OUR navigation from Third Bridge to the North Gate, en route for the Savuti Marsh in the Chobe National Park, was definitely hindered by the map.
After an hour of exploring, back-tracking and consulting this mendacious scrap of paper, we found out that we had been on the right road in the first place.
Delayed by this, a couple of beers at Kwaai River Lodge and a puncture, we arrived at the entrance to Chobe after the gate had closed.
It had been a long, hard drive and Corrie was exhausted, so Richard found him a chair, I found him a beer and he sat there like Lord Muck while the three of us did all the work.
This greatly amused the locals who, though they tend to do things this way themselves, do not expect to see a European drinking beer, while his wife and children made camp.
Karen, meanwhile, had wandered over to the African children and was busy playing Lady Bountiful with a bag of sweets.
Bright and early next morning we set out for the Savuti Marsh. It was a good thing that we hadn’t gone through the gate on the previous night, because it was much further than the map had led us to believe.
Besides that, travelling in the early morning meant that we had time to stop and film any animals we saw. The caracal refused to pass the time of day with us, but the wild dogs were much more obliging.
At first we saw only pups and nursing mothers, but as we sat and waited, the rest of the pack returned one by one from their kill. As each member arrived, he or she would go and sniff at the pups.
We assumed at the time that they were just greeting each other. It was only when the film was developed that we realised that they were regurgitating food for the young.
African wild dogs can eat only meat which is fresh and still warm, which is why they are almost impossible to keep in captivity. The hunting members of the pack feed the pups and mothers as soon as they return from the kill.
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