Africa 2024 Day One
I’ve been so excited for this trip! I have been planning and re-planning for the past 3 months, and when 27 July, 11pm arrived and I was on my way to Changi Airport, I had no idea this trip would far exceed all expectations.
Here’s a quick summary of how I got to my first destination:
SG ➡️ Johansburg
Johansburg ➡️ Maun, Botswana
Bush plane to Okavango Delta
3 nights at Shinde Camp
Here’s a quick video of getting there.
3 stages of getting to the Okavango Delta with the last phase by Bush Plane and landing on dirt airstrips
A musical welcome to my first location; Ker & Downey Shinde Camp
After just over 20 hours of traveling from Singapore I arrived here around 3:00pm, 28 July. This was just in-time to drop off my bags in my tent and go out on an afternoon/evening game drive. While out on this drive, I saw Giraffe, Zebra, various Antelope and many different birds. The light was incredible and looking at my photos later in the evening confirmed this. Here are a couple examples:
While out on the game drive, we stopped for a short time to watch the sunset while entertaining a Gin/Soda. These stops are called Sundowners and are a common practice while out on game drives here in Africa.
I don’t think this is a “great” photo but it conveys a sense of peace and natural beauty, I was part of. This was my first day and it helped me appreciate the moment I was experiencing.
This was a small herd of female Lechwe Antelopes feeding near a large Termite Mound with the sun announcing the end of the day.
Upon our return, it was already dark. The rules in the camp are that no guests are allowed to walk around in the facility after dark without being escorted by a guide. This rule was brought to life on that first night, when my guide came to pick me up at the tent, he said we’d have to go on detour because a hippo was currently hanging out on the path to the common/dining area.
The facilities are beautiful at night and the food was fantastic with unlimited drinks. I'll cover the facilities in a later entry, either Day 2 or 3, since this is getting long. I’ll end with a link to the Youtube video I did at the end of the first day. Many of you have already seen this, but I was only able to do these end of day photos 2 more times. The activities, downloading all the photos/videos, and backing everything up left little time for doing videos; plus I was knackered by end of day.
A longer video that I put together myself.