Setting yourself up for a challenge

During July and August, it was high season at the Reserve and co-owner Conrad made it up to the Reserve. He and his company gave themselves a challenge – read his story here: “Our arrival at Limpopo-Lipadi, the tranquility of our River Camp lodge and the very friendly welcome by our guide Moses and staff, let us quickly forget the long journey we had coming to the Reserve. As is our usual custom on arrival, we went out on a brief sundowner drive to the southern plains and the dam there. And what a surprise – we encountered 2 wild dogs trotting towards the dam and followed them there for a wonderful first evening encounter! We chose lodge 1 because I have an interest in astrophotography and the clear area adjacent to this unit is ideal for clear views of the wonderful Botswana night sky. We were accompanied by an old friend who shares our passion for birding, so our main focus was to try to see 80 species in the 5 days we were there – probably a modest total for the pros but a challenge for us! We finally achieved 77 confirmed, with which we were quite content. The weather in late August is particularly pleasant with cool mornings and warm days, so our drives in the open vehicle were very enjoyable. Setting out at sunrise (6:30am), enjoying morning coffee at a variety of locations (dams, plains etc.) while savouring the warming sun started our days and taking full photographic advantage of the magic light. Restful days in camp allowed us to enjoy the river and generally relax and immerse ourselves in primeval Africa – how wonderful to have the opportunity to forget all the trials and tribulations of our 21st century world! We began our afternoon drive around 4pm, sundowners around 6pm and the magical drive back to camp in the enfolding night air as the moon and stars gradually appeared. Another astrophotography choice was the moon phase with the tiny sliver of the new moon first appearing on the 17th accompanied by Mars and Mercury in the darkening western sky. The moon grew in strength on subsequent evenings but was well out of the way for later milky way photography. Back in camp we enjoyed sundowners by the wonderful fireplace which each unit has, and we enjoyed the excellent meals cooked by Chef Gofaone. In addition to our birding endeavours, we saw a wide range of animals. The first morning included another wonderful wild dog encounter on an impala kill right outside the main gate with an exciting follow to southern plains dam. The dog’s den has now been found and the one’s we saw were clearly making hunting forays from the den. We were also nominally looking for elephants and rhino and in so doing, found many giraffe, impala, wildebeest, steenbok, duiker, waterbuck, hyena, and to cap it at middle plains, the old male lion. Our first fruitless elephant/rhino search turned up a young leopard drinking at Pietie’s Dam. The second turned up another female leopard – possibly pregnant – along the power line near the management houses. A third search brought up two amorous leopards in a riverbed near the sipping pools. We began to wonder if Moses knew the difference between a leopard and an elephant… Finally, a sighting of 4 elephants at Cabbage Dam, followed later by another of 2 elephants on the SA side at Harry’s Camp sorted the pachyderms, but the rhino remained elusive until the last evening somewhere near Oppie Koppie which completed our Limpopo-Lipadi Big Four tally. Sadly, one morning brought up our final day and we departed, looking forward to a return soon. Other reserves may have more animals or fancier lodges but the freedom and immersive African experience at Limpopo-Lipadi is unique.” If you would like to be a part of our conservation efforts, do call on us. For discreet information on share sales, contact generalmanager@limpopo-lipadi.org.

To book a safari, request our rates via reservations@limpopo-lipadi.org or via WhatsApp: (+267) 76770191.