Stop, start, stop, start. One moment, sitting in silence, listening, looking, willing something to happen, something to appear; the next, throwing a U-turn and dashing across dried-out floodplain, fringed with dead trees, to check out a crackling radio report of a sighting.
They are all part of the fun and endless fascination of going on safari from Khwai River Lodge, located next to the famous Moremi Wildlife Reserve, in Botswana's wet and wonderful wilderness, the Okavango Delta.
It's early morning, the second in our three-day stay at the luxury lodge. We have been woken at 6am with a cup of tea or coffee in our rooms, each built, African-style with thatched roofs, on platforms that look out across the river.
We have safety-checked the river banks for wandering hippos and elephants, gobbled down hot or cold breakfasts in the dining area and now, rugged up against the early morning chill, we set off expectantly into the bush in a bouncy, open-topped Toyota truck.
There's so much to see, even in the first few minutes of the safari, even within a few kilometres of the lodge.
There are mammals, such as the easily spottable elephants, hippos, giraffes, warthogs, vervet monkeys, baboons, reedbucks, lions and Cape buffalos. Reptiles such as crocodiles and monitor lizardsare spotted sliding through the undergrowth beneath my cabin.
And birds, beautiful birds, more easily identified with the help of my big binoculars: guinea fowl, glossy, purple starlings, elegant spoonbills, aggressive blacksmith plovers, Jurassic-looking storks and, almost everywhere, the spectacular lilac-breasted roller.
A dazzling, easily-spotted show-off, the roller only narrowly lost out in a heated political debate in Botswana over the choice of an official "national bird". That title went, eventually, to the huge, drab, kori bustard, known by its mournful call as the "go-away" bird.
So teeming is the wildlife in and along the rising and falling waters of the 18,000 square kilometre delta that every Khwai safari seems to tick a list, provide a score of memorable photo ops or produce a surprise, ranging in size from elephant-big to butterfly small.
But today our expert guide Richard – who combines the local know-how of a monkey, the sharp eyes of an African fish eagle, and the sensitivity to surroundings of an impala – is looking for one animal especially: a leopard, "missing" member of the so-called "Big Five".
The previous evening – which ended typically with the flaming, red sun disappearing so fast into the waters of the delta observers half-expected to hear a splash – a female leopard had been spotted (sorry) but only briefly and in bad light.
Understandably, my South African travelling companions want to return to roughly the same area, to spend more time watching and ideally photographing the female leopard, and possibly, her family.
For the next few hours we criss-cross the reserve, re-visiting the site of the previous sightings.
At one point, the ever-observant Richard stops; just as he did the previous evening when he pointed out the apparent merging of the planets Jupiter and Venus, and earlier in the day when he wished to examine the skeleton head of a long-dead elephant.
He climbs out of the truck, bends down in the dust and with a broken stick and points out a long, continuous, regular line of smudged footprints in among the wheel tracks. "Leopards," he announces with the confidence of fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. "Recent."
Alas, all too soon they fade away. Never mind, we cheerfully agree, as we head back to the lodge for a splendid lunch. It's been a wonderful morning, with plenty to see and … well, we can always try again on the evening safari.
Indeed, it's a pleasure to spend an afternoon back at the Khwai River Lodge, which is part of a deluxe, 10-day swing through southern Africa, "tailor-made" by Australian Bill Peach Journeys, which specialises in top-class packages for singles and small groups.
The itinerary began in Johannesburg, continued in Cape Town after a memorable 1700 kilometre on Rovos Rail – the "world's most luxurious train in the world " – and here in the Okavango Delta, before concluding in Livingstone, Zambia, alongside the Victoria Falls.
Meanwhile, there is much to see and do back at the lodge, which has a 20-metre swimming pool, a small reference library, spa treatment room, elevated bird-spotting hide, and a central indoor lounge.
The accommodation has been described by one reviewer as "opulent … larger and more extravagant than the most upmarket hotel rooms". So they are.
Each of the 14 rooms has a huge four-poster bed, complete with mosquito net (not that they are a problem until the wet season from November to March), an en suite bathroom, same-day laundry service, mini-bar and wi-fi.
A still more opulent "private suite" has an extended balcony as well as its own plunge pool, a his and her's outdoor shower, and a bigger-than-normal deck.
All have a raised platform where guests can sit or lie, sleep or watch the fascinating passing parade of animals, large and small, in and along the river … and, occasionally, in the lodge grounds.
Indeed, the chance of animals, including fast-moving, possibly truculent hippos and elephants, straying in among the grounds is so great that guests are required to ring for a guide to accompany them to and from their cabins after dark.
In another thoughtful attention to detail, Khwai River Lodge – one of the Belmond group of lodges which also includes Savute Elephant and Eagle Island – provides guests with an illustrated map of the area and, most useful of all, a neat, pocket-size safari journal.
It provides a tick-list of sightings, and an invaluable – because localised – list of animals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, trees and even stars likely to be seen on the lodge's mixed woodland and grassland, floodplain property.
The journal also has a few historical hints, reminds visitors that Botswana is part of "the old Africa … one of the world's last great wilderness areas… a place of harsh contrasts and untamed beauty, parched expanses of sand, savannah and teeming game".
Botswana, it adds, is one of the Africa's most democratic countries, full of friendly, peace-loving people, many of whom still measure wealth in terms of cattle. What's more, its national currency is the pula – the local, Setswana word for "rain".
There's not much chance of that today, or for the foreseeable future. It's under blue skies, artistically framed by distant, fluffy, white clouds, that we re-gather with guide Richard for the afternoon/evening safari. We are also joined by lodge managers Magda and Tal Le Roux.
As always, there's so much to see, so much to enjoy, as we zig-zag across the scrub, plunge through streams: more elephants, giraffes, monkeys, giant ground hornbills, huge martial eagles and endangered wild dogs, long-legged with big, rounded ears and straight backs.
Young and old, they are playing, relaxing now, but in packs they can outrun prey, such as the jittery impala just round the corner.
But, alas, we see no leopards. Not even a trace. It would have been nice but … well, there's always another day, another reason for returning to this amazing waterworld.
As the shadows lengthen across the delta, we draw up on the banks of a glassy, reddening lake, to celebrate the day, the flora and the fauna seen, the new friends made, in that most famous of safari rituals, the sundowner.
There's wine and beer, and an assortment of quality nibbles, served from the bonnet of the truck. In a matter of seconds – or so it seems – the delta turns chilly, the sun has gone, the day is done – though, it's probably only beginning for the tiny scops owl, spotted roosting in a roadside tree on the return to camp.
There, on the final day of our stay at Khwai River Lodge, we gather round the fire in the lodge boma – a wooden enclosure or stockade, a traditional meeting place for villagers – for a final meal. Beef for most, Khwai River bream for me. It's the perfect setting in which to farewell one of the most amazing places in the world.
Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith, creator of fictional heroine Precious Ramotswe, Botswana's "No. 1 ladies detective", probably said it best.
"There's a bit of grim in all countries," he mused. "But Botswana has far less share of grim and far more than its fair share of great."
TRIP NOTES
MORE INFORMATION
billpeachjourneys.com.au or call 1800 252 053
GETTING THERE
Qantas has direct flights from Sydney to Johannesburg. From there, South African Airways has connections to Maun in Botswana. Guests are then flown in a small, private plane to Khwai Lodge.
STAYING THERE
The Khwai River Lodge experience is part of a collection of tours Bill Peach Journeys has created for independent travellers. The 12-day tour has daily departures through 2015/16, priced from $12,309 per person twin share. In 2016, there will also be a group departure of this tour. Quoted prices do not include airfares to and from Johannesburg..
The writer was a guest of Bill Peach Journeys.
