We started the year with several wonderful cruises, and by the beginning of June we had been at sea for a total of 85 days. After our daughter’s wedding at the end of June, we were looking forward to a nice long break at home before we set off on our around Africa cruise in November.

It was not to be.

Amongst all the totally irrelevant emails that populate my inbox every day was one that caught my eye. Well, who could not be intrigued by the title, Wild Botswana, and the photo at the top of the email – boating and elephants? Tell me more…….

Tropical Ice were planning a camping trip in the Okavango Delta in July. We had done 2 previous trips with Tropical Ice in Kenya and Tanzania in the past, both had been absolutely wonderful. Now they were going to Botswana? I had to find out more.

The Okavango Delta is one of the most magical places on earth. The Okavango River rises in the mountains of Angola and flows southwards to Botswana. Because Botswana is very flat the river never makes it to the ocean but forms this huge delta with a series of channels and islands, populated by beautiful animals and birds, and one of my favorite creatures, tree frogs.

I stopped what I was doing and immediately sent off an email to Alex, who had been our guide on our previous Tropical Ice trips. He got right back to me.

This trip is to be their first foray into Botswana. The plan is to fly from Maun, the gateway to Botswana safaris, to the north of the country, where we will climb into little boats and over 7 days, slowly make our way to the south, camping on small islands each night. This would be the first time they had ever done this, and they were looking for 10 brave souls to come along with them and be their first guests on this adventure.

I said sign us up, and with great difficulty due to banking regulations, sent off a wire transfer for the nonrefundable deposit for the trip. Yes, we had been planning on spending a lazy July at home, sitting on our deck drinking lemonade and reading, with occasional bursts of energy where we would go on a hike on one of the nearby trails. But the idea of sleeping in a tent on an island in the middle of the delta, listening to the tree frogs and maybe hearing lions roar in the distance, was an opportunity we absolutely couldn’t miss. I went to sleep dreaming of being under the African sky again.

Then in the middle of the night, I started thinking, is this a good idea?

Sleeping on the ground in a pop-up tent may be a challenge. I am no longer as agile and coordinated as I used to be. Trying to get dressed and undressed in a confined space may not work out well. How was my aging body going to cope with sleeping on the ground?  This will be midwinter in Botswana, possibly freezing cold at night. I do not cope well with being cold. And what about the wild animals? I had images of the tent being on a hippo route, and a large hippo walking over me in his rush to get back in the water, how would an elephant know not to step on our pop-up tent as she tries to find the perfect tree to uproot for her late-night snack? I know there are lions and wild dogs in the Delta. What will there be to stop them paying us a visit?

Then I thought about how wonderful it will be to sleep in a tent under the African sky, searching for the Southern Cross. To watch elephants drinking from the channels, hear the shriek of fish eagles, experience the African sun sinking below the horizon on a warm still night. Yes, Africa is not without its sense of danger, but to be in the magical Delta, is totally worth the risk. I was glad I had sent off our deposit and excited about what the trip would bring.