We made ourselves comfortable, then headed for lunch. The onion bread was accompanied by fresh tuna salad nicoise — bush cuisine at its best. The afternoon game drive was a treat. Jensen showed us the tracks of various predators that had recently taken the dirt road: lion, leopard and hyena. Elephant swarmed around us as they made their way down to the river.

Wending our way through the herds was like swimming on a reef teeming with fish. We stopped on the ridge to enjoy the spectacular views of the snaking Chobe River. The rising water was beginning to engulf the flood plain ? in a few weeks the temporary settlements would be abandoned. Then, as the stark light began to soften, we headed down to the river for sundowners and enjoyed the best time of the day as the red ball of the sun slunk into the horizon.

Further along the river bank we could see the day visitors in other vehicles packing up as soon as the sun set in order to make the park gates by closing time. But we were in no rush. One of the huge privileges of this trip is the opportunity to enjoy the park in the twilight hours.

The tented campsite that was our home for the night is one of a handful of private concessions that members of HATAB (Hotel and Tourism Association of Botswana) can book exclusively for their guests. Local safari operator Chobezi, in conjunction with Thompsons Tours, create a temporary safari camp for each group of guests, and then remove everything at the end of the trip, leaving the secluded sites spotless.

It's a wonderful concept. Instead of camping at the noisy public campsites or having to exit the park at night, visitors can enjoy an exclusive, authentic bush experience at an affordable price. Our smiling hosts filled the big bush shower with hot water and we freshened up under the rising moon. A hyena sloped past as we sat out in front of our tent enjoying a pre-dinner drink, then gentle thuds and grey outlines gave away a big herd of elephant passing only metres away.

Sleeping out in the African bush is a magical experience ? something that living in Cape Town, I forget. But escapes like this remind me of the exhilaration that goes with safaris, and I wish I could do them more often. Our three-course dinner was both tasty and superbly presented ? fresh fish and an assortment of meats, vegetables and salads, followed by pears in red wine.

We turned in early and lay listening to howling hyena and the sounds of the nightjars. We had no need of our alarm clocks the next morning ? the twittering birds reminded us that an early-morning game drive was on the cards.

This, a five-hour excursion deep into the park, gave us plenty of great photographic opportunities, but also the chance to learn more about the vegetation and the smaller inhabitants of the reserve. The telltale presence of vultures in the trees led us to two separate kills, and though we didn't see any cats that morning we were treated to sightings of puku (a rare relative of the waterbuck), red lechwe, roan antelope and cute jackals with their pups.

But the highlight of the trip came that evening as we were returning from our sundowner excursion. Jensen suddenly stopped the vehicle. There in the track was a leopard, the sleek graceful animal seemingly unfazed by our presence. When it moved off we followed it for a while until it headed back into the bush. We celebrated back at camp, but regretted that we had only one more drive before we had to return to the real world. This had been the safari of a lifetime.