“There.” the whisper is urgent. The Land Cruiser stops. “What?” asks Rowan, looking up from his manga comic. “Lion,” says our guide Will Jones, his tone still hushed, pointing into the yellow grass ahead. “Where?” Rowan shouts. “Shhh,” says everyone in the vehicle, in unison.
A large male emerges from the waist-high grass with languid purpose and crosses our path on the sandy track we’ve been bouncing over – he’s no more than 30 feet in front of us. A large open wound is visible on his right flank. We’re silent as he passes. When the cat slinks back into the grass my nine-year-old turns to me, a wide grin on his face. “Bragging rights,” he says.
Kweene Trails campKyle de Nobrega
I’ve brought Rowan to the Okavango Delta in northwest Botswana in southern Africa to see exactly this – as well as whatever else the bush might offer up – entrusting this mission to Jones and his Journeys by Design, a curator of bespoke African adventures. I’ve asked Jones to get us as far off the beaten path as one might reasonably take a nine-year-old city slicker who’s never stepped foot on this continent before. So rather than stay in one of the posh permanent camps that Botswana is famous for, Jones has brought us to Kweene Trails, a mobile, seasonal camp in a remote corner of the delta on a private concession that can handle 10 visitors, but hosts only one group at a time. We see no sign of other human life during our stay. This is highly supervised low safari in action, led by head guide Ace Gabanakitso and Kweene cofounder Botswana native Simon Byr.
Helicopter trip in the Okavango DeltaKyle de Nobrega
