After 3 wonderful days in Moremi, it was time to head on to Savuti - another dream destination for us, somewhere between Moremi and Chobe. What adventure would come next??
The novelty of getting out of my car in the bush will never end! My parents won't be impressed with me, but it really is a thrilling feeling!
We found a bird hide along our way and stopped to have a look...
Lunch with a view! I'm sure that there were PLENTY of crocs both in the water and hiding in the grass surrounding it, but we didn't see any and this spot was too perfect to not stop and enjoy lunch...
Jake enjoying the view from the bird hide...
Avin and I back at the cars in search of some lunch...
A pretty wildflower...
Part of our lunch time view...
Jake with Avin, Nic and Ariana...
Our group enjoying a big lunch...
Army ants are frighteningly big - you wouldn't want one of those wondering up your shorts...
The joys of 4x4'ing - we got stuck. Nic went first (that's him at the back), me second and then Estelle. Fortunately, Estelle was able to rescue me and then we had to get Nic out. Yes, that's Jake over there helping out! And incidentally, the rope kept slipping off Estelle's tow bar, so I actually had to rescue Nic. it's one of the novelties of travelling in a group, there's always someone to help when you get stuck. We would've been much less brave and taken a lot less risks if we were on our own...
I haven't spoken too much about the state of the roads, but they really weren't great. As I've already mentioned, we visited Botswana at the end of their rainy season. There was a lot of water on the roads, which meant a lot of mud...
We seemed to drive through puddles for hours and hours and hours - at least I know how to drive successfully through a puddle now... 
All the water also means that the driving takes a lot longer and you've sometimes got to find ways to get around the road when the puddles are too big. With 5 kids in tow, it also meant that we had to stop every now and then to stretch our legs. We had a little break with some zebras...
Jake snapping some pics with his phone - it was so tempting to try get closer...
A pretty posing zebra - this shot also shows you how long the grass was...
Our now very dirty car...
We found little villages along the way and it was great for Jake to
actually see how tough life can get. It was great to see some
subsistence farms and how they work to protect their crops from the wild
animals...
Oooh and a pretty wild flower...
We did see some more beautiful animals along the way (these are all Jake's)...
A bateleur - Jake's favourite eagle...
Impala...
Ellies...
We did more bridge crossings, which feel quite exciting, especially when they're rickety, going over water and you don't really know the car that well...
Another day, another giraffe...
The clouds building up again and a pretty rainbow (faintly on the right hand side)...
Heading towards camp...
And then we were there (this picture was taken later, when the sun was up again)...
And there's simply nothing better than arriving at camp after a long day's driving and lighting the fire up...
A morning visitor...
Did I tell you that Jake learned to drive? Like a BOSS!! And he was so chuffed with himself. He's been dying to learn and Nic taught him one afternoon. It meant that I had to beg to be allowed to drive on the dirt roads again! Oh and I didn't mention that this is manual drive, not automatic. Jake's still got a lot to learn and he's still got lots of time to get it right, but it was a good place to learn...
Jake actually drove all the way from our camp to go and see the rock paintings. This is the view from up the little hill where the rock paintings were...
Oh and there's my handsomeness...
He's learned about the San rock paintings at school, so he was able to explain to everyone what they were of and what they meant...
Another smile from my big boy...
More rain clouds building up along our way back to camp...
We often decided to braai for lunch, rather than supper. The kids (and adults) were usually exhausted in the evenings and by braai'ing in the afternoon, we had left overs ready to pick on in the evening. It just simplified things for us a little. The campsites at Savuti were very sandy...
Because of the looming rain clouds, we put up our awning, so that we would have some shelter if the rain arrived, which they didn't...
We all parked near the entrance to the campsite, so that nobody got stuck in the sand...
Oh and a baby squirrel fell out of the tree! How cute is this...
Jake heard him fall and the poor little guy cried and cried for his mommy...
He was so tiny and we were first worried that he'd hurt himself, but he turned out to be quite OK...
We first tried to put him back in the tree, closer to his watchful mom, in the hopes that she'd find him and rescue him...
That didn't work too well and the starlings were trying to catch him...
Jake and Nic trying to protect their baby...
Jake made the executive decision to move the squirrel back to the sand where he'd originally fallen....
He lay there and called and called and called his mom...
And eventually she came...
After checking him out, she rolled him up, mostly into her mouth and hauled him back up the tree. No sooner had she put him safely back in his nest, when he fell out again and she had to repeat the exercise. Not a clever squirrel that one, but oh so cute...
During the day, we'd seen vultures circling from our camp and decided to investigate that evening. We'd also heard the lions roaring during the night and so knew that a kill must have happened nearby. Not too far from camp, we discovered a lion snoozing right next to the road. Thankfully Jake has an auto-ISO setting on his camera, so he managed to get a couple of good shots. We were there until it got dark and then decided to head back to camp, which is where our next adventure began. As Nic turned his car to head back to camp, he got himself stuck in the mud. Right next to this lion. And I mean right next to him. Nic had to jump out of his car, open the back of mine, find a tow rope, attach the rope and then I tried to get him out the mud. The way the rope was attached though, meant I nearly pulled his car right over and he had to get back out the car and re-attach the rope to the front of his car, even closer to the lion. Then I had to drive straight into the bush and finally got him out the mud. Fortunately, the lion wasn't very hungry and we only saw the one, but I'm pretty sure that he had friends somewhere nearby. We all needed our drinks that night around the campfire...
And then it was time to go again. Sadly, we only had 2 nights at Savuti. Below is our car alongside the ablution block, which had to be elephant-proofed as the ellies kept poking their trunks into the windows while people were showering...
It's a weird thing leaving the parks in Botswana. You go through an unfenced gate, this one just outside Chobe and sign out, but are still in the wild. This is just a pic of the roads, a main intersection actually...
A stop in the road...
And looking back down the road from where we'd come...
On we go down the dusty, dusty roads...
Next stop - Vic Falls!
See you tomorrow XXX
