It's Not Just the Frogs

My first night on safari in Africa found me sleeping alone in a tent in Botswana’s famed Okavango Delta, with no barrier at all between me and whatever might be out there other than that thin layer of canvas. The beauty of a tent is that you can fully experience all the night noises of the African Bush.  The terror of tents is that you can hear everything!  The night noises were intense, and I found that the local frogs were so noisy it was virtually impossible to sleep.  

I stumbled into the dining tent early the next morning, so obviously tired that the other guests actually asked if I was ok.  “The frogs,” I explained, “I couldn’t sleep because of the frogs”.  Off we went to spend a spectacular day in the bush, seeing wildlife as I had never imagined, capped off with our actually following a lion back into camp in our open Land Rover.   

That night we shared a wonderful meal and swapped stories around the campfire, but it wasn’t long before I returned to my tent, the sleepless night having caught up with me. I fell into my bed and was almost immediately lost to a deep sleep.  I woke in the morning, rested and refreshed, eager to see what the day would bring.  I was first in the dining tent at 5:15 am, enjoying coffee and biscuits as the other guests stumbled in, all looking exhausted.  I had to ask “Why do you all look so tired? What happened?” They looked at me in amazement.  “Didn’t you hear them last night?” “Hear what?” I asked. “The two prides of lions at either end of the camp roaring at each other all night.”  

My lesson from that day?  If you pay too much attention to the frogs, you’re going to miss the lions!