We arrived to the sight of a landscape transformed – lush, green bush thick with life, puddles still shimmering on the tracks, and trees heavy with the gift of recent rain. Though the earth was damp and the sky still heavy, the heat clung to the air. At the lodge, Anderssons at Ongava, ice-cold towels were handed to us along with a glass of homemade lemonade – a crisp, refreshing welcome against the warm weight of the day. Bags disappeared into capable hands while the landscape stretched out before us, antelopes grazing unfazed in the distance.