Sitatunga Dispatches: Camping near the Buffalo Fence

Last weekend I went camping with four girlfriends on Hilary’s new farm near the Buffalo Fence. It’s an easy one-hour drive from Maun and Hilary had never spent a night there before

We set up camp atop a small escarpment so we had a view of mophane copses and tall, fluttering yellow grass. Botswana is as flat as a pancake so any hint of a vista is a treat to savor. After Christiane got a bush fire going we opened up snacks and poured Bombay gin and tonics. We watched the Southern Cross come up and made promises to get up before dawn to see the rare alignment of Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus. After dinner I climbed up on top of my Land Rover and shook out my bedroll. I hate sleeping in a tent or on the ground. I much prefer sleeping under the moon and stars and above a masterful piece of diesel engineering. Unfortunately we heard no wildlife at night.

The next morning we had coffee, hard-boiled eggs, and campfire grilled cornbread with a small slick of butter. After breakfast we walked to Hilary’s “amphitheater,” a perfect circle of thick mophane trees with soft bushveld grass in the center. It felt ancient and pagan. In the very center water collects in the summer and elephants drink and play. In the winter all that’s left are deep gouges from their feet in the dried mud.

For the rest of the morning I sunbathed (with lots of sunscreen) and read my kindle on top of my Rover. After a lunch of snacks we packed up and drove back to Maun.