A series of private game reserves make up the Tuli Block in Botswana. The landscape is similar to Mapungubwe Park which is not far as the crow flies. Elephant rule here. The Mopane forest is groomed down to bushes by the hungry beasts and the baobabs are scarred from elephant tusks. It is an unforgiving landscape, hot and dry with copious amounts of acacia thorn bushes and rocky trails. The Croc shoes I’m wearing do not stop thorns, come to find out, but better crocs than bare feet for now.

The Limpopo River Lodge (LRL) is the only self-drive property on the Tuli Block, and on top of that attraction, the camping is superior. We asked the young lady who checked us in, if we don’t like our site, can we move? She smiled and said, you will like it. And was she right. The ablution ranked as one of the top four (open air shower, hot water, beautiful layout, stunning view) and the campsite was right on the water. We kept going back to the office to book another night. Waterholes are spaced around; many hours were spent at them observing elephant and other animals’ behavior. The endless parade of birds, including my holy grail, the Violet-eared Waxbill, were a bonus. Book a week at campsite #1, you will not regret it.

Next stop was only 27 kilometers down the main road, at Molema camp, which was perfectly fine although nowhere near the LRL in style. The Limpopo isn’t flowing here, there are only pools of water on the riverbed margins which we could walk to during the day. The guides tell us nothing about what to do if something other than birds surprise us at the riverbed. Fortunately only birds were around. We booked an early morning game drive to see what else was out there.

Leopards appear so supremely confident. Look at this one, isn’t he just perfect? He was in plain sight of the track, lounging around while we admired him. Not a care in the world or so it seems, and may it always be that way. This Black Eagle chick isn’t so confident, but damn cute just the same. The Black Eagle parents have raised chicks here for 10 years, our guide told us, and only two of the chicks have successfully matured. The nesting site is too low. Baboons and leopard can easily reach a chick in this nest. We wish the chick the
best and climb down from the cliff and wander back to camp. It is time to go on down the Limpopo and back to Mapugubwe Park for a few days, and why not? We loved that park and what a privilege it is to spend time there again. We’ll be back to civilization soon enough. Then it is on to our third and final trip to Kruger National Park – “The Kruger” as it is called. Yes, it will take three trips to see it all, and it will be worth it.