Baobob Camp #2 near Chobe National Park, Botswana

The sounds of Africa are awesome! That is what I wrote in my journal after the first night in the tented camp. For the record, these tents are not tents as we think of them. They have showers and bathrooms and are like a hotel room except they have canvas and net walls with huge windows, that can be covered for rain, but at night you can leave open and hear the animals and feel the breezes. The first night was hot and I thought, oh man, we are in for it. There was a ceiling fan but they had down covers and blankets on the bed which we laughed about. There was turn down service at night and everything was first class. When we told Dalton there were bathrooms in the tents, he thought that was the funniest thing he had ever heard! He just laughed and laughed! I thought about that when we got there. I will have to post photos of the different camps as each was unique and each tent was different. Our guides gave us some instructions on sounds to listen for so we'd know what animal we were hearing, but unfortunately, we couldn't remember them-by the end of the trip, we did recognize some! The baboons were all over this first camp and they squawked and got on the rooftop of the lodge, which was an open air lodge where we gathered for meals and talks and all. There was a place to get drinks (including my beloved Cokes) and couches so we could visit. We had our first safari this morning and oh boy, was it a good one! We were in Chobe National Park and we had to stop and go through the hoof and mouth disinfecting process going in and out each time. The vehicles had 3 seats plus the front seat for the driver. There were 10 of us in our group so we split into 5 in each and it worked out so well and we could spread out and taking photos was easy. We all got familiar with "African massages" as we bounced along the pathways and mudholes and it felt rather like Mr Toad's Wild Ride at Disney World. The first day the driver/guide asked us what we wanted to see most. I said Giraffes and Zebras. Before the morning was over, we had seen 6 giraffe and too many zebras to count! We also saw our first lion-a female napping under a tree. We drove right up next to her and she just looked at her. The instructions were strict-no standing up or sudden movements or loud noises. We just sat and snapped photos of her and were amazed to be that close. That drive was just amazing-everywhere we looked there were animals-impala, zebra, greater kudu, mongoose, warthogs, sable antelopes, cape buffalo, fish eagle bird perched perfectly for a photo, two black backed jackels running across the plains, and we saw leopard and lion prints. We just could not believe all we saw on the one drive. At this point, the rains had not started so there were no leaves on the bushes or trees and things were so easy to spot. By the time the trip was over, the rains had started and the leaves came and it became more of a challenge to spot the wildlife.