I had never been to the Savute region of Botswana before, but I had read that it was the place to see during the rainy season. The books said that the Savute Channel had dried up completely in 1982, that during the dry season it was a dustbowl. The books also mentioned that when the rains fell, the Channel became a series of waterholes and lush grassland where the plains game flocked, followed by all the predators.
No laila, i ko mākou hōʻea ʻana i Savute, kāhāhā nui wau i ka ʻike ʻana i kahi muliwai. Ua haʻi ʻia mai iaʻu ua piha ka Savute Channel i ka makahiki 2009 a ua piha i ka wā maloʻo. I kēia manawa, ma hope o ka ua kūloko i ka makahiki 2010, ua kiʻekiʻe ka wai o ke Channel.
ʻO ke kahawai ʻo Kwando, e kahe ana ma ka palena ma waena o Botswana a me Namibia, e piʻo ʻoi i ka muliwai Linyanti. I nā makahiki i hala aku nei, ua kahe ka Kwando i ka hema i ka ʻāina ʻo Okavango, e kahe ana i loko o nā pā Makgadikgadi, ʻo ia ke kahua o kahi kai nui i uka. ʻO ka neʻe ʻana o ka ʻōpala o ka Honua i hoʻōki i ke kahe ʻana i ka hema a hoʻouna iā ia i ka ʻākau e hālāwai me Linyanti a me Chobe a ma mua i ka muliwai Zambezi.
Aia ka pilina ma waena o ka Kwando/Linyanti a me ka Okavango i kapa ʻia ʻo Selinda Spillway. Ua maloʻo nō hoʻi ka Spillway no nā makahiki he nui akā ua kahe ka wai i kēia manawa - kahe ka wai mai ka Okavango a i ka Linyanti. He ʻuʻuku loa ka ʻokoʻa o ke kiʻekiʻe (ʻaʻole ʻoi aku ma mua o ʻumi mau mika ma luna o kanalima kilomika) a ua ʻike ʻia ke kahe ʻana o ke kahawai, ua ʻōlelo ʻia iaʻu e kahe ana ma kēlā me kēia ʻaoʻao.
Nui nā mea i hoʻololi i kēia ʻāina i ka wā ma mua, a he paʻakikī ke wehewehe i loko o kekahi mau ʻōlelo. ʻO ka ʻoiaʻiʻo o ka hoʻololi ʻana i ka wā e haʻalulu mau nei ka Honua ma lalo a no laila e hoʻololi ai i ke ala o nā muliwai, ʻoi aku ka hoihoi o ia wahi.
Aia ka Wilderness Safaris i ka Linyanti Concession. I ka wā ma mua, ua puhi lākou i nā lua wai ma ke kahawai ʻo Savute i mea e huki ai i nā holoholona, akā i kēia manawa ua hoʻopiha ʻia ke kahawai, ʻaʻole koi ʻia kā lākou mau pamu. Pono lākou e kūkulu i alahaka hou ma kēlā ʻaoʻao.
Kaʻahele nui mākou a puni ia wahi me ko mākou alakaʻi, ʻo Mr. T, a loaʻa ka nui o nā pāʻani. Ua ʻike mākou i ʻelua mau liona kāne ʻōpio e noho ana ma ka malu o kahi ululāʻau e kali ana i ko lākou makuahine. Ua loaʻa iā mākou ma hope o mama. Aia ʻo ia ma kahi o hoʻokahi kilomita a e kāhea ana i kāna mau ʻōpio. Moe ihola ʻo ia a kali a hiki mai lākou.
Ua ʻike mākou i ka nui o nā holoholona a me nā manu i kā mākou huakaʻi hele a puni ia wahi. Me he mea lā e hana ʻoi aku ana ka poʻe pipi i ka ʻohi ʻana i nā ʻōpala i nā holoholona he nui. Ma ke kiʻi, ke hoʻomaʻemaʻe nei ka giraffe i kāna mau kiwi, a ʻaʻole hilahila ka kudu, e kiʻi maikaʻi ana i nā kiʻi. E hooluhiia ana ka Starling Burchell e kana keiki cuckoo pololi; e hoʻoheheʻe ʻia ana ka lā o kahi setoka hāmama. Ua ʻike mākou i nā mea hou aʻe, akā e kali a hiki i ka moʻolelo aʻe.
