Whenever three year old Hamish is cranky, he tells you to “Go to Africa!”.... so we did! We joined a group of Australians, Canadians and New Zealanders and , most importantly, knowledgeable guides, for a 3 week, 5000 km tour in an ‘air conditioned’ bus... it had 11 large windows  kept open so we were cooler but windswept!

Namibia has the driest of dry coasts, with the magnificent high, richly coloured sand dunes going to the edge of the Atlantic. Sossusvlei was awesome and it is incredible to think the Bushmen were able to survive here in this harsh dry environment. We then moved inland to the oldest rock art in the world, both rock carvings and paintings and it was great to have local guides give us the history of the area.

But for most of us the highlight was to be the National Parks in Botswana. I was concerned that we had already  ‘seen it all’ with David Attenborough, the Discovery channel  and even going back to the days of Armand and Michaela Denis... remember them on early TV?

We were there in the dry season, the best time to see wildlife because the water holes are few and far between so the animals congregate in a more confined area. At Etosha NP we saw lions setting up a hunt on thirsty zebra. We saw a rhino chase off the hyena pack which were stalking a herd of wildebeest... they were predators on her patch and that was unacceptable. We laughed at a young giraffe, just two months old and still trying to gain control of those gangly legs. The words ‘Zebra Crossing’ took on a whole new meaning. There were mobs of wildebeest, springbok and zebra grazing together, competing for grass but relying on each other; some have a better sense of smell, sight or hearing to alert them all to predators being around.

We quickly learned to recognise the different antelope... kudu, springbok, steenbok, impala, gemsbok, hartebeest, roan; we recognised the difference between black and white rhino and we saw so many different birds. We were entertained by the elephant families who came to drink and play in the waterholes. Washing first, then covering themselves in mud was part of the ritual; the mothers kept a close eye on the little ones and pushed them out of the mud if they were floundering. Some of the youngsters were comically unimpressed when it was time to leave, their annoyance was palpable!

In the bus we were high up and could see over the scrub, so we became efficient at alerting each other to wildlife “Elephant on the right”, “Cheetah to left” Yes we managed to see a cheetah and cub just finishing off a meal.  My favourites in Etosha were three male elephants grazing quietly, covered in mud, their eyes only just visible. We were so close we felt we could just reach out of the bus window and touch them, but they were relaxed and unconcerned, accepting of our presence and being gracious enough to allow us to be part of their world for a few minutes. Pure magic!

We moved on to Chobe NP and here we saw many hippo, incredibly dangerous animals and when you see those huge jaws you understand why. We watched rangers darting Cape buffalo from a helicopter to check for anthrax. We saw stealthy, silent crocodiles slithering quietly into the water to lie in wait for the unwary animals coming to drink. And here we saw a leopard, sitting in a tree, surveying her kingdom, and with a yawn she jumped down just in front of our bus and wandered off into the scrub. We managed some super photo and how wrong I was to think the television would spoil the experience of seeing the expanse and pace of life in the wild.

Whilst we were in South Africa and Namibia I was able to buy some lovely fabric and I have made a quilt based on a design I saw over there. It has plenty of African wildlife and is the first of four, one to be done for each grandchild. Hamish scored the first quilt and now, whenever he tells me to “Go to Africa!” I go and lie on his bed.

Caroline Gaden