The build-up to our first trip to Botswana in December 2021 was a draining mix of anticipation and anxiety: Covid-19 and the fluctuating travel ramifications that are but one side-shows of the pandemic; there were three of us, my wife Nicolene, Adele du Toit (friend and wife of the late Duif du Toit) and I. The trip was in memory of Duif, as he and Adele travelled through Botswana in 2009.