Macatoo is the camp name for African Horseback Safaris. It is located in in the Okavango Delta in the country of Botswana in southern Africa. It is known as "Africa's Last Eden" and is a place where classic wildlife thrives untouched and the safari experience is second to none.
Once a year, the flood waters from Angola fill the channels which draw Cape buffalo, cheetah, giraffe, both black and white rhino, zebra, lion and which also hosts the largest elephant population in the world. It is vital to hundreds of bird species, fish and plants, too, all relying on the marshlands and seasonal floods for survival. In 2014, it became the 1000th UNESCO World Heritage Site.
There is no better way to experience this Eden than on the back of a horse. The gallops are thrilling, running alongside a family of giraffe, herd of zebra, cape buffalo or buck. Our horses graze as we watch a breeding herd of elephant who allow us to be a part of their world in the wild. Overhead, giant fish eagles soar and wheel looking for food. A pastel tinted lilac breasted roller bird does a tumble from the sky. We walk our horses past crocodiles basking on a small palm island as our splashes wake them, visibly annoyed from their deep sleep.
Macatoo offers an authentic bush haven to make you feel at home. Champagne lunches with proper linen covered tables on the side of a lily covered lagoon to candle lit dinners. When we have pizza it is prepared in a oven converted from a termite mound! Evenings are spent around a campfire swapping stories of the ride or listening to sounds of the night. Occasionally Harry, the curious camp elephant may quietly stroll up behind our circle as you watch him flap his ears a few times before he turns and disappears in the trees surrounding camp. Sleep does not come easy. You lie there listening to lion calling each other in the darkness or hippos bellowing barks of threats protecting their territory. Just as you may doze, off, there is the sound of an elephant splashing in the serene waters a few feet away or , instead he comes to make his bed in the sand next to your tent, literally snoring through the night.
This experience cannot be understated. Africa is the place where life began and it is a place that goes home with you, for you have been to a living Eden.
Creative Credits
- Written by
- DeAnna Morgan Madsen
- Photography
- DeAnna Morgan Madsen
