Excommunicating Ali, Blue Moon Boma feast, High Speed Rhino pursuit and victory at last!

Promptly at 5:30am I heard a Motswana woman’s voice calling out, “Knock knock, knock knock”. How lovely, she did not knock on the door but rather was far more gently bidding us to awaken with her sweet voice. I walked to the door and opened it, realizing that she was carrying a rather heavy tray with tea, coffee, milk, sugar and biscuits, and so did not have a free hand to knock with, but still it was romantic. After fresh hot buttered croissant for breakfast, we spent the morning out with Ali whose driving seemed to have gotten increasingly rough and whose manner was a bit too harsh for our liking. I got the distinct impression that he was enjoying the joy riding himself and actually trying to see if he could bounce us out of the speeding vehicle, like a sport. At lunch time David had a little chat with Elka and insisted we switch guides. To facilitate the exchange, David came up with the ingenious idea of Elka telling Ali that the new arrivals that were due that day had specifically requested Ali and so we would be given to another guide while he attended to his fans. Flattery works beautifully on the vain, and Ali bought it hook, line and sinker.

Luckily for us, we met our new gentle guide Rex. Rex drove like a normal person and took care to call out, “Watch out!” each and every time we came close to grazing an acacia. Rex showed us the Hyena den where his uncle had been gored and the plants that were used to stop the bleeding, fond memories I’m sure. He introduced us to the two groups of male lions in the immediate vicinity; the decrepit Mambo boys (as the group of three old lions are called) and youthful Golf boys trio who had muscled the seniors out of their prized position with the females and killed off their young to boot. Disney clearly bases their animated films on careful research.

Rex also loves singing and enjoyed the children’s rousing rendition of “Awimbabway” in the truck, joining in for the chorus as though part of the family. He even taught us all a Setswana song and didn’t mind our mangling the lyrics in the least. Rex was our man. We ended the say with a sunset cocktail hour out in the bush amidst the animals and a beautiful rainbow. (see pics)

New Year’s Eve dinner was served under the stars and blue moon with a Boma feast; I avoided the Warthog Ribs and Kudu filet in favor of the corn polenta and pumpkin stew. Wild dogs were howling in the distance as we sat entranced watching the approaching electrical storms surround us.

Our last morning had only Justin and I fully committed and up at 5:30am for the final elusive rhino hunt with Rex. When almost all hope had been abandoned, a radio signal from Ali came alerting us that rhinos were in the vicinity. Rex asked if we were up for a punishing high speed drive through the bush, and by god we were. Rex warned us it was only a 50/50 chance we’d see the rhinos, and so Justin adopted a stern focused expression and attempted to cross himself, although as a young Jewish boy, he has absolutely no idea how to cross himself beyond what he has seen in movies and seemed to be merely poking his shoulders and belly with vigor.

Off we went on what can only be characterized as a truly wild chase (never to be referred to as a “chase” for the purposes of the Botswana ministry of tourism whose armed guards are authorized to shoot to kill any guide seen involved in a “chase”) culminating in our seeing 2 male rhinos in the wild running in the bush with remarkable speed. We had done it, the Big 5 sighting at last, and some excellent photos to boot (see pics). Rex, oh gentle Rex, thank you!