Truck Africa: From Kenya to South Africa by Truck (Part 3)

Every night I was scared stiff, especially when we heard the lion roaring from afar, and the howling of the hyenas is paralysing too. I slept little those three nights and dreamed of all the bad animals. The second night Sam had gone out around 22.00 from his tent to chase off with his stick a gigantic elephant that had come to pull the sausages off the sausage tree with its trunk, a metre from our tent. The big hole at the edges of the tree roots was home to an anteater that every night went in search of termites.

We bathed in the warm water of the Okavango three times a day. Nicola even tried to steer the mokoro like Sam; it's not as easy as it looks, in fact he fell into the water fully dressed.

To be honest, I couldn't wait to get back to Maun and sleep somewhere safe.

We ask Sam if we can skip the walk on the last day and instead do a bit more safari by mokoro. I think the worst thing that can happen to you in that place in nature is a kidney stone or appendicitis at night, without a speedboat, without a radio to call someone; air ambulances are out of the question.

When we got back, I gave my sponge mattress to Sam, who much appreciated it; he always slept in a tent on the hard ground.

All in all, a few days after that adventure, I realised that the fear I'd had every night in the tent was in fact the most beautiful part, and without it the day's walking safari alone would have been incomplete.

It was really the night that was the beauty of the tour. To all those who will read these words of mine, I recommend doing this experience; it's incredibly exciting.