The German couple were seating at the
back and the man jumped off the car. I saw this guy running past our car toward the next
car. He stood next to it since it was a full car he made a complete idiot of himself. Everyone
was speechless and the elephant didnt follow him, it followed the rest of the herd into the
bush. This guy came back walking and I asked him, Why did you jump from the car? I
nearly got killed by an elephant, he said. What about your girlfriend, you left her seated
there? and he never answered me. You are very stupid. Why would you want to kill
yourself? other tourists shouted at him. From here onward, every time he tried to talk or
ask a question, all the other tourist would criticise him they would say, Just shut up, stupid
man. For the next two hours he dared not to say a word.

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Drunk Baboon At The Camping Site

In the late 1890, the famous hunter Fredrick C. Selous came hunting to Chobe out and noted
in his diary that it wasnt worth coming there for hunting; they were no elephants to speak
off. By then Chobe was for hunting and timber industry.
In 1930, a timber concession was opened at Serondela, here they were cutting the Zambezi
teak. Which was transported to Zambia and Zimbabwe either by boat or lorries. They
continued harvesting timber until 1967 when it was proclaimed Chobe National Park. The
timber industry was closed and a camping site was opened at Serondela, it was a public
camp site with availability of hot and cold water. A very nice location for a site, just on the
banks of the river, the vegetation found there is mainly woolly capper bush and large fever
berry.
The problem which was here for a long time was the baboons. They were a nuisance and
very dangerous. The cause of this was the tourists feeding them, wanting close up shots not
knowing they have signed a death contract. One morning I stopped there to stretch our legs
and a self-driven driver came to me; I need your help, he said. I have a drunk baboon in
my tent, he continued. The previous night they were drinking wine and forgot to put the
cock back. The baboons were too intelligent, they knew how to open or unzip the tent. The
guests went on an early morning drive and the baboon unzipped the tent and drunk half the
bottle of wine and when they came back they found the drunk baboon inside the tent. It was
so drunk it couldnt even move and had to drag it outside the tent. It was very interesting to
see a drunk baboon. Tourists thought they were solving a problem by feeding them but they
further worsened the problem when you interfere with nature you cause harm.
The camping site was officially closed in 1999 because the problem with the baboons was
too much, breakfast and lunch were never at peace. Only dinner was more peaceful since
they would be sleeping up on trees. Now the Serondela place is used as a picnic site and you
might see baboons around but they have now forgotten about being fed. You always enjoy
your meal with pleasure.

Python Handler
Not every tourist who comes to the wilderness likes lions. Almost all the guests are satisfied
when they see a lion. We also have bird watchers, a very interesting hobby. When I was at
Okavango Delta I became a complete bird watcher, at first I thought it was a hobby but it is a
life sentence.
I had this American lady among others and she badly wanted to see a python. In every game
drive that I conducted, she was always asking about snakes. For the first two nights she was
unlucky, even on night drives they were nowhere to be found. Other guests on board didnt
49

like them and I remember she wasnt interested at all when we found lions. One evening
after the afternoon drive, we combined it with the night drives. This is my last night in
Africa, can you show me a snake, she said. All this time I was trying but had no luck. I was
driving and Lesedi was spotting and all of a sudden she shouted, stop right there, python
crossing the road!
None of us saw that python and she was all over it, she picked up the thick python and
wrapped it around her neck and she was extremely happy. You could see her singing in front
of the car head lights. The session between her and the snake was more than five minutes
when she had enough with it she approached the car and all the guests freaked out. She
wanted all the guests to touch and handle it too, they were very scared and I had the
happiest guest ever. She told me that in USA she got a little snake in her house, she was very
fond of snakes.

Python Coiled Around The Propeller Shaft

Pythons are very slow and are heavy bodied form, weighing up to 50kg. They have very
beautiful skin and quiet docile snakes. They dont have any venom but they constrict their
prey by coiling around them, the first coil will happen in less than a second and within ten
seconds all the three coils are completed.
Joe and the other guys like Peter and Andrew worked at crocodile camp in Maun and they
were very fluent in speaking German. Their company had a sister company in Kasane called
Into Africa Mowana Safaris. It was doing game drives and boat cruises for Mowana Safari
Lodge. One afternoon I saw these guys struggling with a python and Joe saw the snake
coming closer and got into the car, it went under the safari car with the intension of coming
out on the other side. The python never did, off course its whole body was going under but
no signs of coming out. Everyone was getting suspicious, what is going on? they asked.
Lastly the tail went under and you might have thought it went into the burrow.
The guys got out to look for the python, at first glance it wasnt under the car but with a
careful look the snake coiled itself by the propeller shaft. The problem here was taking it out
and it wasnt easy to decide what to do because snakes freak them out. All the three guys
put on heart of a stone, went underneath and started uncoiling the python. It was very thick
and heavy but they managed to get it out, took it to the bushes and threw it there. As they
were running back, the python came following them fast too. As Joe got inside the car to
drive off, the snake went under and found comfort at the propeller shaft again. They just
had to uncoil it like they did before but this time they told the guests to drive away the cars.
The guests did exactly that and the guys followed, the snake lost track of the cars.

50

Sam And The Lioness

I worked with Sam at Xaxaba in 1996 to 1997 as a barman. He is originally from Kachikau and
we were always speaking our own native language Subiya. We worked together again in the
concession of Linyanti in 1999/2001 he was based in Savuti camp and as a barman.
One evening at 0700hrs, Sam was walking to the main camp from the staff compound his
shift was from 1930hours till late. He used a small trail that they often used when going back
to the camp since it is a short-cut. On the way there he encountered a lioness from a very
close range. There wasnt much time to decide what to do. At first he heard the grunts and
coughs before he saw the lioness, Sam stood like a statue for a very long time and all this
time the lioness was sitting up in front of him. Sam tried backing off slowly, it put its paw on
top of Sams shoe and started pulling his legs toward her and it was a tag of war. Sam pulled
it back and she let go and every time Sam backed off the lioness would put its paw and pull it
with its sharp nails. Sam was so scared and nervous to an extent that he got mute or
voiceless and he didnt even have the strength to shout out for help.
This game went on for an hour and the lion was getting serious. She was hungry and wanted
Sam for dinner. He stood his ground, no matter what. At the main lodge, the manager was
worried. He sent a guide to look for him at the staff compound and he was not there, the
guide was told that he left an hour back. They knew that somewhere he is in a very big
problem and they took the rifle with torches and followed the trail. Halfway to the main
lodge there he was, standing still upon arrival, the lioness saw others coming and it ran off
into the bush. Sam was like he has seen a ghost, he didnt have a torch and acutely walked
into this lioness. Off course it was dark at the time of the incident he was taken back to his
room and others had to stay with him especially when closing his eyes to sleep- he would
jump and want to run off wildly.

The Ghost And The Darkness

During my days off from the Okavango Delta I liked going to countrys capital Gaborone,
just to refresh my mind. The ride from Kasane to Gaborone normally takes 10 hours by bus
and usually we would spend just more time trying to familiarise with the city life.
One day as I was shopping at OK Stores, I came to the shelves with DVDs, one of them
captured my attention more than all of them it was called THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS.
The film is based on a true story, it happened in the late 1960s when they were constructing
the railway line at Tsavo. It was lion country and most workers got killed by these two male
lions in rampage they were killing for fun. Within a month, 140 railway workers were dead
and the main actors are Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer. When I watched the movie I was
full of sadness and heartache.

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I know I am a professional guide and ought to have the heart of a stone but something
changed in me after watching this movie. I had fear of lions especially when walking at night.
It was as if the two male lions are watching me, stalking and ready to attack. In town I had no
problem watching it for the duration of my days off.
The time came for me to get back in the wilderness and I got in the Cessna 206 and took off
for Kingspool camp. I arrived the same day with my tracker Lesedi. We did the afternoon
drive and saw the male lion far on the plains. We had to cross the water channel to reach
there and was also getting worried about stuck in the mud. It was an open area accept the
encroached trees of blue bush 50m2, where the lion was within.
I approached the encroached area from the west side before I even approached the lion who
was sitting behind the bush, the martial eagle which is the largest eagle in Southern Africa
it took off in fright with lots of wings flapping in the bushes. I scanned the area where it was
and I realised it was feeding on the monitor lizard/Nile monitor. The lizard is aquatic and the
largest in the country.
I proceeded to where the lion was, I checked with my guests to make sure they were not
standing at the sighting. I drove around the blue bush and the lion was still there sitting on
the edges of the bush. I approached cautiously and slowly so not to scare it. It was not far
from the car since there was water on my right hand side, it was very close. I didnt even
have the chance to stop and take pictures, the lion came charging at the car. It almost
jumped inside, then backed off and sat down, growling and grunting at us. When I looked
behind me, all my guests were flat on the car seats and it was as if it was just Lesedi and me
in the car. I quickly drove away and said nothing for five minutes after this incident no one
spoke and I finally spoke, what happened? I asked. The fat lady stood up when we
approached the lion, one guests said. I was very shocked about this since I briefed them
before; I told you that, no standing at all, I said. Tell me now, where will you take the
picture of the lion again? I asked. We never saw any lion since then and to be honest I
wasnt happy all the blame was on the fat lady all the way.
When the lion charged us, all that came to my mind was the ghost and the darkness movie
which I watched before going back in the wilderness. I was thinking of jumping out and run
but I held my ground. Its a scary movie and it scares me a lot. Even now I am still picturing
the stare of that male lion, they are built for the kill.

XXX
In 2001, I finally left the Okavango wilderness to stay in town. It was a great change but I
missed the bush. I got employed by Into Africa Mowana Safaris. I was conducting boat
cruises along the Chobe River, game drives in the famous Chobe National Park. The company
had a contract with Mowana safari lodge which has a maximum 110 rooms. It was all
52

different here from the wilderness experience, the guests were always excited to see the
countless herds of elephants. The river cruises, elephants are always crossing to Namibia and
back to Botswana in the evening. There are good grazing pastures in the Caprivi since it is all
flood plains whether you game driving or boat cruising, Chobe never disappoints.

Nakashishi
The estimated population of lions inside the Chobe National Park is between 370 to 415, I
got this statistics from African Wildlife Foundation. They used to do large carnivore research
in the park for many years, some of the lion prides had radio collars, which made it easy for
the foundation to identify them.
From 2002 to 2004, there was a decline in lion population within the river front. The main
problem here, especially during the rainy season most of the lions, prey, e.g. sables, giraffes
and buffaloes would go for seasonal migration toward the southern part of the park. There
would be scarce prey and lions always wonder out of the park. On January 2002, a pride of
17 lions went out of the park toward Kasane town and finally at the Zimbabwe border they
never came back again. They were often seen few kilometres away when driving toward the
Victoria Falls. The following year, another pride of 21 did the same thing and never came
back too. Since then, there were no cubs within the river front because male lions had also
left. In February 2006, I was very excited to come across a lioness with 4 cubs and they were
very small, about 8 weeks old.
It crossed in front of my jeep with these cute cubs and one of the female cub had a shoe in
her mouth. I had no idea where she got it. I had good pictures of cub holding shoe, It didnt
let it go, and it carried it wherever it went. I knew that one day it will be the most successful
lioness I have ever encountered. This was not the case at all and it was different from all the
other cubs and all the lions that I have seen before. It had a birthmark a deformed tail. The
tail was very short but still had the black turf like the rest of them and it looked like a bob
cat. From this early age, it was busy playing with the shoes and it had an instinct of the
predator in it. I immediately gave her the name NAKASHISHI means a short tail. It was my
favourite cub and wished I could have it as my pet. I was always happy to see this cub on
every game drive and I got frustrated and stressed if I didnt see it.
She was born free to me like Elsa in East Africa. When Nakashishi was a year old, she started
organising kills for the rest of the pride. I watched it one day chasing buffalos toward the
pride and managed to kill and she indeed had a unique character. I liked this little lioness, I
even run out of words on how to describe it. One afternoon game drive, she was chasing
elephants and a calf remained behind and the pride had a meal that afternoon.
Another time I came across the pride with the buffalo kill they all had enough to eat and
were resting under the trees. Nakashishi was still feeding and it started rolling over the
53

buffalo meat, disguising her on smell. In 2008, Nakashishi pride also started going out of the
park toward Lesoma a village 20km away from Kasane. Here at the village, there are lots of
domesticated animals, i.e. donkeys, goat and cattle. Once the lions discover that
domesticated animals are easy to get, less effect and less risky and they become
opportunistic. The problem here will be farmers who can shoot them. The pride will go there
and come back after a week. It was November of 2008 when I found this pride and had
lovely shots of Nakashishi playing with her brother, not knowing it was her last picture. The
very same evening they went out of the park as usual, to Lesoma but they never came back.
Some kind of a crazy farmer found them feeding on the buffalo kill four hundred metres
from the village, shot and killed them all. None survivedpride of six, gone! I only heard
after two days and it was the saddest moment ever. Even today as I am writing I am grieving.
Whenever I look at Nakashishis picture I wish I could see her kind again. May Nakashishi rest
in perfect peace. I expected a lot from her when she had grown up. For as long as life
continues she will still remain the predator in this paradise.

Lions Walk In The Camp Mboma Island

Fun-Fun Safaris is a mobile company based in Kasane they do mobile camping safaris. It was
around August in 2007 when I decided to join them for camping. We drove from Kasane to
Maun where we picked the guests at Maun Airport. They arrived with Air Botswana, on a
direct flight from Johannesburg to Maun. They were supposed to arrive at 1100hrs but the
flight delayed and they arrived at 1215hrs. They did a bit of shopping in town and around
1300hrs we left for Mboma Island. It was late and couldnt arrive there so we spent a night
at South Gate and the next morning we left for our destination.
It was my first time going to Mboma Island and the roads are good but its very sandy in
certain areas. We arrived there around lunch time and we then got busy unpacking and
pitching tents. We had to make lunch for our guests then had an afternoon game drive.I was
with Godfrey, Mbala, and another Mbala and John on this safari.
Mboma Island is an amazing place as it is more open, elephants can be seen here and there
are more lions as well. The area is connected to Xakanaxa and Third Bridge. The first night
everything seemed okay but we had elephants within a hundred metres and we watched
them mud bathing. The second day I decided to stay around that afternoon as I was
preparing dinner. All the two vehicles were gone on a game drive, was left with tents only
and in case something happened, my hide out would be a tent.
All alone I saw elephants walking on the edge of the camp site but they never bothered me.
Around 1725hrs, a male lion started roaring from a distance. The roar got closer to the site, I
was now getting worried. It stopped roaring until the rest of the crew arrived. I told them
there was a lion nearby and asked them to be careful. After having dinner, guests sat around
54

the fire enjoying the African tales. Just by a surprise, the lion was right in the middle of the
camp site, roaring to the loudest. There was panic among guests and within a minute, all the
15 guests were in two jeeps. I busted and laughed out loud at the way they got into the
jeeps, so fast and quick.
I connected the spotlight and there it was still standing in the camp site. It left and we
followed him from behind for ten minutes.

Stung By A Buthidae Scorpion While Camping

On the 11th of October 2011 I was camping at Hatab4 site. It is a private site, mainly used by
safari operators only and self-drives are allowed to use the public camping. The day the
guests arrived, we went on the morning boat cruise and had lunch at 1230hrs. After lunch
we headed to Chobe National Park. You have to do the game drive before you reach the site
at 1830 hours so that the guys at the camp prepare themselves too. We later arrived at the
camp and we told them the Dos and Donts of camping for their own safety at night.
After dinner, at around 2100hrs, Motaa and I decided to prepare our bed rolls for the night.
It was a two man tent and since we were all guides we shared the tent. I unzipped the bed
roll, lined the sheets, pillows and the blanket. As I tried to lift the mattress, I got stung by
the scorpion on the index finger. I got out of that tent as if someone was using a remote
control on me. The pain was very intense and I went straight to the cooler box and inserted
my hand inside. The pain increased every second. It was an hours drive to Kasane and that
night I stayed there. I couldnt sleep at all, blood was coming out. I drank pain killers but they
were not of any help.
I went to my guests and told them but they didnt take note of me, they thought I was
joking. The next morning, my whole hand was numb and the pain was too much. I couldnt
even shift the gear lever with my left hand anymore, was using my right hand. In the
morning game drive, that was when my guests realised I was in great pain.
In the morning I called the main base and told them. They refused to send someone to
replace me and I was coming out of the park at 1700hrs. The stupid manager told the
receptionist that there was nothing they could do. I was getting weak and tired, there was
no concentration at all. After dropping guests at 1700 hours at the Zambian border, thats
when I went to the hospital. I was given an injection and tablets but the pain was too much.
This was a deadly scorpion, Buthidae family; they have neurotoxic venom and target the
central nervous system. They have thick tails and small pincers.
For the whole one week, I had this undesirable pain in my arm.

55

Making Of Ultimate Rangers

It all started on the 1st of May 2012, I had the permit to film in the park until the 31 stof
August 2012. A day before filming I had a busy day, checking whether the vehicle, camera
and camping equipment are in order. It was me and Boitshoko Jeremia, we entered the
Chobe National Park through the Sedudu Gate (the park has seven different entrances). Our
main mission was to see lions, lots of elephants and buffalos.
The evening of our first day we came across a young male and an adult female lion. We
followed them from 1800hrs till2000hrs and we had a permit to film at night and we were
even allowed to drive off the road. The permit is obtained from the Ministry of Wildlife,
Environment and Tourism and the second permit was from Department of Wildlife and
National Parks. The young male cub was about 2.5years and was still in the pride, the
advantage he had was that, his pride didnt have a permanent male lion. We followed them
deep in the forest and at times he stopped, lay on the ground and started roaring. The
female was always ahead of him and it also had a fresh scar on the hind leg showed that he
got engaged in a fight with another lion.
It was a beautiful night with all the stars above and most of them were visible and after two
hours with them, we left and headed to the rest of the pride. They were two kilometres
apart. We got there and they were still sleeping. There wasnt much done for the next two
hours. Lions are always lazy and they sleep 20 hours every day. Around 2300hrs, they started
walking around and we captured every movement. I thought they will go hunting but they
just went back to sleep 45mins on the line, the young male and female arrived, the rest of
the family welcomed them, especially those old cubs. They were active for few minutes and
went back to sleep. We also relaxed since there wasnt much going on, we hoped much for
the kill but it never happened and we would light the spotlight every now and then.
A very funny and strange noise caught our attention and I was very much relaxed, so was
Boitshoko. I then jumped up and got my spotlight and I found the young male lion engaged
in a fight with an intruder male. It was around 1a.m and the young male lion stood still
indeed. They were growling and grunting and it happened so fast and we never caught it on
camera. They kept fighting and they then disappeared into the woods. When followed, the
intruder was back to the pride. He was a gold manned lion but his mane looked more like
orange and I guess he was more than six years old.
This male lion was shy and always avoided the light and the car. When the fight was on
before we spotted the light on the lions it was like my heart was going to burst out of my
chest and I had to breath with my mouth for a short time. Boitshoko was very much afraid as
it was his first experience with the lions. I could see his big eyes in confusion, he thought the
lions were attacking us. Welcome to the jungle, I said and assured him. This is what I have
56

been experiencing for the past 18 years, I continued. We only got a glimpse of the male lion
as he was disappearing into the woods. For the next one and a half hours, the pride was
never at rest, the male was fighting the females as well. At exactly 0230hrs they finally got
into the deep woods too thick for the car to follow.
We were getting sleepy before lions departed and we drove about 200 metres away from
them. I only needed about 2 hours sleep and I parked the car next to a woolly capper bush
on the drivers side. I sat between the drivers and passengers seats and covered myself
with a blanket. I was very sleepy, Boitshoko slept across the safari seats. I wasnt yet asleep
and I think it was after 25 minutes when we heard movements around the car. I suddenly
knew the lions had followed us. Uncle, the lions are here, Boitshoko said. Yes sir, I heard
them long back. Because he was sleeping across the car, he thought the lions would pull
him out of this open jeep. I pulled out the blanket and got the spotlight and the lions were
just at the car, more than 10 lions were surrounding us, barely a metre away.
While they were still there, the male lion who chased the young male away came back and
started fighting with females too chasing them all over. This male hated the spotlight one
glance at it and he disappears behind the bushes. After some time he will appear on a
different direction and disappear once more and we never tried to sleep again.
It was around mid-day the next day when we stopped at the river front to have lunch. On
our way to a nice shady tree, we passed this young bull elephant. It was a teenager,
estimated around 15 years. We stopped three hundred metres away from it and Boitshoko
was seated in the car and I was wondering around. We saw it approaching us and I was
standing in front of the car. The elephant approached slowly and cautiously toward me and
it stopped and lifted its head with ears spread out. I stood my ground too and I wanted to
see what it was intending to do.
It stood exactly five metres facing me and I faced the beast and it even tried getting closer
and I didnt retreat. We challenged each other for about ten minutes. Uncle, I think this is
too close, Boitshoko whispered. I saw the elephant slowly backing off; stopped at a distance
and it came back again. I wasnt worried or scared because I was reading its mind and
Boitshoko was seated inside the car and was scared to death, he thought the elephant will
squash me. I showed the winning side and it showed a submissive behaviour and finally
backed off. I enjoyed myself as it was the closest distance I have ever been to a wild
elephant.
River cruise is always full of surprises and I wanted to see an elephant swimming. It is very
common to see elephants crossing the river to Sedudu Island or Namibia during the dry
months, i.e. April-November. It was winter and lots of hippos and crocodiles were basking on
the shore and the water is so cold and they need the suns heat to warm themselves. We
managed to find a group of more than ten bull elephant swimming across into the island. It
was very lovely and it is not often that they can be seen swimming and we followed them for
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a while and realised the second set of the bulls were crossing too. It was an unforgettable
boat experience Sedudu Island is the land of the giants.

Narrow Escape
It was the first week of March 2013 on an early morning game drive. I tracked the male and
female lion for two kilometres and finally found them sleeping in the middle of the road. It
was the aggressive male lion which charged vehicles daily, it never got used to them. The
female was laying there and the male moved behind the bush. The South African lady at the
back screamed very loud and thought it got her. The lion charged and It just stopped at
about a metre and no one took the picture since we didnt expect the mock charge.
The female finally joined him on the road edge; they even mated here. This male was never
at rest and kept looking at the vehicles head low, tail lashed up and down. A self-driven
vehicle came by Toyota Cruiser, 4X4 with roof tents; I think they were camped at Ihaha
public site. This couple started standing up in the car, I told them about the attitude of this
lion. They didnt listen at all and I knew that very soon action will happen. The male lion was
directly looking at this private car and on purpose the driver dropped the camera on the
ground. He opened the door to get out and pick it up. The moment he was picking the
camera, the lion came charging at him. He quickly ran into the car and closed the door, the
lion came and bang the door the lion was now growling and gazing steadily in the car. The
lions front legs were on the railing excalibre on the side of the car. For 45 seconds it was
there, looking for that guy and they lay flat in that car as if there were no people at all. The
lion finally left and joined the female. I guess at the end of it, the couple were wearing
brown pants. Indeed it was a narrow escape!!!It reminds me of the movie PREY.

Dung Beetles, Bad Pilots

On the 5th of April 2013, I was on an afternoon game drive with guests from Ukraine; driving
for about an hour in the park, they decided that they wanted beer. Of course I offered them
but few only wanted water and it was really hot. The game was plenty with impalas,
baboons and elephants.
They all wanted to see lions and so I headed to the place where I saw them in the morning.
Lions are lazy during the day, they spend 20hours sleeping. I was very sure to find them
within the same location. Normally on a game drive you put the wind shield down in case an
animal crosses the road in front. As I was driving, the dung beetle flew straight by me and
past few centimetres above my head and I suddenly knew there was going to be a crash land
behind me. The dung beetle went straight on the face of the guest seated behind me, it hit
him right on the forehead and top speed of the beetle is 40km/hr. This guest was drinking
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beer and holding up the can in panic the guy nearly jumped out of the car. He panicked
when the beetle landed on him and he spilled beer on my head and my back - ooh boy, I was
smelling alcohol the whole game drive. Dung beetles are bad pilots and they always crash
land.

FACT ABOUT A BUFFALO

Latin name: Syncerus caffer
Species:
African Buffalo
Nocturnal and diurnal
MALE

FEMALE

Height:

165cm

150-165cm

Weight:

800kg

550-600kg

Age of weaning:

1.3months

1.3months

Age of maturity:

5years

5years

Gestation period:

9 months

Weight at birth:

Number of young:
Lifespan:

1
27years

27y

Fact About A Zebra

Latin name: Equus burchelli
Species:
Plains zebra
Nocturnal and diurnal
MALE

FEMALE

Height:

140cm

125-140cm

Weight:

250kg

220kg
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Weight at birth:

33kg

33kg

Age of weaning:

1.8months

1.8months

Age of maturity:

2years

2years

Gestation period:

12 months

Number of young:
Lifespan:

1
35years

35years

Fact About A Honey Badger

Latin name: Mellivora campensis
Species:
Honey Badger
Nocturnal and diurnal
MALE

FEMALE

Height:

28cm

23cm

Weight:

14kg

8kg

Weight at birth:

Age of weaning:

Age of maturity:

Gestation period:

6-7months

Number of young:

1-4

Lifespan:

Fact About A Hippotamus

Latin name: Amphibius
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Species:
hippopotamus
Nocturnal and diurnal
MALE

FEMALE

Height:

165cm

145cm

Weight:

2500kg

1600kg

Weight at birth:

35kg

Age of weaning:

8months

8months

Age of maturity:

7years

7years

Gestation period:

8months

Number of young:

Lifespan:

40years

40years

Fact About A Lion

Latin name: Panthra leo
Species:
lion

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Nocturnal and diurnal

MALE

FEMALE

Height:

120cm

110cm

Weight:

220kg

120kg

Weight at birth:

1-2kg

1-2kg

Age of weaning:

8months

8months

Age of maturity:

3 years

3years

Gestation period:

3-3.5years

Number of young:

Lifespan:

20years

20years

Fact About A Leopard

Latin name: Panthra pardus
Species:
leopard
Nocturnal and diurnal
MALE

FEMALE

Height:

70cm

59cm

Weight:

68kg

58kg

Weight at birth:

500g

500g

Age of weaning:

4months

4months

Age of maturity:

2 years

2years

Gestation period:

3-3.5years

Number of young:

1-3

Lifespan:

10years

9years

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FACT ABOUT ELEPHANTS

Latin name: Loxodonta africana
Species:
African savanna elephant
Nocturnal and diurnal
MALE

FEMALE

Height:

3.5cm

2.5cm

Weight:

6500kg

3500kg

Weight at birth:

120kg

120kg

Age of weaning:

3.5years

3.5years

Age of maturity:

10-12 years

10-12years

Gestation period:

22months

Number of young:

Lifespan:

60-70years

60-70years

MALE

FEMALE

FACT ABOUT A HYENA

Latin name: Crocuta crocuta
Species:
Spotted hyena
Nocturnal and diurnal

Height:

86cm

89cm

Weight:

65kg

75kg

Weight at birth:

1-1.6kg

1-1.6kg

Age of weaning:

8months

8months

Age of maturity:

2.5 years

2.5years

Gestation period:

4months

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Number of young:

1-4

Lifespan:

20years

20years

FACT ABOUT A COBRA

Latin name: Naja annulifera
Species:
Snouted cobra
FAMILY: Elapidae
VENOM: neurotoxin
EGG: 8-33 large and oval (46-55 * 25-30mm)
MAXIMUM LENGTH: 2.5metres

Colour is variable but is usually yellow-grey or blue-black; old specimens are darker. The
belly is yellowish with dark blotches.
Nocturnal, the snouted cobra emerges at dusk to forage for small vertebrates. Spreads hood
in threat display. When cornered, it may sham death. It is a non spitter. Initial symptoms
include a burning pain and slight swelling, followed by neurological symptoms and often
death from respiratory failure. Victims require large doses of anti-venom.
The venom yield is 175-300mg; 25-35mg is fatal in human.

HABITAT: savannah, particularly common in bush land and low-veld.

FACT ABOUT A CROCODILE
LATIN NAME: Crocodylus niloticus
SPECIES: nile crocodile
ORDER: crocodylia
FAMILY: crocodylidae
TOTAL LENGTH: 2.5-5.9metres
LIFESPAN: +-100years

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NUMBER OF EGGS: 15-80eggs

AGE OF MATURITY: 15years
WEIGHT: 1000kg

The tail is 40% of the total body length, rectangular in cross-section and has two raised
dorsal keels. They spend a lot of time out of water and eat small prey. Sub-adults prefer
swamps and back waters, eating fish, terrapins, birds and small mammals.
Crocodiles are attentive parents, nest construction and the care of the young one is very
advanced. The main breeding season is May-July and the incubation of the eggs is 90days.
The nest site is defended against predators and other crocodiles; during this period, the
female does not eat but they go to the water to drink. The sex of the hatching is determined
by egg incubation temperature. Females are produced at lower temperatures (26-30oc) and
males at higher temperatures (31-34oc).
They live in large rivers, lakes and swamps but also in river mouths, estuaries and mangrove.
FACT ABOUT A SCORPION
LATIN NAME: Parabuthus villosus
SPECIES: Scorpion
PHYLUM: Arthropoda
CLASS: Arachnida (spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites.)
ORDER: Scorpiones
FAMILY: Buthidae
The Buthidae have slender pedipalps and a thick tail with a big sting. They have powerful
venom which affects the nervous system and they kill or paralyse their prey by stinging.
Their sting can be fatal to some individuals unless they are treated in time with anti-venom.
Scorpions are aboreal, rock-dwelling according to their habitat into burrowing.
FACT ABOUT A DUNG BEETLE
LATIN NAME: Ornitis
SPECIES: dung beetle
FAMILY: Scaribidae- 12 000 species which are large
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NUMBER OF EGGS: 1
INCUBATION: a week or so
LIFESPAN: 4 years
Dung beetles are extremely important to the environment. They can transport huge
amounts of dung/decaying matter back into the soil for decomposition. In one hour, a
number of dung beetles can transport up to 13kg of nitrate into the soil. If there were no
dung beetles, only 2% of the nitrates found in heaps of dung will be absorbed into the soil.
The ancient Egyptians worshipped dung beetles, the great scrab god, khephra- was believed
to roll in the sun slowly across the sky every day and then guide it safely through the
darkness of the night. The Egyptians regarded the scrab so highly that they even emulated
the beetles custom of making the tombs beneath the earth.
FACT ABOUT THE CHEETAH
LATIN NAME: Acinonyx jubatus
Species: cheetah
MALE

FEMALE

Height:

70-90cm

65-80cm

Weight:

35-65kg

35-65kg

Weight at birth:

150-300g

150-300g

Age of weaning:

3months

3months

Age of maturity:

22months

22months

Gestation period:

3-3.5months

Number of young:
Lifespan:

3-4
-

FACT ABOUT PYTHON

LATIN NAME: Sebae natalensis
Species: African rock python
FAMILY: boidae
66

MAX SIZE

MALE

FEMALE

4.25m

5.0m

Weight:

44kg

55kg

Lifespan:

27years

27years

Number of eggs:

30-50

Weight of eggs:

130-160g each

Incubation:

65-80days

Maturity:

3-5years at 2.3m

3-5years at 2-3m

They often bask, especially after feeding or when sloughing and are fond of water in which
they may lie and hunt. Prey is ambushed and constricted, usually at dusk or after dawn
They may fast for long periods (2.5years- have been recorded in captivity). They are found in
open savannah regions, particularly rocky areas and riverine scrub.

FACT ABOUT A WILDEBEEST

LATIN NAME: Connochaetes taurinus
Species: common wildebeest
Day and Night
MALE

FEMALE

Height:

125-145cm

115-142cm

Weight:

200-274kg

168-233kg

Weight at birth:

Age of weaning:

Age of maturity:

4years

3years

Gestation period:

8.5months
67

Number of young:

Lifespan:

FACT ABOUT CARACAL

LATIN NAME: Caracal caracal
Species: caracal
Nocturnal and partially diurnal
MALE

FEMALE

Height:

61-91cm

40-50cm

Weight:

12-18kg

8-13kg

Weight at birth:

Age of weaning:

4-6months

4-6months

Age of maturity:

7-10months

7-10months

Gestation period:

62-81months

Number of young:
Lifespan:

1-4
-

SUGGESTED FURTHER READINGS

Branch, B. (1998) Field guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Struik
Publishers (Pty) Ltd.

Estes, D.R. (1993) The Safari Companion, A guide to watching African mammals.
Russel Friedman Books CC.

Skaife, H.S. (1994) African Insect Life, new edition. Revised by John Ledger. Struik
Publishers (Pty) Ltd.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

PRESLEY SINCHEMBE MBEHA was born and bred at Kavimba village (Chobe enclave west). He
has been in the industry for 18years and he is a graduate from Penn Foster Carrier School
(USA) and has gained a Diploma in wildlife and forestry conservation in 1999. In 2010,
Presley attended World Travel Market at Excell London.
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The Naked Forest is a collection of true tales from best safari guide in Botswana. It takes you
through the journey from being a green horn to the master mind of knowledge and
experience. I bring you the true life of an African child who grew up among the wild animals
to being the best guide of all times. After 18 years in the field of guiding and I will share with
you the good and ugly side of the jungle, becoming a friend and enemy of the wild animals.
All the drama of the animal kingdom is revealed and my stories are full of lively humour, love
and sadness of African animals. The Naked Forest is all about the untold top secrets of the
wilderness and my journey takes me from Panhandle of the Okavango delta, Kwando,
Linyanti, Savuti and Chobe National Parkthe unforgettable memories of the Africa nature.

69