O ne of the popular outings on offer wherever there is a suitable expanse of water in Africa is the sundowner cruise, and Botswana is no different. Meandering down the river in one of the various lodge's river-boats provides superlative views. Tentative game steps delicately to the waters edge to drink, watching for predators like lions and crocodiles, but unfazed by the boat.
Elephants splash in the shallows.
Brilliantly coloured bee-eaters and more sober swallows swoop across the river, pied and giant kingfishers hover over the still water. The magnificent fish eagles will doubtless watch keenly from their tree-tops in the expectation of being thrown a titbit. Occasionally a crocodile slips into the water as the boat glides past, and clustered pairs of almost submerged eyes and rounded ears look like low rocky islands as rafts of hippos watch you drift past. Their evening chorus of grunts could rank as one of the most contented sounds in the world. Drinks and snacks on these cruises are routinely included.