Wed spotted giant kingfishers, pied kingfishers, and woodland kingfishers (the boys are big on kingfishers).
But one little sucker remained elusive: the violet-eared waxbill.
In the pictures I saw, the bird looked like a figment of the imagination.
Clockwise from left: The black-winged stilt uses its long beak to harvest insects and crustaceans under the water; giant eagle owls are a large species known to play dead when confronted by predators; African fish eagles have one of the most distinctive calls of any African bird; the three-banded plover inhabits wetland edges, where it forages for insects in the mud; cattle egrets perform an elaborate mating display with their ornamental wing plumes.Crookes&Jackson
But it is also really hard to spot.
Private, even secretive, is what the guidebooks say.
So one afternoon we made that our mission: violet-eared waxbill or bust.
From left: The lilac-breasted roller is named after its impressive courtship flight, which includes a side-to-side rolling motion; swallow-tailed bee-eaters are known for their “chirruping” call, sometimes sung by a pair or small group.Crookes&Jackson
Thats how desperate we were.
There wasnt another truck in sight, or house on the horizon.
Though bigger than France, Botswana has only 2.5 million inhabitants.
Tracker Kgomotso Batani from andBeyond Xaranna Okavango Delta Camp sits in the raised “spotter” seat of a safari vehicle.Crookes&Jackson
Its vast, empty, and gorgeous.
When we arrived at the deserted airstrip, Diphonso Ditshupelo, one of our guides, cut the engine.
Ditshupelo, who goes by Dips, sat at the wheel for a quiet moment.
A red-billed oxpecker perches on the neck of a giraffe in the Okavango Delta, in Botswana.Crookes&Jackson
He cocked his head, then motioned for us to get out of the truck.
I think I hear something, he whispered.
Here’s the thing about bird-watching.
Clockwise from top left: The blue-cheeked bee-eater is a sit-and-wait predator, which flies out from open perches to grab insects in midair; southern ground hornbills are categorized as endangered due to habitat loss and slow reproductive rates; as its name suggests, the little bee-eater is Africa’s smallest bee-eater, at six to seven inches; Burchell’s coucal is named after British naturalist William John Burchell and eats amphibians, insects, and snails; woodland kingfishers nest in hollow trees and cavities made by woodpeckers and barbets.Crookes&Jackson
Its one of those activities that seems niche, even boring until you try it.
Then you realize that it opens up a whole other way of interacting with nature.
Bird-watching requires you to slow down, clear your mind, and really focus.
A close-up of the matriarch—the largest, oldest female—of an Okavango elephant herd.Crookes&Jackson
Its like the Zen meditation of wildlife tourism.
But trying to spot elusive birds can also be as suspenseful and exciting as tracking big game.
Bird-watching requires you to slow down, clear your mind, and really focus.
A yellow-billed stork fishes in the shallows of the delta.Crookes&Jackson
Its like the Zen meditation of wildlife tourism.
Lets go to Botswana and do a bird safari.
On our first morning, Gobe Mmereki took us out on a pontoon boat.
One of andBeyond’s vehicles trails a pack of African wild dogs in the Okavango Delta.Crookes&Jackson
Mmereki is a real pioneer.
She was the only woman in her training program.
A lot of men had trouble believing she could drive a safari truck at first, she said.
Lunch is served, tapas-style, at Xaranna.Crookes&Jackson
(Expert birders never rest.
Theyre always on the lookout for something new, unusual, or rare.)
He stabbed his finger toward something.
Clockwise from top left: Egyptian geese are territorial waterbirds known to fight their own species; wattled cranes are the largest of the African cranes, and the most critically endangered; the medium-sized snake eagle preys on venomous snakes; slaty egrets seek out sheltered, marshy areas where they dredge for fish with their feet; the Pel’s fishing owl is a striking species that is able to catch fish weighing up to 4-1/2 lbs.Crookes&Jackson
Theres a ridiculously cool little bird.
I lifted my binoculars to my eyes, but couldnt see anything but a blur of river grass.
Come on, guys, Lombard said with mock exasperation.
A lion cub practices hunting in long grass.Crookes&Jackson
Ive told you this before.
You cant look at the bush.
You have to lookintothe bush.
The spoonbill, a relative of the ibis, uses its beak to catch insects, crustaceans, and tiny fish.Crookes&Jackson
Wait, Apollo said (hes the bird expert in our family).
Is that a new one?
Good work, Apollo.
Elephants in the Okavango, as seen on the flight to Xaranna.Crookes&Jackson
Its a black-winged pratincole.
Pratincole, he repeated very deliberately in his crisp South African accent.
And its pretty rare.
The lounge and dining area of andBeyond Xaranna, as seen from the jetty.Crookes&Jackson
I have to be honest.
It was nowhere near as majestic as the goliath heron that had just swooped over us.
It wasnt making a cool sound or doing anything interesting at all.
Burchell’s zebras graze near Xaranna.Crookes&Jackson
It was just rummaging around in the sandy riverbank with its beak, looking for bugs to eat.
Related:The 17 Best Binoculars for Every pop in of Traveler
But the black-winged pratincole had a story.
Its possible that much of the worlds population now lives in one large flock.
Imagine if something happened to that one flock.
It would be a mass extinction.
Hearing his words changed the way I thought about birds.
From that moment on, I had more interest and more empathy for our friends in the sky.
To the uninitiated, many might look alike.
But as Lombard helped me appreciate, that just means youre not looking hard enough.
A quick word on Lombard.
Hes tall, tan, and loves short shorts.
He looks like the Crocodile Dundee of southern Africa.
But he was our buddy to the bitter end, and how lucky we were because of it.
That is another ridiculously rare bird.
See in that pond just before the sandpiper?
Its a female pygmy goose!
Of course, I thought: a pygmy goose!
As we drove away, Lombard marveled at our good luck though it wasnt just luck.
We would have never spotted that bird if it hadnt been for his skill.
That right there is the beauty of birding.
It was my first time in Botswana and I was itching to know what lay beyond the lodge gates.
A Botswanan policeman leaning against the tree seemed to read my mind.
You dont have a prison like this in your country, do you?
Our next stop was the Okavango, the focal point of our trip.
Looking down, I didnt see many other camps.
When the pilot cracked launch the window, in came that rich smell of bush sage again.
The drink was cool, tart, and delicious.
Right away I could tell that in andBeyonds hands no one was going to suffer.
But it wasnt simply the luxury that made our experience so memorable.
It was the way it was done.
Every single member of the staff was filled with warmth.
Pullen was constantly hooking us up with great drinks.
Id learned on previous safaris that impalas do that only when theyre really scared.
Later, in what felt like the middle of the night, some guinea fowl cackled.
Predator, he said.
He gruffly waved over the kids.
They leaned down to get a closer look at a fresh footprint in the sand.
Johnson pointed out a small notch.
Claw, he said.
This is one of the most thrilling things about going on a safari: youre constantly piecing together information.
He motioned to the truck.
If we move now, he was implying, we might be able to catch up with it.
Johnson dismounted, light, quick, barely making a sound.
Usually, stepping out of a truck in a game park crawling with lethal predators is a big no-no.
Courtenay turned to me, eyes wide with concern: Hes walking.
Then the car abruptly stopped.
Johnson couldnt suppress a smile as he turned to us and said: Lion.
His eyes were the binoculars.
We pulled closer and then closer still.
No sign of anyone.
Just us and these two 400-pound apex predators.
Their paws were the size of oven mitts.
We were so close I could observe the individual veins in their rip-you-to-shreds shoulders.
I felt a sense of danger being so close.
Their yellow eyes tracked our every move.
Look at the size of that belly, Dips said.
He must have had a buffalo or a zebra.
Bellies stretched like lions, we waddled back to our tents.
They were elegant and spacious, with polished wood floors and screens instead of walls.
We packed the next two days with activities that the kids especially liked.
We fished in a shallow pond and paddled around inmokoros,Botswanas distinctive flat-bottomed dugout canoes.
But theres no bad time to visit Botswana.
We saw a striped kingfisher chase down a dragonfly and snatch it with its beak.
The first kill of the day, Dips said.
Asa spotted a lilac-breasted roller, common but still astonishingly colored.
you’re free to see its blue wings and the black-and white-stuff underneath, he observed.
Lombard saw a humpbacked hadedah ibis squawking in a dead tree.
South Africans hate that bird.
So noisy, he scowled.
Thats a trash bird.
Instead, they flaunt spectacular colors to attract mates across long distances.
Ground birds, which are more vulnerable to predators, tend not to be as colorful.
His job was herding goats.
That is a hard life.
It was while doing this toil that Dips fell in love with birds.
They were the only form of music we had, he said.
We drew motivation from them.
He and the other boys devised ways to remember the birds they heard.
I-am-the-red-eyed-dove, I-am-the-red-eyed-dove, he said in the particular cadence of that birds call.
Or work-harder, work-harder, in the purring rhythm of the Cape turtle dove.
While Dips was sharing this, I felt the truck lurch.
Sudden, violent movement in the back seat.
“Give it.”
No, you give it."
No, you give it.
Apollo and Asa were tussling over their identical pairs of Swarovski Optik binoculars.
Courtenay finally broke it by turning to Lombard and asking, Do all families fight?
Dips overheard and said, It would strengthen your bond forever.
Our last camp was Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge, another andBeyond property.
It was a Pels.
He had probably seen a Pels countless times, but he was as into the hunt as Apollo.
After that we got greedy.
Weve seen more than 175 different birds, Asa said.
Lets go for 200.
Lets find the violet-eared waxbill, Apollo added.
Ive heard people saying thats a really cool one.
That afternoon at the airstrip was actually our last full day.
We took a few quiet steps forward.
Then a few more.
I watched it for a few seconds.
It heard us coming and retreated deeper into the thicket, just like the bird books had warned.
That was all we got a short, fleeting glimpse, like something from a dream.
But as we walked back to the truck, Apollo and Asa were beaming.
That really is a precious little bird, Apollo said.
Heres the thing bout bird-watching.
Its one of those activities that seems niche, even boring until you try it.
Then you realize that it opens up a whole other way of interacting with nature.
Botswana has around 600 species; across the world, scientists say there are 11,000.
So we didnt quit there.
We decided to go for more.
Because with birds, as with so much else in life, there is always more.
andbeyond.com; eight-night Botswana birding safaris from $11,900 per person.
