The main highway to our next destination in the bush.

This giraffe family seems to be on a mission. They are all headed in the same direction as we are.

The giraffes don’t seem to mind sharing their voyage with the wildebeests.

In the safari vehicle I felt invisible to the animals, like being inside a burqa.

Time to take a break and get something to eat. These acacia bushes are a favorite food of giraffes.

This acacia tree, like many of the trees on the savannah, managed to grow beyond a bush in spite of the giraffes.

On our drive, we share binoculars, scanning for birds. We listen to them earnestly singing their own special songs. This bird is called a Bee Eater.

Not all the birds out here are ferocious raptors.This lilac-breasted roller is one of a multitude of brightly-colored, sweetly chirping birds.

What a bird watcher’s paradise! With 450 different kinds of birds in this region, each with it’s own special plumage and personality, there is an endless feast for the eyes to behold. This bird is called a Yellow Billed Hornbill.

Guinea fowl eating termites, their favorite meal. Guinea fowl walk nonchalantly in the road and get out of the way just in time to avoid getting run over. They are a food source for many animals—and people. They taste just like chicken, according to Peace Shakuma, our local guide.

We see termite condos scattered throughout the savannah.

A male Cape Buffalo stares at us passively as our vehicle rolls past him. The thick parts of the horn above his forehead are for banging heads with competing males.

Jackals look like a cross between a fox and a coyote. They daintily trot around the savannah looking for something to scavenge.

These dwarf mongoose eat snakes and birds’ eggs. Jackals hunt the mongoose for food.

As we drove along the sandy road, we saw a lioness’s tail stretched out and her body partly hidden in the thicket.

We drove the vehicle right next to the lioness and could see that she was devouring the thigh of an Eland, the largest of the antelope species.

The Eland antelope provided enough meat to feed the entire pride of lions, including the male, several lionesses, and the young lions. Here they are, lying in the shade, with massively distended bellies. David said that the enormous meal will last them several days.

A few more of the adult lions passed out in the shade, oblivious to our vehicle only a few feet from them.

I watched this cub trying to get milk from his sleeping mother. Three of her cubs managed to suckle as she slept, but the fourth cub was left out. He stood on his mother’s side, impatiently waiting for his turn to get some milk.

The male is in a stuporous state from gorging on the Eland meat.

Every once in a while the lionesses sit up to make sure that their cubs are safe.

For a few minutes this lioness is conscious of our presence and then rolls onto her side again and goes back to sleep.

This lioness was injured during the Eland hunt. She had a gash in her right flank, probably due to a kick from the Eland. She was uncomfortable and couldn’t sleep. I know what that feels like.

In the morning we encountered the same wildebeest herd we had seen the night before.

Baobab trees dot the savannah in Botswana. As a young girl, I read the delightful French series called “The Adventures of Tintin,” about a young boy and his dog who travel to Africa. Since then, the baobab tree became the quintessential symbol of African vegetation—in my mind.

A pair of Kudu, another of many species of African antelope. The meat is sought after by all the predators, including human.

We saw a scattering of lone male wart hogs and watched them wandering around, rummaging the ground for food

More zebras.

Mother zebra and suckling baby.

A lone ostrich stops eating for a few seconds to look over in our direction.

At last David spotted the leopardess that he was hoping to find. He recognized her from her markings and said that she was a young leopard whom he had been tracking since she was a cub. For many years he also tracked her mother.

We found the leopardess feeding on chunks of meat with her family of mothers and cubs.

On most trees, at the very top, you will see birds surveying the land. Some are eagles and vultures waiting to get their turn at scavenging after a kill.

The snake found near one of the tents. No one needed to be reminded to keep their tent zippered at all times.

Our dining hall

The kitchen area.

The staff generously offered to wash our dirty clothes each day.

Ironing in the bush the old way. Coals from the fire sit inside the metal iron.

There were 8 wonderful staff people to support our safari. These two men I got to know and appreciate—Ke Ke and Madhu.

My absolute favorite person on staff was Peace Shamuka, our tracker/guide who works with David Carson. He is kind, patient, extremely knowledgeable about life in the bush, and has a good sense of humor.

Becky Wiles comes from the Oaxaca area of Mexico where she went to retire after working in the naval shipyard in Washington state.

Paul Romaine divides his time between Oregon and Baja, Mexico.

Stan Berning and Meg MacDonald live in Santa Fe. Stan is an accomplished artist and Meg runs her own travel company.

Leila Vale and Louis Romero from Colorado. They met each other at a party and discovered that they both have Cuban parents. It was fun speaking Spanish with them.

Jim Quick from Baton Rouge. Jim had been on other trips with Deborah Stephens—like the whale trip in Baja— and wanted to taste more of what she offered.