I have seen photos of people sitting with meerkats before, but I always imagined that you would probably need a lot of time and patience, or just very good luck, to have that kind of experience.

We had about 2 hours left in Botswana. It was our last morning before heading home and this was our only time we had for trying to find the meerkats. Our guide headed off at speed, but then stopped seemingly in the middle of nowhere and said “They’ve gone”.

Rather than seeming deflated though, he turned round and headed off in another direction.  After just 10 minutes, he stopped again. Again we were in the middle of the ‘nowhere’ which the Makgadikgadi Pans does so well.

But this time he looked pleased.  “There they are” he beamed.  Sure enough a family of about 20 meerkats were on their alert, upright best as we slowly approached. There were a few squeaks and a lot of nipping in and out of burrows at first but after about 5 minutes they seemed very calm with our presence.  In fact they were so chilled that the guide said we could sit on their mound and see if they would come close.  No touching them of course, and no quick moves.

Moments later I was nose to nose with a meerkat!  I couldn’t have asked for a better end to a wonderful 2 weeks in Botswana.

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Amanda Marks

Amanda Marks is the founder and managing director of award-winning tour operator, Tribes Travel. Having started travelling professionally in her mid-twenties as a tour leader in Africa and the Middle East, she set up Tribes with her husband Guy in 1998. She travels regularly both alone and with her family, and is committed to sustainable travel so we can protect the earth's diversity and beauty for future generations.