Call of the wild

We were mesmerised as the two hippos rose out from the streak of orange light across the lake, silhouetted in the late afternoon sun. Sipping drinks as our boat cruised slowly up the Okavango Delta channel, we could not help feeling the magical scene captured all that is beautiful about Africa. This was an epic end to a great adventure tour, and we both agreed: the almost surreal calmness and serenity on the water surrounding Third Bridge camp could not be further removed from our busy lives in Jozi.

To top it all off, on the short walk back to camp, an elephant and her calf were grazing just metres from us. Had this been at the start of our tour we would have panicked and done all the things we weren’t supposed to. But over the previous 12 days we had learned some things that only this type of wild camping can teach.

This Okavango Delta Adventure with the folks from Ultimate Adventures had its origins over two years ago, when I was researching which 4x4 to purchase. I came across the tour company’s founder, Simon Steadman, on an online 4x4 forum. The online community spoke highly of Simon and Ultimate Adventures, and I remember thinking that he would be the tour operator of choice if I ever ended up going on a self-drive safari in Africa.