Prey or be preyed upon. Meerkats are curious and friendly and are constantly scanning the skies for birds of prey that feed upon these small mammals.
Crossing into Botswana at Mohembo was a breeze. Twenty minutes of paperwork and we were rolling down a dirt track to Shakawe and a ferryboat east. The Okavango Delta is the jewel of southern Africa. Receiving annual floodwaters from the Kavango River, the Okavango draws a bounty of wildlife to its marshes and savannas. Hippos, crocs, and water buffaloes convene along the banks of its cool waters while kudus, elephants, and monkeys forage in the bush.
We awoke to a symphony of bird songs and the chomping sounds of hippos grazing on papyrus. We had hired a mokoro (dugout canoe) guide named Double and spent six hours during the previous day working our way through a labyrinth of narrow channels, lagoons, and thick reeds, ultimately setting up our tents on a postage-stamp-size island. During the sizzling months of summer, the delta shrivels to a core area of permanent swamps. Upon receiving an annual pulse of water from the Okavango River, the delta expands to over 14,000 square kilometers and attracts all manner of fauna. For the next two days we would be in another one of Africa's few truly wild places.
Midway through Hoanib Canyon, the steep canyon walls narrowed to form a natural corridor for water and wildlife. We stopped as a family of elephants passed to the north but wouldn't come near our position.
Geographically bordered by four countries and strategically coveted by the governments of each, the Caprivi Strip has been torn by strife and frequented by Angolan rebels. The only traffic allowed was by escorted convoy during daylight hours. The east end of the Caprivi put us on the Zimbabwe border near Victoria Falls. Other than the grandeur of the falls themselves, this area possesses few redeeming qualities. Crime, poverty, and a corrupt government keep everyone, especially tourists, on edge.
We had been on the road for 30 days and Victoria Falls was the terminus of our adventure. We had negotiated the rains from Cape Town to Namibia and the Orange River, climbed some of the world's highest dunes in the Namib-Naukluft Desert and traversed the desolate Skeleton Coast. Our camps were ravaged by hungry baboons and visited by hippos and rogue elephants, and we had paddled into one of the planet's most pristine inland deltas. Our adventure in southern Africa was coming to an end, but it seemed as if it had just begun. As the wheels of our plane left the tarmac, we searched our maps and scanned the horizon, already planning our next African road trip.