Spring Break: How I Nearly Perished

Let me tell you about the ways I almost died this past week during my seven day safari trip. It started off like any other spring break, too much alcohol and a one night stand. Just kidding, instead of your typical spring break plans where you and your closest friends decide to take a trip to Florida, my friends and I went on a week long safari in Northern Botswana. Now before I get into this perfectly planned trip, I want to make it clear that this trip was with my program and was prepaid for and planned by professionals. With that in mind, I can now tell you about the numerous life or death experiences I encountered and how they changed my life. Obviously I am still alive and thankfully have all of my limbs. Sorry that I ruined the ending, but now to start at the beginning. Our base camp for the week was located at Audi camp; this place was suited for presidents and ambassadors. The tents had dressers and porches, I swam in a pool and ate on a deck over looking a river. Our mode of travel to our next destination was a giant safari truck that took down anything that crossed our path when we went off-roading. There are no seat belts when you off road.

At one point we crossed a rickety bridge made of wood. Come to think of it, this should have been my first clue that this week was going to be a bit unsafe. Our next mode of transportation were canoes. Here is a photo of how we almost sank:

Although I did not see any myself, I was told that black mambas and crocodiles were hiding in the grass that brushed against my canoe. If that doesn’t freak you out, then you should know that I did see a hippo, which happens to be the second deadliest animal in Africa. To make things worse, I continued to ask my guide to inch closer to the hippo. I am sure he thought I had a death wish.

Shortly after setting up our camp site for the night, we separated into two groups for a leisurely walk through the bush. This time the predators in the area were lions, leopards, and you can count elephants if you have fruit in your tent. Although we did not see any lions or leopards we saw elephants!

Shortly after seeing the elephants we came across over twenty hippos. Out of pure excitement, my group and I kept nearing closer to the hippos to take pictures. As a result of us infringing on the hippos territory, when we looked back to watch the hippos, they were drawing nearer as if to say “you make one ripple in our water and we are charging”. Of course one of our guides thought it was a brilliant idea to throw his walking stick in the water. I ran. 

The following day we woke up with the sun rise and a delicious breakfast. We started our day with another nature walk and this time we saw Elephants, giraffe, monkeys, and springbok. Later that day I swam in the Okovango Delta, the same water that the previous day I canoed in, yes I swam with snakes, crocodiles and hippos. After a few too many pranks by my tour guides, I decided to collect my shells for my little sister and get out of there. We traveled back to Audi camp and spent the night gazing up at the stars. Never have I seen so many shooting stars. We saw the milky way, mars, and a bunch of constellations that we rambled off to one another, we had no idea what we were talking about.

Over the course of the next three days, we spent most of our time traveling through the game reserves in our safari trucks. Our time was filled with singing songs from the sixties to now, playing road trip games, and sleeping. Caution: when sleeping in a truck without windows, you will get sun burned. On only one side of your body. Here is a photo of us pretending we are in a music video and some cute giraffes:

I must confess, the way that we were camping felt luxurious. We were spoiled with a crew of people who arrived at our camp site while we were looking at animals, set up our tents, showers, toilets, and dinning areas. We at three meals a day and had a snack before dinner, then dessert and wine. I am forever grateful for the people who made this week happen. 

Before I make us sound too spoiled, I’ll tell you something about having to take care of your business in the bush and keeping up with your hygiene. Our toilet was a hole dug in the ground with a little cover over the top. This did not keep away the bugs, nor did the aroma keep animals away. Before I get too graphic, I will just leave you with the image of me getting lost at night trying to find this ‘toilet’ and once I found it, there was a rodent inside and was convinced the bugs were going to get my bare bottom. As for the shower, bugs were not so much a problem as much as wild animals. I took one shower. While taking my bucket shower, I was facing the dark abyss full of wild animals. Keep in mind the night before we had a hyena come into our camp scavenging for food. As I rinsed the shampoo out of my hair, I saw eyes in the bushes. At that moment, I was fully prepared to streak across camp. Thankfully, there was no streaking involved, but I did go to bed with shampoo in my hair.

We ended our week in Chobe; one of the most majestic places I have ever had the privilege of traveling. In order to get the full experience, we went on a private boat tour. As we sipped our Savana Dry beer, animals surrounded our boat. Hundreds of elephants were drinking and eating around the water. We watched them fight, and chase each other. We saw a family crossing the river with a four month old baby. We even saw them mating.

Elephants were not the only animal at this beautiful watering hole. We saw Nile crocodiles, the deadliest of all the crocs. Feet away were cape buffalo and hippos; the two deadliest animals in Africa. Our guide told us it was a treat to see the hippos out of the water during the day. What he didn’t tell us was that they also liked to charge the boats. Every hundred or so feet a hippos would come charging into the water, disappear and then burst out of the water feet away from the boat snorting water. The goal for them was to flip over the boat. Our guide found this humorous, which seemed to be another theme of the week: Comedian Guides. As the sun began to set, our ride came to an end.

On our way back to camp our driver got a call. The speed of the car increased. Confused and curious, we patiently waited to know what was happening. Once we drove behind some trees, it all became clear. There was a family of lions. We were so close that when we climbed onto the top of the truck, if I were to fall I would have landed in the lap of a lion cub. I have never been happier to be so close to death. Later that night our camp site was surrounded by lions and elephants. We went to bed to the sound of trumpets and roars. This was one of the best weeks of my life.