This morning’s 07h05 a.m. flight from the camp to Kasane should have been standard procedure as always; however like with so many aspects of nature’s magic, it was not. 
One of the camps’ staff members, Tau, was appointed to take a Safari Air pilot, Anthony, to the airstrip at dawn for pre-flight checks. The drive takes only a few minutes, however they were faced with a new challenge once they arrived at the airstrip. For Anthony, an experienced Kiwi pilot racking up flight miles this month as if they were minutes on a clock; with all of his experience in flying in the Okavango Delta and other regions of Botswana, he had never experienced this kind of situation before. Five young lionesses were lying on the grass underneath the right wing of his plane.
As Tau described the events afterwards, he said that he and Anthony drove to the plane, however even with the noise of the vehicle the lions did not move. Anthony made what must have been a flying leap from the truck’s cab into the plane’s cockpit; still the lions were not in the least interested in moving.
“He said, ‘You better take me back with you, or there will be nothing left but my shoes!’” Tau said of Anthony. Tau flashed his signature grin and giggled. He assured me the lions were in a hunting mood. Tau and Anthony decided to go back to the camp to try and make a new plan. (In the camps Africa fixing things are always a challenge and with problems this far off the grid, the mantra is, “Make a plan”. “Sort it out.” They somehow always do, and always seem to solve their problems in the most resourceful ways in these remote areas of the bush. This is a “can-do” country where people are born positively capable. (I wish some of it would rub off on me.) They decided to return. Tau said Anthony jumped back into the cockpit again and started the engine. The noise and the wind from the engine got the lions’ attention. The pilot moved the plane into a spot farther away from the tall grasses. The tall grasses were exactly where the lions decided to go – when they eventually decided to leave. Thank goodness. 
Back at the camp, a German couple and a Belgian couple were finishing their breakfast and getting ready to depart to the airstrip for their flight with Anthony. Banda one of the guides who had radio contact; reported that the lions had been under the wing of the plane. Since Banda had charmed the guests the previous night with his old Botswana tale about a king, his daughter, her suitors and a termite mound, I thought he was pulling our legs with the airstrip story. It was not until I saw the lions’ tracks that I realized it was true what they had said about the lionesses. We all walked together to the airstrip with Banda in front and on alert to see the lions. The guests and I found this to be a thrilling adventure. I listened carefully for any movement in the bush, but the lions had moved on. All we found on the airstrip in addition to a busy pilot attending to the last mechanical details for the take off, were scat piles from red lechwes. (There was no time to consult with Anthony to get his version of the story, other than to shout a question about whether he had ever been in such a situation. With what appeared to be relief, he shook his head no. “A day to remember!” I said and snapped a photo of him to commemorate the event.)
Anthony and his guests departed, while Banda, Tau, (his name, appropriately, is the Setswana word for lion) and I took off in the pickup truck to track the lions. We quickly found them lazing under a tree. They moved before we could get a closer look, however one moved swiftly past a tree and stared at us for a second through an opening in the grass, her fur blending in with the golden stems in the bright sunlight of sunrise while the moon still hung bright in the sky. Another majestic and wild day had dawned in Africa.
These unusual sightings have beenspotted at: www.sunsafaris.com/campokavango.html
