From Victoria Falls we set out on an incredible adventure to the remote desert of Namibia. The journey takes us along the shores of the Chobe River where great herds of elephant come to bathe. The river creates a stage for amazing wildlife viewing, as hundreds of buffalo come to drink, closely followed by a hungry lion. Buck and smaller animals abound, and the riverine flats are home to puku and the Chobe bushbuck. A boat trip takes us to where the Chobe meets the mighty Zambezi, where hippos roll lazily in the shallows, and the graceful fish eagle dives for his prey.

Ngoma Gate takes us out of Botswana, across the border into Namibia. Heading west we pass the Kwando River spending time in the Bwabata Park, the Okavango River journeying through the beautiful Mahangu Game Park and the riverine forests of the Okavango. All the way to Etosha National Park, known to cross the world for its spectacular wildlife population. Around the waterholes, daily dramas unfold as lion and cheetah follow great herds of zebra, wildebeest, elephant, giraffe and antelope, while hyena and jackal pace the sidelines, impatiently waiting for a kill.

Further south, a steep plateau of red-rock cliffs juts out of an otherwise flat landscape. This is the Waterberg Plateau Park, a sanctuary for endangered and endemic animal and bird species, and one of the few places where the rare white rhino and his smaller black cousin still roam in numbers.

No Namibian adventure is complete without seeing the ochre sand dunes of the Namib. Reputedly the highest sand dunes in the world stand proud against the African-blue sky.

Once home you will show your friends photographs, try to describe the sound of an elephant next to your tent at night, calling his mate, the sunshine-scent of the desert at noon. And they won’t understand. For the essence of Africa cannot be captured in words. It has to be experienced.