We were whisked away from the Fairlawns and driven to the Johannesburg airport early in the morning. While going through the security checkpoint our bug spray was confiscated. It was 4 oz, which makes it too large, but it had gone through three other checkpoints prior to this. No problem, there was a pharmacy right inside the airport terminal. Armed with new bug spray we flew coach class to Maun Botswana, population 56,000. It was not a large city as seen from the windows and we were not there for long. Our Belmond representative was there and she was so efficient that we were through customs, immigration and then through the domestic terminal screening. One gentleman at the airport told us that we were to be assigned to the best guide that is at the lodge. Then we got on a Mack Air flight and off to the Savuti Elephant Lodge. We had not been on the ground for more than 3 minutes before we saw a big male leopard. He was most generous and he sat still the whole time we were there taking pictures. What a fine beast. We got to the lodge and were greeted with a traditional song. We were given welcome drinks and I took a few pictures. The lilac breasted roller, the most colorful bird in the camp, was right at the entrance and the elephants were drinking from the water hole right next to the dining area. After dropping off our bags and getting some water we were taken out into the bush to meet our guide, LG. It turned out that it was an open secret that LG was the best guide in the camp. We jumped in the safari car with two other guests, who were from Singapore, and off we went. LG first took us to see three full grown male lions. They are brothers, the oldest is 7 and the next three were 5 years old. The have banded together to maintain their territory and they also seem to like each others company. The biggest and oldest was sleeping in the road with a very full belly. The other two were munching on a Cape Buffalo carcass. The body cavity was large enough to fit the entire head of the feeding lion. We continued the drive and saw a red beaked or a yellow beaked hornbill every 50 feet. There were some types of birds that we saw almost continuously. These were red beaked cape fowl, sand grouse, green banded doves and long tailed sparrows. The sunset was glorious and a deep red. The bush fires in the area may be to blame. My camera got fooled by the sun and occasionally the picture of the sun came out purple. We headed back to the camp for dinner and some much needed sleep. We got into the tent and found that it had not cooled down from the heat of the day. The mosquito netting prevented any air flow and so we moved one of the mattresses to the floor right under the AC vent and made up a bed for Leslie. She was able to fall asleep until the 5:30 AM wake up knock on the door
